Shane sat for about half an hour, pondering his steps, when the door to the room opened. Everyone looked up as Nielle entered. The moment they realized who was visiting them, they all lined up and bowed their heads in greeting.
Shane looked at Nielle who was simply ignoring the entire crowd of Lacrisans and after finding him sitting on one of the beds he walked right up to him.
"Aren't you going to get up to greet me?" Nielle laughed, looking down at Shane as if he wanted to see what he had done after yesterday.
What Shane felt wasn't intense hatred, but it definitely wasn't a favour either. He got up and looked at Nielle carefully, "I don't know the local rules, if you have a list, give it to me," he said.
Nielle looked at him carefully for a moment before laughing lightly: "First in line, come here!" He shouted at the Lacrisans, after which a young man ran up to him.
"Yes, Your Highness," He looked down.
"Name the rules," Nielle instructed.
The young man shuddered in terror, how he couldn´t think rationally in the presence of the prince. But since the disobeying the order was the same as being punished, he began:
"The owner must be called master, sir or by the title...the master mustn´t be opposed...the master has no obligations towards us...every morning at half past seven we wait for the master's arrival...if the master doesn´t come and no one is called, we are allowed to go to our work...the master may take us from any job at any time...any opposition to the master is punished...wandering in the palace without permission is punished...wandering in the city without permission is punished...meeting with princes other than the master without permission is punished...giving luck to someone other than the master is punished...sex between each other is allowed if the master doesn´t catch us, if he catches us, it´s punished...when the master arrives, it is necessary to stand up and prove respect...forgetting the rules is punished...the punishment depends on the master's mood...ignorance of the rules is no excuse..." he tried to remember them all, although he said them in an imprecise order.
Nielle listened to him contentedly before adding after a moment of silence, "Did he say all of them?" He asked the second Lacrisan in line.
The young man hesitated, not wanting to cause trouble to Lacrisan, but finally said, "H-He missed four of them"
Lacrisan next to Nielle stammered in terror: "I-I...I have them w-written...and I follow them all...I just..."
"Why do you have them written down if you don't know them?" Nielle looked at him.
"I-I..." He didn't know.
Nielle looked at the Lacrisans, "How many rules did they break?" he asked, pointing at one of them.
"Me?" one was startled, not wanting to cause trouble for the newbie or their friend, but as Nielle gave him a dangerous look, he said, "Cassi...he didn't know the rules," he mumbled, "w-what's your name?" He looked at Shane.
"Shane," he said.
"Shane...he didn't address the prince properly, he didn't stand up, he didn't wait, he spoke inappropriately," he listed.
"Exactly," Nielle nodded and allowed him to return to his seat before looking at the pair of Lacrisans. Cassi freaked out, Shane sat on the bed again, not enjoying standing around while everyone was talking.
"How should I punish you?" He smiled.
"A-as you wish, master…I'm sorry." Cassi looked down at the ground.
Nielle smiled contentedly, "Somebody get me a leather whip," he said, causing Cassi to back away as if looking for help in Lacrisans. But the youths just stared at the ground in silence.
After a while, one of them brought a whip from the closet.
Nielle took it over and tossed it in his palm: "Three blows for one rule, what do you say? Pretty harmless, don't you think?" He laughed.
Nobody answered and Nielle didn't even expect that to happen, so he just looked at the young men in front of him and ordered: "Take off your top."
Cassi, although terrified, slowly began to follow the instruction while Shane glared at him. He didn't feel like getting up or being beaten, since his every part hurt so bad after yesterday, so he was taking his time.
However, Nielle took it as a protest, so he stopped Cassi with a gentle laugh: "Change of plan, take off your lower part," he instructed.
"P-prince N-nielle…" Cassi mumbled, clutching his clothes in his hands as he could only mentally brace himself for three lashes. Another kind of humiliation in front of everyone was something he didn't think he could handle.
"Thank your new roommate for being uncooperative," Nielle laughed, "if you don't want me to change my plans for the better, tell him to get up."
Terrified, Cassi knelt down next to Shane and pulled his hand: "Please...get up...please...p-please...get up," he insisted, "I...I don´t want to...please I...I know we don't know each other...but..." He tried. Shane shook his hand off him and got to his feet with a sigh.
Cassi looked at him in surprise as he didn't expect such cooperation and mumbled quietly: "Th-thank you..."
"I was planning to get up, it's not because of you," he said. He wasn't lying, he really wasn't going to get locked up in a dungeon, as everyone threatened him for every stupid thing.
"Take off your clothes," Nielle ordered.
Shane followed the instruction, revealing to everyone his bandaged body, which wasn´t in the best condition after yesterday.
Nielle smiled and nodded to the wall: "Back to the wall, feet apart," he instructed.
Chills flooded Cassi's naked body under the rush of cold and fear, even though he was only supposed to receive a light punishment. Shane was quite warm from the bandages, so he just leaned his back against the wall and spread his legs.
"When you fall, you get two more," Nielle promised, flipping the whip in his hand before looking down at the body of his familiar Lacrisan.
As Cassi closed his eyelids, Nielle gave Lacrisan the first slash. With a force he hit his crotch from below.
,,ÁÁÁÁGH!" He screamed in agony. He pulled his legs together and widened his eyes in terror as he didn't expect the wounds to be concentrated here.
"Do you want to increase the number?" Nielle wondered, after which Cassi removed his hands from his crotch in a second. He shook his head, closed his eyes, and tried to manage the last two hits.
Nielle gave a second lash of the whip between Shane's legs. Shane twitched painfully, clenched his teeth, but didn´t react significantly. However, he was irritated by the prince's self-confidence.
"How cute," Nielle laughed and gave Cassi's crotch another hit. The young man's legs buckled again under the new whipping, but he held on and shakily leaned against the wall.
"Ngh-ágh-ngh!" He sobbed, although tears didn´t run down his cheeks.
"Will you cry?" Nielle looked at him contentedly, but Cassi quickly wiped his eyes, although they were still dry, and shook his head in terror.
"N-no...I won´t...I'm not crying," he promised, knowing full well that Nielle wouldn't let the opportunity pass and would definitely take some of his tears. And even though Cassi dreaded sex and all kinds of punishment, he feared the transmission of luck through tears as much as anyone.
"Good boy." Although Nielle loved their tears, he still trusted that his Lacrisans were well trained and didn´t cry easily.
Shane looked at Nielle's satisfied expression as he returned to him again and without hesitation whipped him across his dick. Shane clenched his fists, closed his eyelids tightly, and let out a loud breath as his cock stung him intensely. Nielle was amused by his bland but highly interesting reaction, so he swung the tool at him again. Shane backed up against the wall and looked to the side. He was no stranger to pain and didn't exactly hate it, but Nielle's behavior made Shana want to rip the whip out of his hand and whipped him instead twice as much.
Nielle smiled contentedly and flicked Cassi again. The whip hit his crotch right over his legs, causing Cassi's knee to buckle with a shriek, and he almost lost his footing. Tears gushed from his eyes, he clasped his wound in his hands and sobbed loudly. He felt as if the whip had severed his intimate parts, as evidenced by the tiny streaks of blood running down his thighs.
Intrigued by Lacrisan's inappropriate reaction, Nielle contentedly approached his shaking body and slowly bent down, "I remember...you're the one I didn't even enjoy before the new one came," he laughed, "I don't punish you often enough...is that why you have no self control?" He laughed and extended his fingers to him.
Cassi just lets out a horrified sob as Nielle lifted his chin towards him and looked down at his glistening tears, drenching his face. Nielle had never whipped him like that. The prince was telling the truth, he really was one of the lucky ones who ended up in Nielle's service between two others, and thus the prince more or less ignored him upon his arrival after a while.
"It's a mistake on my part, I should have paid more attention to you," Nielle laughed, "we can start right now, if you can't hold them in, bear the consequences." He smiled contentedly and gently pressed his lips to his cheek, lightly trailing his tongue up almost to his eyes. Lacrisan let out a horrified scream before anything could happen.
"N-no...p-please no...s-stop...s-stop..." He tried to push him away, as even sex alone would be better treatment than what he was trying to do at the moment. However, he wasn't strong enough, Nielle was having a good time, and so he slowly reached the source of his tears despite the young man's whining.
Everyone just watched in disgust as their friend ended up in Nielle's hands, some looked away, some thanked that they weren´t in his position, but no one intervened. Nielle only lightly touched Cassi's face with his tongue again when a harsh jerk tore him from Lacrisan's body, causing him to blink in surprise.
"He says he doesn't want to..." Shane held his wrist tightly while Nielle looked up at him stunned.
He stared at him silently for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that he had just really interrupted the fun, before his puzzled expression turned to amusement, "It's not up to him if he wants to…but you have a bigger problem than him right now, don't you think?" He broke out of his grip.
"It's his luck, he's the only one who decides who he´ll give it to, whether to give it to someone...what you're doing in this country is disgusting," he stated.
Nielle looked at him in disbelief before sighing deeply, "Oh," he shook his head, "I don't remember ever seeing so stupid Lacisan." He chuckled and raised the whip in his hand. With increased force, he whipped Shane across his naked body, causing him to back away in displeasure, but Nielle whipped him again and calmly stepped forward.
"Yesterday wasn't enough for you to get to know me," he lashed him again, cutting Shane's hand as he raised it in defense, "but it doesn't matter," a new swing slashed at Shane's side, causing him to hiss in pain, "I've got all day today just to educate you." A fresh whip hit across the thighs made Shane stop as his legs shook and in the next step slam into the wall as he didn't realize he was backing up.
Nielle glared at him sadistically while Shane wondered if he had done the right thing by defending the young man. Not that Nielle scared him, but the idea of killing the day with him instead of getting information on where he ended up wasn't the most appealing.
When Nielle was almost at his side and Shane was coming to terms with the fact that today wouldn't end well again, that he wouldn't find out anything important today either, the door to the room opened and a pair of men in black ran in.
"Your Highness!" The Black guard who was allowed to report information to Nielle at any time ran up to him.
"What is it?" Nielle sighed, "Can't you see I'm bussy?"
"There has been a murder in the city," one of the men announced. Nielle lowered his whip and looked at him in surprise.
"Murder? In our city?" He didn't believe.
Practically ever since he started overseeing the country alone, there was almost no one who committed a more serious crime than theft. The last one was sometime last year, although they happened more often in smaller cities. However, in the capital, there was no such thing. Everyone knew that he had his people everywhere, everyone knew that murder was punishable by execution after a stay in the dungeon. And no one has tied it since, knowing he always caught everyone.
"Last night a couple of employees at one of the gaming rooms," the guard clarified.
Nielle sighed deeply and glared at Shane, "I wonder, did i take too little luck from you yesterday or did you just have time to replenish it overnight?" he laughed as Shane was saved by an unprecedented coincidence from a full day with him.
"Sir...the king is furious," one of the men informed him as a sign that the situation wouldn´t wait.
Nielle sighed: "When was he not furious? Does he even know anything else?" He said and glanced at Shane, "You're coming with me, get dressed," he looked at the guard, "when he's done, bring him, don't let him out of your sight. He likes to cause trouble." He stated and started to leave the room.
Shane peeled himself off the wall and picked up his clothes from the ground, put them on and looked at the young man on the ground who was still sobbing in terror. Shane bent down gently and handed him his clothes tossed aside.
Cassi looked at him through his tears and quickly wiped them away, "I-I...thank you...thank you," he whimpered.
"You have some luck...guard it, when you run out, nothing will help you...and crying definitely no," he advised.
Cassi nodded and slowly stood up.
Shane looked at the guard who wasn't dealing with Nielle's Lacrisan business and waited for Shane to approach him for a sign that they could go. When that happened, they walked out of the room together. The door slammed shut behind them, the group of Lacrisans, for whom Shane had become the new target of admiration, were left alone in the room while Shane and the guard went after Nielle.
Shane didn't plan to draw attention to himself, he didn't even plan to resist the punishments and other things that Nielle and other Riselans thought were fun. But it happened. However, it didn't matter at the moment, and he intended to think about how not to make the situation worse... and maybe how to take revenge on the unpleasant prince for yesterday's and today's experience.
Despite the fact that he was exhausted yesterday, that Nielle had stolen quite a bit of his luck, that he had taken a few whiplash today, he felt much better than yesterday. He wasn't completely adapted to the land of no luck, but he had the impression that it was much better than when he crossed the border yesterday. Moreover, the sudden arrival of the interruption of Nielle's plans at a moment when things were looking bad for him was only proof that his luck was more or less normal. That's why he knew he didn't have to worry.
Because he knew that no matter how much luck Nielle wanted from him, he would never overcome him. Because no matter how much luck the Rinselan stole for himself, he was still unable to use it like the person to whom it rightfully belonged. It didn't last nearly as long for them as it did for Lacrisan, and its quality was never at full strength after the transfer either. That´s why the Lacrisans always had better luck in any situation. Although it didn't always seem that way at the first sight.
However, what mattered at the moment was that he had to advance in his mission. And since he expected Nielle to take him to the city, he believed that he would get the opportunity to do so.
If luck allows.