Watching the girl’s flustered state, the bandit leader’s patience frayed. He licked his dry lips and rasped,

“Sigh… gold isn’t always the answer. Ten coins? How could that possibly soothe my brothers’ grievances?”

“Th-this… then… what should I do?”

Hooked!

He grinned, forcing a kindly expression. “We bandits never skimp on our own. Once you’re *one of us*, complaints vanish.”

“B-but… I promised my teacher I’d return to the academy soon. I can’t join you…” Sophia wore a troubled frown, as if genuinely torn.

“Hehe, no need to *join* us. Just… become *ours*.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you asking me to be a bandit too?” Sophia blinked up at him, eyes wide with feigned innocence.

“Relax. Spend one night alone with me… and you’ll be *ours*~”

More accurately—*my woman*.

Imagining tonight’s “entertainment” with this delicate little beauty, the bandit leader grew restless.

“N-no! Father said I can’t be alone with other men! Umm… please… think of another way~?”

Sophia firmly rejected his “proposal,” voice trembling with practiced pleading.

But her words backfired. His last shred of patience snapped.

His jowls tightened; massive hands like forged steel shot toward her.

Sophia “tripped” over the table, using the stumble to narrowly dodge. Then—nimble yet *seemingly* clumsy—she darted behind him and bolted for the door.

The bandit leader scoffed. *Pure luck.*

How could a refined academy mage move like that? Her steps looked utterly awkward.

“Catch her!” he roared. Then snapped, “Handle her gently! Touch what you shouldn’t—and remember this!” He slashed a finger across his throat.

The men shuddered, burying lecherous thoughts.

Sophia’s frail frame couldn’t outrun them. Moments later, they dragged her back.

“L-let go… hiss… it hurts…”

He leered. “Just one night. I won’t hurt you~”

*Once she’s in my room… I’ll do as I please.*

“N-no! Father said—"

“Spare me ‘Father said’!” His mask of kindness shattered. “Last chance: sleep with me?”

Like a starving wolf tearing off sheep’s wool—raw greed bared.

Sophia flinched. A hint of moisture glistened in her azure eyes, tears trembling on the brink.

“N-no… please… F-father—"

“Tch! Toss her in the dungeon.”

“Yes, sir!”

As guards shoved her out, the one-eyed lieutenant murmured, “Boss… why not just force her?”

“Heh. Force? Boring. I want that pristine noble lady to *beg* to serve me.” He chuckled darkly. “Let her taste comfort… then dump her in filth. That contrast? She’ll crawl to me.”

“She’s a pampered miss. Think she’ll endure what even peasants flee?”

“Brilliant, Boss,” the lieutenant grinned.

“Oh—and you lot? Visit the dungeon often these days. Drag women out… *right in front of her*. Double the fear. She’ll climb into my bed willingly.”

“Hehe… yes, yes.”

…

Thud—

“Ungrateful brat. Rot here.”

The bandit hurled Sophia onto the grimy floor. Lust flickered in their eyes—but the leader’s warning held them back.

Once alone, Sophia rose calmly, brushing dust from her robes with elegant precision.

She glanced around. Filthier than imagined.

Villagers huddled in corners—gazes swirling with awe, pity, fear, despair. Every bandit visit left scars; even now, they cowered.

Sophia paid no mind.

*“Why not kill him? Enjoying the game?”* An’s voice echoed inwardly.

Sophia’s azure eyes chilled, frost gathering in their depths. “I’m offering them a choice.”

*“Oho~ When did our princess grow so generous?”*

“You misunderstand. He’s on Regan Empire soil. Any crime here? They’ll blame *Rigan*—‘failed governance,’ ‘bandit chaos,’ ‘citizens suffering’… Hehe.”

“Any trouble for Rigan… is worth causing.”

She settled onto a cold stone, utterly indifferent to the squalor.

*“Heh… still cruel as ever. Sacrificing peasants to smear an empire? Hah!”*

An’s laughter rang in her mind.

Sophia turned a deaf ear.