The atmosphere in the cabin had shifted. Before, it was a place of warm, rustic hospitality.
Now, it felt like a stage where a silent, suffocating play was being performed, and only Kael held the script.
Two days had passed since Lila signed the contract. The brand on her hand was invisible to others, Kael had been kind enough to cloak it with an illusion, but to Lila, it felt like a burning weight.
Every time she thought about rebelling, telling Bram, or running away, her chest tightened, and a wave of dizzying nausea forced her to her knees.
She was trapped. And worse, she had a job to do.
"Lila," Kael's voice drifted from the armchair by the fire. "My cup is empty."
Lila, who was pretending to read a ledger at the table, gritted her teeth. Her father, Bram, was outside chopping wood for the night, the rhythmic thwack of the axe echoing through the walls.
"Get it yourself," she muttered under her breath.
[Contract Warning: Insubordination.]
A jolt of static pleasure-pain zapped her spine. Lila gasped, her knuckles whitening on the table.
"I mean... coming, sir," she corrected, her voice tight.
She grabbed the pitcher of ale and walked over to him. Elara was sitting on a stool nearby, mending one of Bram's shirts.
She looked up as Lila approached, her eyes tracking her daughter's movements with a strange intensity.
Lila poured the ale. Kael didn't thank her. Instead, he reached out and rested his hand on her hip.
"Good service," Kael purred. He squeezed her hip, his thumb rubbing circles against the leather of her breeches.
"You're learning fast. Much faster than your mother."
Lila froze. She wanted to slap his hand away, but the Contract held her still.
Elara's needle stopped mid-stitch. She looked at Kael's hand on her daughter's hip. A dark, ugly feeling uncoiled in her stomach.
It wasn't protectiveness, not entirely. It was envy.
"Lila is clumsy," Elara said, her voice unusually sharp.
"She spills things. I should pour for you, Kael."
Kael looked at Elara, feigning surprise.
"Oh? But Lila is so fresh. So eager to please. Youth has its own flavor, doesn't it, Elara?"
Elara flinched. She looked down at her own hands, rough from work, aging. Then she looked at Lila's smooth, tight skin.
"I... I can be eager," Elara whispered, the System's corruption amplifying her insecurity.
Kael smiled. He had them.
"Lila," Kael said, not taking his eyes off Elara. "As my manager, you need to assess the assets.
Your mother seems... tense. Don't you think she needs to relieve some stress?"
Lila felt sick. She knew what he was asking. He wanted her to pimp her own mother.
"I..." Lila looked at Elara. She saw the desperation in her mother's eyes. If Lila refused, Kael might punish her. Or worse, he might decide to "use" Lila right there to prove a point.
Self-preservation won.
"Yes," Lila choked out, her voice hollow.
"Mom looks... very tense. She should... she should take care of that."
"See?" Kael grinned at Elara.
"Even your daughter thinks you're neglecting your duties. You wouldn't want me to look elsewhere for comfort, would you? Maybe closer to home?"
He squeezed Lila's hip again, harder this time, pulling her slightly onto his lap.
Elara's eyes widened in panic.
The thought of Kael touching Lila, not just as a guest, but as a lover, shattered her.
She couldn't compete with her daughter's youth, so she had to compete with obedience.
"No!" Elara stood up, dropping the shirt. "No, Kael. I'm here. I'm yours."
"Show me," Kael commanded cold. He gestured to the floor between his legs.
Lila tried to pull away. "I'll go. I'll go to the loft."
"Stay," Kael ordered. The single word slammed into Lila like a physical wall.
"A manager supervises the staff. Watch, Lila. Learn how a real woman pleases her master. Maybe you can take notes."
Lila stood frozen, humiliated, as her mother walked slowly toward Kael.
Elara ignored Lila. Her world had narrowed down to Kael. She needed to prove she was useful.
She needed to prove she was better than the tight little body Kael was holding.
Elara dropped to her knees on the bearskin rug. She didn't hesitate this time. She didn't worry about Bram coming in from the woodpile. She only worried about losing Kael's favor.
She reached for his belt buckle.
"Use your mouth," Kael said.
"And keep eye contact with Lila. I want you to show her how much you enjoy it."
Elara hesitated for a fraction of a second. The shame of performing oral sex in front of her daughter was immense.
But the Cognitive Nudge whispered: It's a lesson. You are the matriarch. You have to show dominance. If you do this well, he won't touch Lila.
"Yes," Elara breathed.
She freed him. He was already hard, twitching in the firelight.
Elara leaned forward and took him into her mouth.
Lila squeezed her eyes shut, turning her head away.
"Eyes open, Manager," Kael's voice was a whip crack. [Contract Enforcement.]
Lila's eyes snapped open against her will. She looked down.
She saw the top of her mother's head, the rhythmic bobbing motion. She heard the wet, sloppy sounds of suction.
She saw Elara's hand gripping Kael's thigh, her knuckles white.
But the worst part was when Elara pulled back for air.
A string of saliva connected her lips to him. She looked up, not at Kael, but at Lila.
There was no shame in Elara's eyes anymore. There was a challenge. See? her eyes seemed to say. I can do this. I can take him deeper. He is mine.
"Good," Kael groaned, his hand tangling in Elara's hair.
"Look at that, Lila. Look at the enthusiasm. That is value. That is five gold coins worth of service right there."
Lila felt tears hot on her cheeks. "Stop it," she whispered. "Please."
"Why?" Kael asked casually. "Bram is outside working hard. Elara is inside working hard. Everyone is contributing to the household. Except you."
He reached out and grabbed Lila's han, —the one with the brand. He pulled it down, forcing her hand to touch Elara's cheek while she worked.
"Encourage her," Kael commanded. "Tell her she's a good girl."
Lila sobbed. "Mom... stop..."
"Tell her!" Kael snarled.
"Good girl," Lila wept, her voice breaking. "You're... you're a good girl, Mom."
Elara moaned around Kael's length, the praise from her daughter twisting in her mind, fueling the System's corruption. It felt forbidden. It felt dirty. It felt incredible.
Kael's hips snapped forward, driving deep into Elara's throat. She gagged, tears streaming from her eyes, but she didn't pull away. She took it. She swallowed him whole.
"I'm going to fill her stomach," Kael announced to Lila. "And you're going to thank me for feeding her."
"Thank you," Lila whispered, brokenly reciting the script the Contract forced into her mind.
"Thank you for... feeding her."
Kael released with a loud roar. Elara clamped her hand over her mouth, swallowing frantically, terrified of spilling a drop and looking wasteful in front of her competition.
When she finished, she licked her lips, panting. She rested her head on Kael's knee, looking up at him like a devoted dog.
"Was I good?" Elara asked, her voice raspy.
"Better than her?"
Kael stroked Elara's hair.
"Much better, Elara. You are the queen of this house."
He looked up at Lila. Lila was trembling, pale as a sheet, staring at the wet sheen on her mother's lips.
"Inventory check complete," Kael said coldly.
"The older model is still functional. But the new model..."
He stood up, adjusting his trousers. He walked over to Lila and whispered in her ear.
"You have a lot of catching up to do, Lila. Tonight, after Bram sleeps... it's your turn to train. And Elara is going to watch to make sure you do it right."
Lila's knees gave out. She slumped into the chair, burying her face in her hands.
Outside, the chopping stopped. The door opened, and Bram walked in, carrying a stack of firewood, his face flushed with cold and exertion.
"Whew! Brisk night!" Bram laughed, dumping the wood by the fire.
He looked at the scene: Elara wiping her mouth on her sleeve, Lila crying at the table, Kael smiling calmly.
"Everything alright?" Bram asked, dusting off his hands.
"Perfect," Kael said. "Lila was just overcome with emotion. She's very happy to be home with her family."
Bram smiled, walking over and kissing the top of Lila's head. "That's my girl. Nothing like family, eh?"
Lila looked up at her father. She wanted to scream. She wanted to tell him that the man standing three feet away had just defiled his wife and enslaved his daughter.
But the red sigil on her hand burned.
"Yes, Papa," Lila whispered, dead-eyed. "Nothing like family."
[Corruption Progress: Elara]
Current Level: 70% (Competitive / Obsessive)
Status: Rivalry Established.
[Corruption Progress: Lila]
Current Level: 25% (Complicit / Broken)
Status: Trapped.