* * *

“You’re the pervert, aren’t you?”

Smack.

“Ugh.”

Sylvian clenched his toes tightly at the sharp sting on his backside.

The position that left his bare bottom exposed was both embarrassing and humiliating, but the most shameful part was being sprawled over his husband’s lap, receiving a spanking.

‘I didn’t think he’d be this much of a deviant.’

Sylvian trembled slightly, biting down hard on his lip to suppress a whimper.

The uncertainty of when the next blow would land terrified him, but what scared him even more was Zeroth.

Zeroth, his husband, had warned him on their wedding day: If you want to live long, behave.

Determined to appease such a frightening man, Sylvian tightened his buttocks in an effort to endure.

“…Wife?”

“…Hn.”

“Sylvian?”

Hearing his name spoken in that deep voice, Sylvian trembled involuntarily, barely processing the words.

“Ugh… y-yes.”

“Are you scared?”

At Zeroth’s question, Sylvian gave a tiny nod.

The weight pressing against his back immediately eased.

The small body that had been frozen stiff was gently turned around by firm hands.

Through tear-filled eyes, Sylvian caught sight of ash-gray hair.

“Sniff… I’m… sorry… I w-was wrong. Sniff, sob.”

Pat, pat.

A soothing hand rested on Sylvian’s back, steadying his trembling frame and calming his gasping breaths.

Realizing that the punishment had ended, tears streamed freely down Sylvian’s face.

“I’m sorry! I really am…”

“It seems I went overboard in punishing you for failing to fulfill your duties. I didn’t expect you to be so startled.”

The words were gentle, but the tone held no trace of kindness.

His deep, mellifluous voice, calling him “wife” with such ease, only made Sylvian’s face flush hotter.

The way he casually addressed him as “wife” when they were alone sent shivers down Sylvian’s spine.

‘Bastard.’

Sylvian deliberately fluttered his long lashes, causing tears to fall dramatically.

With his vision clearing, he looked up at his contract husband, Zeroth, who was now holding him gently, his demeanor full of contrived concern.

At least it wasn’t a lifetime contract.

The downside, however, was that if the agreement ended early, Sylvian’s life would also come to an abrupt end.

‘Why does someone so handsome have such twisted tastes?’

Even the signature ash-gray hair of the Graham duchy seemed crafted just for him.

With striking eyes, a perfectly sculpted nose, and elegantly curved lips, Zeroth was the most beautiful person Sylvian had ever seen, in either this life or the last.

The fact that he could enjoy the company of someone so perfect, even briefly before being discarded, wasn’t entirely a bad deal.

However…

“Do you truly regret your actions?”

“Sob… Yes.”

…his tastes were utterly incompatible with Sylvian’s.

And the deviations from the original story he remembered were starting to pose a problem.

Zeroth’s eyes remained fixed on Sylvian, whose tearful voice and trembling body betrayed his fear and distress.

Sylvian’s delicate fingers clung to the hem of his shirt, inadvertently drawing Zeroth’s attention.

Yet his gaze passed over it with indifference.

“What exactly did you do wrong today?”

“Ah, well…”

Zeroth’s hand gripped Sylvian’s reddened backside firmly, seemingly displeased with the brief hesitation in his answer.

“Eek!”

The sharp, unfamiliar sensation shot up from his bottom, making Sylvian gasp and squeeze his eyes shut.

‘Zeroth, you lunatic!’

No, the real problem was Sylvian’s own body.

It felt as though every inch of his skin had turned into an erogenous zone.

Whenever Zeroth touched him, his body would twitch and tremble, betraying him with audible gasps.

Sure, he might’ve been gay in his previous life, but this was too much!

Back then, he’d been stabbed to death over a love triangle.

Upon reincarnating, he’d realized he’d been reborn inside a book he had abandoned midway.

Although he wanted to escape the story, his miserable circumstances—a wretched family and relentless abuse—had left him powerless to run away.

When it seemed like he would die without achieving anything, his remaining hope became Zeroth, the protagonist.

He’d dared to dream of a perfect one-night stand.

If it was just once, his frail body might manage to endure.

His plan was simple: spend the first night with him, get discarded as per the original plot, and live quietly in an annex.

But that plan was utterly destroyed when, the next morning, Zeroth was still lying beside him.

What part of this weak, trembling body appealed to him?!

Sylvian’s plan to escape after a dazzling first experience with Zeroth had gone awry.

Now, survival meant staying as close to him as possible—

“Hah!”

“What were you thinking so deeply about? Surely you’re not considering other Alphas while leaving your husband behind, are you?”

Sylvian had barely been reflecting on why Zeroth was relentlessly squeezing his bottom when Zeroth’s hand suddenly slid closer, brushing near an even more intimate spot.

“Hm, I stopped because you seemed so scared. Should I switch to another form of punishment?”

“N-no!”

He needed to say something, but his words stuck in his throat as his gaze locked with those burning red eyes.

If he said no, he’d be punished.

A gut feeling told him it would hurt more, that he’d end up crying uncontrollably.

His lips clamped shut.

Anything more painful than this—he didn’t want it.

As long as he kept pretending to know nothing, Zeroth would let it slide.

Zeroth, the main alpha protagonist, was an extreme pervert.

In the original story, the main submissive character was healthy, carefree, and practically lived in a fantasy world.

Every turn of the page led to an array of explicit scenes.

It was just a novel he’d picked up out of curiosity about the appeal of domination and submission.

“Ugh, it’s so… so embarrassing.”

A night with Zeroth was overwhelming for Sylvian, who hadn’t even been interested in BDSM in his past life.

Though his trembling and teary-eyed reactions to Zeroth’s forceful advances were calculated, part of it was genuine.

“This is simply essential education for a wife to live happily with her husband. Most omegas learn this before marriage…”

Zeroth trailed off with a tone of pity, as if lamenting why Sylvian hadn’t received the same preparation.

Stroking Sylvian’s soft golden hair, Zeroth rested his face on his shoulder as the other whimpered.

“B-but saying things like that is just… too…”

“What kind of words embarrass you, my dear wife?”

As Zeroth kneaded his smooth back, Sylvian’s petite body twitched in protest.

Watching Sylvian nestled so completely in his arms, Zeroth smirked darkly.

This omega, whom he had initially intended to use and discard, was as perfect as an offering prepared solely for him.

‘How did something like this end up in my hands?’

He’d only bought the omega to avoid marrying one of the emperor’s choices.

Even on the day they met, Sylvian had turned pale as a sheet at the sight of him, incapable of saying a word.

Zeroth had discarded any expectations for their first night together.

He’d planned to go through the motions, a few thrusts and that would be it.

“Are you embarrassed by your master’s cck? Or is it the btch’s hole you possess that embarrasses you?”

“Th-those words are—!”

“They’re words your husband permits. Are you ashamed to use them, thinking them vulgar?”

Feigning disappointment, Zeroth’s voice took on a wistful tone.

Even without looking, he could sense Sylvian panicking.

Holding on to an omega he originally thought he’d abandon the next day wasn’t part of his plan.

Yet here he was, captivated by teasing him endlessly.

* * *