Annie 1
About ten days later, the Lutenia caravan returned, having fortunately secured a large amount of lumber sooner than expected.
Valerie’s plan was disrupted by the early return of the Lutenia caravan, but since a bigger plan was already underway, she was able to welcome them with joy.
The reason the Lutenia caravan was able to return so quickly was that the carpenters in the Granpol area had ordered wood for the repair of buildings damaged in a recent incident, but due to a mistake in the order, surplus lumber kept arriving. With no way to dispose of the excess, the carpenters happily handed it over to the Lutenia caravan.
When Uncle Melvin returned and saw the substantial piece of sandalwood in Valerie’s hands, he was so surprised that he couldn’t close his mouth.
“This… this is!”
“I, um… with the approval of Mr. Russel and a high elf, managed to obtain it with difficulty.”
“How… how much was the purchase price?”
“I specially handed over the jewels I had and the ones currently owned by our caravan, and the remaining balance will be paid later.”
“Oh… Valerie! You’re amazing!”
Uncle Melvin looked at Valerie with eyes full of pride.
“Your father would be so happy to hear this news!”
“Unlike your siblings who only coveted wealth, I knew you were different!”
“However, even if I received approval, it’s unreasonable to hand over the goods to us, who they’ve just met, and wait for the balance. I decided to stay here myself to guarantee the payment. It’s an inevitable step for the sake of the caravan.”
“Val, Valerie, you would go that far…”
Uncle Melvin shed tears of emotion, moved by Valerie’s sacrifice and her consideration for the caravan.
“I’ll inform your father about this, and I’ll make sure to return with the balance! Just wait a little longer!”
Although Lutenia felt a bit guilty about obtaining the sandalwood, she thought it was alright to enjoy it a bit and sent off Uncle Melvin with a happy heart the next day.
———————————–
There are various types of beastmen living in the southern plains, but the most representative would be the rabbit beastmen.
Rabbit beastmen are characterized by their slender bodies, adorable tails, and long ears protruding from their heads. Thanks to their long ears, they can hear even the smallest sounds well, and they also have good reflexes and balance, making them adventurers who often use daggers or spears. However, their strength and stamina are somewhat lacking, which can be a disadvantage in prolonged battles.
But beyond these well-known facts, there is something else many people don’t know about rabbit beastmen: they form a strict matriarchal society.
Villages of rabbit beastmen are mostly formed based on kinship, and the village chief is the oldest woman. Rabbit beastmen villages revolve around a matriarch, making them more like variously sized groups centered around the matriarch rather than traditional villages.
The popularity of rabbit beastmen as sex slaves is due to their soft and elastic bodies and the traits of their strong matriarchal society, where any child born is raised as their own without question.
And because they are rabbit beastmen, even when they leave their village, their nature doesn’t completely disappear, and they tend to follow older women.
Amy and Nana, two rabbit beastmen at Russel’s inn, couldn’t shake off this habit and secretly followed Hanna, the oldest woman at the inn, rather than their boss Russel.
This morning, as they were preparing breakfast in the kitchen, they accidentally overheard Annie, Hanna’s pureblooded daughter, expressing her desire to have Russel’s child.
So, after breakfast and during their break, they gathered under a tree outside the inn to discuss.
“Amy, that must mean Annie really wants to have Russel’s child, right?”
“Yes! It seems certain, Nana. Russel may be an injured male, but he’s the strongest male here, already with two females…”
“It’s a pity for other races. Like us rabbit beastmen, if they just want to conceive, they could just take the seed, why submit to a man, right?”
They both expressed their incomprehension.
“Each race has its own circumstances, Nana,” Amy said, taking on a more mature tone.
“Should we inform the matriarch?”
“Perhaps?”
Thus, they headed towards the house of Hanna, the matriarch they were living with.
—————————————-
Annie remembered the day she first met Russel.
A man came to take over the inn, unusually young and alone, limping. Her mother, burdened with debt and with no immediate solution, accepted Russel’s offer to pay the full price without haggling.
On the day the man paid the balance, contemplating their bleak future possibly in the city’s slums, Annie was moved to tears, but Russel stopped them.
“Uh…? Maybe you have some troubles? I might be able to help if you share them with me.”
Half-doubting his words, Annie knew the world wasn’t so kind, especially when their own village couldn’t help them.
‘Help us?’
After hearing their story through her mother, Russel seemed to contemplate for a moment before speaking.
“Hmm… I’m planning to repair the inn and run it myself, but I lack experience, and experienced staff would be helpful. Would you consider it?”
‘Just like that?’
In a brief moment of consideration, Russel employed their entire family as ‘staff’ for the inn. He provided a living wage even during the renovation, ensuring they never lacked food or meat. They ate meat more often than when her grandfather was alive, and her siblings, who had been withering away, quickly regained their health.
However, crisis soon arrived.
As the inn’s renovation neared completion, Russel converted the warehouse into a bathing area and under the guise of ‘training’, subjected her to cruel acts in front of her mother.
He taught her massage and scrubbing, making her strip and lie down on a long table, then touched and kneaded her body. Although she could have refused when asked to undress and lie down, the image of her siblings happily eating delicious food came to mind. She nodded to her mother, signaling ‘I’m okay, don’t worry’, and bravely stripped and lay down.
What followed were soft touches, and despite her efforts to suppress her moans, Russel laughed mockingly, forcing her to emit sounds in front of her mother.
“How does it feel? Now you know how to do it, right?”
“Hnn…”
“Yes, keep moaning like that! It feels really good, doesn’t it?”
“Annie, it feels good, right? It makes you moan, doesn’t it?”
“Hanna, you see? You have to stimulate the points like this.”
“Eek…”
“This is the kind of pleasant sound it makes!”
After enduring the overwhelming sensation for a while, Russel rolled up his sleeves and began unbuttoning his shirt.
‘Now it’s coming…’
She closed her eyes… but then, Russel, with his shirt flapping open, said:
“Now, everyone should take a warm bath and sleep. I got a bit hot from moving around. After everyone has bathed, I’ll take my turn and cleanny, you did well.”
‘What?’
‘He’s just leaving like that?’
Her mind was a whirlwind of confusion. Something swollen, something taut, remained uncomfortably unresolved within her, leaving a perplexing sensation.
Afterward, such incidents never occurred again.
She later realized that it was indeed ‘training’—from that moment, Russel began to occupy her thoughts…
She felt slightly ashamed of her misunderstanding.
Yet, after that, as if having fully explored her body and lost all interest, Russel showed no further attention, which sparked defiance in Annie. She decided to attempt seducing him subtly.
Part of her also hoped, given that a man had touched her body so intimately, he would feel some responsibility—though it was more of a wishful thought.
