Murmurs of utter disgust rippled through the upper balconies, followed instantly by a chorus of nobles calling for a swift execution.
"Sever his head right now!"
"How dare this savage speak of the royal war room!"
Raising a single, trembling hand, Aeloria silenced the roaring court while her blue eyes burned holes into Kane’s relaxed expression.
"If it were my choice, Warlord, your skull would already decorate our border gates," Aeloria hissed, her voice echoing in the sudden quiet.
"But Her Majesty demands you alive. Guards, take him to the lowest cells."
’Saved by the Queen again,’ Kane mused, allowing the spearmen to drag him backward by his chains.
’I should really send her flowers once I conquer this place.’
Down in the freezing depths of the prison beneath the roots, time seemed to blur until the iron door of his cell finally creaked open.
Instead of the regular guards, Minister Aeloria stepped into the dim light alone.
Gone were her formal council robes, replaced by something far more sinister and revealing.
Long crimson hair flowed in wild waves down her back, framing a face dominated by sharp blue eyes and a cruel, twisted smile.
She wore little more than woven leather straps and translucent crimson silks that left her almost completely bare, stepping toward him with a braided mana-whip coiled in her manicured hand.
’Trying to distract me or just dressing for the occasion?’
Kane wondered, testing the tension of the chains binding his wrists to the stone wall.
’Either way, red is definitely her color.’
"You think you won today," Aeloria whispered, locking the iron door behind her.
"I usually do."
"You think it’s a joke?"
"No."
"The court wanted to execute you right there on the floor. They wanted to tear you apart."
"Yet here I am, tied up with a half-naked elf in a basement. I call that an upgrade."
Cracking her wrist, Aeloria sent the whip lashing across his chest.
Slap.
A stinging line of fire bloomed across his collarbone, tearing through his ragged shirt.
Kane didn’t even flinch, keeping his eyes locked on her face.
"Was that supposed to hurt?"
"I am going to peel that arrogance off you strip by strip, barbarian."
"You can try."
Another crack echoed through the cell, biting into his shoulder.
’Her swing is wide and fueled purely by anger,’ Kane analyzed, watching her chest heave with every strike.
’She doesn’t want information. She just wants my ego broken.’
"You embarrassed my border forces, humiliated my commanders, and stood in my court like you own the continent," Aeloria sneered, stepping closer until he could smell a faint perfume of lotus mixed with sweat.
"I merely walked through a door you left open."
"I will make you scream."
"My safe word is Menual."
"Insolent dog!"
Slap.
Aeloria swung the whip again, aiming for his ribs, but Kane simply flexed his abdominal muscles to absorb the blow.
"Is this how you run a ministry?" Kane chuckled.
"Because your interrogation techniques need a lot of work."
"I’m not interrogating you," she spat, pacing in front of him while trailing the leather cord across the floor.
"I am teaching you your place."
"Do you know why I came down here instead of sending the royal torturer?" Aeloria asked, circling him slowly.
"Because you have a crush on me?"
"Because I wanted to watch the light die in those arrogant eyes myself."
"You are going to be waiting a very long time."
"We captured your commanders," she lied smoothly, her blue eyes flashing with malice.
"They are being broken right now in the adjacent cells."
"Try again," Kane smirked.
"My body tracks my party members. I know exactly where they are, and it isn’t here. You couldn’t catch Thora if she tied her bootlaces together."
"You rely too much on your strange skills, Warlord."
"I rely on winning."
"A few months ago, this city threw flowers at your feet," Aeloria continued, ignoring his taunt.
"They chanted your name during the tournament."
"They threw themselves at me in the taverns too," Kane smiled, a wicked glint in his eye.
"Some of your nobles have very flexible joints."
"You tainted our culture!"
"I gave them a good time."
Shrieking with frustration, Aeloria unleashed a flurry of vicious strikes that tore his remaining shirt into bloody ribbons.
Pain flared across his chest and arms, but his system passively cataloged the damage while his Warlord vitality held his posture rigid.
Fuck, it hurts.
"A filthy barbarian like you," Aeloria panted, pausing to catch her breath while glaring at his unbroken smile.
"Never deserve the champion title... you never deserved to walk our streets or breathe our air."
"And yet I took your tournament trophy, your treasury, and your dignity."
"I am erasing all of that today."
"Is that why you dressed up?" Kane taunted, nodding toward her barely-there attire.
"Hoping I would beg?"
"I want you hollow," she hissed, stepping right into his personal space.
Catching the torn fabric in the leather cord, she gave a vicious yank, ripping the last of his garments away entirely.
Standing completely naked and chained to the wall, Kane simply rolled his shoulders, completely unaffected by the cold air or her glare.
"Well, if you wanted to see me naked, Aeloria, you really just had to ask politely."
Stepping back, Aeloria let the leather whip coil loosely by her hip.
Her blue eyes swept over his scarred chest and bruised ribs, searching for any sign of shame.
Finding none, her frantic anger melted into a cold, piercing edge.
"You make jokes while bleeding in a cage," she whispered, tilting her head.
"But beneath the boasting, you are nothing but a monster acting on base instinct. Tell me, Warlord. How many people have you forced yourself onto?"
The teasing smirk vanished from his lips.
That sudden shift in her tone caught him off guard, digging into a rare, quiet corner of his mind he usually kept locked away.
His expression turned grim.
’Thora,’ Kane thought, the memory flashing unbidden beneath his stoic mask.
’I crossed a line when I first transmigrated into this world.’
The Moon-Silver chains clinked softly against the stone as he shifted his weight, refusing to break eye contact with the minister.
"Two," Kane answered, his voice stripped of all its previous humor.
Aeloria scoffed, a cruel smile returning to her painted lips.
"Only two? I suppose I should be impressed by your restraint. Your kind doesn’t know love. All you do is take what you want."
"I took what I thought was mine."
"You steal," she countered, stepping closer again until the warmth of her bare skin almost brushed his chest.
"You ruin things because you are incapable of building them. You are a savage playing at being a king."