“Stop it! Whaddaya think you’re doing?!” Margaret protested.
Ignoring her, Sofia bowed her head to Rachel, who was holding onto the iron bars as she watched them work.
“Look at this, young mistress. Miss Punching Bag is ready and eagerly waiting for you to come hit her.”
Rachel’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, my!”
“Who’s eagerly waiting?!” Margaret asked. “Don’t string me up like this and then start spewing rotten nonsense, okay?!”
“What do you say, young mistress?” Sofia asked. “You have yet to test your slaps and punches on her, no?”
“Hrm, you’re making it hard to resist...” Rachel muttered.
“Listen to me!” Margaret screeched. It was like she was invisible despite being central to this entire conversation.
Noticing that Rachel was being indecisive, Sofia clapped again. “And I have also invited these distinguished guests to provide their reviews of her for your benefit, young mistress.”
“Distinguished...guests?” Rachel asked.
At Sofia’s signal, a maid led in...
“Duchess Somerset and Countess Marlborough,” Sofia answered.
“Eeek!” Rachel shrieked and dove under the covers.
Margaret bounced around like crazy and screamed, “It’s the hags!!!”
“My, how rude,” Duchess Somerset remarked. “Also, a lady mustn’t raise her voice without good reason!”
“Your faces are all the reason I need!” Margaret shot back.
Sofia guided the two elderly ladies over to Margaret. “Young mistress, today I have invited two experienced individuals to talk to you about the charms of Miss Punching Bag.”
“Oh, my,” Rachel whimpered.
“Don’t come up with stupid ideas!” Margaret insisted.
Once Sofia finished bowing, Countess Marlborough nodded and lifted up Margaret’s skirt. Rachel watched on excitedly.
The duke asked Sofia, “I have some idea what you’re planning. It would be better if I left, wouldn’t it?”
“I am not concerned one way or the other,” Sofia answered, “but if you do stay to watch, I will inform your wife that ‘the master has been taking an interest in the bottoms of women younger than the young mistress.’”
The duke left.
“Rachel, are you ready?” Countess Marlborough asked. “Miss Punching Bag is—”
“You’re a teacher, aren’t you?! Learn my name already!” Margaret interjected.
“Her most charming feature is her great elasticity!” the countess finished.
“Don’t ignore me! I’m telling you that my name is Margaret Poisson!”
“She has supple skin and a bouncy bottom, but beneath all that, she possesses a punchable elasticity and a firm core. Once you’ve experienced what it’s like to hit her, I’m sure you’ll be hooked!”
“Ohhh!” Rachel moaned.
“Rachel!” Margaret snapped. “What’re you getting all excited about that description for?!”
Sofia rolled down Margaret’s panties. “Now then, let us have Duchess Somerset give her a test. Go ahead, Duchess.”
“Yes. Now then, allow me to do the honors,” the duchess said.
Margaret spat, “Hey, you hag! You’ve totally dropped the facade of doing this to educate me, haven’t you?!”
Duchess Somerset adjusted her posture, performatively removing her glove as she readied her right hand, then...
Smack!
“Owww!”
Looking down at her hand, the duchess let out a satisfied sigh, her expression that of a young maiden still full of dreams.
“Ah, truly wonderful. In my sixty years as an instructor, I’ve slapped countless bottoms, but Miss Punching Bag’s bottom is peerless! It feels so wonderful that I don’t even care about disciplining her anymore. I just want to slap her behind all day long!”
“Hey, what do you mean my butt’s peerless?! My butt is not a toy!” Margaret objected.
“Oh, why did I slap it with a sandal the other day?! This bottom is meant to be slapped barehanded! I could slap it endlessly, until my hand broke, and still have no regrets!”
“You should regret it! Is your life that cheap?! Why are you so obsessed with spanking my butt?!”
Margaret kept trying to pick a fight with the duchess, who was savoring the moment, while the countess squirmed in anticipation for her own turn.
“What do you say, young mistress? If you were to come out now, you too could slap that butt,” Sofia said encouragingly.
“Urgh...”
Rachel’s desire to hit the punching bag right away conflicted with her desire to stay in her cell. She groaned, feeling the agony of her dilemma.
Sofia kept pushing. “If you do not want her, shall I give her to the duchess?”
“No, I do! I want her! I do, but... Ohhh...”
Rachel crouched down. Perhaps the day she would give up her slow prison life was close at hand.
Sofia approached Margaret, who was still rolled up in a mat and hanging from the ceiling. “If the young mistress leaves her cell now, it will be thanks to you,” she whispered.
“You think I care?! Do something about these psychos!” Margaret demanded.
“Nothing can be done, I am afraid.”
One of the chamberlains rushed over to Raymond, who was sitting on the terrace with an untouched cup of tea in front of him.
“Your Highness!” the chamberlain called.
“Did you get a response from Rachel?!”
Raymond had sent a letter to Rachel in prison three days ago requesting a visit, but she still hadn’t replied. Now that he was to be her partner, he’d written to express his feelings and to ask to see her alone. Perhaps she was still confused from having switched fiancés so suddenly. Raymond had already procured a ring so that he could propose to her properly. He was reworking himself to suit her, but would she accept his feelings?
Raymond eagerly reached out to accept the reply. However, the chamberlain was carrying nothing.
“Wh-What is it?” Raymond asked, staring at the chamberlain’s hands.
The chamberlain awkwardly reported, “Your Highness... Um, about the letter you sent Miss Rachel...”
“Yes?”
“It was found in the kitchen after the maid you asked to deliver it forgot about it and left it there.”
Raymond fell out of his chair.
“Your Highness?!” the chamberlain grunted, helping him up. “Your Highness, please, pull yourself together!”
“Heh heh heh... I waited for what felt like an eternity for her response. No wonder it seemed to be taking so long.”
“I’m so terribly sorry! The maid responsible for this will be—”
“Yes, see to it that she’s rewarded!”
“Yes, I will at... Huh? What did you just...?”
“Heh heh heh. Not only did I receive no reply to the most important message of my life, but it was forgotten completely. I’ve never experienced such incredible abandonment before!”
The chamberlain grew uneasy about the future of the country.
“Stop, Martina!” Elliott begged. “I really don’t know anything! How many times do I have to tell you that those books are all nonsense?!”
“Ha ha ha, don’t be silly, Your Highness. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” Martina noted ominously.
Sofia pushed again, saying, “Come, come, young mistress. If you stay put, the ladies will use up Miss Punching Bag.”
“Nooo...” Rachel wailed. “Stop! It’s not fair! It’s not fair!!!”
“Aaagh?!” Margaret yelped.
“I can’t get enough!” Duchess Somerset exclaimed. “This feeling... It’s simply irresistible!”
Countess Marlborough agreed with her one hundred percent. “It’s a rich sensation, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Oh, there isn’t another butt like it in all the world!”
“Um, should we stop serving you properly too?” the chamberlain hesitantly asked.
“You fool,” Raymond replied. “I only want to be mistreated by older girls. It doesn’t work with men.”
The duke left the prison to stare up into the sky in the rear gardens.
“It only started with that idiot breaking off their engagement, so how did it turn into such a debacle?”
Feeling a tap on his knee, the duke looked down to see Rachel’s pet monkey offering him a glass of whiskey.
“There’s no use fretting about it. Have a drink.”
“To think I’d have a monkey trying to console me. Hold on, you little chimp. That’s from a bottle Rachel took from my collection, isn’t it?”
“And?”
Looking away from the monkey, who was tilting his head to the side because he wasn’t sure what the objection was, the duke gazed up into the heavens once more. The great, cloudless sky looked down on all the confused people of the world, never saying a word. The fine weather seemed to be laughing off all petty human concerns, and the duke naturally sighed for some reason.
“Ah... The sky sure is blue again today...”