The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 34

Sheila, who had committed two serious offenses, had no choice but to bare her backside as he ordered.

She lifted her skirt, pulled down her underwear, and leaned forward with her hands braced on the fireplace frame, presenting her backside.

Her arms trembled as she held herself up.

In front of the paddle, emotions like shame were nothing but a luxury.

Besides, everything was hardest the first time. She’d already shown him her bare backside before. His palm had even touched it.

And before that, she’d lifted her skirt to her thighs countless times to be beaten.

The moment Sheila got into position, the punishment began without delay.

Smack!

“Ahk!”

Smack!

“Aghh!”

Sheila regretted it, regretted it again, and regretted it once more.

Every time the wide surface of the paddle slapped against her backside and peeled away, searing pain followed.

If she’d known it would be like this, she should’ve quit no matter how much money he offered.

The Young Count, who lacked even a speck of compassion, swung the paddle with the same force even after seeing the worn, bruised thighs he himself had applied ointment to.

Smack!

“Aaah!”

A large blister rose instantly where the paddle struck. Sheila stomped her feet at the shockingly different pain and collapsed, clutching her backside.

“Stand up.”

At Cedric’s cold voice, Sheila cried and shook her head.

It was an exact repeat of the previous day. The only difference was whether the blows landed on her thighs or her backside.

“P-please… Young Count … I can’t, I can’t take any more….”

“You should already know that kind of pleading doesn’t work on me.”

Sheila knew. He would never show mercy.

She recalled what he’d said earlier.

“How long did you think I’d pretend not to notice?”

He’d known from the start…. Thinking about it, she understood why he’d been so harsh with the paddle last time.

But today, she’d even lied…!

Understanding him didn’t make the pain any more bearable.

Sheila, who had sunk to the floor in despair, crawled toward him on her knees and began begging with her hands clasped.

“I was wrong, Young Count. I… I was just so scared of being beaten…”

Sheila grabbed Cedric’s hand where he sat and shook her head desperately. Tears dripped constantly from her pitifully lowered eyes.

“I wasn’t trying to deceive you or treat you like a fool. I committed a grave sin. Please, please forgive me just this once.”

Her lips and chin trembled violently. Her already pale face had turned ghostly white.

Sheila hoped he’d acknowledge her sincerity. Though she’d clearly done wrong, she wanted him to know she hadn’t meant to betray him.

But Cedric’s gaze was only cold and dark.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Sheila buried her face in his knee.

At that moment, his hand slipped from hers.

Sheila felt devastated, as if she’d lost her only lifeline.

Her sob nearly burst out when Cedric lifted her chin with his fingertips.

Her tear-soaked face met his.

His lips moved slowly. “If I forgive you, what will you give me in return?”

This was her chance.

A single chance to maybe, possibly be saved.

“A-anything! As long as it’s not the paddle… sniff… I’ll do anything.”

With all her heart, Sheila spoke, desperate to seize a chance she might never get again.

“Anything….”

He thought for a moment, then ordered, “Open your mouth.”

It was a short but forceful command. And that command alone was enough to stir the maid’s instincts that had been drilled into Sheila for four years.

Sheila’s mouth fell open blankly. In the next moment, two long fingers slid straight into her mouth.

‘Wh-what is this…?’

The fingers pushed inside and prodded all around her mouth. Having never experienced anything like it before, Sheila could only hold her breath.

Then, snapping back to her senses, she grabbed Cedric’s wrist with both hands.

Cedric looked at her with trembling eyes. His blue-gray irises, burning like flames, were chillingly cold.

Sheila, who’d grown up in a mining village, knew very well. Blue flames were the hottest of all….

The intense lust pouring out of a man who’d always seemed to lack desire completely was something Sheila couldn’t possibly ignore.

‘No way.’

She denied it, but she couldn’t deny it.

The hard thing she’d felt against her stomach the other day hadn’t been her imagination.

It had been just as large and solid as the pepper mill that fit perfectly in her hand…!

Sheila yanked his hand away with all her strength, and the fingers rummaging inside her mouth finally came loose.

“I, I… I can’t do this,” Sheila said.

He didn’t hide his desire as he asked, “Didn’t you say a moment ago that you’d do anything?”

Everything he said was true.

But Sheila hadn’t lied either. She’d never imagined that “anything” would include something like this.

Because the person in front of her wasn’t Allen or Alfonso, but Cedric. The man who’d spent the entire month beating her without a hint of emotion.

“I… I’ll return the money. Please pretend this never happened.”

Sheila pleaded. Just yesterday, she’d received the doubled twenty solids in advance through Rufus, but fortunately, she hadn’t touched a single coin and had kept it all hidden under the floorboards.

So if she returned that money, she shouldn’t be obligated to take any more beatings starting today, right?

Sheila was certain her calculation wasn’t wrong. The monthly beating she’d been paid for last month had ended the day before yesterday.

But Cedric let out a cold, incredulous laugh.

“Return it as is?”

“Yes, as is. I’ll give it all back.”

When Sheila repeated herself, he finally opened his mouth again.

“Are you out of your mind? You don’t return it ‘as is.’ You pay back double.”

“…What?”

Sheila’s mouth fell open at the thunderbolt-like words.

“‘If the original contract period is not fulfilled and the party quits early, they must compensate double the total amount of whipping maid pay corresponding to the unfulfilled period.’ Did you read the contract properly?”

Cedric recited the clause word for word as if he had the entire contract memorized. Of course, Sheila was hearing it for the first time.

“Th-that can’t be….”

“As of yesterday, you were set to receive twenty solids per month. And since you failed to complete two of the three contracted months, that’s forty solids. Double that makes eighty solids as compensation.”

Ei-eighty solids…?!

For Sheila, that amount was practically astronomical.

“No, wait. You did take three strikes, so should I subtract about six denises for that?”

Cedric added generously, but to Sheila, six denises wasn’t the problem at all.

“Th-that makes no sense. That’s….”

Of course, six denises was also a lot of money; normally she’d have to wash twelve sets of maid uniforms to earn it. But compared to a gold coin like a solid, it was nothing. One denis was worth only one‑twentieth of a solid.

Terrified, Sheila’s body trembled as her voice broke.

Sheila couldn’t believe it. If she returned the money she’d received yesterday, all the money she’d earned so far from being beaten amounted to only ten solids.

But now she was supposed to pay back eighty solids…?

The day before yesterday, after Cedric had left, she’d reread the contract properly.

Because she took lessons with Judith and did her homework for her, she’d been forced to read and write letters, so her reading ability had gotten a bit better even in her own eyes.

So she’d finally skimmed through the entire document, but she hadn’t found anything like what Cedric just said.

Of course, that didn’t mean she thought Cedric was lying. He wasn’t the kind of person… no, the Young Count wasn’t someone who’d make up a clause that didn’t exist.

“Why doesn’t it make sense? It’s a standard provision because of people like you who irresponsibly break contracts.”

With just the word “standard,” Cedric instantly justified the clause.

Sheila whimpered again, “But I… I didn’t know about that….”

Sheila decided it was better to act like an ignorant maid. That was the best way for her to escape this situation.

“Whether you knew or not isn’t my problem. What matters is that the contract you signed contains that clause.”

Cedric remained cold as ever.

She had thirty solids saved from her whipping-maid salary and a few coins earned from her side job, but she had no way to come up with the rest. And even if she did, getting beaten for an entire month only to pay money on top of it was something Sheila’s sense of economics could never accept.

“No….”

Sheila lowered her head.

Even at her pitiful appearance, Cedric only checked his watch as if her tears were a waste of time.

“Sheila, I’ll give you two choices. Hand over the eighty solids right now and leave this room, or take responsibility for the contract you signed.”

As of today, there were once again two ways to “take responsibility” for the contract. Either take the remaining beating with the paddle, or do exactly what Cedric wanted.

Sheila looked at the paddle lying on the floor.

She already knew the pain that thick wooden board delivered. And that was why her fear outweighed the pain itself. Her backside and even the backs of her knees tingled just remembering it….

“But… I really can’t….”

She didn’t have the courage to be beaten again, but even more than that, she didn’t have the courage to do what Cedric “wanted.”

“Weren’t you the one who said you’d do anything as long as it wasn’t the paddle? And as you can see, I was blinded by lust and agreed to that condition.”

Cedric pointed with his eyes at his swollen length.

The memory of the hard pressure she’d felt against her stomach the day before yesterday flashed through her mind, and Sheila flinched violently.

“Now, choose.”

Cedric told her plainly how she could repay the whipping fee without taking a beating. He was curious what choice the maid would make now that he’d presented a concrete alternative.

“You’re out of time, Sheila. Don’t you know time is money for someone like me?” Cedric urged her.