Bad

"Know that this is your great day. I am Empress Victoria de Montfort, ruler of the entire known world. I know that a woman like me is rarely seen in such wretched parts of the empire as this, but you should kneel before me now."

"She’s a bit like that woman on those gold coins," Ruth remarked.

The peasant family currently consisted of four members: the father, Will; his wife, Bess; and their children, Nell and Tom. This family was the complete opposite of the nobly born Victoria. Their clothes and bodies were dirty and worn from hard labor. They were so poor that they had to sell several of their children. Rufus had been sold to the imperial army, which often bought children to train them as soldiers from birth. Then there was Jeb, sold as a sex **** to one of the magic academies, likely serving the faculty. Clem and Molly had died of starvation. The most painful, however, was the fate of their eldest daughter, Ida, who had been sold as a prostitute to a local brothel.

"What are you waiting for? On your knees! That’s your place, you filthy creatures!"

What Victoria didn’t know was that the presence of the demon wasn’t much of a secret. As the sorceress gained her power, generations of local peasants had witnessed strange scenes. Arrogant, powerful, beautiful women would enter that strange crypt and emerge utterly humiliated. Will had heard stories from his great-grandfather, who supposedly had the pleasure of **** Veronica—a mighty master of magic who wasn’t so mighty after leaving the chamber. Will had once thought the story was nonsense, but now, looking at this haughty woman, he believed it might be true. Just minutes ago, she had been levitating and forcing them to kneel, but now she was only giving orders. It was as if she had lost her power! But what if he was wrong? Surely, she could kill his entire family.

His wife was equally terrified of this woman. She might not be the empress, but “only” some noblewoman, yet a single word from such a woman would be obeyed with fanatical devotion by thousands.

Their children, however, were not as seasoned by life.

"And what if we don’t kneel?" said their barely 18-year-old daughter.

Victoria was momentarily speechless. No one had ever hesitated to obey her commands.

"I am the most powerful being in the world. If I wanted—"

At that moment, a small pebble thrown by Tom struck the beautiful woman’s face.

"How dare you, you vile peasant! I’ll have you whipped for this!"

"Whip who? It’s just us here. Four people who live by hard work and a spoiled princess."

Victoria couldn’t even fathom someone speaking to her like that.

"I am—"

"You’re a bitch who hasn’t been taught manners," Tom said.

"Out here in the village, we teach such fancy ladies with a whip," Nell added.

"You want to whip me?!" the empress said, utterly shocked. The very idea that anyone could consider such a thing was absurd.

But at that moment, the idea was becoming reality. Tom approached Victoria, and she offered no resistance. Thanks to better nutrition and her high heels, she was taller than him. But she was so shocked that she merely stood and stared. Meanwhile, his sister rummaged through her bag and soon pulled out a dirty rag used for wiping filth.

"What are you doing?! I command you to stop!"

The sorceress shouted in a distinctly unroyal tone as she saw the father of the family pull out a whip that, just hours ago, had been used to lash the backsides of cows.

Moments later, Tom touched her expensive navy-blue dress at the level of the noblewoman’s backside with his dirty hands. He really liked her dress; he couldn’t name the adornments or the material it was made of, but it was truly beautiful.

"How dare you! The very thought of this is a sin, you filthy—"

At that moment, Nell shoved the dirty rag into the ruler’s mouth. It immediately triggered a gag reflex. Her palate was accustomed to tasting the finest wines or edible gold, not the filth from a peasant’s hut.

But the worst was yet to come. Tom roughly lifted her dress. The peasant family’s eyes fell upon her lace underwear, garter belt, and stockings—all made of the finest materials by the best craftsmen. She could have conjured it all, but she chose not to. Only her maids had ever seen what the most powerful sorceress in history wore under her dresses. Until now, when Will, Bess, Tom, and Nell—a family of peasants who couldn’t even afford shoes—joined that exclusive group.

But the humiliation didn’t end there. The peasant’s dirty hands pulled down her underwear.

"God, they’re seeing my bottom!" Victoria screamed in her thoughts.

The humiliation by the demon had been awful, but at least it was a formidable opponent wielding magic. Now she was being humiliated by filthy peasants! She recalled her father saying that peasants only cared about money, lacking the higher ideals of the aristocracy.

"This could be my chance," she thought.

As Tom reveled in the feel of his hand on her ample backside and Will prepared the whip, she managed to spit out the dirty rag.

"Stop this at once! I can shower you with gold. I’ll give you entire provinces if you want! My earrings are worth as much as a million slaves! Just don’t whip me... please."