Chapter 25

“Mmph, mmph! Mmm-mmm!”

Trash who treated animals and women as mere outlets for sexual desire, a bastard like Graham—if only he could drop dead from a heart failure right this instant!

She spewed curses from her mouth, but they were clamped shut and swallowed by a hand like a dog-thief’s. The more she moved her tongue, the more the flower inside her mouth mixed with saliva, thoroughly choking her throat.

“Ughk, keuk, keuk, hilt!”

The suffocating sensation and the silent darkness weren’t what she feared. What she truly feared was Declan’s breath spreading against her ear. A breathless gasp, greedy like a beast’s. Rough and filthy. That breath whispered that it would strip her bare and taste her thickly.

Though she couldn’t stop him with pure strength, she had no intention of rolling over easily. Isu tried to uproot a clump of grass as tall as a person and wrap it around Declan’s neck.

Yet, because she was being dragged along, she only repeated frantic, empty motions. At that moment, Declan hid behind a massive pine tree and muttered lowly.

“Swallow it, swallow it. Come on, I said swallow.”

Being laid out on a grassy patch where even moonlight couldn’t reach happened in an instant. As her head fell back, the flowers wetly slicked with saliva blocked up her throat.

“Ughk, mmph. Urgh!”

Thinking she might suffocate if she just stayed still, she desperately pushed the flower with her tongue, but the saliva pooling thick inside her mouth acted as a lubricant, shoving the flowers down her esophagus in wet lumps.

She genuinely wanted to die. Just being violated by a subhuman beast was enough to shatter her psyche—what would happen if she even ingested an aphrodisiac flower?

She even thought it might be better to just bite her tongue off and die right here in advance. Though she grew overwhelmingly resentful at the thought that Declan was the one committing the wrong, so why should the victim be the one to die?

Meanwhile, seeing her throat ripple as she forced down the flower, Declan smiled like a vile demon, crawled atop her body, and said.

“No matter how I think about it, a roe deer won’t do. Jenna isn’t my type, either. I hate noisy women who want too many things.”

“Mmph, urgh!”

“But look here. Instead of doing it this rough, why don’t we negotiate a bit? You don’t want to get laid on a dirt floor like this, either. So let’s cooperate in a way where I get your body, and you get my protection. That’s a win-win for both of us. You’ll probably benefit more since you can enjoy it, too. I hear I’m real good at sex often enough.”

Perhaps worried about the fallout if he pushed things recklessly, Declan tried to conciliate her. He was likely worried about this incident getting out and branding him a shameless scoundrel.

Thinking that, fury surged within her. Planning to snatch an innocent woman and use her as a sex toy, yet worried about his reputation? It’s fine to destroy an innocent woman, but being branded a shameless scoundrel and having his reputation destroyed is crossing the line? Murderous intent settled in Isu’s eyes as she glared at Declan.

However, rejecting Declan’s proposal was a foolish move. Since he had even scouted out the location, he wouldn’t simply back down willingly, so he might choose to commit rape as his body desired and then murder her to keep her quiet.

What if he played innocent after that? People would feel uneasy, but they’d have no choice left except to believe Declan’s words…

She had no options left other than accepting Declan’s proposal. Isu nodded frantically. She would cooperate, she would negotiate, and rather than being forced, she would act as if she intended to enjoy it together.

Declan looked doubtfully at her face, stained with cold sweat and dirt, and asked.

“You’re negotiating?”

“Mmph, urgh, mmm, mmm…”

“Really? You won’t say otherwise later, right?”

“Mmm, mmm.”

“You made the right choice. You were probably just too shy to express it, but you don’t totally hate me, do you? Just match your body with mine first and then decide. If you like it too, I’ll be your boyfriend. No matter how much you follow Hayden around, you know you’ll just end up as that guy’s concubine once we get off this island.”

Declan’s voice gradually grew softer and more affectionate. He was likely making his own efforts to secure a stable, regular outlet for his sexual desires.

The sight of him brushing the dirt off her eye corners now was beyond nauseating. Utter trash, a rutting beast, a bastard who deserved to be beaten to death. Though her chest burned with a thousand fires, she wasn’t in a position to cross Declan.

She had to survive first. Keeping her wits sharp, she needed to bide her time for an opening and run. Isu blinked her eyes deeply and nodded, acting as though she genuinely intended to sleep with Declan.

Studying that face, Declan slightly loosened the hand covering Isu’s mouth and asked again.

“For real, right? If you pull any funny business, I won’t let it slide. I’ve got a place picked out, so follow quietly.”

He locked gazes with her as if confirming her intentions one last time. She didn’t want to look at those cloudy eyes made murky and blind by sexual lust, but she had to endure it. Being violated by a beastly bastard was bad enough; she couldn’t risk her life being threatened on top of that.

“Mmph, mmm, mmm, mmm…”

Putting force into her mouth, she answered “okay.” The moment she did, the hand that had been clamping her mouth shut lifted away like a tumor.

“If you scream, I’ll shove you straight into the lake and kill you. Understand?”

Flashing his eyes to prove his threat wasn’t meaningless, Declan stood up first and brushed the dirt off his clothes.

“Fuck, should’ve done this sooner, wasted energy for nothing.”

“Hah, hah…”

The area around her mouth, laden with hot moisture, felt damp and cold. Isu wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket and scanned her surroundings.

She was 100 meters away from the quarters. The distance was further than she thought; if she screamed, she’d likely be dumped into the lake before Hayden even managed to come out.

Yet, she didn’t want to follow Declan meekly, either. What kind of filthy things would he do with that penis he had shoved into a snake’s mouth? By then, wouldn’t she be praying for death instead? Should she run? Should she attack Declan first?

Isu looked around in confusion. At that moment, Declan roughly grabbed the back of Isu’s neck and hoisted her up by force.

“Get up. Before I toss you straight into the lake.”

“Urgh, ah, it hurts…!”

Her body tipped forward. As she braced her hands against the ground, a stone roughly the size of two clenched fists brushed against her hand.

It was the stone Hayden had used to sharpen his knife that very evening. She had no idea why his words—that hands get hurt by dull knives, not sharp ones—suddenly popped into her mind.

Hands get hurt by dull knives. Hands get hurt by dull… It meant that to avoid getting hurt, one had to sharpen the blade firmly and swing it.

A firmly sharpened blade… She didn’t have a blade like that right away, but a stone angled like a brick was clear right before her eyes.

It felt like an opportunity handed down by the heavens. A final chance to break free with all her might rather than be violated by the worst kind of man…

Just in time, Declan looked out toward the mouth of the lake. The back of his head was left completely exposed and vulnerable.

The back of that head seemed to whisper to her to strike it down quickly. A final chance, a final chance. Pretending her legs were giving out and collapsing, Isu grabbed the stone.

If she attacked half-heartedly, she’d end up getting counterattacked instead. So she needed to draw upon every ounce of strength she had, but fear paralyzed her hands, making it impossible to grip tightly.

Furthermore, she had no certainty. Whether she could actually pull off a proper attack against a man nearly twice her size. If she even missed slightly, he’d immediately retaliate…

The hand lifting the stone trembled violently. Yet, reminding herself of the snake that had suffered a miserable death the day before, the roe deer that had almost been assaulted, and the aphrodisiac flower floating around in her stomach, she bit down hard on her lips.

‘Die, you trash, die!’

Crying out inwardly, she struck the back of Declan’s head. With a thud, a sharp, stinging jolt ran up her elbow.

Declan clutched the back of his head and rolled on the ground. Was she crazy to feel a sense of catharsis, as if a weight had been lifted off her chest, upon hearing that beastly howl?

“Gahk! K-Kyaaagh! Aah, aah! C-Crazy bitch! Fuck!”

Attempting to get right back up, Declan crawled along the ground as if he had lost his sense of balance. She had to make a choice. Whether to finish off Declan so he wouldn’t even dare dream of revenge in the future, or to run back to her quarters right now.

She knew she’d regret whatever she chose. If she left Declan alive, she’d have to hold her breath in constant fear of future retaliation, and if she killed Declan, she’d have to shoulder the burden of being a murderer.

Confused, Isu clutched the stone and spoke as if possessed by something.

“D-Did you think I’d get dragged away like a f-fool? You misjudged your person. You misjudged the p-person…”

At that moment, the door to the quarters flew wide open. Hayden. Scanning his surroundings urgently, he spotted Isu exposed past the pine tree trunks and began running toward her in his bare feet.

Declan, who had been trying to get up and fight back, clutched his head and fled toward the entrance of the lake. All that remained in his wake were frenzied curses.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

He was moving too fast to catch. Isu could only stare at Hayden with trembling hands.

Droplets of blood dripped from the edge of the stone she held in her hand. Inadvertently looking down at her own hands and shuddering at the sight, Isu dropped the stone with a dull clatter and spoke as if the breath was leaving her lungs.

“Hah, hah… Ah, I-I…”

Hayden stopped right in front of her with a face that looked newly woken from sleep. She wanted to explain the situation to him, but her lips shook like an aspen leaf, keeping her too busy stuttering to speak properly.

“I tried to k-kill Declan, so I-I attacked…”

“…….”

“D-Declan, Declan instead of the roe deer… r-raped me.”

“What?”

“He forced me, he r-raped, raped me…”

He grasped the situation after hearing just a few words. Soon matching his eye level with Isu, he asked in a gentle voice.

“So you cracked his skull open with a rock?”

“That, ugh, it was self-defense…”

“Yeah, I know, well done. Now breathe.”

Answering as though praising a child, he added quietly.

“Next time, crack it open properly so he can’t get back up, okay? Breathe properly. Slowly.”

Locking eyes with her immediately, he took a deep breath as if telling her to copy him.

His chest expanded on the inhalation and flattened on the exhalation. Trembling in the shoulders, Isu mirrored his breathing.

“Ha… ah… Ha… ah…”

“Try breathing slower. Slower.”

Though he had been slick or sarcastic the whole time, he revealed a tender side. However, the blue eyes that had always been tender were unfocused, making it impossible to tell where they were looking. Eyes overflowing with murderous intent. With those cruel eyes, he asked for Declan’s whereabouts.

“Where did he go?”