Arriving at the duchy felt like coming back to my comfort zone. Maybe it was because all my memories are tied here but it felt good.
We had travelled four days later, everyone in the family, after the ball. I had half expected the prince to come, but what I got was a farewell letter and nothing else.
"This place is getting smaller and smaller."
I said to Luna as we walked around the underground laboratory, looking at our newest arrivals. Donovan and Blair had transported the baby and Siren secretly out of the capital and set them up in my laboratory.
The fish tank was half as small as the other one but it was still functional.
"Did you get the name of the baby?"
I asked Luna while looking at the sleeping foetus. She had grown a bit since the last birth. She was also bigger than a normally born child.
Pink tuffs of hair had sprouted on her head, following her mother’s. I just hoped she looked like Joy.
"No young master. I do not have the best naming sense."
Luna said flatly. She had really decided to die on that hill. I chuckled and shook my head.
"Fine I’ll come up with one, you’ll probably be the godmother then."I teased her, she didn’t look amused, "We should change this is going to be delicate."
Luna nodded as we walked to my specialised operating room. Inside was a slave lying on a standing bed. I needed him to be upright.
His eyes widened the moment we came in before he spat.
"You lunatics let me go, you think a bunch of children wet behind their ears can do anything."
I ignored him. Unlike the other slaves with the obedience spell, this man was perfectly fine. He didn’t even have the normal slave collar.
"Your name is Jonathan right?"
I asked the man calmly as I cleaned up the tools I had used.
"What’s my name got to do with you ’tsk’ nobles? You act all proper, but just a bunch of weak-ass cunts."
His spit almost reached where I was standing as froth formed around his mouth, and he went on a rant about how nobles are beneath him.
"You are quite the degenerate, Jonathan, got caught for sodomizing young children in the Earl’s family. I wonder how the earl didn’t even notice?"
I said coldly. I walked towards him and came to a stop beside him. The man laughed as though delighted by what I had said.
"You think the Earl cares about his son. I’m his tutor, of course, he believes me. This was why nobles are stupid."
I nodded at what he said.
"Most nobles are stupid."
He burst into manic laughter, his eyes widening even more. I looked at his pupils to see that they were fully dilated. Whatever he was thinking about was exciting him from the erection he had developed.
"That boy was more delicious than the commoners. All prime and proper but became nothing but a crying mess from me."
I recorded his reaction. I placed my book down and adjusted my gloves before smiling at him and turning to luna who was standing by the tool table.
"Can you check his vitals?"
Luna nodded and checked the struggling man.
"It’s normal."
I nodded.
"Okay, Jonathan, just so you forgot something. I’m one of those nobles."
His laugh stopped. This confirmed it, he had forgotten during his excitement.
"Cunt!"
He mumbled under his breath. Only a man with a death wish would say that. Well, he was going to die anyway.
"Master Lucian? You called."
A nervous voice came. I nodded at luna who opened the door. Jeneviv, the necromancer, walked in with her pink hair held in a high bun. She was dressed in training clothes with a sheen of sweat on her forehead.
"Can you check his soul?"
I asked Jeneviv, pointing at the now quiet man, who was studying her. Jeneviv walked towards the man and stood beside him.
"Do you want to physically see it or should I just give you my explanation?"
"Can you show me physically?"
That would be the best way, since I was studying the soul, it would be easier for me. She looked hesitant but nodded.
A spell appeared before the man’s eyes. His eyes went blank and his body went still as though someone had pressed pause.
I recorded everything frantically. This was a great study, and I was getting more and more excited.
A ball of black came out of the man’s forehead and hovered before the spell. It was almost the same size as a child’s fist. Not too big or small.
"Master, I can’t hold it anymore, it drains my power too much."
Jeneviv said. Her body was fully soaked in sweat and her nose had started to bleed. I nodded at her request and the spell broke. The soul sank back into the man’s forehead.
"Where did you find this..." the man paused and looked at Jeneviv in confusion, " you were just clean a while ago and now you’re like this. I love it, this is how those children...."
He continued to rumble about his escapades around noble households. The man was a serial rapist and mainly focused on young children, for most parents, he was a tutor, which gave him better access.
"You can leave Jeneviv. "
She looked at me gratefully and left the room. She was on the smaller side, hence it had been easy to mistake her for a teenager. Little to no breasts, small body, but she was twenty-one and cute. There was no more room for growth height-wise.
"No!!! I want her."
I turned to the screaming man and slapped him until he bled. This shut him up as he looked at me in shock.
"Okay, shall we start our experiment?"
The man looked at me in confusion as I walked back and pushed the tool table beside him.
"What are you talking about you nobles cannot stop being delusional fools."
She muttered to himself angry. Spit is forming again. This was going to be a bit of a problem, but I could manage. We’ve got to get dirty in this line of work.
"I do apologise for what I’m about to do since I’m a bit inexperienced. I know the points and procedure since I watched the knight do it, but do not be disappointed since we’re going to be here for quite some time."
The man looked at me as though I were insane.
"What are you talking about?"
I didn’t answer but turned to Luna.
"Lower the bed just a little."
Luna lowered until I was satisfied before she stepped back.
"This is going to be my first torture, it will be crude. You can scream as much as you want. No one in here will care about your well-being. "
I picked a thong and stood at the end of his table.
"Inject the anesthesia."
Luna injected the man with the anesthesia I had previously administered. The man struggled, but eventually his action lulled to a stop, but he didn’t lose consciousness, I didn’t want that.
"Why did you give him so little dosage master?"
Luna asked confused. Most of the time, when injecting anesthesia, it was to make sure they remained unconscious during our operations.
"This wouldn’t be torture if he’s asleep would it?"
Luna’s eyes widened in understanding before she nodded.
"Jonathan, I do hope you won’t scream too much. I’ll have to cut off your tongue when it gets annoying. I hope you won’t disappoint me."
The sharp-tipped thong dug into the nail before pulling out, and blood dripped out of the wound, but too little. I moved to the next toenail, slowly and precisely pulling out all the toenails on his right leg. Barely any blood was lost.
"You’ve really managed to contain your screams, haven’t you? This doesn’t seem to affect you much."
His face was streaked with tears, and his breath came out in ragged hiccups. The anaesthesia reduced most of his pain. Pain would cause him to lose consciousness easily. The anesthesia made sure he was aware of what was happening and could only feel a small amount of pain.
"Please..... stop.."
He stuttered through the tears, his earlier bravado gone.
"But we’re only getting started, and you’re already begging, " I turned to Luna, who was looking on," I thought he would be stronger, but he seems to be breaking faster than I thought."
I continued to pull out his other toenails amid his cries while Luna talked.
"Should I ask for adventurers, knights, or magicians? They have better endurance."
I placed the thong on the tool table and shook my head.
"No, we’re still in the early stages. These ones are much more disposable, they’re better for training. You can pick one of your own and train during your free time, maybe you can come up with new ways."
"Yes, master."
I removed the bloodstained gloves and placed them on the tool table.
"Make sure the bed is upright, and he shouldn’t be in a position to sleep. Physical torture alone won’t cut it. Ooh don’t forget to turn off all the light crystals"
Luna nodded and started to adjust the bed straightening it. I took one last glance and left the room. I had an elf to talk to.