"She suddenly passed out!"
As if that man would believe him, Henry still tried to explain.
'Fuck, listen to me, bas—?!'
"Give him thirty whips!" the duke barked.
'What?!'
Henry's face paled.
"How dare you even think of harming her! Even after everything that happened, you still dare make excuses to defend yourself?"
The guard, Merlin, grabbed Henry roughly and dragged him away on the duke's orders.
The duke, meanwhile, rushed to Ricarda's side and checked her pulse as Henry tried to scream, but rather helplessly, he was already dragged out of there before he could even explain anything.
'My god… what the hell?!'
"Call Arthur!"
Meanwhile, in the room, at the duke's command, another guard hurried off.
The duke carefully lifted Ricarda and laid her on the bed, waiting anxiously until Arthur, the healer, arrived. After a brief examination, Arthur confirmed that she was fine and it was only a faint caused by her weak constitution.
Meanwhile, Henry who had failed to explain just that, was now being punished.
Ruthlessly…
Merlin brought him to the prison and ordered the guards to administer thirty whips.
Henry was absolutely dreading this, and when it started, he was already gone.
It fucking hurt.
No one seemed to care that he was still a child. No one cared that he was the future duke either.
As if, huh!
The lashes came down mercilessly, as though they were venting years of pent-up rage onto his small body.
Henry lost consciousness before even the fifteenth whip, and he kept cursing in his head, the pain just..the absolutely sickening sensation he had felt so often since getting stuck in this guy's body, taking over.
Fuck! He himself wanted to be a villain now.
No wonder the real Henry was so sick of everyone.
When Henry finally opened his eyes, though, he was lying face down on his bed, his wounded back exposed.
"Young master, you're awake! Does it hurt a lot?"
Martha, her eyes red and swollen from crying, rushed to his side. Henry barely made out her blurred figure as his back felt like it was on fire, every breath sending waves of pain through him as he just wanted to die if that would end the pain.
At least when Ricarda killed him, it had been quick.
'But it was a dream. And damn Ricarda. Damn it. Even though it's not her fault, she has caused me enough trouble already. Ugh. It fucking hurt.'
Henry didn't know it yet, but he was now crying, tears wetting the pillow, the little boy's lips curled down.
"Young master, please don't cry," Martha said desperately. "It will heal soon. I'll call Sir Arthur right away."
Henry sniffled and just laid there, feeling a little comfortable with crying. Weird, he knew…
Not long after, Martha came back. Not alone, but with him.
Arthur.
And she was also with him.
Ricarda.
"I told him to be gentler with his children," Arthur muttered angrily as he examined Henry's ruined back, Ricarda's eyes also on the same back, tears filling her eyes.
Henry honestly couldn't care about anyone around him because when Arthur touched his back, he suddenly felt every pain gone.
'Is that witchcraft or magic again…'
Henry closed his eyes and took a long breath in relief.
"You won't feel pain anymore," Arthur said with a sigh. "But some scars couldn't be erased. They will be permanent. That stupid bastard."
Henry stayed still until the moment Arthur finally left, muttering under his breath.
"Are you really okay now, young master?"
Henry watched Martha lean down and worryingly ask, but Henry felt his head ache, realizing he might not have ended that damn punishment.
"Martha…" Henry said shakily. "I didn't finish the punishment. They'll come for me again, won't they?"
Fear crept into his voice. Seriously, he didn't want to be whipped again.
"No, young master," Martha said quickly, tears welling up again. "Miss Ricarda told the duke you didn't do anything except help her. The duke ordered the punishment to end. But by the time we reached the prison, you had already passed out."
She looked at him with pity. No one with a heart could look at those wounds and remain unmoved. Obviously, except that mean motherfucking son of a bitch!
"I'm sorry… this happened because of me."
Ricarda, who had been silent all this time, spoke softly, her head lowered. Guilt weighed heavily on her expression, and Henry didn't know how to feel, really.
"It's okay," Henry said, forcing a smile. "I'm healed now."
He lied.
He was not okay at all.
These people are so fucked up..
Who whips children like that anyway?
And 30 of them for a punishment?!
Yeah, these people are sick in their heads…
Grrrroowl---
Henry's stomach growled loudly. He hadn't eaten breakfast thanks to that bitch before, and by now it was well past lunchtime. So it was reasonable his stomach felt the need to embarrass him like this.
"Let's have lunch together," Ricarda suggested quickly, and honestly, it didn't sound so bad.
Henry nodded and followed her to the dining room, impressed his back pain didn't even twitch. He felt normal, almost.
But that didn't end his anger and terror, though.
When they arrived there, the servants were already serving food. And sitting at the table was…
'Huh! Who else?'
The duke.
Henry immediately lost his appetite. Just seeing that man made his stomach churn now.
As they sat down, Henry noticed the duke stealing glances at him so obviously.
'Yeah, are you worried now, bitch?!'
"How are your wounds?" the duke asked, as if he hadn't made him get hurt that badly.
"I'm fine, obviously," Henry snapped. "Thanks to Sir Arthur."
The duke observed his face with a frown, but Henry ignored him.
"You don't have to continue the punishment," the duke added later.
"So you want me to say thank you?" Henry asked.
"What?"
"Do you plan to apologize?"
Henry couldn't help but grab his own wrist and squeeze, because he honestly had no idea how he got so much courage. But it felt exciting, confronting the mean guy.
"…It was my fault. It was a misunderstanding," the duke said stiffly.
So what was Henry supposed to say now?
"Yeah. It was."
Henry chuckled sarcastically and stood up, obviously being rude.
"Send my meal to my room. I don't want to get misunderstood for everything happening around here and get whipped for it."
Henry left with quick steps under everyone's gazes, and as he waited in his room, he chuckled again.
'Fucking bastard looked like he couldn't believe his eyes… at least I'm better. The real Henry's whole life was ruined by these people…'
Henry flinched a little when an aggressive knock landed on his door, followed by it getting pushed open by someone unexpected.
'What is Ricarda doing here?'
"Mm… your meal."
Ricarda placed the tray of food she brought on the table.
Henry was a little speechless because he didn't know what to say. Would she show those scary eyes to him again? He didn't want to see that and remind himself of that pain he remembered.
"Thank you," Henry said casually and ignored Ricarda's gaze until she left after a hesitant goodbye she muttered so forcefully.
She definitely didn't want to leave.
'I guess she wanted to talk to me.'
But it's not the time.
He is just not feeling so great.
He almost got the whipping early thanks to that Mira, but somehow still got it later, though fully healed within a second, which didn't even amaze him much after he remembered Arthur helped him get Henry's memories back.
But one thing was for sure.
People here are weird as fuck.
But…
He loves most of those weird things.
This is new.
Though dangerous for him…
'Sigh… I should eat now…'