Chapter 196: Parade
The heavy doors sealed shut with a final boom that echoed across the chamber like a divine punctuation mark, casting the room into warm flickering silence. Outside, the gossip would spread like wildfire, carrying tales of inked skin and kneeling nobles. But inside? Inside was a different world now. One Allen had forged with sweat, sex, and defiance.
Lira remained where she knelt, eyes locked on Allen’s back as he slowly stepped away from the dais, the five maids falling in around him like silk-clad shadows. His steps were slow, deliberate, and every footfall felt like a hammer nailing a new law into the bones of the temple.
Behind him, Fina and Rinni exchanged glances, that smug, knowing kind. They didn’t need words. They didn’t need permission. Rinni was already padding barefoot over to the velvet bench where the ink tools lay, plucking one between her fingers and twirling it like a wand. Fina followed suit, gliding to Allen’s side, slipping her fingers into his.
The ink hadn’t just marked the girls. It had marked the world.
Allen gestured toward the center of the dais. "Bring the altar."
A few stunned servants blinked, unsure.
Elira didn’t wait. She moved without hesitation, snatching one of the nearby ceremonial tables used for incense and dragging it forward. Her muscles tensed, thighs shaking slightly from the weight, but she didn’t stop until it was placed exactly in front of Allen.
He touched her head gently as thanks. She flushed, cheeks pink and proud.
The altar wasn’t for blood. Not anymore.
Allen turned to Mira first. Her dark hair framed her flushed face perfectly, and she stepped forward with a reverent little nod. He guided her onto the altar, laying her back gently, not like she was being sacrificed—but like she was being offered. Legs spread, arms outstretched, chest rising and falling as she looked up at him with glassy devotion.
"Use her," Fina whispered beside him, fingers trailing across his abdomen. "Let them all watch."
Allen didn’t hesitate. He undid his belt slowly, the sound of leather sliding through the loops a hush all its own. Mira whimpered softly when she saw the length of him, her hands instinctively gripping the sides of the altar as her thighs twitched.