Elrin's eyes snapped open, eyes dilating.
His first conscious breath came out ragged and wet, chest heaving as the full weight of his body slammed back into awareness. He tried to sit up, but the thick leather straps across his wrists, ankles, and waist held him arched and spread on the iron rack, limbs splayed like a pinned insect. A sharp, burning ache radiated from deep between his legs, his ass sore and throbbing in a way that made his stomach twist with instinctive dread.
The skin there felt raw, stretched, slick with something warm and sticky that leaked slowly down his thighs and pooled beneath him on the cold stone. He was completely naked, the compression shirt and baggy pants gone, his small cock soft and spent against his stomach, skin flushed pink from exertion he couldn't remember.
"What… what the fuck happened to me?"
Elrin demanded, voice cracking high and hoarse, the words tumbling out in a panicked rush. His head thrashed from side to side, blond hair matted with sweat, eyes darting wildly across the dark wood paneling, the open iron maiden, the gleaming tools on the velvet-covered table.
"Where am I? Who did this? Untie me right now, you bastards! Do you have any idea who I am? I am Lord Elrin Snooven Hound, only son of Duke Ashford! My father will burn this entire place to the ground if you don't release me this instant!"
John stood a few feet away, arms crossed loosely over his chest, He didn't move at first. He just watched, a small, tired smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
The nervous gooner part of him, the part that still remembered every kick, every insult, every drop of piss that had landed on his face back in the kennel—felt a quiet satisfaction bloom in his chest. But there was no triumph in it, not really. Just exhaustion and the heavy knowledge that this was the end of a very long, very ugly chapter.
"You really don't remember?"
John said softly, stepping closer until he loomed over the strapped-down noble. His voice stayed even, almost gentle, the kind of tone someone used when they were explaining something obvious to a child.
"That's the drug working its magic. But don't worry. I'll remind you. Every single thing you did to me. Every single humiliation. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?"
Elrin's face twisted in confusion and growing fear, but he kept struggling against the restraints, leather creaking as his hips bucked uselessly.
"What are you talking about? I don't know you! I've never seen you before in my life! Release me or I swear on my father's name I will have your head on a pike by sunrise!"
John ignored the threats. He crouched down beside the rack, elbows on his knees, and began speaking in that same quiet, methodical voice. He told Elrin everything. The stable yard where the blond lord had first shoved him to the ground and called him hāfu-chikan. The way Takeshi and his friends had torn open his bags and laughed at the anime figures scattered in the dirt. The walk in front of the carriage while his feet bled and his thighs burned. The kennel nights where Elrin had stumbled in drunk and used him as a living urinal, warm piss soaking into his hair and clothes while he lay chained among the dogs. The beatings in the courtyard, the public humiliation in front of the other servants, the way Elrin had laughed while guards kicked him unconscious for the crime of trying to help. Every slap, every kick, every cruel word. John laid it all out slowly, pausing after each memory so Elrin could feel the weight of it settle in his bones.
Elrin's struggling slowed as the words sank in. His face went pale, then flushed again, eyes widening in horrified recognition. "That… that was you? The half-foreign freak? The one who wouldn't stop talking about "anime" and "trucks" and… and all that nonsense?" His voice trembled, cracking on the last word. "You were nothing! A servant! Less than a dog! How dare you—"
John cut him off with a single raised hand.
"And now look at you. Naked. Strapped down. Ass sore and leaking because I fucked you until you begged like a cheap whore. The drug made you into the perfect little slut, Elrin. You came untouched. Multiple times. You called me master. You told me you were born for my cock. You thanked me for breaking you."
Elrin's mouth opened and closed, no sound coming out at first. Then the panic truly set in.
"No… no, that didn't happen. You're lying. I would never— I'm a lord! My father—"
John stood up slowly, brushing his hands on his pants. "I'm done with you. You're just a used-up slut prince now. No more use to me." He turned toward the door, adjusting his jacket with a casual tug. "I'll throw you to the dogs. Let them have what's left. Maybe they'll be gentler than I was."
Elrin's eyes bulged. "Wait! Wait, please! What exactly happened? Tell me! I demand to know every detail! You can't just leave me like this! I am the heir to Greystone! My father will pay anything—anything! Just tell me what you did to me!"
John didn't stop walking. Elrin's voice rose behind him, turning into a frantic, entitled rant.
"You filthy fucking peasant! You think you can do this to me and walk away? I'll have you flayed alive! I'll have your skin made into boots! My father's knights will hunt you down and make you scream for days! You have no right! No right to touch me! I am nobility! I am—"
John sighed, the sound heavy and tired. He stopped at the door, shoulders slumping for a moment.. But the rant kept going, Elrin's demands and threats spilling out like he still believed he had power here, like he still believed he was the one in control. It grated. It grated deep.
John turned back around. His steps were slow as he walked over to the rack.
Elrin kept yelling, voice growing hoarse, face twisted in outrage. "You will regret this! When my father hears what you've done—"
John placed both hands gently over Elrin's face, palms covering his eyes and mouth, muffling the rest of the tirade. The noble's struggles intensified for a second, then stilled as confusion took over. John closed his eyes, focusing. A small system window appeared in the air between them, glowing soft blue, Elrin's character profile hovering there like a patient document waiting to be edited.
He didn't hesitate.
With a single deliberate thought, John reached into the window and lobotomized him.