Yes…
The “meeting” that could span over a decade, crossing past and present lives, left a memory of “pain” in his mind…
Why can’t he remember now what he told him during that meeting?
Since he could remember so much of the original work’s plot and wrote it down, it shouldn’t be that he forgot about just one meeting…
Thinking about it again, he definitely… definitely can…
Even he didn’t know why, at a time like this, he would be so fixated on the answer from that meeting.
Perhaps because in that meeting…
There was a “turning point” that seemed like it could change everything?
The past self in the darkness, in the corridor, grew further away, and Will felt himself in the present, powerless, growing closer.
Finally, the two merged into one.
He was also pulled back by Iaar’s voice.
“Young Master, Iaar is back.”
He could only feel a gust of wind from Iaar in front of him, unable to even see her shadow.
Iaar seemed to be holding pliers, and he heard the clatter of them falling to the ground.
But he also heard the rustle of Iaar’s clothes and her approaching him.
“Iaar wants to tell Young Master, that… the words that Young Master always told Iaar, that Iaar always remembers—”
“Iaar loves Young Master very much, so, in Young Master’s eyes, in his life, amidst the darkness that looks like a long, long night, only Iaar can be this one light…”
“Okay?”
“…”
Will opened his mouth.
He wanted to answer.
The moment he opened his mouth, he realized it wasn’t his “consciousness” that wanted to answer, but an subconscious urge to give Iaar a reassuring answer, whether it was something he could actually do or a temporary lie.
But he couldn’t speak.
“…?”
His throat felt as if it had been frozen by Iaar.
Immediately after, he felt gloved fingers reach into his lips, gently yet forcefully separating his upper and lower jaws.
And then…
It stopped.
Under the influence of Ice Array, Iaar could, through such extreme ice magic, make any part of his body “stiff,” preventing him from moving.
Thus, he felt his mouth being stretched open to a rather exaggerated size, facing Iaar.
What did she want to do?
Will couldn’t see anything, nor could he guess anything. It was precisely this unknown, from his brain to his line of sight, that made him start to pant heavily, his heartbeat quickening.
As his heart rate accelerated, he suddenly felt Iaar’s hand lightly place itself on his chest, as if to comfort him, tracing circles on his chest through the thin shirt.
“Your heart is beating so fast.”
“Don’t worry…”
“This is… the way Iaar has thought… the most acceptable way for Iaar…”
He felt Iaar’s fingers pressing against the side of his soft tongue, extending inside.
Following his teeth all the way in, but she seemed very unaccustomed to other people’s mouths, and her index finger instantly poked his throat, making him want to gag.
But he couldn’t.
His throat was stiffened by the ice, and his brain seemed to produce only the sensation of gagging, but he couldn’t perform the action of gagging.
He could feel the soft finger slowly caressing from the deepest part forward.
From wisdom tooth to second molar, to first molar, to second premolar, to first premolar, and incisors…
As if playing, she tapped her fingernail three times on his incisors.
Although it was just three light taps, with his eyes covered, lacking vision to obtain information, he became more sensitive to sound and vibration.
The sound of the taps on his incisors, transmitted through bone conduction, traveled up his nerves like an electric current, all the way to his brain.
“So… which one shall it be?”
Iaar’s fingers left Will’s mouth.
At this moment, Will felt a faint trace of fear—fear of the fingers leaving due to their touch.
Perhaps Iaar was unintentional, but covering his eyes with a black cloth first, and then proceeding step by step with the subsequent actions, was like “controlling” all his senses.
Unlike with Liya, where the rough injection of blood made him feel excited.
Unlike with Treya, where his spirit wandered between gentle and brutal dreamscapes.
With Iaar, she didn’t have those complicated things. She only had simple external operations, only clear words, only imitating what Will had done before.
But these actions were truly provoking Will’s senses.
Now, in the darkness, with his hands tied and his mouth held open, he was exceptionally sensitive to every sound around him, and exceptionally dependent on the slightest touch.
A person cannot abandon their desire to receive external information. When their eyes are covered, their hearing and touch are amplified and amplified, making them unable to resist grasping at the things that bring them these sensations.
“Even Iaar is a bit hesitant…”
“…!”
At this moment, Will felt a cold pair of pliers, large enough to fill his entire mouth, tap against his teeth.
He instinctively wanted to pull his head back, but he couldn’t.
Iaar’s freezing was the best body immobilizer, holding him firmly in the chair.
“Young Master. Iaar once heard from the hired servants of the Hysterm Family who served other nobles…”
*Clang.*
The metal pliers tapped his lower teeth, making his brain tremble.
“When nobles have tooth problems, they need to be pulled.”
*Clang.*
Iaar’s pliers turned between his upper and lower teeth, as if carefully choosing.
“But, some people can’t eat properly after having a tooth pulled. They become very decadent and spiritless, always needing someone to take care of them, listening to them cry out in pain…”
*Clang.*
Finally, after three taps, Will felt the pliers stop at his deepest wisdom tooth.
Will understood.
Under such tapping, he could understand anything.
Iaar now wanted to bring him “pain,” bring him “deficiency,” bring him “powerlessness.”
Because in pain, he would need “comfort,” in deficiency, he would need “help,” and when powerless, he would need “support.”
“Then it’s this one.”
“Enduring such pain, with Young Master lying in my arms… Iaar will feed each mouthful to you, one by one…”
“Including that ‘tooth’ that falls from Young Master, Iaar will preserve it well.”
And…
Perhaps in Iaar’s eyes, he, who was in pain, broken, and decadent, was the one who would never leave her…
He felt from Iaar’s silent actions—
She had no intention of alleviating Will’s pain from the beginning.
Even though there was magic in this world that could achieve the same effect as “anesthesia,” even though Iaar’s ice magic could somewhat relieve pain, even though he could be knocked unconscious and not feel pain…
She did none of that.
The pliers aimed at the tooth, clamping down while pressing the gums fiercely downward, then gripping the root and pulling hard—
The pain from the depths of the gums instantly shot up to his brain.
But all he could do was let out a series of gasps from his throat, unable to even cry out in pain.
But…
It was strange…
Despite the continuous pain, despite the anticipated loss of a part of his body, despite Iaar’s excessive actions which he couldn’t control…
Why was he looking forward to Iaar’s every next move?
“Very good… very good… just a little more…”
Iaar gripped the pliers fiercely.
The moment the tooth broke free from the root, Will felt as if…
As if “lava” was surging in his mouth.
The sensation of pain was like the heat from lava, starting from the bottom of the extracted tooth, spreading upwards, and then, the entire mouth was filled with a burning pain.
Then…
Came the cold.
The flowing blood was much colder than the temperature of his entire mouth. He felt a cold, viscous liquid that he couldn’t control slowly flowing over the root of his tongue.
Even towards the back of his throat.
“Iaar wants to hear… Young Master’s… groans…”
Iaar’s fingers gripped his neck, especially around his throat.
And then…
He could “hear” his own voice coming from his throat, first continuous gasps, then turning into painful cries he couldn’t suppress.
“Hiss… So… it hurts so much, cough cough…”
As he spoke, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
But his blood continued to flow from the socket of his extracted tooth.
“Mhm, Iaar knows, Iaar understands, Iaar heard…”
Iaar’s voice seemed to calm down. Her gloved hand reached for the ribbon on Will’s blindfold and slowly removed it.
Will found that his vision was blurry because the ribbon had been tied too tightly. As he swayed, he was finally able to see Iaar’s expression clearly.
“I’ve calmed down, Iaar has calmed down a lot, thank you…”
She removed her gloves and reached out to touch her face.
Will broke out in a cold sweat, and sweat drops on his temples from the pain dripped down like large beads.
Iaar’s fingertips were also damp. She had sweated quite a bit under her gloves, and he could smell the fragrance of a beastkin on her fingertips.
She was so happy.
She seemed to truly enjoy seeing him like this.
Will looked at her expression.
She…
She truly loved him very, very much.
Whether it was sick, abnormal, twisted, or strange…
The sincerity in her gray eyes was not a lie, containing no falsehood.
“Iaar likes this Young Master very much. That’s great, Iaar feels like she can calm herself down a lot again, Iaar can return to normal again.”
“But…”
“I’m sorry, Iaar seems to have… seems to have done this without permission…”
“It hurts, doesn’t it? Young Master must feel a lot of pain, right?”
Her voice became tearful, and tears seemed to fall as she reached out her hand to him.
