12 Years Old: Chapter 53 - Resisting and Strategizing in My Own Way
TL: Krrizis
Editors: Nahct
QC: Draygan
First published on Ainushi
Author's Note: Please be aware that there are questionable sexual descriptions included in this chapter.
Although I may be a hostage, frankly, there was a possibility that I may have been brought along to be the earl's son's plaything. Seriously, please don't let me be turned into a prostitute!
In a sense, it was as I feared. I was taken by the earl's son and thrown into one of the rooms in the Magic Institution. Perhaps the rebel army was crowded around here.
As my hands were tied behind my back, I landed on my shoulders when he tossed me onto a bed. I couldn't resist his rough treatment, and as they were now during a rebellion, it wasn't necessary for him to handle me with care.
A perverted smile formed on the earl's son's lips at the groan I let slip due to the momentum and the firmness of the mattress I was thrown onto. My disgust rose to the surface, my body shaking from his nauseating smile.
「Now then, it's time to indulge」
This fucking lolicon, I cursed.
I won't fall into despair, not as long as I stay strong. Until an opportunity arises or help comes, I won't complain. I'll bear with whatever he does to me.
「… I have several questions though.」
「Hmm? Such as?」
The earl's son was in a very good mood, with our roles as the strong and the weak being reversed today. I might be able to buy some time… Given that I had informed Gilles of my location through the ring, it was worth the effort if help arrives.
But as this was their base, there was also a risk. I had feelings of guilt for guiding Gilles to a perilous place like this.
「Where is Ruby?」
Nonetheless, that was really all I wanted to know. Separated from him, I wondered where Ruby was. Was he was alright? That boy was still a child, so there's nothing he could do. I ought to have protected him.
「By this time, your brother should have been brought to the Abbot’s location. He'll serve as a deterrence to the assault there」
「…Then shouldn't you have brought me over there too?」
I nearly clicked my tongue, but I held it in. Even if they were confining him somewhere, it wouldn't be so easy to retrieve him if he'd been brought under the supervision of the person with the highest war potential.
I thought of having Gilles rescue Ruby first and for me to escape later, but that strategy had been ruined. If this was the case, my next course of action and countermeasures would have to be revised.
「Before I do, I'll be taking your virginity」
The earl's son's smile revealed his sadistic spirit as I took care not to expose my thoughts. His gaze that seemed to be eyeing me all over was enough to make me feel uncomfortable; it was as though his greasy hands were caressing my entire body.
The bed creaked when he got on top of me.
Putting up a slight resistance, I kicked with my legs as my body sunk into the mattress. The evasive move was trivial; I still couldn't escape him. I knew that the earl's son's lust to conquer me was stirred.
*Ching* The ornaments that hung on the chain around my neck made a sound when they chafed against each other. A ring that was part of a set with Gilles', and beside it, a small silver disk….. I'm not sure if it'll do any good if I use them though.
Correction, that's if I were able to go over to Ruby's side and arrive uninjured under Abbot Georg's supervision. Right now, my wits and strength won't be of any help to me.
His hands, driven by his sexual intent, traced my loins and groped my developing breasts. I had been kidnapped in my sleepwear, therefore I was only clad in a thin negligee. My body's sense of self-protection was of no use in front of this man.
Although my body stiffened from the repugnance and discomfort welling in me, I forced it down and stared at the earl's son head-on. Honestly, I felt scared and revolted, but I got over it.
「Don't touch me. I'll execute my plan if you keep this up」
「Heh, so what? You're going to resist me?」
「If you defile my body, I'll commit suicide」
When I raised my eyes to stare directly at him, the earl's son's eyes turned round although his lips curled up happily. He was certain that he was still in absolute control of the situation.
「You were originally told to bring me over to Abbot Georg, weren't you? With those instructions, you judged that you had time to carry this out with me.」
「Not like it matters. You're a hostage. So long as your life is not forfeit, everything's rosy.」
「You need to keep the hostage alive, don't you? In the event that I commit suicide, you'll be responsible.」
「Are you threatening me? However, you're not actually going to do it. Those are nothing but empty words to shake me.」
「That may be so. Then, what if I do this?」
The present me was powerless, but that didn't mean I couldn't retaliate…
I aimed with my freed legs, using as much force as possible as I kicked him in 'that' area.
It was impossible to describe that horrible feeling. The earl's son couldn't even utter a single word in response.
As the earl's son leaned forward, fainting from agony, I promptly struck at the earl's son's body with all my might and tumbled off the bed. I landed on the floor on my back, but I didn't mind it the slightest. I then proceeded to cut the cloth that bound my hands together with wind sorcery.
These next few minutes would be a race against time and fate. How much could I take away from this advantageous situation? Arguably, it was a good thing that the earl's son lost consciousness, but he wouldn't remain in that state for long.
I grabbed the knife on the table beside the bed and made shallow cuts into the chest on my negligee. While I was at it, I made a few slits in my skirt.
After that, I prepared for the worst and cut into my lower arm with the knife.
The feeling of a sharp blade cutting into my skin was very painful. My blood started to flow, trickling out continuously. Whether it was the fact that it was my first time brandishing a lethal weapon to injure the flesh of a person or that it was my own body that I was cutting into, I couldn't laugh at all.
In order to pretend that I had been cut, I adjusted the angle of my knife before making several incisions. It was painful, but if it was just to this degree, I would be able to heal it afterward without leaving any scars, so I tolerated it.
If this would help me overcome those painful memories, I would gladly choose to be wounded.
My upper arms, thighs, collar area, and after that, without damaging the carotid artery, the nape of my neck. I quickly etched a red line over easily visible locations.
I endured the tears that welled up from the excruciating pain, dropped the knife dripping with blood on the floorboards beside the bed, and shifted to a more visible location. The preparations were done. Everything else from here on will depend on luck.
「What was that scream earlier!」
As soon as I had finished setting up the scene, the door burst open and a man and a woman came rushing into the room. Obviously, they were people from the rebel army.
Having estimated when they would break into the room, I started running towards the entrance. Their reactions were fast and moved closer to grab ahold of my shoulders to stop me.
I slipped away from their grasp by a hair's breadth and, between the two of them, clung onto the female magician with all my strength.
「Eh? Wai—」
The female magician raised her voice as she was baffled beyond her expectations. The man beside her was astounded as well.
Pretending that I hadn't noticed their reactions, I clung to the woman's body as mine trembled continuously. Large drops of tears from the pain coupled with my fearful voice spilled out.
「Uhuk, hu ….. I, I was so scared, Onee-sa…..」
With choked sobs stuck in my throat, I held tightly to the woman. My eyes overflowed with tears whilst my body couldn't stop shivering.
Actually, I was frightened, repulsed, and disgusted. Just remembering what happened had me actually well up in tears.
Seeing my body shaking, the woman discerned that something had happened and examined my state. She took a fleeting glance and continued to hug me, giving a sidelong look to the man. When the man saw it, he too understood the encounter I had and, turned with a sharp glare towards the bed where the earl's son had fainted in agony.
The fact that the earl's son was holding onto his crotch was sufficient for him to guess what had gone down. There was a bit of compassion in his eyes.
「Earl, why did you bring the hostage here? You're supposed to bring this girl before the Abbot. Moreover, she's wounded…..!」
Even if he had cleared out everyone before, the people in the vicinity should have an inkling of what had just transpired, judging by how he raised his voice at the earl's son. Interlaced was his feelings of guilt at the sense of the abnormal circumstances that played out before him.
This was what I had gambled upon, although I wasn't sure if it would pay off. It was heading in a direction much better than what I had anticipated.
Although it was an uprising, it didn't mean that all the members were bad people. The people participating were those that disagreed with their situation. Not all of them were people who were fond of committing inhuman acts.
Among them were those that loathed wounding others more than necessary.
I was waiting for those people. I knew that there would be people barging in. My gamble was on whom. A woman coming along was a pleasant miscalculation.
「— Ugh, he….. assaulted me….. I refused so… 」
「— I didn't do it! She injured herself with the knife!」
The earl's son grimaced in anger and pain as he raised his voice. When he did, I acted scared and squeezed tighter against the woman.
Now then, between a scantily-clad, frightened, and crying child versus a kidnapper that was once suspected to be a lolicon in the eyes of the public, whom would they believe? Well, the answer was clear, wasn't it…..
The female magician sympathized with me. As I sniffled, her eyes glared at the earl's son. To begin with, it didn't seem like she trusted him
「He told me to keep quiet if I didn't want… Ruby to be killed …」
That wasn't a lie. It was just a broader interpretation of what he had said.
A girl who can't do anything as her brother was taken hostage — giving off such an impression was deliberate. After all, everyone knew my aptitude for magic after the uproar from the duel. Both of them would never have thought that I didn't struggle or do something about it.
「It's alright, he won't lay a hand on you anymore」
A frail, powerless girl frightened because of an attempted rape by the earl's son.
I had succeeded in planting that image. Both of them shared the same sentiments. It was likely against their conscience for a child to be wounded to begin with. I'm thankful that it was these two that responded.
The woman whispered, "It's going to be fine" soothingly as she gently rubbed my back. I continued clinging to her while shedding tears. The insides of my nose were numbingly hot.
The crying was just a bit of an act I put on, but honestly… I was scared. These were real tears of relief that I had protected my chastity.
….. Now then, this was where the main act began. I can't just wait and hope to be saved, I would also have to rely on doing my very best.