Kuroinu: If

"Why did you call me out here?" Reinhard scowled. "Don't you know that I could sever your head from your neck even from here?"

Subaru smiled at Reinhard. It was bothersome how friendly his expression was.

"Relax, Reinhard. Besides, I gave you my word that no harm would befall Felt while we spoke. And if harm should befall her, then you have the opportunity now to sever my head. I wouldn't be stupid enough to bring her harm with that in mind." 

Subaru reached down to his sword belt, but Reinhard's sword was already drawn the moment that he touched his hilt, making him pause.

Subaru raised his other hand in a gesture of peace. "Please, Reinhard. We both know that my blade couldn't do anything to you." 

Reinhard allowed Subaru to draw his sword, which Subaru immediately cast into the dirt as soon as the steel had been freed from its sheath. Subaru held up both hands to show that he was at Reinhard's mercy. "Like I told you in my letter, I'm here to negotiate. This doesn't need to end in bloodshed." 

"How do I know that there isn't bloodshed already?" asked Reinhard. "Felt could have been attacked by one of your many assassins by now already. It would take time for a rider to arrive here to inform me of it, and by then, you could be gone." 

"Kidnappers, yes. But assassins? No, never," Subaru shook his head. "I would never allow physical harm to befall a woman." 

"No. But you would let other harm befall your captives," Reinhard pressed. 

Subaru nodded. His face was solemn. "I will admit, the way we treat our prisoners of war is… unique."

Unique was one way of putting it. Anger welled up inside of Reinhard at Subaru's mannerisms. 

If the Mercenary King was simply ruthless to everyone he captured or injured in the battle, hating him would be easy. The fact that he didn't was a contradiction that infuriated him. 

Reports indicated that he granted mercy to male soldiers who were captured or injured in battle. Prisoners of war under the Mercenary King were well-fed and tended to by healers, and given comfortable quarters. 

The same could not be said of the female knights that were captured.

"However!" Subaru pointed a finger at Reinhard. "I do not consider those women prisoners of war."

Reinhard frowned. The contradiction was so obvious that Subaru's claim confused him. "How so?"

"To the service nation, women are communal property," Subaru declared. "Property does not have personhood. Thus, I cannot protect them under the same rules of war as men, all of whom I consider brave soldiers, acting on behalf of the interests of their nation. I bear no resentment towards them."

Subaru's bold words made Reinhard grit his teeth in anger. There was no doubt in his mind that Subaru knew of honor, upholding the rights of captured soldiers.

At the same time, he would simultaneously disgrace the maidens who were brave enough to bear arms against him. 

It made a mockery of the very idea of honor. 

"The women knights are honorable warriors as well. They fight on behalf of their kingdom!" Reinhard snapped.

"Aye," Subaru agreed. "Which is why I do not do worse to them. Admit it, Sir Reinhard. You should be grateful that you are warring against me instead of the Mad Prince of Gusteko." 

"Not that it would be much better," Reinhard shot back, his voice dark with anger. "And what if I wished to partake in your womenfolk, as you have with ours?" 

"Ah, yours and ours. I see that you've already acknowledged our sovereignty," Subaru beamed at him. "In which case, I would happily share our women amongst you, good sir." 

Of course he would. Say what you will about the Mercenary King, but at least he was ideologically consistent. Reinhard lowered his sword. There was no point arguing with such a zealot. 

"So what is it that you want out of this, if not to distract me from protecting the lady I have sworn my sword to?" Reinhard asked. 

"I want to negotiate the conditional surrender of the Kingdom of Lugunica," Subaru declared. 

Reinhard stared at him, his face blank. "I think I would rather you simply surrender, so that we may end this bloodshed."

"That would make things easy for you, wouldn't it, Reinhard?" Subaru snorted. "Unfortunately for you, if I surrender, my men won't lay down their arms. I'm just a figurehead, a representative of their will. Even if you torture me, make me tell them to surrender, they won't. They'll only follow my orders as long as I keep giving them women to warm their beds with at night."

"The Council will never agree to a surrender," Reinhard replied.

"You are not the Council of Wise Men," Subaru retorted. "How can you say that they wouldn't agree to my terms?" 

Reinhard bit his lip, realizing he'd overstepped his bounds. He was a knight, not a politician. "Then let me hear your terms," he groused. 

"I will allow the Council of Wise Men, the Knights of Lugunica, and the monarchy to remain in Lugunica as legitimate entities," Subaru began. "The monarch will remain head of state. However, the Prime Minister will be charged with running day-to-day affairs, an elected leader."

There was little guess as to who the elected leader would be. Many Lugunican citizens and even heads of major houses had begun to favor Subaru. There were more turncoats every day, and he was only gaining more allies as his service law rose in popularity. It would be a landslide race.

"The Black Dogs will become legitimized, as a branch of the Lugunican military. They will be used as a vanguard force, the first line of defense and offense, quick to mobilize against any threat Lugunica may face. They will serve the Kingdom," Subaru continued. "And in exchange, this nation will ratify the mandatory service law into its constitution." 

"This is preposterous!" Reinhard boomed. He gripped his sword hilt so hard that he was afraid it might snap. "The Council will never agree to this! They'd be reduced to a ceremonial position!" 

"The Council gets the opportunity to save face in a war they're losing!" Subaru retorted. "The nation of Lugunica can maintain its dignity in compromise, instead of suffering a drawn-out conclusion and being overthrown as a nation. I don't want to rid the world of Lugunican knights. I don't want to weaken our Kingdom against foreign invaders! But at the same time, I don't want to give up the sovereignty entrusted to me as leader of the Black Dogs. And you don't want to see more meaningless bloodshed. We need to find a way forward, Reinhard."

"I can't allow this to happen," said Reinhard, raising his sword. "I'm sorry. But I know the Council, and they would never agree to these terms." 

The things Subaru was saying were making too much sense. If Reinhard kept listening to him, he might become unable to do his sworn duty. If he couldn't keep his vows to this country, then he would become even more useless. 

His father would be right about him.

The thought of it struck fear into his heart. 

"You can't kill me," Subaru stated, his tone eerily calm. "If you do, then the Black Dogs are left without a leader. You'll have no one to negotiate future terms with, and the Black Dog splinters into individual cells that will cause chaos to the Kingdom for decades to come. After all the hell we went through with the Sin Archbishops together, what will happen to the Kingdom if we become even weaker through prolonged infighting?" 

"Regardless, I have a duty to serve. If I deny myself this opportunity, then I'll regret it for the rest of my life," said Reinhard, readying himself to strike. 

Regardless of his enemy's hypocritical honor, he refused to dishonor himself by prolonging Subaru's suffering. He would end it in a painless blow.

Subaru's expression softened, turning somber. "Do you remember the battle of Priestella?"

Reinhard stopped himself, just as he was about to launch towards the Mercenary King. A plume of dust sprang from where his foot lurched forward before stopping. If he had been a millisecond earlier, Subaru's head would have been flying through the air right now.

"I served in the fighting alongside you," Subaru continued. "I doubt you remember me there. I was a footsoldier in Crusch's army, but you saved my life from Gluttony. I wanted to be you so badly. I admired you." 

"Where are you going with this?" Reinhard demanded.

"I admired you, because you were a knight."

"Stop talking! " 

"I refuse ," Subaru shot back, crossing his arms. "Allow a man his final words." 

"If you say any more words, then I can't promise myself that my will won't waver," Reinhard's voice trembled.

"If your will wavers because of my words, then perhaps my words are reason enough for you not to swing that sword at me. You will hear what I have to say," Subaru demanded. "As a fellow man, as a fellow warrior. Look at me!" 

Reinhard forced himself to fix his gaze upon Subaru. Gone was the Mercenary King, the leader of the Black Dogs. All Reinhard saw was a man, no, a boy, who had been denied by fate, and the weariness upon his soul that had resulted from it.

"You ought to look me in the eyes if you're considering killing me," said Subaru. His steady gaze captured Reinhard in a trance. There wasn't an ounce of malice in his voice, as though the thought of being killed didn't bother him.

It took him a moment to find his voice again. "I shall," Reinhard replied. 

Subaru nodded, and when he deemed that Reinhard looked ready to listen, he continued. 

"I admired you, because knights are the brave servants to the Kingdom. But the kingdom is like a cancer. It will kill itself from the inside unless it's stopped. Right now, if I were to die, the Black Dogs would go underground, launching guerrilla attacks, weakening the Kingdom. They would continue to do that regardless of if we were to be attacked by Vollachia, Gusteko, or Kararagi."

"I would protect the kingdom against them." 

"You would try," Subaru suggested. "But the people of Lugunica would suffer. Innocents would suffer. You can't be everywhere at once. They wouldn't treat prisoners as well as I do. Our women would be raped regardless." 

Reinhard loosened his grip on his sword, if only slightly.

"Let's say I walk away from here today, and we continue to war," said Subaru. "What would happen then?"

Reinhard clenched his jaw. "More soldiers would die." 

"I agree," said Subaru. He looked unfazed by the thought of more war and bloodshed. "And our kingdom would be weaker for it. Blood draws wolves." 

"You're saying we could be invaded?" 

"I'm certain of it," Subaru snorted. "Vincent Vollachia is nothing if not an opportunist. But if we were to be invaded, and I were still alive, you can be certain that I would be at your side once again, to fight off the foreign threats to our kingdom."

"So what you're saying is that I should let you live so that we can be invaded?" Reinhard retorted.

"At least we could fight them off, together, if I'm alive to see our soil contaminated by foreign boots," Subaru scoffed. "Without me, my dogs have no leadership. They would act to your detriment without me to guide them."

If he killed Subaru, they would fight another war. 

If he didn't kill Subaru, they would continue to fight a war. 

There was no point in trying to capture him, and the Council would never agree to his terms.

"Then what should I do?" Reinhard clenched his head in his hands in frustration. "How do I save everyone?"

Am I to be a useless hero once more?

"That depends on you," Subaru replied. "Your Council wants me dead. But the Council does not serve Lugunica, all it serves is itself. The Council would rather be destroyed by foreign invaders than change this nation and lose some of its power. I am the one offering compromise." 

"But how?" Reinhard asked. "I can't convince them to go along with this."

"You get a choice, Reinhard," Subaru pleaded. "You know you do. You have the power to end this bloodshed. Please, let us save this kingdom together."

"There has to be a catch," Reinhard croaked.

"There's always a catch," Subaru agreed. "I want Felt." 

A righteous fury flared in his chest. 

"No."

"I can offer you the right of first taking." 

"NO!" 

Reinhard's sheer anger made Subaru take a cautious step back.

"Nobody is exempt from the service law," Subaru explained carefully."Not even a dragon candidate. All women are equal under this law. It wouldn't be fair if one woman was exempt over all others. I would only need her for a few hours, just long enough to prove my point. After that, I can release her back into your custody, and you can do as you please with her. I'm making that exception out of respect for you, for having saved my life once, for having shared a battlefield together. That's the last bitter pill you'll have to swallow. But only the bitterest of medicines can save this Kingdom." 

Subaru stepped forward, extending his hand to Reinhard. 

Reinhard gave Subaru a hard, pained look. 

"What do I have to do?" 

Felt raced through the manor, her feet beating against the floor like the flapping of a hummingbird's wings.

Everyone was gone. She didn't remember falling asleep. One moment she was talking to Reinhard, the next moment, she was in her bed, one that once felt so soft she thought she was still dreaming. 

She still thought she was dreaming. The Astrea family servants, the ones who clothed and bathed her against her will, fed her food that she hadn't earned of her own merit, and once kept her from running away from the Royal Selection, were gone. All of them.

"What the hell is going on?" Felt whispered to herself. Her own voice felt like it was the only one in the entire manor. "Reinhard will be here. He'd never leave me alone like this–" 

This feeling of hopelessness. 

It felt the same as back then, at the loot house. 

When it looked like that shady-looking bitch with the cow tits was about to slaughter everyone. When everyone in the slums locked their doors, shut their windows, was leaving her to die as she screamed for someone, anyone, to help.

"Fuck!" Felt cursed, wiping away angry tears. She would not be that weak again. She would never be that helpless again. 

Felt reached the balcony and stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened as the glow of the fires down below reflected in the red of her irises.

The Astrea manor was located at the top of a hill, with clear views of the city beneath it. It was an inspiring sight for the people to see the home of the proud warriors that protected the nation. 

But it also allowed Felt to see the trails of smoke and fire blazing into the night sky. Many of them were in the slums. She could hear the distant screams of womenfolk, the jeering and laughter of men, and it set her teeth on edge. 

"How?" Felt let out a whimper. Reinhard would never allow this to happen, not in their city. 

"I'm sorry you had to see this, Lady Felt." A familiar voice drew her away from the horrific sight. 

"Reinhard?" Felt turned around and was faced with the sight of her sworn knight. Reinhard bowed respectfully under her gaze. 

"At your service, my lady." 

Felt couldn't help but notice the look in his eyes. They held an indescribable sadness in them. She could see the guilt and the self-loathing, but there was something else she couldn't identify.

Stupid, stupid stupid. Her stupid knight was doting on her when people were burning alive, or worse, depending on those screams. She didn't need his constant protection. She didn't need to be treated like a little brat when the less fortunate were burning in the slums.

"Go out there and put out those fires! Help those people!" Felt yelled at him. Reinhard held his bow for a moment longer before he responded. 

"I had hoped that you would still be asleep when I came here to collect you. I didn't want you to see any of this. It will be over shortly." 

"See any of wha–gk!" 

Felt's eyes widened as she felt a sharp impact against the back of her neck.

Oh, she realized, her vision turning watery and sideways as she fell. It was the same sensation as when Reinhard knocked her out only hours ago. It was him.

Felt woke up in a cage. 

Her head was ringing like hell's bells, and as she blinked into consciousness, she could begin to make sense of the noises and sights around her as her senses returned to her. 

The cage was moving. It was a smooth ride, so it must have been the work ground dragon.

She was no longer in her thief clothing. Instead, she was wearing the annoyingly frilly and colorful dress that Reinhard always made her wear. That bastard must have dressed her in her sleep again. 

Cool metal hung around her neck, and when she tried to move her hands, she realized that they were cuffed behind her back. Then she realized that a long length of chain that was wrapped around one of the bars was connected to her neck. She couldn't see it, but she could feel a collar on her throat. 

The realization that she had been captured slowly dawned on her. And as the cage rolled along in the cart, the panic began to build as she saw the men and women fucking like animals in the streets without an ounce of shame.

Pressed up against walls, on all fours and rutting like dogs, bent over in pillories and taking dick from both ends, on their knees and sucking cock in the open, men and women fucked each other, nude as the day they were born. 

Felt realized now that the screams she heard from the balcony were coming from here. Or, her panicked mind reasoned, from everywhere. 

The jeers, too, came from the men who were waiting their turns with a mug of drink in their hands, stroking themselves to stay hard as their friends went before them. 

Felt watched as a woman cried out in a mix of pain and pleasure as a man hilted himself inside of her, holding still for a moment, before pulling out. A small gush of semen sprayed from her cunt, still dripping when another man lined himself up behind her and shoved himself in.

This was dangerous. Felt had no idea why she could be in this cage, but she knew it was bad. 

She knew. 

She just couldn't bring herself to–

These damned heels made it too difficult to kick the iron bars. Besides, they were solid. This wasn't the first time Felt had been locked in a cage, but the bars had always been warped, busted, or spaced far enough apart for her to slip through them like a cat. 

Calm down, Felt told herself. Keep it together.

This hadn't even been the first time she'd seen women getting raped. Life in the slums was cruel. Men would do anything for the comfort that lay between a woman's legs. Felt herself knew that if she ever became too weak to steal, she would have found herself opening her legs for a bit of copper. 

"Ehougho ooo–! " 

Felt stared at a woman in shock as their cart passed by. 

The woman, much more buxom than herself, took one in the pussy from underneath, one in the ass from above, and jerked off one in each hand. The man in her ass was spanking her from behind, beating her asscheeks red in tandem with his thrusts.

But what bothered her was the look of sheer glazed-over pleasure in the woman's eyes. The lustful smile on her lips. Her hair, face, and back was already smeared with cum, so judging by appearances alone, she'd been at it for…a while. 

Yet, the fast and brutal fuckings made her cry out in pleasure. 

"More! More! More cocks, plea– mmph!" Her cries for more cocks were silenced by a man who had stepped forward, shoving his thick cock down her gullet in a single thrust. " Gluk gluk gluk gluk gluck–"

"You got it, bitch! Look at her! She's fucking broken! Gahahahaha!" The man laughed as he grabbed clenched his hands down on her skull, fucking her mouth hard and fast as a trickle of fresh drool ran down her chin.

Felt clenched her eyes shut, but the image of the woman's throat bulging with each thrust was already seared into her retinas. She couldn't help but feel a strange… tingle, in her loins.

"Shit," Felt hissed. "Shit." 

She doubted that Granny or Gramps would mind her foul mouth in this instance. It seemed appropriate, given the circumstances

Reinhard… please… I'm scared.

Those treacherous thoughts echoed in her mind, a desperate prayer to her knight, whom she'd always treated so poorly. She was beginning to regret all the times she called him a bastard to his face. 

Behind that polite smile, there had always been an ocean of hurt he'd done well to hide from her.

The cart stopped. Two men she didn't recognize hopped out of the front, bearing perverted grins on their faces as they laid eyes on her. 

"Guess she's awake." 

"Yeah, we're gonna have some fun with her." 

Their careless words struck fear into her heart, like ice-cold daggers. Felt could only imagine what they meant by 'fun'.

She already knew–

The two of them picked up the cage with her in it before she had more time to ponder it, as though it weighed no more than a sack of 'tatos. They carried it up the steps of a makeshift wooden scaffolding, before dropping it on the wooden boards.

"Eeeeah!" Felt let out an embarrassing cry as the cage hit the floor, rattling until it settled. She glared at the men carrying them.

"You better watch yourselves, you sons of bitches," she snarled. "When Reinhard hears about this, you better pray he'll be merciful." 

The two men stared at her, smiles growing on their faces, before bursting out laughing. 

"She– she thinks!" 

"I know! I know! She has no idea! Gahahaha!" 

"What's so fucking funny?!" Felt screamed at them. The two of them stopped laughing. 

"Watch your mouth, bitch!" One of the men grabbed the lead of the chain connected to her collar, tugging it harshly. Felt's face slammed against the bars, hitting her cheek hard.

"Hey, easy!" A familiar voice cried out. 

"Reinhard!" Felt pressed herself up against the metal bars. She would recognize the voice of her knight anywhere.

There Reinhard stood, his eyes full of anger and concern at the two men who had dropped her so unceremoniously. 

"I told you to be gentle with her!" Reinhard yelled.

"We don't take orders from you, Van Astrea," One of the men sneered at him. 

"Don't you fucking dare talk to him that way!" Felt yelled. 

"Quiet, you!" Felt let out a yelp as the other man kicked the iron bars of her cage. He turned back to Reinhard. "Don't get me wrong, Mr. Strongest Knight. I respect you, I really do, and I'm grateful for what you're helping us accomplish here. Your name is going down in the history books with us for this." 

Felt saw a flash of guilt thunder across Reinhard's face. The man continued. "But we'll do as we please with our women. Don't try to boss me around. Under the Black Dog's rule, we're equals, and the only man I'll bow to is the Mercenary King, Natsuki Subaru!" 

"That's enough, Weitz," A man came up from behind him, clasping a hand over his shoulder. 

The man, Weitz, apparently, gasped as he turned around, before dropping to one knee. Felt didn't understand what the big fucking deal was. The dude who came up behind Weitz seemed like just an average-looking guy in terms of height and build.

"Subaru-sama," Weitz breathed. "My liege." 

"Stand, Weitz," said Subaru, glancing at Reinhard. "I trust Weitz didn't give you too many issues?" 

"None that can't be forgiven, Subaru-sama," Reinhard intoned. Subaru nodded slowly. He stared at Weitz, who seemed to cower under his gaze.

Subaru-sama. Felt's eyes widened with recognition of the name. The goons reaction only cemented things for her. The Mercenary King himself. Leader of the Black Dogs.

Felt had imagined that Natsuki Subaru was six feet tall, broad of shoulder and heavily muscled. She'd never met the man before in her life, but when Subaru turned to face her, she spotted a flash of recognition in her eyes. 

"Sir Astrea needs time to adjust to our philosophies, Weitz. Please be understanding of him. That being said, I don't tolerate rudeness from my followers. All men are created equal, and all men are worthy of respect," said Subaru.

"O-Of course, Subaru-sama!" Weitz stood ramrod stiff, saluting Subaru proudly. Subaru returned the salute. 

"As you were." Weitz took a step back, before about-facing and running off somewhere. With Weitz gone, Subaru focused his attention on Felt.

"Felt, huh?" Subaru looked her up and down. The cage was only waist-high, so he crouched down to reach eye level with her.

"Fucking rapist," Felt snarled. She spit at him, the loogie landing on his cheek. Subaru wiped it away from his cheek, unfazed.

 "It's been a while. You haven't changed a bit," Subaru commented. 

Felt frowned in confusion. She'd heard of him, sure, but she'd never seen this man before in her life. Perhaps she'd crossed paths with him and never noticed. Nothing about Subaru's appearance stood out besides his scary-looking eyes and black hair, which was somewhat uncommon in Lugunica, as far as she could tell. 

"Have we met before?" 

Subaru stared at her for a second.

"No," he said finally, standing up. "I suppose not. Reinhard, feel free to get started." 

Reinhard crouched down, a key in his gloved hand. Felt looked at him eagerly, yet he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Reinhard! Come on, open this cage and bust us out of here! We can be free! There's not a single person in this city that could catch us!" Felt cried. 

"I'm sorry, Felt-sama," Reinhard whispered. "It'll all be over soon." 

Her brain slowed down as she heard those words leaving his mouth. 

What the hell are you apologizing for? 

What will be over soon? 

But deep down inside–

She already knew.

Reinhard unlocked the cage door, and the moment he did, Felt slammed into the bars with full force. The door burst open, and she activated her Divine Protection immediately, diving through Reinhard's legs. 

I'm free! I'm free!

She managed to take one step past him, before the chain that connected her to the cage went taut, almost crushing her windpipe as her momentum stopped all at once. She'd forgotten about the collar around her neck.

Felt's eyes bulged as she felt the collar tightening. The whiplash made her legs slip out from under her, and she fell onto the wooden floorboards.

" Oough! Gak! Kaff! Kaff! Haaaak–!"

"Let's try to keep her from doing that again," Subaru sighed, shaking his head. Reinhard undid the chain connecting Felt to the cage as she hacked and coughed, rubbing her throat. So paralyzed was she that she didn't even notice it when Reinhard put one end of the chain through a metal loop attached to the floorboards. He began to pull on it, dragging Felt closer to the loop that would keep her tied to the floor. 

"Please, Reinhard. Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Felt wailed, tugging away from him with all of her strength. She clawed at the floorboards, but once Reinhard had wound enough of the chain, Felt could barely raise her head above a kneeling level, and he tied the chain to a wooden post to hold her secure. 

When he was done binding her, Reinhard stepped in front of her. "Subaru-sama. I know that I declined the right to first taking, but if I may, could I give my mistress one final kiss?" 

Subaru shook his head. "You don't need to ask for permission, Reinhard. Felt does not belong to me, you or anyone else for that matter. She belongs to all men, now, highborn or lowborn." 

Reinhard nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Subaru-sama."

Turning to face her, Reinhard gave her a pleading look as he kneeled down to her level. 

"You fucking bastard," Felt snarled. 

"I'm sorry," Reinhard apologized one last time, before grabbing her by the chin and drawing her in for a kiss. Felt's eyes widened at the feeling of his warm lips against her own. She opened her mouth to scream, and felt his tongue slipping inside. 

She nearly bit his tongue off, but felt a small object entering her mouth with it. The surprise made her swallow it, and when she did, Reinhard pulled away. Using a gloved hand, he wiped away some of the saliva from her lips. 

" To make things easier on you, " Reinhard whispered. 

Felt started to feel warm instantly, and the aches in her body from sleeping in a metal cage for who knows how long started to fade. 

He fucking drugged me?!

"Let's get started then," said Subaru, clapping his hands together. 

She felt a pair of hands grabbing the neckline of her dress from behind. She could feel the fabric stretching apart as far as it could, then yielding, ripping straight down the back. The dress was torn to shreds off of her body, exposing her skin to the cold night air.

"Gotta love the outfits these uppity sluts come in here with," Felt didn't recognize the man's voice, but she swore to commit it to memory, in case she could ever get her revenge. "Makes it feel like I'm unwrapping a present."

Felt could feel angry tears welling up in her eyes, as she began to accept that what was happening on those streets she passed, no, in the entire city, was about to happen to her. 

That dress alone was worth more than everything she owned before becoming a royal candidate, and it was torn from her like tissue paper in the hands of a man she didn't even know. 

Go away, tears! Don't fall!

She clenched her eyes shut, refusing to show weakness here. Not in front of these heartless men. She had grown up on the streets. She wasn't some weak-willed maiden who would be broken by this. 

I've endured before, and I'll endure now, Felt chanted to herself in her mind. 

That went away when she heard the voice of her would-be rapist from behind her. 

"No bra, huh?" The man grunted. "Funny. Guess she isn't really developed enough to need it." 

Felt clenched her jaw in a fury. He was already going to rape her. He didn't need to comment on her body too. She knew that she was underdeveloped from having grown up on the streets, but she'd filled out some from eating well after arriving at the Astrea manor. 

But not enough to wear a bra instead of pasties. 

The man, having torn all the way down to her skirt, revealed a pair of orange panties that she'd chosen earlier that morning.

"Of course," the man laughed, pulling them down roughly.

Revealing her precious part for all to see. 

A number of wolf-whistles and hums of appreciation came from behind her as her bare pussy was revealed to a number of men hiding behind her. 

Felt couldn't turn around to see how many of them were there, but she could only imagine that it was people she knew. They were in the slums, after all. Perhaps it was people she'd once stolen from, or shared a meal with. Watching her as this indignity happened to her in front of their eyes. 

Felt clenched her eyes tightly. She didn't want to know if Reinhard was watching or not. 

Didn't want to know what kind of look he wore on his face right now.

She heard the man spitting into his hand, before rubbing it up and down her slit. She could feel the moisture, the roughness of his fingers, and it disgusted her. 

"Mmph!"

"Nice," The man grunted. "Nice and smooth. I love a girl who doesn't have too many cunt hairs yet."

Her panties hung loosely around her calves. He didn't even bother pulling them all the way off. The sound of a buckle being undone cut through the night, and she nearly yelped as he clapped a heavy hand onto her bare asscheek. 

His hands were wide enough that he could grip her entire asscheek. Felt didn't even need to turn around to know that he was a large man. He rubbed the head of his cock against her entrance, and it felt hot and thick. Unable to turn around to see it for herself, Felt's imagination filled in the blanks for her, and with it came even more terror and apprehension.

"Still playing the tough girl, huh?" The man cackled, prodding the entrance to her slit with his cock, rubbing it up and down with the glans. Half the head was already wedged inside now, spreading her apart. "Let's see how long that lasts!" 

With a single heavy thrust, the man forced his cock deep into Felt's pussy. 

"Guuuah-!" 

So–

Fucking– 

Big!

Felt let out an explosive gasp of saliva as she felt herself getting penetrated deeper than she had her entire life. She'd schlicked it before, sure, but this cock made her tiny cunnie feel fuller than it ever had before. She could feel him grinding himself inside deeper, settling into position and enjoying the tightness of her pussy as her body tried to adjust to the obtrusion inside of her. 

A warm trickle of blood ran down her thighs, unnoticed by everyone but Felt.

The man let out a quiet hum of appreciation. 

"F-Fuuck–!" She whispered, unable to keep her mouth shut for any longer.

Felt clenched her fists, panting as she tried to relax her body. Despite it, she couldn't help but clench and unclench around the man's fat cock. She didn't know if he was really that big, or if her body was really that small, but either way, she couldn't turn around to check. 

Shit. Shit. Shit. 

Calm down. He's a little big. So what? 

Felt couldn't lie to herself. It hurt, aching and burning all at once. She couldn't imagine how badly it would have felt if Reinhard hadn't slipped her whatever pill he gave her. Her senses were noticeably duller, considering how deeply she was digging her nails into her palms, and yet that didn't hurt at all. 

Which let her body give more attention to how stuffed she felt inside by this fat, bitch-breaker of a cock. It was as if Subaru had interviewed every man in his army and found the man with the fattest prick to break her in. In fact, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had done so.

The man, having been sawing himself back and forth an inch at a time, started dragging his hips back. He would have pulled Felt back with him with how tightly her pussy lips were clenching around his shaft, if he hadn't put active effort towards pushing her forward at the same time. 

It felt like getting a shiv dragged out of her, Felt thought to herself. And when only the glans remained clenched in the tightness of her pussy, did the man slam himself back in, sinking even deeper this time. 

"EEEyaaa–!" 

This time, Felt couldn't hold back her scream. Her eyes shot open, and the night sky appeared before her as she cried out to the heavens. The man started pistoning back and forth, manhandling her tiny cunt, grunting like a hog with each thrust. Felt imagined that she could feel her pussy bulging with each thrust, and his hands gripped her asscheeks like iron vices, handholds for him to drag her back and forth to impale her on his cock. 

"What a tight-ass bitch," The man let out a shuddering moan. "Guess I'll have to loosen you up. I love putting royal bitches in their place." 

The images of women she'd seen getting fucked on the street flashed through her mind, and Felt realized now how she could have heard their cries all the way from the Astrea manor. 

"She's got more than one hole," Subaru declared. "Step up, step up. Whoever wants next dibs gets it. Come on, lads. You don't get to fuck a Dragon Maiden every day." 

"I'll take it," someone said. Felt didn't even get a good look at him before his cock swung into view, adorned by a messy bed of pubic hairs that gave off a distinctive musk. 

"Don't you fucking dare– mmph!" Felt's words coincided with the timing of a thrust from the man behind her, and the man in front of her took it as his opportunity to shove himself into her mouth. 

Holding himself still there, he allowed the thrusts of the man behind Felt to push her down his shaft. 

"Glak! Glak! Gluk! Gluck!" His cock was hitting the back of her throat already, but the man was shuffling forward still. Each thrust of the man from behind was driving him deeper down her throat. 

It was like the swinging of a pendulum on both ends, with Felt caught in the middle. 

Her mouth was coating his cock in saliva, and if Felt had her mind on anything besides how stretched her pussy was getting and how the man fucking her from behind was only getting faster as he loosened her up, she might have bitten down. 

Instead, all she could do was kneel there and take it as she was spit roasted. She couldn't even help but taste the man in her mouth as his shaft scraped against her tongue. He tasted like he hadn't had a bath in weeks.

She might not have even smelled him, back when she lived in the muck and slums with the rest of these men, but having lived in the Astrea manor for the past few years, she wasn't used to it anymore. And it was pungent . Every time she breathed through her nose when he pulled out of her throat, she had to breathe in his smell. 

Her entire body felt like it was heating up. 

Must be that pill, Felt thought. 

Only it wasn't hitting fast enough. Some of the pain was going away, turning into unwanted pleasure, but that could have just been her body adjusting to the brutal fucking. She would have appreciated it more if she wasn't fighting for every breath. 

Felt couldn't help but sob around the man's shaft as it violated her mouth. 

"Enough crying!" The sharp smack to her ass slapped her out of her misery, causing her to clench up. Felt's eyes flew open, and she made eye contact with the man raping her mouth. 

Please, she tried to beg through her eyes. 

"This bitch tightens up when you spank her! Hahaha!" The man fucking her started raining down blows, causing Felt to squeal in pain. She could feel him twitching inside of her, and both men sped up simultaneously. She could feel the facefucker's balls bouncing off of her chin as she swallowed him down to the root with each stroke. 

It finally dawned on her that they were about to cum. They were about to cum inside of her.

"Let's fill this bitch up!"

"Here it comes! Get pregnant with my kid!" 

I'll kill you, you bastards. I'll fucking kill you all, you shits.

"MMmmmguuuuuh-!"  

Both men roared as they slammed themselves all the way inside of her body, holding still. A flood of warmth slammed into her from both ends, one of them throbbing down her throat, while the other inflated her pussy to capacity. With so much cock inside of her, she felt like a stuffed turkey. 

I'll-

I'll fucking...

...kill-

-all... of you...

At least she didn't have to taste any of it. The guy in her mouth had been so far down her gullet that it pumped directly into her stomach. 

Even as the steam tapered off from both ends, the two men ground themselves in, enjoying the tightness of her throat and pussy. Finally, when they had no more left to give, they pulled out of her. She still felt stuffed, yet her pussy and throat felt empty. 

Cum gushed out of her sore pussy, dribbling down her thigh, and Felt fell onto her side as the two men were the only things holding her upright. She let out a burp, tasting the cum on her breath as it settled in her stomach. 

"Already out of stamina?" Subaru asked, stepping out in front of her. His arms were crossed in annoyance. "Priscilla took, like, fifty dudes before she passed out. You still got a lot more mileage left in you tonight." 

Felt's head felt woozy. It might have been the pill finally kicking in, or the influx of oxygen hitting her brain, but either way, she hardly even noticed when the chains loosened slightly, giving her more slack. 

She hardly even noticed when a beastman picked her up from underneath, his arms sliding under the pits of her knees. Felt's head settled against the fur on his chest as her back rested against him. 

By the time she had the sense to look down, she already felt the tip of his cock poking against her asshole. 

"No. No wait! Stop–! Ghk! "

Felt could see how long and thick his cock was, and it was a long way to the base. All he'd done was allow gravity to push half of the head into her puckered asshole, and she could feel the burning stretch of her anus widening to accommodate him. Her limbs felt weak, and in this position, she couldn't fight back. Her hands were still cuffed together in front of her. 

"Reinhard!" Felt screamed, twisting her body in hopes of catching a glimpse of her knight. Standing there, off to the side, she could see him, watching her with a pitiful expression in his eyes. 

"Please, Reinhard! Save me! I'll be a good girl, I swear! Please!" Felt could feel herself sinking deeper onto the demi-human's cock, her asshole swallowing his length hungrily. 

"I'll wear whatever dresses you want me to! I'll never run away again, I promise!" Felt wailed. "I'll be a proper lady, I'll stop saying swears, I won't ever call you a monster again, I'll do whatever you want! Just saAAAA–!" 

A savage thrust upwards cut her off as the beastman sheathed himself into her asshole, grinding her buttcheeks into his lap. He let out a satisfied sigh as he ground himself into her tightest hole. 

"Gk– ah– ough–!" 

Felt imagined that she could feel him in her stomach. 

She looked down, and could see a bulge in her normally-smooth midriff. With a body as petite and slender as hers, it was hard to miss. It struck her mind that he was so thick and long that the bulge she was seeing was from his cock stretching her ass.

"Guuuuaaahhh!"

To say that the next few minutes of anal fucking was brutal would be an understatement. 

The beastman didn't wait for her to adjust. He just wanted her body to catch up with the fact that what used to be an exit was turned in reverse. Felt's slutty screams didn't make him slow down, and if anything, they only egged him on, like he was competing with himself to see what the loudest sound she could make was. 

"Hahahahaha! Look at her boys! She's pissing herself!"

Indeed she was. Even as the beastman continued to fuck her ass without an ounce of mercy, she was pissing all over the floorboards, unable to even control her bladder in the face of such a hard fucking. Tears rolled down her cheeks freely, and sobs wracked her body in shame.

"This bitch is just too tight. I can't hold it anymore! Here, take it slut!" 

The beastman buried himself as far up her ass as he could, and with one final grunt, he held still. 

Hot semen sprayed into her body, and if Felt thought that her ass felt full before, she was wrong. She could feel her anal walls expanding to accommodate all of the beastman's jizz.

"No more. Please," Felt sobbed. A silent prayer, to whatever gods was listening. But God had never favored her before. God never saved her when she was starving in the streets without a copper to her name. 

God wouldn't save her here.

Another man stepped forward in front of her, picking her up by the ass. 

"Sloppy seconds aren't really my thing, but with such a high-quality slut, I can't exactly say that my standards are so high I'll turn this down." 

The man shoved his erect cock into her already stuffed pussy, causing another gush of cum to spray out from the last guy to leave a sticky creampie in her. Felt let out a cry as she felt both of her holes filled, until the guy in her ass pulled out, letting her legs go. She had to wrap her legs around the man fucking her pussy, otherwise she would have fallen. 

Another man stepped in to take the beastman's place. At least his cock wasn't as big as the beastman's, but the fact that her asshole was already lubricated with jizz meant that he had no problem hammering away into her immediately. 

"Uuuuooogh…"

Felt let out a weak wail as the two men had their way with her lower holes. Their paces didn't match up, so while at times one would leave her pussy as the other shoved itself into her ass, other times, both would be buried inside of her. 

"I heard that this slut might actually be related to the Lugunicas." 

"Shit, seriously?" 

"Yeah, dumbass! Look at this blonde hair and those red eyes of hers. They say that she might've been kidnapped as a kid, so when those rich fucks kicked the bucket, she survived." 

"Holy shit, so we're fucking royalty right now?" 

"We might be! The last of the Lugunicas!"

Both of them came eventually, and Felt fell to the ground unceremoniously as she was dropped. She let out a groan, only for someone to grab a fistful of her blonde hair, dragging her up to her knees. 

Her red eyes settled on the cock that was in front of her, and she leaned forward, taking it into her mouth. 

There's no point resisting anymore…

Just don't fuck me so hard.

Please… no more cocks inside of me…

Felt slurped and sucked noisily. She licked it, dragged her cheek against it, anything she could do to appease the man it was attached to.

Reinhard… is this what you meant by fate? 

Only those who had extraordinary resolve and courage could defy fate. That's what he'd told her. 

She had laughed at him when he said it.

I swear, the biggest losers who have a habit of running away always resort to the word fate every time they fail. Whether it be their lack of strength, intelligence, luck, money, dreams, it's all because of fate to them. Screw that. I make my own choices. How I turn out in my life is my own responsibility.

That's what she used to believe.

She took the shaft into her hands, and with the limited mobility she had with her handcuffs, she stroked what she couldn't take into her mouth, while massaging the wrinkled balls with her smooth, dexterous fingers. 

Back then, on the streets, she'd always been scared. 

Scared that if she kept stealing, one day she would've been caught. 

She would've been beaten so badly that she couldn't steal anymore. 

And then she'd be spreading her legs for coin. Things would've turned out the same even if she wasn't a Dragon Maiden.

My fate… is to serve cocks.

If that wasn't fate, what was? 

The man stepped back, stroking himself off at a rapid pace. 

"Open your mouth," he grunted. 

Felt obeyed, looking up at him with empty red eyes. She couldn't fight anymore. She was done.

The man pointed himself at her tongue and came. 

His load flew through the air, most of it landing on her tongue, but some of it missed. Some of it hit her lips, chin, and coating her pretty features with a layer of jizz. 

When he was finished, another man stepped up, pushing him out of the way.

"It's my turn," he declared. 

Felt sucked on him too, ignoring the way his cock stank of manure. He must've been a farmer coming back from a long day's work. He followed the example of the man in front of him, spraying his load over her face and hair. When it dried, her hair would stick together in clumps. 

More men came and went, some of them opting to use her loosened holes, not caring in the slightest that she was already stuffed full of cum. Even Subaru himself used her, after she'd already been used by his subordinates, folding her legs up and plowing her into the rough floorboards. He left a creampie inside of her, joining the many others that had been given to her that night. 

The pill finally kicked in, or perhaps it was the endorphins that came from her adrenaline finally wearing off. 

Either way, it was too late for that now. Felt was numb and used in every sense of the word.

Her eyes were growing heavy, and her lower body was soaked with cum. It dribbled down her slender legs, pooling onto the floorboards. Her vision grew fuzzy as she waited for another man to climb on top of her naked body.

Her last thought was of Reinhard before she passed out. 

Why, Reinhard?

Why didn't you save me? 

"Is that enough, Subaru-sama?" Reinhard asked. Subaru could hear the sheer bitterness in his tone of voice as he spat out his honorific like it was something contemptible. 

"Yeah," said Subaru. "You can take her now. I can't promise I can let you have her forever, but we might be able to look at this as a reward for having demonstrated your loyalty to the Black Dogs." 

Reinhard didn't respond, gingerly picking Felt's unconscious body off the floorboards. 

One of the men had undone the chains tying her to her post an hour ago as a joke, to see if she even still had the sense to run away, and she hadn't noticed. She just kept servicing cock, like it was second-nature to her now. 

It had only taken a few hours to break down such a fierce young girl.

A ruined slut had taken her place. 

"Hey, Reinhard?" Subaru called out. Reinhard stopped, but didn't bother turning around to face him. 

"Yes, Subaru-sama?" 

"Why didn't you take me up on it? You had the right of first taking," Subaru reminded him. "You could have made things a little easier on her. That was her first time, judging by the hymen blood I saw." 

"...People call me a hero," Reinhard said simply. "And heroes don't rape women." 

"But you're not a hero," Subaru pointed out. "You failed to protect your lady. You watched her get raped for hours while you stood by and did nothing. You broke your oath to her, betrayed the Kingdom, and sullied your honor." 

"...I did." 

Wind whistled through the empty streets as Reinhard stood there, holding the body of the lady he swore his sword to, who had been raped into unconsciousness in front of his very eyes.

"I am no hero. And if I am, I'm a hero that's always too late to save anyone." 

"Well, if you're no hero, then there's nothing stopping you." 

Reinhard frowned. He turned to face Subaru, who smiled at him knowingly. "Nothing stopping me from what?" 

"You know what. You can take her, right here, right now, if you want to. From my point of view, you're the only one here who hasn't had a turn." 

"Bastard!" Reinhard spat. "The only thing I'm doing now is taking her home."

The shit-eating grin on Subaru's face indicated very clearly how little he believed in Reinhard's words. "Think on it, will you?" 

"I'm only doing this for the Kingdom, you fucking monster." That was the last thing Reinhard said to him before leaping from the platform. Subaru watched as he dashed from rooftop to rooftop back to the Astrea manor with Felt in his arms.

"We'll see about that, Reinhard." 

The female staff were still missing by the time Reinhard returned to the Astrea manor. If he had to guess, Felt had actually taken it easy in comparison to them. He shuddered to think of what horrors were befalling his female servants at this very moment. 

For the Kingdom. For the Kingdom.

Half the population in sexual servitude. Was that for the Kingdom?

For the Kingdom. For the Kingdom. 

If this war went on for much longer, one of their neighboring countries would have invaded. At least this way, everyone lived. At least with this, the bloodshed would end. 

I'm sorry, Reinhard offered a silent apology to the women of Lugunica, who'd been damned by his actions. I couldn't save you.

He had to wash Felt himself. She'd only stirred briefly in the tub, as he was scrubbing dried cum off of her body with a sponge and warm water.

"Reinhard…" Felt whispered. 

"Shhh… you're safe now. Don't worry about a thing. Everything will be better in the morning," Reinhard promised. 

It was a lie. Tomorrow morning would be the first dawn of Natsuki Subaru's Sex Empire. 

"...you saved me. I knew you would save me, Reinhard. Thank you. Thank you." 

Felt fell asleep again shortly after. Reinhard had to dig the cum out of her cunt and assholes with his fingers, and the water became murky and white as he cleaned out her orifices. 

He took her to her room after drying her off. She was still damp and naked in his arms when he laid her gently in the bed. 

She'd hardly grown at all in the last two years at the Astrea manor. Hardly more than a child. 

Reinhard stared at her nude form, his cock treacherously hard. He rubbed a thumb over her soft lips, wishing that he dared to see them wrapped around his shaft. 

Subaru's words echoed in his head. 

From my point of view, you're the only one who hasn't had a turn. 

You're not a hero. 

Clenching his jaw, Reinhard fiddled with his belt buckle, dropping his pants. He lifted one of Felt's eyelids. Her red irises were dull and unseeing. She was out cold.

He climbed over Felt's body, pointing himself at her entrance.

Despite everything she'd been through, she was still so beautiful. 

With a finger, he spread her sore pussy lips, swallowing heavily as he saw the tender wetness there, and the heat and tightness promised within. Felt's face scrunched up in discomfort, but otherwise, she hardly stirred.

Reinhard stared at her face, only a foot or so away from her. Despite the bath, he could still smell the cum on her breath as she inhaled and exhaled.

Felt had already been embraced by so many different men tonight. More than most women had in their lifetimes. She wouldn't even notice it. 

What was one more?

It was sickeningly easy to slip his cock inside of her. She'd already been well-loosened.

The sound of a bedframe springing echoed throughout the empty Astrea manor, along with the gasps and moans of a certain red-haired knight.