Atonement, About it's Cruelty - Chapter 18
The bank issues an acquisition certificate to protect the person holding the key, which signifies that the certificate holder will become the owner of the safe if the original owner does not appear. The issuance of this certificate is limited to one per designated period.
Acquisition certificate holders undergo a rigorous vetting process and are recognized as temporary owners of the safe during this verification period. Although they cannot immediately access the safe, they are protected under the Felpe Banking Law.
If the certificate holder disappears during this period for any reason, the safe will be locked for the next 20 years, even if the key is present, as it will be considered to be involved in criminal activities.
The woman had received an acquisition certificate, and this fact was reported to the King of Felpe, who values the banking law as dearly as his own life.
This meant that the woman had become a living key.
Simon held his breath beside Oscar, who remained calm and fixated on a single point.
The woman was incredibly unfortunate. Being targeted by Oscar was the height of misfortune. While receiving the acquisition certificate before Oscar’s involvement might have seemed like good luck, it would have been better to have received a large sum of money in exchange for handing over the key.
At that moment, Oscar, who had been leaning against a wooden pillar, straightened up. Simon instinctively looked up at the mansion. An agent was pointing downward from the window directly above the woman’s room.
Oscar moved through the darkness like a shadow slipping through moonlight. The wolves, hidden discreetly throughout the mansion, watched him closely. To prevent any stones from obstructing the master’s path, the way had been cleared in advance.
As Oscar ascended the stairs at a leisurely pace, turned around the landing, and arrived at the corridor, he saw the men guarding the woman’s room being dragged away by the wolves. The two large men were being pulled without making a sound.
Oscar passed the men being dragged and arrived at the door in front of the room. He lowered his gaze to the door handle before looking up at the door itself.
From beyond the thin door, faint moans, a peculiar smell, and the tainted laughter of someone excitedly scheming were seeping out.
* * *
The strange feeling first struck when she was looking for an escape route out the window. A peculiar smell brushed past her nose, causing her to tilt her head and take a deeper breath.
All the windows were closed, and the room was as sealed as a vault—where could the smell be coming from?
On her second inhale, she thought it might be smoky. As the breath filled her lungs, the smell seemed to vanish like a lie.
Instead, a sudden buzzing sensation began in her ears, as though water had entered them.
Her nose, her ears, and next, her eyes. With every blink, the world swayed uncontrollably. The disorienting afterimages of the shaking world made her dizzy.
She was standing firmly, yet… why? Why was this happening?
Instinctively, she grabbed something. It felt like a long piece of fabric stretching out. Then she heard a distant crash, but somehow, she found herself lying on the floor.
Why… why is this happening?
Her thoughts seemed to stretch endlessly. Time felt like it was stretching out too, and she wondered if it was a dream. The floor felt like a pit, as if it was pulling her in.
But the pit didn’t appear behind her.
There was a muffled, crashing sound, and then someone’s face came into view from above. Though her consciousness was hazy, the sight of that person’s grin made her heart sink.
“Oh dear. I need to ventilate this place before it completely goes bad.”
She needed to see where he was going, but her neck felt immobilized.
It seemed like the wind was blowing in. There was a thin layer between her skin and the breeze. In her fixed vision, she saw his face again.
“Where are you trying to run off to, pretty? Huh?”
Desperately, Seo-ah tried to open her eyes wider and breathe. She needed to get up, get up.
She took a deep breath. It felt like the wind was entering her nostrils.
Her limbs, which had felt detached from her body, began to regain sensation. The buzzing sound seemed to return, and the skin that felt covered by a thin layer started to regain feeling as well.
Desperately, Seo-ah twisted her body and pushed herself up with her palms on the floor. She stumbled and fell several times as her elbows buckled, but she couldn’t give up. She didn’t have time to think about what went wrong. All she could focus on was escaping this place, nothing else mattered.
The man’s laughter echoed around her.
“Let’s get some medicine. This amount is just right.”
As he spoke those chilling words, her body was lifted. She tried to scream, but no sound came out as her abdomen lacked the strength to make a sound.
There was a strange sensation of a layer covering all her senses.
She was thrown somewhere. An overwhelming force pressed down on her entire body. Even as she struggled, buried under the weight, he just laughed. He sat on her stomach, pinning her arms with his knees. She felt like a helpless insect.
“Ah, ah…!”
“Why did you even put this back on?”
The man leisurely unfastened Seo-ah’s coat buttons. Even as he did, he inspected her face beneath him with a perverse interest.
Her large, almond-shaped eyes seemed to waver and become moist. Despite her struggles and resistance, the drug’s effect clouded and muddied her vision. Her small lips could do nothing but twitch, letting out faint whimpers each time.
“It’s incredibly hot.”
Feeling his member swelling rapidly, the man took a small vial from his pocket. He grabbed Seo-ah’s chin with one hand and unscrewed the vial’s cap with his thumb.
The woman in his grip turned her head from side to side. He felt her feet wriggling behind him, but it didn’t matter to him.
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