CHAPTER 829: CHAPTER 829 - THE GREATEST WAY TO RELAX***

Zahra, her breath shallow and fingers fidgeting, glanced at Erik strangely. "What... do you mean?"

Erik gently caressed Emma’s soft, lightly trembling skin and smiled mysteriously. "I mean many things... I don’t mind explaining what those are, but I have one condition."

Already in a weird headspace, Zahra couldn’t stop herself from being intrigued. "W— What’s that...?" she gulped.

Glancing at her, Erik chuckled with amusement. "First of all, relax a little. You’re staying here of your own free will. You’re intrigued. That’s not a bad thing."

Zahra smirked wryly, her eyes downcast. "It’s... not that simple..." she muttered softly. Still, she did force her fingers to stop fidgeting. Unfortunately, that left her with two hands that were suddenly very noticeable and without anything to do. She quickly hid them behind her back to cup them there.

Erik smiled at her attempt. ’She’s interesting...’ he thought curiously. ’I wonder if her past made her this way, or if she was born like this.’ Suddenly, he thought back to what Elora teased him with earlier, and he sighed wryly in his mind. ’I really do have a thing for messed-up women, huh?’

Quickly discarding that thought, he flicked an amused finger at Zahra. "Your body is clearly still tense, but I’ll take it!"

He put his hand back on Emma’s hip and looked curiously at Zahra. "Now, second of all, I told you before, this is mostly a reward she designed herself, but she’s also being punished a little. I want you to tell me what part of this is punishment, and what is reward."

Zahra’s eyes widened, and her breath hitched. She glanced carefully at Emma’s gyrating body, which had not stopped moving in all this time. Soft, firm, hand-sized breasts jiggling slightly while muffled moans and whimpers escaped her gag.

"I— I guess I can..." she agreed, surprising not only Erik, but also herself.

Perhaps she told herself she was going along with Erik’s request to find out why Emma was not in her right mind out of worry for this person she admired, or perhaps she realised her own interest in finding out what part was punishment.

Either way, she found herself helplessly intrigued and scanned Emma’s body with her eyes to find the answer. First, she looked at the harness binding the white-haired woman’s arms behind her back. "Her— Her arms look uncomfortable..." she muttered softly, glancing at Erik. "Is that the punishment?"

His eyes focused on Emma, Erik smirked. "Not a chance," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I’ll save you some time: all of the bondage gear you see is by her design. She loves this stuff and, admittedly, so do I."

Zahra’s eyebrows twitched, and she looked back at Emma incredulously. Erik could see what she was thinking. Without the bondage gear, what even remained? From everything she’d seen before, she didn’t doubt Emma served Erik with fervour, so that probably wasn’t part of the punishment, either.

"You won’t see it with your eyes," Erik helpfully suggested, lips curled up into a grin.

A shiver travelled down Zahra’s spine, and she cursed under her breath. So far, she’d avoided sending her omnisense over to Emma, but now it looked inevitable. The reasons for her hesitation were blatantly obvious to Erik: for one, getting a close-up look at this was very different from standing several steps away, and for two, it would allow Emma to recognise her.

For a moment, Erik wondered if this was the place where she’d finally back out... but then he felt her omnisense creep closer to him and his maid-wife. A victorious grin spread on his lips.

Trembling, Zahra had closed her eyes and focused on her omnisense as it finally touched Emma’s body. Slowly, almost gently, her senses crawled across Emma’s skin. She inspected the straps, then first moved up to Emma’s head. Here, she quickly found the truth of Erik’s words, as looking behind the veil and blindfold revealed a glassy, unfocused stare.

It quickly became obvious to her what Erik already knew: Emma was essentially moving on autopilot right now. Somehow, that only increased the curiosity and awe she felt towards Emma.

Still, this didn’t tell her anything, so she continued. One might assume the earplugs weren’t bondage gear, but Erik had said she wouldn’t be able to notice them with her eyes, so it couldn’t be those.

She was forced to continue exploring, and there was only one direction left to go in. She hesitated, and Erik noticed. This was when he decided to start talking again.

"She was very stressed before her breakthrough," he sighed, his hands gently caressing Emma’s body.

"She always felt like she wasn’t strong or good enough, even though she barely showed it," he explained softly. "I’ve gotten pretty badly wounded a few times, and she’s felt unfairly useless at those times. She desperately wanted her healing to be stronger, but at the same time didn’t want to abandon the position she’d taken upon herself as my maid."

"She asks a lot of herself, and telling her it’s not necessary is pointless," he continued with a difficult grimace.

But then he smiled. "But I think her breakthrough changed that. Her new rank, as well as the powerful healing spell she gained, has allowed her to relax, and this..." He indicated at what Emma was doing right now. "...this is as much a way to reward her as it is to get rid of whatever stress remains."

Finally, he glanced at Zahra, who appeared absorbed by his words. "And do you know what the greatest way to relax is for someone like Emma? Someone with a service and bondage fetish who worries too much?"

The answer rolled off Zahra’s tongue before she could even realise it: "To not think for a while... and focus on when she feels safest... serving you..." she muttered softly. Surprisingly, her body had relaxed quite a bit more since Erik started talking.

A little surprised at how well this was going, Erik nevertheless grinned victoriously and snapped his fingers. "Exactly! As soon as we started this, she allowed herself to sink into the extremely small world her bondage gear created for her—a world where only my words exist."

Then, he glanced at her mischievously. "Now, have you discovered her punishment? It’s ostensibly a punishment, but really only helps her sink into this thoughtless state even more."

Almost subconsciously, Zahra’s exploration of Emma’s body had continued during Erik’s explanation. Without even realising it, she’d already discovered the punishment. Only when Erik asked her did the truth rush in; her eyes widened. "She— She’s not allowed to cum?!"