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*Continuing from part A*

*”I´ve felt your mojo, son, and it permeates my members. While I was laying next to your mother, I could have sworn I heard Nicole on that pillow, screaming in satisfaction. Well, she is repaying it to you,” Mr. Yoon said. He and Peter did high five. They had no reservations about us in the kitchen understanding their manly dialogue. Mrs. Yoon was working as a wind, bending her figure in the same black apron with white lacing as I was wearing. Thanks to our combined strength, we baked a full sheet of elephant-shaped cookies and put cranberry spread on them.*

*”We are exchanging our men today,” Mrs.Yoon said and gave me a dish for her husband. I was stepping behind her on the way to the sitting room. We bowed, and I passed my load to an excited old man.*

*”Very good, girl,” Mr. Yoon said after eating two cookies. “I would never forbid Peter from sharing the bed with you.”*

*”No,” I laughed. ” That is the modern´s wife privilege and an instrument of power.”*

*Mr. Yoon sniffed. “When a wife is talking about her power, she is robbing her husband.”*

*I couldn´t stand the hypocrisy. “And husbands weren´t technically robbing their wives of certain things?”*

*Mr. Yoon grew silent just like Peter´s mother, more on the offended side.*

*Peter screwed me because he didn´t defend me this time. He was religiously looking up to his dad. I chastised him on the way to the house we were contemplating buying, and one doesn´t want to piss off the driver. Peter still didn´t back off.*

*”You know what he was saying. Only one can hold the power. He protected my mom and has never hurt her. She obeyed and revered his decisions.”*

*”Are you saying women don´t have their heads?”*

*Peter waited for me to make a turn.*

*”All I am saying is many of them seek advice accompanied by gentleness.”*

They dragged me to the crampy dungeon. I saw some bare legs raised in the air, shuddering. White and Carl tore my shirt in a quick motion. I was too stressed to watch, but I know one of them switched on the control on the wall. A pair of oval leather cuffs on a chain descended, and I pushed my hands through them. White´s rough press tightened them painfully. “I don´t love him,” I said in a loud voice. Then came the angry answer.

“I think you are incapable of loving anyone.”

I hate you, White. You made me renounce Peter. Mrs. Yoon and Mr. Yoon. Not everyone in that family showed me just graciousness, but they possessed firm character.

The air behind me got pierced by the whiz of a flogger. It smacked me into the shoulders, igniting lines of defamed skin. I screamed not right away, after the first stroke, but before the second one. It burned exponentially. It would not surprise me if I had the candles whose flames were turning stripes of my skin black.

The cords kissed my shoulders and back a second time. I shouted, and the hanging person in front of me flipped her calves backward. The burning pushed me over the edge. I sensed a map of the welts forming on me, completed eventually by the map of leaking blood.

“Can I borrow it? Do you know how to leave a mark or not?”

It would make sense if Carl said that, but I heard this voice sometimes and little. The whipping beclouded me from people entering.

“As if you were hitting hard, Jack.”

Johansson responded with pampering laughter. “From the head, I can give you seven numbers to girls who would think differently, but you wouldn´t trust them unless I would prove it on your ass… Which isn´t acceptable for you, is it?”

White was just getting more confused.

“Ms. Conrad? And who is she? One of my rejects?”

“I´m witness,” said a familiar young voice. “My name is Zita Woodroof. I have heard Nicole was supposed to be punished, but I was present when she told Ms. Conrad that thing. I spoke with fellow Johansson on her behalf, and we went to he… To Ms. Conrad so you would know what is Nicole´s problem.”

“It is either me or this geezer!” Flogger stuck on my butt, and my face became soaked with tears. I was wiping them with my cuffs.

“Ms. Conrad, you told me the whole thing. Were you lying? Are you going to?”

“Fellow White,” Bellinda said. “I´m here so you can reprove me. I´ve made the mistake. I told you that Ms. Xiong is so much lovestruck, and she is. I believed her when she mentioned her tutor. But the cupid was flying over her much earlier. The cause itself was presented for anyone to see in her civil records.”

Sound of paper unfolding, quintessential background noise of office drones.

“So, she gave her saddle to some guy! Well she is a doll, and men have the right tastes.”

I would protect him to my last breath, but Woodroof sacrificed Pater as a pawn in a game. Who wouldn´t have done that? The flogging would be the first step on my maddening descent.

“Peter and I are together,” I whispered. “He… In my blood, in my heart and lungs, in my senses.”

Bellinda walked around me.

“He is not a seed of the nation!”

“Such a love is what you call a drug,” White didn´t cease to be angry. “You´ve said that you and your girl influenced her. Can you inscribe my name on her tag?”

“One hundred percent sure! My pal Deborah has a loyal girl too. We will do a group meeting. Three´s a company.”

White took more on a commanding tone. “Make that group company and one. You will also get this ungovernable creature.”

They dropped the hanging woman in front of me. It was Irene, unclothed, striped, exuding the stench of vomit.

I wasn´t bleeding, so I received only the ordinary nano-gel that docs were distributing after Holy Submission lessons, and I could spend the night in the traditional place, tossing and turning.

Because I had a feeling my breaths tend to be shorter and shorter, I made them regular in bed, sitting in lotus, closing my eyes, straightening my spine, even enclosing my hands in mudra. Some people say meditation is for depressed weaklings, but such a state is the calamity of humans, not unusually brought upon by someone.

The breath and wondering in my head were potent like lightning, born in the vast sky, desirous of metal rod. I´ve seen the past again, and I was no longer blaming myself for it. There was no wisdom nor repulsed objections towards it. I watched the flowing pieces of the things I saw, unattended.

*”Here you go, Mrs. Kinaski. I have signed up the papers, and you have only one guess which one I´ve authorized grossed out.”*

*A ginger businesswoman in her 50´s sniggered and took a look at just that document on her desk. “Your measures are in our usual range. I see you are engaged, so it is my duty to discourage you from working…”*

*”You won´t discourage me in that Saint Lauren tuxedo!*

*”Oh, go-getting intern, longing for my chair! First, she must take a cute snap to complete a nonsensical file.”*

*She slid a photo of me in a shining shirt and went with me to my VR booth. On the curve of the rounded egg-like surface, I touched a little thing stuck to the handle. A plastic cockroach having a shower and smiling with a bent head.*

*”That´s Mr.Buggingit,” Kinaski explained. “Machine will always have bugs and dirty things are hopping around. The mere sight of him is telling us that life is more than the spotless visage of the company.”*

The long inhale and exhale emptied my head of apathy and searching. Leaving and staying on this spot became interchangeable. And then I saw him again, for a few long seconds – Mr. Buggingit. I relived that distraction from company. In this version of the moment, he said: “Happiness never goes away.” I had to believe this cartoony cockroach. The words combined what my father told us. “Everything is good, and happiness never goes away.”

Who would have wondered?

For me, the fact I was derisive of it gave me hope it could be more than just my synapsis firing rosy message I should pick up as some evolutionary benefit when I found myself in a cramped and dirty cave. I was thinking that in part because in that rapture I felt grateful for limitations. During life as we are living it, the possibilities will change the potentially organized mind into an abstracted one. My consciousness was gifted with the choice – either registering the space of my room, which seemed dull, now and forever, or I could sense my consciousness without thoughts but still working. The second option crowned me Empress of my days.

The lack of sleep mattered very little. I closed my eyes to regain strength. Particles of dust burst with static charge around my ears. I tapped into a pool of stamina and felt like a hot air balloon, so indefatigable it reaches the emptiness of the cosmos. My peace proved stronger than rebuking lamentations of Pat, doleful groans of Claudia, or desultory wonderings of Alice.

Bellinda and Deborah packed my two salted eggs, and they were hurrying me prickly. I ate it on the floor of the interrogation room where chains hooked to the table leashed metal collars of six nude women – me, Irene, Heiresses, their princess lovers… and Woodroof.

“Why is she here? I asked Johansson, who presided over us, reading a book.

“She is the most active of the kiddie bunch, including your case,” he explained. “People are grooming her to be an independent tutor.”

Woodroof gave me a supportive look.

Irene eyed Deborah´s lover, the girl, whose name was escaping me. She was black, and I mean pitch-black, kneeling on long, thin legs which supported a lovely prominent behind. She had smaller breasts and short curly hair, but the worshipful posture highlighted her natural beauty.

Her head dipped with a smile when she looked at me, Irene, and most of all when she winced at Cindy. She raised her hand. Johansson muttered permission to speak.

“Are you that Cindy Dunn? Have you written Freight Car On The Loose? A Gospel of Murderess?”

The writer nodded, her teeth gleaming between her lips.

“I´m Helene Z. Freeman and I am your fan! I read Freight Car sixteen times and Gospel of Murderess eighteen times!”

Bellinda stroked Cindy´s face. “She makes love to her fandom. Even if that entails only readers of the second book.”

Cindy slapped Bellinda´s ass and bowed to Helen. “It is crucial to value faithful readers.”

“And I like your program,” Helen said sweetly to Woodroof.

“I write it!” specified Woodroof.

“I see Cindy and Ms. Conrad are of one mind and one body,” Johansson said. “While our group met because of two girls affected by problems with authority.”

“Ms. Baird has them in general, Ms. Xiong is simply unable to prioritize them,” Bellinda said.

And that is the issue with my spiritual revelation. I can feel no worry, to not be aggravated by what they say about “Ms. Xiong” but the future stays grim. Could I be assuring myself that “Happiness never goes away” even during my execution?

I breathed. The insight in the night provided me with a better clasp on the present. I could concentrate, meaning I connected to the matter at hand, somehow knowing the solution is closer than the air in my lungs.

I stood up and rested my elbows on the table.

“Can you afford to do that?” asked Johansson incredulously.

“I am of opinion that Ms. Conrad gave me the word and you are the only one I can address poignantly,” I said. “Bellinda and Helene were given ten months to reform. Who can expect I will be a new person in over three months? My fiancée Peter Yoon is an obedient son, and he was beyond relieved when his father agreed to our wedding. He was cooperating with the Princess Tower in a good faith, and now his family is losing the… Bedrock.”

“Men can be grumbling if they won´t get their promised wives,” Woodroof said.

Johansson rubbed his temple. “Ms. Conrad, you´ve said that Ms. Baird is the chronic rebel, but today she is the one who conducts herself as the good reprimanded girl should.”

Irene got on her feet in the reminiscence of me. “Engagement is just a kind of trade. One that dumb people are pointlessly hurrying up. I couldn´t cope with Mr. White because he was baring himself to her,” she pointed out at me.

Johansson´s features softened. “What do we have here? One girl seems to be socially neglected, and the other is in a conflict of interests, and also substantially experienced one. Ms. Xiong, you can tutor her about living as a couple.”

I stopped being careful. Why not? “She could take lessons from her.” I nodded toward Helene. “Do I think right you have a husband? Given your pairing?”

“Yes, Adrian sent me here!”

I tumbled back to the floor.

“Yes, I was a journalist. Our newspapers started to print controversial articles. Adrian forced me to quit, and it turned out beautiful as a rainbow for us. But we both thought I was not submissive enough to him, so I let myself conscript. I´ll meet him in the divine July!”

That reinforced my point.

“Man can apply but it is not his duty,” Johansson noted. “Mr. Yoon can ask for any woman in the Princess Tower network. They will have a moment to consider, they can decline…”

“How about killing two birds with one stone,” suggested Woodroof. “If he can´t marry Ms. Xiong, he can be put together with Ms. Baird at a distance.”

“What are you saying, Ms. Xiong?” Johansson´s voice pressured me. I didn´t pay attention mainly to that, but to the fact I could use it against White.

“Can Peter come, so we say farewell as normal people?”

*”Yes Peter, rumors were true. I will have a curfew until I die. My guardian can allow me to have a job, but female working hours are supposed to be curtailed, our taxes will double, and my trade license? It will be yours to hold in trust. Choke on it and wash it down!”*

*Peter put his glass of wine down. Absent-mindedness hindered him from scooping tasty meatballs up. We were dining at my folks’ place, listening to Tom Jones hits and my concerns from discomposure.*

*”You have nothing to say? Are you looking forward to your authority?”*

*He bit his lip. It suggested to me that I was correct. I crossed my knife and fork above the dish.*

*”I haven´t been to their meetings, Nicole…” He looked worn out. “I didn´t vote for anyone I had known sympathizes with them. I will do what will secure who we are and who we will be.”*

*”You will do more, Peter!” I chewed on a meatball, hoping to cast a disdainful glance. “I know who you are, all right. You are my cherub. You are a harmless individual. Alas, cheesy as it will sound, I demand a strong husband.”*

Together with Zita we were trying to guard so many things at once. My life and well-being. My satisfied partnership with a good man. Peter´s opportunity of living as a man who can climb some mountains, even if I won´t be there to give him the rope. We couldn´t handle it all, and I think we forfeited the most superfluous item.

Zita lent me the browser again, and I called Peter. He told me about new methods I could use my hand when I interrupted him and said we would see each other soon but not after that. He was hysterical, just as I would be if he told me that on the day of my arrest when I clung to the conviction that it would never happen. I explained to him the rest…

The vast terrace on the roof of the Tower offered itself as the scene of our plot, a protruding area that could easily fit sixty people. White was enthroned here in the middle of an open tent of vermilion cloth. I had a silk glove on my right hand. Peter was supposed to kiss me goodbye on it. I held a tray with three glasses in my left hand. Irene stood straddling me and White. The green dress drew men’s attention to the exposed stomach and covered the breasts half, so not at all. I still had stinging remorse, alerting me to laziness, and fueling paranoia, but I learned to trust the present.

The four male wardens might have shot the helicopter and brought the beast down if the landing skids exceeded a millimeter in front of the circle around the drawn golden crown. They would also kill my ex-fiancé if he reached into his pocket, which I was afraid he would do the first second he saw me.

Peter came down the steps. A shuffling step further restricted him in the space defined by the group of crookedly smiling cronies. When they parted, it was because of Paladin, but he looked at me, and my gaze locked into his. Our eyes were like small ponds, yet I saw whole galaxies in his, free of bondage to tyrannical rulers, torched by love.

I didn´t know if I should be mad at him, seeing as he seemed to gain confidence, and it wasn´t just how he looked in the purple shirt and the dark clothing, patterned by subtle stripes.

White spurred me to go. That was it. Peter will surrender me as a bride, and he will also reject Irene as a substitute, demanding White would have to simply pay him. This might not be much for James and his father, but Peter will obtain the sum for a new begin, and I will be an expensive victim. Brotherhood officials, assholes as they are, admit his right in such a situation. There is no reason why Irene should be lowly valued, and they would keep her gladly.

Company as usual.

White quickened his pace, gesturing behind his back for the female guides to halt their steps. He stopped a step in front of Peter and extended his hand toward him. “dad was confused by the latest news!” he said excitedly. “Of course, he was happy for me when he realized that I was finally going to execute the transaction myself!”

Peter offered him his hand, but he let go almost immediately. In contrast, he kept looking into White’s eyes and desperately tried to stop his cheeks from trembling.

“Funny you mention that,” he said. “I can´t give you Nicole straight away. You see, she is now the source of income for my family.”

I was trained too well to drop the not-so-cheap alcoholic beverage and stain the meeting. But I would need a full face mask to cover the surprise Peter had prepared, and Irene was looking me up and down with a hint of skepticism, possibly wondering if I know what is going on. Something was clear to me, namely, that I am, for the millionth time, infinitely scared about Peter´s life.

White had permission to express himself.

“She is making you money by laying here, shagging, and pouring soup?”

Peter just looked at his feet for a moment before reestablishing eye contact and stuttered out, “I..,. as her guardian, have the right to manage her affairs and conduct company on her behalf with her trade license. I and m-my dad already started an accessories store months ago. It’s still in her name, so if she marries someone else it will go to him. Our legal counsel confirmed that to us. Sorry, we don’t want to transfer it to you.”

He was panting ridiculously, water splashes coming out of him faster than words. Either he didn’t prepare it very far in advance, or he hasn’t met anyone who justifiably glared at him before. I was just baffled for a while about what had grown out of the license I arranged like the day before the arrest.

White leaned into Peter’s face as if to bite his nose. “So it’s not complicated at all. I’ll tell Chic-Nic, and she’ll transfer the business to you.”

“She can´t transfer them as such,” Peter said. “During detainment, her role in such matters is supplemented by the state but the right is put on hold. It can be done by her but only after the end of the school year.”

“So?! She´ll put it in your hands then! ”

“I and my father were thinking about something else,” Peter raised his voice. “We are expanding. We can turn the store into a chain thanks to some sedulous relatives. Your father could be our grateful partner. And you would be responsible for sifting the profits from us. All you have to do is to render me Nicole.”

White didn’t look much at me or at Peter. Now he was eyeing Irene with bigger breasts and a more defiant look on her face and I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know he was considering her. That is, if he wants to sleep with her, when he forces her to obey. You couldn’t say that I was excited, I was keeping my balance now, but I was satisfied that Peter was able to pluck the string that connected James to his daddy.

“You don’t look like a man of trade, Yoon,” White stated, his eyes on Irene’s waist. “ I can imagine that the future in-laws of Chic-Nic were the ones who gave you advice on how to deal with life. Of course, everyone likes families, and marriage is not the only way to connect them. If we’re going to end up under the same roof it would be nice to make you a real man… What do you say you stay for the party at the new Happiest Place on Earth?”

I no longer lived in the light of happiness or the shadow of gloominess. Still, despite Peter’s embarrassment, I felt a memory of earlier feelings. The ardor that he will get to know this building and the life here more closely…

NSFW: yes

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