Euphoria Is Painful

vii. 'Punishment'

"You there! Bring me the periwinkle shawl! Lady Mirael has requested it to be given to her!" Part of the castle was in chaos. Lady Mirael had suddenly appeared and had started to order the human servants around.

"Ugh. I wish I could jump off the castle wall. That woman is so demanding!" Lily heard a maid mutter as her friend reprimanded her harshly. "Hush! The head maid is her lackey. I wish not to have my body drained of blood for now."

Lady Mirael. Though she had never personally interacted with the woman, she had seen her. She was a beautiful and voluptuous woman who unfortunately didn't seem very pleasant to be around. She felt as if the castle was turned upside down every time the woman accompanied her father for formal meetings with the ministers.

"But you know, she is so beautiful that she can probably enchant the King! Some say the King is already smitten with her!" Another maid said as the other maids nodded.

Lily paid no heed to that. She cared not for the King for another dashing vampire had been occupying her thoughts for far too long, tormenting her with memories of them sharing a heated kiss.

"I wonder what the King looks like. He never takes off that mask he wears. We only know that his hair is like the feather of a raven. He is either a monstrosity to look upon or is hiding his bewitching appearance."

True. Every formal meeting, every dinner and every other occasion where he had appeared, he never took his mask off. Not even his eyes were visible properly. But she really had no reason to be curious.

'Besides, Mika is definitely more handsome and charming.'

Her cheeks flushed a pretty red when she realised what she had just thought but she was immediately brought back to reality when an annoyingly high pitched voice resonated in the room.

"Greetings, Lady Mirael. We've been expecting you."

The woman who the maids had been dreading walked into the room with quite the noticeable frown plastered onto her face. She looked around menacingly but her gaze turned especially ugly when it landed upon Lily, or so she thought at least.

"You there! You, you and YOU shall accompany me." The woman said as she pointed to two other maids and then to Lily. The rest of the maids let out a sigh of relief as they were whisked away by the frowning woman.

'She surely does not seem nice. I can only hope that she shows some sympathy.'

And that did not happen.

The woman treated everyone around her as if they were simply dirt beneath her feet. Not even two minutes after she had left the room they were in, one of the maids had already been berated beyond belief and she was barely holding back her tears.

"Ugh! Does anyone in this damned place not have common sense?! Seriously......" Suddenly, her eyes met Lily's.

And it all went downhill from there.

For the past few hours, the woman had done all she could to harass Lily. She would make her trip while holding things and then scold her afterwards. Again and again and again.

Lily was resilient but she still wished that the woman would just stop for once.

But fate was not her ally as the woman had decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"You! Bring me the jasmine tea!"

Lily sighed before grabbing the scalding hot tea, which somehow the woman liked, before approaching her as carefully as possible.

"THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS BE FASTER THAN COUNT HELIO'S SON, YOU BITCH!"

And with that, the woman resumed her tormenting as she, instead of simply tripping her, kicked her shin with full force, digging her heel into her leg.

A pained gasp left Lily's lips but nothing could've prepared her for the pain that followed when the scalding hot liquid fell all over her arms and legs.

She had been scalded before but the heat could not even be compared. She really desperately wanted to scream or do something to try express her pain but she had no time to do anything at all when the arrogant woman's palm made contact with her face.

"YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU?! GUARDS! TAKE HER TO BE WHIPPED!"

The pain in her arms and legs may have been severe but she sure as hell didn't want to be whipped. Mirael's standing in the castle was undeniably high and so her demands were treated as an order. Soon enough, a guard grabbed her scalded arm and dragged her to the room where servants were punished.

Her skin may have peeled off but she surely wouldn't have noticed from all the adrenaline pumping through her. Her pounding heart was the thing aching the most as the arrogant woman followed her.

She didn't have enough time to register when she was dragged into the room or when she was being tied to the wooden beam in the middle of the room by only her wrists.

Her apron was stripped off as she was left only in the plain, half-sleeved dress underneath which definitely wasn't going to absorb any of the blows she was about to receive.

"Hmph. Servants need to be humbled when they overstep their boundaries. You may start the whipping. I shall notify you when you may pause."

The next thing that was heard was the sound of a whip sharply cutting through the air and hitting bare skin.
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She didn't know how long it had been or how many lashes she was dealt. Her strength gave out as she couldn't bear it any longer. She drooped against the wooden beam weakly, saliva leaking out of her lips.

Unfortunately, she didn't even lose consciousness. More like she couldn't. As everytime Mirael would notice her body sway, she would personally kick her in the face.

'Why is she doing this to me?' She had asked herself that in the first few moments into the whipping but now her head was absolutely blank.

"I can't stand wenches like you. HOW DARE YOU LAY EYES UPON MY MAN?!"

She had no idea what the woman was saying. She was delirious at this point.

But when an all too familiar voice boomed within the room, she felt her heart relax.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!"

It was Mikhail. She was the only one who actually knew him. But Mirael was looking at him as if her long lost lover had returned. She didn't know his ranking but she definitely recognised him as the devilishly handsome vampire she had seen that night.

"My Lord~ I was merely punishing and teaching this maid a lesson. It pains me to do this but discipline is important afterall."

All he could see was red when Mikhail met the gaze of his frail woman who was being whipped mercilessly. The back of her plain dress was torn and gashes were visible. Even her face was bloody and bruised.

He wanted to snap Mirael's neck in half but his priority was to get his woman to safety.

He met Mirael's eyes with a look that would paralyse elephants but the disgusting woman still had the gall to blink at him innocently.

He clenched his fists. This bitch was going to pay.