The Splendid Daily Life Of The Mother Devouring Princess Chapter 9

When Hayden slowly came too, the first thing he felt was that his hands were bound by roughly hewn rope.

Startled by that, he looked around in a panic. All that he could see through the darkness was a sea of trees, as well as the low cut wagon he found himself tied to.

Not only were his hands tied but his ankles were too, stretching him out immobile between the exterior of the two wheel axles of the cart.

Although the waxing moon offered its light, the land around him was still shrouded in ominous shadow. It had to still be the middle of the night, but just what the h.e.l.l had happened to him?

“Hey!! Is anyone there!? Somebody!!”

His voice echoed between those silent trees. As he struggled to free himself, his head, still stained with dried blood, throbbed violently.

He needed to cry out for help even more loudly. Taking a deep breath, someone interrupted him before he could shout out.

“Be quiet.”

“!”

It was only when he heard that voice that he noticed someone had been right next to him the whole time.

As Hayden desperately turned to twist his head, he saw a gorgeous girl wrapped in a beautifully frilled dress.

“Wha…!”

That girl.

Lilith's step-sister who, fifteen years ago, had been ravished on her orders.

That girl now looked down on him, her blonde hair swaying in the gentle night breeze and those eyes of hers staring down at him, piercingly cold.

“How…”

Hayden couldn't believe what he was seeing, shaking his head vigorously.

“You died! Fifteen years ago, back in the forest!! Why are you here now!? How are you alive!? How how how how!!”

“‘Was murdered'.”

“!!”

He suddenly became acutely aware of the hammer the woman carried in her hand.

It was more like a heavy looking mallet, the head of which was as big as an infant's head. As she clenched that handle, the girl continued.

“…To say I merely ‘died', that would be underselling it, wouldn't you say?”

“I…!!”

Hayden felt a cold chill run up his spine. The ropes that bound his hands and ankles chaffed ever more tightly.

(This is impossible!!)

A dead woman couldn't come back to life.

(But, then, just who the f.u.c.k is this!? Who is this woman!?)

It was only after looking at her today that he finally remembered the face that he had forgotten after all these years. The face of the woman whom he viciously beat and violated, the face of the Duke's daughter through a mistress, Lilith's half-sister.

“S-Stop… Don't look at me with those eyes!!”

“…”

That girl's cold look bore through him like a jagged chunk of ice.

Just how was this little girl so intimidating? He was finding it hard to breathe as well. The deep hatred that flowed from the girl, so plainly laid bare, felt as if it was needling and sc.r.a.ping his flesh down to the bone.

“Do you want revenge against me!? Is that it!? f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, you tricked me!!”

Every night, the woman who stood in the stable wearing that thin white dress was not Princess Maria, but instead this haunting revenant.

He sometimes thought that the girl he saw at night who never talked or smiled in his direction was a completely different person to the Maria he saw during the day. It turned out that really was the truth.

“I'm not the one who killed you, you know!? I actually wanted to play with you some more! So just why are you staring at me like that!? You're just a woman, just a f.u.c.king woman… I wasn't the one who murdered you!! I wasn't the one who finished you off!!”

“I already know that.”

As she answered him plainly, Hayden's eyes opened wide in surprise.

“Then why are you haunting me like this!? Besides, you probably started enjoying it in the end, right!?”

“…”

“If you really hated it so much, then why didn't you try and fight back!? Even if it meant abandoning that little sister of yours, you didn't try to escape at all!! That's because deep down, you really wanted it, didn't you!? Women are stupid and shallow creatures, after all!!”

“…”

Spittle flew from between his teeth as he raved at her. Over time, that fear of his had been absorbed by wild anger.

To think that he, a man, had been driven into a corner by a mere woman like this? His head felt like it was on fire because of the mixture of pain and humiliation, as Hayden continued to flail and rage despite his bound limbs.

“It's the same for every woman!! Always dolling yourselves up in makeup and pretty dresses, you're just hoping some man will push you down…! So I decided to educate some dumb wh.o.r.es, what's wrong with that!? I haven't done anything wrong!!”

“…”

“Hey! d.a.m.n you, untie this rope already!!”

Taking deep and ragged breaths, Hayden glared at the girl who stood over him.

But the woman's eyes only narrowed, her stare growing only colder. Then, on that face that was so beautiful it seemed almost otherworldly, those lips formed words that carried no trace of emotion.

“…You pitiful thing.”

“…!?”

It was serene, yet pa.s.sionless voice.

“Do you think that every woman alive is merely living for your pleasure?”

“…Wha…!?”

“That women who dress up or wear makeup do so for no other reason to appeal to men like you? Just who are you to decide that for them? The reason belongs to the woman alone.”

“…Argh, shut up!! Just untie this rope!!”

He was furious with this woman.

So what if they're some sort of ghoul? If the dead can come back to life… He'll just kill them once again. This time, he'd make sure of it with his own two hands. As his mind and groin burned with pa.s.sion at the very thought, his eyes grew wide with greedy antic.i.p.ation.

“Hey, are you gonna do it or not!?”

“You're beyond salvation, a beast that despises women. The only way I can save other women from you is by doing this.”

It was only as she stepped towards him that Hayden became wary of it once more.

The hammer the woman held in her hand. No matter how much he shouted and screamed, he was still firmly bound to the wagon.

“Just what are you going to do…?”

“I would advise you to clench your teeth. It would be deeply bothersome for me should you bite your tongue and die.”

“STOP!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? WHA… WHAT ARE…. ah… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

In that very next moment, the woman swung that heavy looking hammer as if it were weightless.

“Ah…!”

That hammer that the woman swung from overhead smashed straight down into Hayden's crotch.

“Ga… ahh….. hkkkghh….!”

After a sickening crunch and a moment of dull sensation, suddenly burning and agonizing pain spread through his groin.

It was a pain so incredible and intense that it took a moment for his mind to even comprehend what it was he was feeling. Hayden's head was overcome by nauseous shock as he convulsed terribly. His body popping and snapping back and forth in such violent convulsions that the bonds on his hands and feet that seemed so tight earlier actually came slightly loose.

“Kaaaakh, ahhh…”

As his eyes glazed over, drool began to pool in the corners of Hayden's mouth. But right then, there was a sudden splash of water thrown in his face, rousing him back to consciousness.

“Ah… Ah…!?”

“Do not fall asleep. I need you to stay awake through all this.”

“Ah… AHH… AHHHHH! AAAAAH, WHAT, WHAAAT WHY….!?”

The woman, who smiled with a soft sense of charming grace, stepped closer to the carriage and, after lifting the hem of her skirt.

Then, brought her heel down on Hayden's genitals that she had just crushed with the hammer she still held.

“AHH… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

“As for the castration, it seems to have gone well?”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH NOOOO IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HUUUUUUUUUUUUURTS!! STOP, STOP, PLEaaaa.s.sseeee…!”

“Are you kidding?”

As he once again fluttered on the edge of fading consciousness, this time she slapped him hard across the face.

The woman bowed down low over Hayden, having no intention of letting him retreat into blissful unconsciousness.

“Just how long do you think I have waited for this night, for this moment?”

“Ah… Ahh, Ahhhhh….!!”

The words gripped Hayden's heart like a vice.

He was in so much pain now that he could barely talk, only ragged and panic breaths escaping his dry lips. His throat constricted in fear, trapped saliva pooling in his mouth.

“Why…!? Why, why why…!?”

The pain overwhelming his senses, Hayden cried out in desperate agony.

“Why!? Why are you doing something like this…!? You're just a woman, so how could you to me, a man!?”

“You don't understand, even though you were once in my position?”

“Even though…!? I-I have never done anything aaaaawwwful like this!! All I did was teach some… women… their place…!!”

The woman sighed, obviously slightly frustrated.

“…I really ought to have brought my earplugs. Listening to this drivel is quite unbearable, wouldn't you agree?”

“Just stop already!! Please, I-I'm begging you!! I'm begging you, please stop…”

“I don't want to.”

That quiet and emotionless voice once again.

“Because, back then, did you ever stop?”

“Wha…!!”

“Even if Nina cried and I screamed, no matter how much I begged for mercy, did you ever stop?”

“Ah… That is… That's…!!”

The woman threw the hammer in her hand back onto the bed of the wagon.

This time, she picked out something that hung just over its step. It was a length of wood, about as thick as her arm.

“Well, until you feel the pain of being raped, you could never truly know.”

“Ahh…!?”

“Both your dignity and your body, torn up and crushed. A sense of fear and shame so overwhelming and invasive you long for death.”

“No… You can't be…”

“Be at ease. I won't be killing you.”

Running a finger along the length of wood in her hand, the woman cooed softly.

“Though in time, maybe you'll wish I had?”

“Huh…!?”

“This is not the end, not by far. Until I'm satisfied, we are far from done. I will be selling you off to gentlemen of certain ‘persuasions'… Though, before that, I feel like you ought to take a tour to meet all the families of the women whose lives you've ruined, and let them have their own satisfaction as well.”

“Ahh…. No… NOOOO!! NONONONONONONOOOOO!! Forgive me… Forgive me forgive me forgive meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Uwaaaaah,,, ahhhhhhhhhhh……… HRNKGH!!”

Hayden's screams didn't stop until morning dawned.

“…Hey now, are you serious?”

As that dawn arose, a man's voice echoed in those words.

“Telling me to take this man and actually treat his wounds, doesn't this go against everything you're trying to do?”

“Not particularly… After all, I had no intention of killing him.”

As she washed her hands stained black with dried blood and something else with the water from a vial she had brought with her, Maria answered the young man.

“But, only do enough to stem his bleeding. So long as we make sure he doesn't die, he can still be ‘rented out'.”

“So that's how it is, then? Is keeping him alive all just part of your vengeance?”

The dark-haired man seemed convinced with her methods as he looked at Hayden, tied up on the bed of the wagon.

Now that Maria's personal revenge on him was over, he had been left to die… Is what the young man had thought when he first beheld the scene, but it seemed like he was wrong.

Hayden's lower body was awash with blood and his glazed eyes stared up at the sky unblinking, but he still retained his consciousness.

As much agony and humiliation that Maria inflicted on Hayden, she always made sure never to cross a certain line. He made him suffer as much as humanly possible without letting him die.

“You sure are an awful Princess, aren't you? Crushing his jewels and ruining his rear end, whilst making sure he stayed awake and half-mad for the whole thing?”

“All I did was return the favour.”

Wiping off her hands with a handkerchief, Maria looked at the dark-haired youth.

“Nina and I only died after being put through things that made dying seem tame. That being the case, I'll make them suffer things even worse than death themselves.”

“…”

Hearing those words, the dark-haired young man smiled. Unmoved, Maria continued speaking plainly.

“Once the victims' families have had their fill, I'll leave the sale to you… I want you to sell it to the most obscene kind of degenerate you know, Jin. I want him to never be able to leave a normal life again.”

“Alrighty.”

The man, whose name was Jin, offered out his right hand.

“Your wish is mine as well. I'm sure that our customers will be well pleased to buy a product like this, and should something go awry then the Princess of Lefayn will interfere on our behalf. So, thank you for your business.”

“I see.”

Maria let out a small sigh.

This man was the only one who knew about Maria's previous life. She didn't trust him, but he could prove to be useful in the future. Perhaps that feeling was mutual.

“By the way, Maria…”

Jin studied her face.

“You don't look too happy at all, even though you've finally gone through with one of those long-awaited acts of vengeance of yours.”

“…Oh? But I am satisfied?”

“That's all?”

“Of course. it goes without saying that I am…”

‘I am happy.'

“…”

She tried to say those words, but they wouldn't come out.

Maria was surprised, suddenly becoming acutely aware of the hollow feeling in her chest. Then, she cast her eyes down.

(I'm well aware.)

Even if she takes her revenge, time will never roll back.

What happened to Maria and Nina on that day could never be undone.

But, even so, just for now…

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

“…As I thought, I'm not really suited for these violent theatrics, am I?”

She spoke with that usual pa.s.sionless voice.

But, had Jin picked up on that insecurity? If he had, he didn't pursue her on it.

“Not suited?”

“Rather than truly get my hands dirty myself, instead I would much rather let them walk their own path to ruination and meet with a fate worse than death.”

“That's quite a thing to say for someone who just castrated and raped a man.”

“What, do you think the way I am doing things is half-baked, then?”

“Not at all… That said, your makeup today really does give one a different impression of you.”

Jin spoke with a sense of wonder as he stared at Maria, whose makeup was far different than usual.

“Usually you look just like your mother, but it's like you're a different person now. Is this what you looked like in your previous life?”

“Lilith and I always looked similar in my previous life… Although, because of the difference in the way we acted and how we were treated, that was sometimes hard for people to see.”

Without makeup, Maria's face bore hallmarks both of Lilith and of the girl she was in her previous life.

Both the woman she despised above all others and the girl who was unforgivably weak during her short life. Whenever she saw that face of hers in the mirror, she was consumed with hatred for both sides of it, but it also had its uses in times like these.

The reasons why a woman may wear makeup or dress themselves up prettily varies from person to person.

As Hayden said there may well be women simply out to attract a new man, but there are also women who wished to improve their sense of self-worth or to cover up some flaw, either real or imagined.

And as for Maria, her reasons lay solely in vengeance.

Her face, her body, anything that could be used as a weapon, she would employ.

No matter what she felt, no matter if she couldn't turn back time, such things truly didn't matter.

“It's time to move on to the next one.”

Dawn had already broken.

As Hayden sank deeper into an inescapable pit of despair and Maria's thoughts lingered on retribution as they always did, the new day greeted them both all the same.

I'll be starting work on the second part next week.