Tangled By Fate

Chapter 75 - TIME FOR PUNISHEMENT

Although Veronica's head was muddled, she could realize something was wrong when Arthur was approaching her. She didn't want to admit that she was scared. Rather she wanted to hide behind Major General Orion.

He had been good to her for the past few days. She found him very reliable. More importantly, he wasn't a womanizer like Arthur. That's why she had a more favorable impression of him. He was also handsome and hardworking. His future was promising.

And then, Arthur approached her with a grim expression and she got scared. Her heart betrayed her and thumped loudly. She refused to get close to him but he did it anyway.

Afterward, to her surprise, her head spun and the next moment, her vision was upside down. It took her some time to realize that she was on his shoulder. She began to protest but it didn't work. Then, in front of everyone, he took her away.

The cool breeze of the night made her head slightly clear. She fought against him. She kicked him, punched him, and shouted. But, none of those worked on him.

In the end, she got a threat from him. Arthur held her tight with one arm and warned her, "If you move too much, then I'll kiss you."

"Ki-ki-kiss…" Veronica was embarrassed. Her heart raced like a marathon. She became quiet after that. In her mind, she couldn't help but scold him, 'A bad pervert!'

"Good girl," Arthur gave her a compliment.

She thought he was heading toward her tent and yet she found herself in a completely different tent. She became nervous. She asked him, "Why… why are we here? It's not my place. Whose place is this?"

"This is indeed not your place. This is my tent." Arthur answered. His voice was cold. "And we are here for punishment."

"Who…whose punishment?" Veronica began to stutter.

"My, of course. Didn't you want to punish me?" Arthur unbuttoned his shirt. "I would prefer if you punished me in my place."

Veronica took two steps back. "Why are you taking off your shirt?" She looked away the moment she saw his collarbones.

"Why? Should I not take off my shirt?" Arthur teasingly questioned her as he unfastened the last button.

Veronica shut her eyes tight. She raised her voice, "No, you shouldn't!"

Arthur took five steps forward and got close to her. He cornered her and inquired, "Didn't you say I'm a 'bad pervert'? A bad pervert wants to be punished like this."

Veronica sensed danger approaching her. She hurriedly said, "I… I don't want to punish you anymore. I'm leaving." She tried to move away from him and slip out of the tent.

Was it that easy to escape the predator when its eyes were set on its prey?

Arthur caught her arm and pulled her closer. "When did I say you can leave? This is my place. Here, you have to obey my words."

Veronica didn't dare to look at him. She struggled to lose her hand from his grasp. "What will you do if I don't obey?"

Arthur chuckled in a low tone and asked her, "Do you want to find out what will happen if you don't obey? You are welcome to try."

Veronica stopped struggling and accused him, "You… you are a bad guy."

Since she stopped struggling, Arthur realized that she wouldn't run away anymore. He let her hand go. Instead, he hugged her waist. "You hurt me, princess. When did I ever hurt you? I always complied with your request, did I not?" His voice sounded heartbroken.

"I know… but…" Upon hearing his voice, she hesitated. She thought she was being hard on him and her anger melted.

Arthur touched her chin with his free hand and raised it toward him, "Are you jealous that I'm with other women?"

Veronica's melted heart instantly filled with lava. "Waaah! No way! I'm concerned for those women. They are sweet and simple-minded. They fall for you and give their hearts to you. But you don't even take responsibility. It's hurtful. They must be so hurt. If you don't want them forever, don't play with their hearts."

Arthur explained, "Playing with them is one thing, but to call the simple-minded is funny coming from you. Princess, do you think a simple-minded girl would offer her body to me?"

"Wh-what? Offer a body?! Before marriage!" Veronica gasped. She was shocked. She could never imagine that girls were so forward. Moreover, doing something forbidden like offering a body before marriage was unheard of.

Arthur told her, "See? That kind of woman I have to deal with. They are not simple-minded. They only want physical pleasure. I want the same. We just help each other to satisfy our hunger. I'm not hurting them. I'm complying with their request."

"That's…" she didn't know what to say. She couldn't find fault with him. It wasn't like he was forcing anyone. The women came to him knowing what was going to happen. Both parties agreed on doing an unspeakable deed. As a third person, she had no right to interfere.

Arthur continued, "You know what physical hunger is, don't you? Once you taste it, it's hard to forget about that desire, the hunger. You have tasted it once already."

"Did I…" she was confused.

Arthur whispered in her ear, "Did you forget about the night we first met? We had a passionate night…" His voice trailed off and he lightly bit her soft ear lobe.

"Umm…" Veronica was startled by his action. She didn't understand what he was doing. "What are you…"

He seductively spoke, "Relax your body. It will be finished in no time."

The ignorant maiden asked, "Finish what?" Her body was shivering. Her ears were sensitive.

"This…" saying that he bit her ear.

"Oww!" Veronica cried out. It stung.

Arthur moved away from her. He stated, "This is what you get by trying to badmouth me in front of everyone."

"You…" Veronica's face flushed. It could be due to his action or anger.

Arthur shrugged. "It's your fault this time. Who told you to get drunk? Don't get drunk in front of people you don't know."

Veronica denied his accusation. "I did not. I drank in front of people I know."

Arthur crossed his arms. He interrogated her, "Do you know them? Do you even know those people's middle names or family titles? The person you know the most in this desert is me and you barely know me."

Veronica refuted, "It doesn't matter what a person does or what their family title is. It matters as long as the person has good intentions."

Arthur questioned her, "Is that so? And how do you know they have good intentions? Just because they sweet talk you? I talk to you sweetly too. But I can also kill people." His golden orbs flickered with a golden light.

Veronica suddenly felt afraid of him. "Your acting is getting scary."

Arthur remarked with a remorseful expression, "It is a scary world. All good people have this kind of scary side, just like me, I'm good to you and respectful to you. However, if you ever want to sleep with me, whether consciously or subconsciously, I will sleep with you without hesitation."

Veronica tilted her head. She mentioned, "I did sleep with you. Did you forget already? We were pretending to be husband and wife."

In the enemy camp, they slept together as husband and wife. She couldn't understand why he emphasized the word 'sleep'.

"…You call that sleeping… sigh!" Arthur couldn't get any more astonished than this. He knew about her limited education regarding men and sexual relations. He pulled her by her nose and asked helplessly, "How long are you going to give me a hard time?"

Veronica felt wronged being accused by him when she was innocent. "I did not do anything. You dragged me here."

Arthur told her, "You are drunk. Should I leave you to those wolves?"

"Are there wolves?!" Veronica gasped. She was scared of predatory animals. She wished to live a long life. She had no interest in dying at the hands of animals.

Arthur stared at her for a couple of seconds and then let out a deep sigh, "Haah! Why am I not surprised? Anyway, from now on, don't drink in front of men."

In her eyes, he was being weird. She mentioned, "But you are a man."

"Correction. Other than me, don't drink in front of other men," Arthur corrected his demand.

"Arthur…" she softly called his name. her heart skipped a beat. She didn't know what to call this unknown emotion. All of a sudden, she thought of something and frowned. "Wait a minute, why do I have to drink in front of you? Why should I even listen to you?"

Arthur poked her soft cheek. "It's for your own good. Anyway, you are sleeping here tonight. I won't let you go back to your tent in this drunken state."

Veronica was surprised. "Huh? But I can't sleep with you. And what will everyone think if I do? We are not playing husband and wife games anymore."

Arthur pushed her toward the bed. "Didn't we sleep together already? What are you being so shillyshally about? If you are too worried about what people think, I will cover it for you."

Veronica gave him an excuse to escape from here, "But… I want to wear a comfortable dress before sleeping. I'm sweating." If she went back to her tent by fooling him, she wouldn't come back.

"Hmm, you can wear my shirt. It's a cotton shirt. It's comfortable," saying that Arthur handed a shirt to her.

"…"

The shirt was indeed comfortable. She couldn't say 'no' to that. She still tried for the last time. She opened her mouth, "But-"

Crack!

There was a suspicious sound outside.