Chapter 16: A Cruel Woman
While his brother enjoyed a peaceful life, Lambert lay shirtless, bound hand and foot, sprawled on the floor in a position of complete submission beneath his fiancée.
She was incredibly beautiful, if Lambert had to be honest. A pretty face with soft, heart-shaped features; silky copper-colored hair cascading over her shoulders; and deep ocean-blue eyes that now looked down on him coldly, as if he were a fool.
At that moment, she was engaged in what she called her punishment process. Her foot pressed firmly against Lambert's head, pinning it to the cold stone floor, while her left hand held a whip coiled around her arm. Her rather prominent chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, clearly disappointed by the news of her fiancé's failed mission.
She was Linde von Habsburg, the first goddaughter of Count Lothar von Habsburg, Duke of the House of Habsburg–Innsbruck, the lesser branch of the Habsburg family whose main line ruled the Duchy of Austria. She had just turned eighteen and was officially recognized as one of the three most beautiful women in all of Austria.
However, as Rose would have known perfectly well… appearances were deceiving.
Despite her beauty, her personality—if anyone were to describe it honestly—could only be summed up as that of a sadistic bitch. A woman who used men as toys until she grew bored of them or broke them completely. To her, all her suitors were nothing more than objects… or at least those stupid enough to stay.
Lambert was one of those few. He thought with the wrong head and had remained by her side despite constant physical and mental abuse. On the other hand, he was also incredibly stupid.
He still believed his father saw him as a genuine ally, when in reality he was nothing more than a pawn… a small lackey at best, a puppet in other people's power games.
But that didn't matter now.
Linde stared at him intensely before raising the whip and bringing it down violently across his back. The impact opened a deep gash instantly, and Lambert tried to suppress a scream. He failed. After a few more lashes, the pain forced him to cry out in agony, which only further enraged his fiancée.
She pressed his head harder against the stone floor, punishing him even more. If Rose were there, aside from calling her a sadistic bitch, he would have described her without hesitation as a true dominatrix.
If Lambert dared to lift his gaze, he could clearly see the white silk panties embroidered beneath the young woman's provocative sky-blue nightgown, designed specifically to highlight her immaculate curves. However, doing so would only have worsened his situation—something he was desperately trying to avoid.
After venting her frustration, Linde let out a deep sigh and lowered the whip. She then grabbed Lambert by the face and forced him to look into her eyes, confronting him with her fierce expression. Tears streamed uncontrollably as she scolded him.
"It seems weakness runs in your family. How pathetic," she scoffed.
She stood up from the bed, kicked him back flat against the floor, and then sat on his back, using him as nothing more than a footstool while she rested.
"You're useless, you know that?"
Honestly, she didn't fully understand her father. It would have been far more logical to marry her to the sickly brother—someone who could die from any bout of pneumonia… but instead of taking the logical option, he had chosen Lambert, who so far had proven himself slow and inefficient.
How was it possible that he couldn't kill a weak, sickly man? From what she knew, the poison had not only failed, but had somehow strengthened his brother. Rose was no longer ill and was, in fact, sturdier than Lambert, completely ruining her father's plans.
From one point of view, it was almost amusing. From another… deeply frustrating.
Worst of all, she had learned that the Count of Steiermark had betrothed his third daughter to Rose, granting him an even greater stake in Kufstein's rich iron mines. If they failed to kill him—or at least control him—in the coming years, that engagement would be completely pointless… just as she had warned from the very beginning, when she realized Lambert was nothing more than an idiot with delusions of grandeur.
"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," she finally muttered.
She then noticed her toy looking at her. It disgusted her. She grabbed the whip and brutally shoved it into the young man's mouth, forcing his gaze away with a violent push.
"Don't look at me with that filthy, useless stare. You haven't earned that right."
And judging by how things were going, he never would.
Lambert immediately looked away, swallowing with difficulty, before daring to ask the only question on his mind.
"Forgive me, my lady… I'm curious about what you said. What exactly is your plan?"
The question caused a malicious smile to spread across Linde's pretty face as she looked down at her little toy. She gave him a glance that ran down his spine like a sheet of ice. Yes… he was utterly terrified.
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, her mockery unmistakable. "I'll go to your home, seduce your brother, and once he's on his knees begging, I'll end his life. Clearly, you can't be trusted to do something so simple."
Lambert, in truth, doubted that would ever happen. Yes, Linde was incredibly beautiful, but his brother was… and no one would ever convince him otherwise… a demon that had taken possession of that body solely to torment him for his schemes.
But no one ever listened when he said it. Hell, Henrietta had even kicked him in the groin when he hinted at something like that; his mother had slapped him for mentioning it; and even his father-in-law had laughed openly at how ridiculous the claim sounded. No one had seen the eyes he had seen.
He was about to warn her that it was a terrible idea, that she was gambling with her soul by confronting a demon… but Linde gave him no chance at all.
"Hanz!" she shouted.
The bedroom door flew open, and a young knight—fully armed in gleaming silver armor—entered the room and immediately knelt before the young lady. His complete lack of reaction made it clear that he was utterly desensitized to the count's daughter's activities; the scene before him didn't even make him flinch.
"Yes, my lady."
Linde adjusted herself atop Lambert's shoulders once more, crossing her arms beneath her chest. Honestly, she didn't care in the slightest about the position she was in. As the spoiled daughter of a count, she considered even barons to be trash; naturally, she held no better opinion of her father's knights.
"Prepare my things. I'm going to Kufstein."
Hanz would never disobey an order from the young woman. He had no desire to end up in the same situation as Lambert. That was why he obeyed, even knowing the task was servile and unworthy of a knight. To Linde, a servant was a servant—nothing more.
"Your will is my command!"
The knight quickly left the room to carry out the order. Within hours, Linde would depart for Kufstein, accompanied by a retinue of knights meant to protect her… and her current fiancé.
End of chapter.