The air in the pavilion was still and heavy, charged with the weight of Lu Ren's command. Kneeling before her, I was an actor on a stage, playing the part of the devoted slave. But even as my body responded with an instinctual, primal arousal to the powerful woman straddling my chest, my mind was a whirlwind of cold, hard calculus. The slave seal was a collar, a chain that bound my soul to her whim. It was an unacceptable condition. But for now, it was also my greatest shield. As long as she believed she controlled me completely, I was safe. And as long as I was her secret weapon, I had value.
'Oh, the things we do for… well, not for love, that's for sure,' the Author's voice quipped in my head, a sarcastic spectator to my feigned devotion. 'He's about to perform the most subservient act imaginable, all while plotting to usurp the entire world. The cognitive dissonance is delicious. Let's hope he doesn't choke on his ambition… or anything else.'
I tuned out the meta-commentary, focusing on the task at hand. This was not humiliation. This was a transaction. I was paying a price in pride to gain a foothold in this new, brutal world. There were no men here to witness my supposed debasement. There was only the Queen, and this was our secret, a dark covenant sealed not in ink, but in flesh.
My gaze traveled up her body. Lu Ren was a masterpiece of mature femininity. Her thighs were toned from years of cultivation, her hips flared into a perfect curve, and her flat stomach bespoke a life of discipline. The faint scent of her, a mix of expensive floral perfume and the clean, metallic tang of a powerful cultivator, filled my senses. This was a woman who was used to being on top, in every sense of the word. My role was simple: to prove I was worthy of being beneath her.
"Your hesitation is displeasing," she murmured, her voice a low growl of impatience. She shifted her weight, pressing down on my chest, a silent assertion of her dominance.
"Forgive me, Master," I breathed, the words tasting like ash and honey. "I was merely awestruck by your perfection."
It was the right thing to say. A flicker of vanity, of satisfaction, crossed her eyes. I reached up, my hands gently cupping her cheeks, not her ass or thighs. It was a gesture of worship, of reverence for her face, her identity. I was not just pleasuring a body; I was adoring a queen. Her expression softened almost imperceptibly. This was a woman who was used to men wanting her body, but perhaps not one who was used to them worshipping her essence.
Then, I began.
My tongue was a painter's brush, and her body was my canvas. I was meticulous, thorough, leaving no part of her untouched. I was not a frantic, desperate lover, but a connoisseur, a devotee cataloging every detail of his goddess. I explored the delicate skin of her inner thighs, the sensitive juncture where they met her hips, and finally, the sacred prize she offered.
Lu Ren was silent, but her body betrayed her. A soft gasp escaped her lips as I found her core. Her hips, which had been still and commanding, began to move in a slow, involuntary rhythm. She was a fortress, but I had found the secret passage. Her fingers, which had been resting imperiously on my shoulders, dug into my flesh, not with pain, but with a desperate, grasping strength.
She was used to taking her pleasure, to commanding men to satisfy her. But this was different. I was not just obeying; I was anticipating. I was learning her body, her rhythms, her secret desires, and reflecting them back at her. I was dominating her with my submission. Her breath came in ragged pants, the mask of the untouchable clan matriarch cracking with every flick of my tongue. The scent of her arousal was thick in the air, a potent perfume of her surrender.
A low, guttural moan escaped her, a sound of pure, unadulterated pleasure that she clearly hadn't intended to make. Her control was slipping. Her body arched, her back bowing as a powerful tremor wracked her frame. She was close.
But I pulled back.
I stopped completely, leaving her suspended on the precipice of her climax. Her eyes snapped open, blazing with a mixture of frustrated rage and raw, desperate need.
"What are you doing, slave?" she hissed, her voice trembling.
I looked up at her, my face wet with her essence, and gave her a slow, deliberate smile. "A wolf does not give up its prize so easily, Master," I whispered. "It savors the hunt. And it ensures its master remembers who, exactly, brought the kill to her feet."
It was an incredible risk. The slave seal could have erupted in my soul, turning my brain to fire. But I had judged her correctly. My momentary defiance, my assertion of control even in this most submissive of positions, didn't just anger her. It intrigued her. It excited her. I wasn't just a mindless tool. I had a will. A will that I was, for now, choosing to bend to hers.
Her eyes glittered with a dangerous, exhilarating light. "You are playing a dangerous game, Barry Drake."
"I live for dangerous games, Lu Ren," I replied, using her name, an act of subtle rebellion.
A wicked, predatory grin spread across her face. She leaned down, her lips brushing against my ear. "Then you will love the one we are about to play." She grabbed my hair, pulling my head back to her. "Now finish what you started. And do not stop until I tell you to."
I obeyed. This time, I held nothing back. I drove her over the edge, again and again, until her body was limp and boneless, her moans echoing softly in the pavilion. She collapsed onto me, her breath hot against my neck, her body slick with sweat. I had won. I had proven my value in the most intimate way possible. I had made myself necessary.
After several long minutes, she stirred, pushing herself up. Her face was flushed, her lips swollen, her hair slightly disheveled. The imperious queen was gone, replaced by a sated, satisfied woman. She stood and adjusted her dress, the mask of composure slowly sliding back into place.
"You have passed your test," she said, her voice a little husky. "For now."
She walked back to the table and picked up a small, sealed scroll. "Your first task. There is a merchant family, the Zhaos, who control the trade of Ironwood Ore in the northern territories. The ore is vital for forging weapons for the clan's guards. For months, they have been holding out, demanding an exorbitant price, claiming their supply is low. My husband has tried to negotiate, and failed. He believes them. I do not."
She tossed the scroll to me. "I want you to go to the Zhao family estate in Ironwood City. Find out the truth. Find their leverage, find their weakness. And secure a new contract for the Ironwood Ore at a thirty percent discount from their current asking price. How you do it is your concern. I want results, not excuses. You have one week."
It was a test, but it was also an opportunity. A chance to get out of the clan, to operate on my own, to gather resources and information.
"And Barry," she added, her eyes turning sharp as steel once more. "Chixi will accompany you. She is not there for your protection. She is there to watch you. If you even think of betraying me, she has my explicit order to crush your soul and drag your corpse back to me. Am I understood?"
"Perfectly, Master," I said, bowing my head. "Your will is my command."
She dismissed me with a wave of her hand. I backed out of the pavilion, my mind already racing. As I stepped back into the garden, Chixi fell into step behind me, a silent, deadly shadow. The collar was still around my neck, but at least now, the leash was long enough to hunt.
I returned to my own courtyard to find Mengue pacing nervously in the main room. She had bathed and changed into the provocative maid outfit I had given her, but her face was pale with anxiety. The moment she saw me, she rushed forward, her eyes wide with fear.
"Master! Are you alright? The First Mistress… she…"
"She and I came to an understanding," I said, cutting her off. I pulled her into my arms, inhaling the scent of her hair. She was soft, warm, and pliant. A comforting contrast to the cold, hard danger of Lu Ren.
"She is my master, Mengue," I said, my voice low as I led her towards the bedroom. "But you… you are my property. Do you understand the difference?"
She looked up at me, confused. "Property?"
"Lu Ren owns my soul, for now," I explained, kicking the bedroom door shut behind us. "But I own your body. Your pleasure. Your fear. Your world." I pushed her back against the door, my body pressing into hers. "You were afraid for me. That's good. But your fear was misplaced. You shouldn't be afraid for me. You should only be afraid of displeasing me."
This was the conditioning. She needed to understand her new reality. Her loyalty, her emotions, her entire being had to be re-centered around me. I couldn't afford for her to have divided allegiances, or to be thinking of her daughter, or her dead husband, or anyone else.
"My daughter… Fengue…" she stammered. "She thinks you have bewitched me. She said Yang Kai would…"
"Yang Kai is dead," I stated flatly. "I killed him this morning."
The color drained from Mengue's face. The fear in her eyes was now mixed with a horrified awe. She was looking at me not as the fat, lecherous young master she had first met, but as a killer. A monster.
"He… he was a hero… a genius of the Rising Sun Sect," she whispered.
"And now he is a corpse," I said, my hand sliding down her back, cupping her ass through the thin fabric of the maid's skirt. "Because he was a threat to what is mine. You see, Mengue? I protect what is mine. Violently. Absolutely. And you are mine."
I kissed her then, a deep, bruising kiss meant to silence her protests, to brand her with my ownership. She resisted for a moment, then melted against me, her fear mingling with a reluctant, undeniable arousal. She was a woman who had been a victim of circumstance, forced to trade her body for her daughter's safety. Now, she was being claimed by a force of nature, a man who offered not a transaction, but a total, all-consuming possession. And a part of her, the part that had been alone and unprotected for so long, found a dark, thrilling security in it.
Just as I was about to lift her into my arms and carry her to the bed, the System, which had been dormant since the reward screen, flashed in my vision.
[Proximity Alert! New Protagonist Signature Detected!]
[Target Designation: Zhao Wei]
[Location: Ironwood City, Zhao Family Estate]
[Threat Level: Low (Cultivation: 3rd Stage Qi Foundation Realm)]
[Destiny Profile: Fortuitous Encounter Protagonist (Minor). Recently discovered a hidden 'Earth Spirit Vein' beneath his family's property, allowing for the rapid cultivation of Ironwood Trees, explaining their secret surplus of ore.]
[Primary Association: Zhao Lihua (Mother). Clan Matriarch of the Zhao Family. Cultivation: 9th Stage Golden Core Realm. Known as the 'Iron Widow'. A shrewd, ruthless, and beautiful woman who has held her family together through sheer force of will since her husband's death.]
I froze, my mind instantly processing the new information. The mission Lu Ren had given me… it wasn't just a test. It was a direct path to my next target. And the real prize wasn't the protagonist son, Zhao Wei, or the ore contract. It was his mother. The Iron Widow. A Golden Core Realm matriarch. Another queen.
A slow, predatory smile spread across my face. Lu Ren thought she was sending her dog on an errand. She had no idea she had just unleashed her wolf into a new hunting ground.
"Mengue," I said, pulling back from our kiss, my eyes burning with a new intensity. "Pack your things. And pack your most revealing maid outfit. You and I are taking a trip to Ironwood City. Master has work to do."
And a new queen to conquer.