Chapter 99
At that moment, Paige rose from her seat and dered, "My butler wears Gustav all the time. One
look is all it takes for me to tell if these belts are fakes."
N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.
Having said that, she opened one of the boxes and took out the belt coiled inside, then examined it
carefully. A minuteter, she put the belt back into the box and swept her gaze over the others at
the table, then enunciated, "I''m sure it''s the real thing."
Nancy grimaced as she bit out through gritted teeth, "You''re best friends with Serena, so who''s to
say you aren''t covering for her lies?"
"Are you questioning me right now?" Paige countered icily, her expression turning grim. She was
the second youngdy of the Tanner Family and a major in the Seavale Military District; a deathly
hush fell upon the room the moment she zoned in murderously on Nancy, and no one dared
breathe.
"I... I''m not," Nancy said shakily, so terrified that she nearly wet her pants.
Everyone else turned rigid in their seats as though bracing for an oing storm.
"Okay, that''s enough. Throwing tantrums is quite unbing for a youngdy," Kingsley cajoled.
At once, the tension in the room seemed to shatter and fall away, and Paige replied obligingly,
"Fine." Thest thing she wanted was to go against her grandfather and the man who held the
Order of the Northern Draken.
Upon seeing this, the others at the table nched. They wondered frantically who Kingsley was and
why Paige, a youngdy of nobility, was so obedient toward him. Swallowing convulsively, they
started to think about the way they had treated him with contempt and hurled snide remarks at him
for the entire evening. No ordinary fe would be invited to stay with the Tanners'' for a night. He
must be someone important! If he took any offense to how we treated him tonight, then we''re all as
good as dead!
Presently, Kingsley turned his dark brown eyes on Nancy and ordered coolly, "You,e over here
and get down on your knees. I want to hear you personally apologize to Serena for what you said to
her tonight."
"I..." Nancy was trembling like a chihuahua at this point. Out of desperation, she turned to Emory for
help as she urged, "Emory, say something! You have to help H
me.
Emory''s mouth was dry as he countered sullenly, "How am I supposed to help you when I''m in need
of divine saving myself?"
He was sorely regretting his behavior earlier, and he shuddered at the consequences that would
befall him if his cover as a spy was blown.
"Divine saving is right. The three of you aren''t getting out of this," Kingsley said with a devious smirk
tugging on his lips. "Come on, get down on your knees in front of Serena before my patience runs
out."
Nancy turned to look at the others in mute despair, but those who had been ttering her
enthusiastically just moments ago dared not even meet her gaze now.
Someone even whispered meekly, "Just get down on your knees, Nancy, or we''ll all be done for."
"I..." She swallowed nervously. "I''ll do it." She had everything to lose if she didn''tpromise, and
without another word, she walked up to Kingsley and Serena, then got down on her knees in front of
them.
The next second, Noah joined her and knelt down next to her as well.
"Kingsley, I''m sorry for the way I acted just now. I shouldn''t have picked on you or Serena," Nancy
sobbed, her breath hitching in her throat. "C-Can you ever forgive me?"
Noah bowed his head and muttered trepidatiously, "I''m sorry. We both truly are sorry for what we
did."
Gazing down at them imperiously, Serena pointed out apathetically, "No need to apologize; forgiving
the both of you was not what I had in mind anyway."
Upon hearing this, Kingsley gestured toward her and said to the two humbled figures at his feet.
"I''m afraid Serena finds your apology displeasing. Now, how should we go about rectifying this?" He
slowly rose to grab one of the belts off the table, then uncoiled the leather in his hand, feeling its
weight nestled in his palms. He appraised the length and sturdiness of it, then smiled as he
drawled, "You know, Miss Tanner, I happen to be a huge fan of the Serpent Whip you use, so I''m
thinking of paying homage to it today. Let''s see if I can maneuver a whip as well as you do. "
"W-What are you going to do? " Noah asked frightfully when he heard this, though he could already
imagine how miserable he would be by the end of the night.
Kingsley ignored him and pointed at the other twenty-nine belts on the table, then said to the other
guests who were holding their breaths, "Each one of you gets a belt as a gift from me, soe here
and take it."
None of them could bring themselves to disobey him. Moving stiffly toward that end of the table,
each of the guests took a belt and uncoiled it in their hands.
"Ten whips from each one of you," Kingsley ordered icily. "When you''re done with these two
ignorant fools here, then you may leave. If you refuse to strike them, then you''ll have to get on your
knees and receive the same treatment."
There was a pregnant silence in the room as everyone dwelled on the shocking suggestion. About
half a minuteter, the sound of a cracking whip filled the air. A burly man in a suit had made the
first move and mercilessly whipped Noah''s back.
Noah winced in pain as cold beads of sweat rolled down his temples.
Now that someone had gotten the ball rolling, the rest of the dinner guests joined in as well.
Soon, the private dining room was rife with the sound of cracking whips. None of them spared Noah
or Nancy any mercy. They stood red-eyed behind the two figures kneeling on the ground, taking
turns with the corporal punishment. In truth, they couldn''t care less about their long-time friendship
or their shared memories from their martial arts days; they just wanted to get out of here alive.
It didn''t take long for the back of Nancy''s dress to be whipped to shreds, revealing a whole lot of
bloody, bare skin.
While the whipping went on, Kingsley got up from his seat and walked up to where Emory was, then
asked, "You''re Emory, aren''t you?"
Emory''s eyes shed warily as he demanded, "What do you want?"
"Something you have," Kingsley answered in clipped tones. "Hand the carrier over right now."
Astonishment seized Emory and a chill ran down his spine. He sputtered, "What carrier? I don''t
know what you''re talking about!" Then, he hurtled toward the door to make a run for it.
s, he couldn''t outrun Kingsley, who deftly grabbed him by the back of his cor and chuckled
darkly. "My, my, where are you rushing off to, Emory? Or should I say, Ss Windham?"
The sybles of his real name made Emory''s blood run cold.
Not wanting to waste his breath on the guy, Kingsley grabbed a belt and tied Emory up, then threw
him on the floor. Having done so, he sauntered over to Serena and asked,
"Feeling better, Serena?"
She got to her feet and announced, "I''ve seen enough. Shall we leave, Kingsley?"
"Alright." He nced at the crowd and bit out, "Ten whips from each of you, and nothing less. Got
it?" With that, he turned his attention to Paige and asked, "Youing with us, Miss Tanner?"
"Nah, I think I''m going to stay and make sure these people here carry out their work." A sadistic
giggle escaped her as she said this. "I''ll be heading for the Sris Military District after this, so you
guys go ahead without me."
He frowned. "Aren''t you the Major of the Seavale Military District?"
She blushed as a dreamy look popped into her sparkling eyes. "I am, but I heard that a certain
heartthrob might be at Sris Province, and he came all the way from Coliree, too. Hopefully, I''ll be
able to see him in person this time."
A smirk yed on Kingsley''s lips as he teased, "Heartthrob, huh?"
She pped his arm exasperatedly. "Also known as Ares! Oh, forget it. It''s not as if you would know
who that is even if I told VI
you.
"Uh, well..." Kingsley was somewhat embarrassed, but he quickly said, "Anyway, if you''re going to
Sris Province, you might as well bring Emory with you and hand him to General Ignatov. He''ll
know what to do with him."
"Why?" Paige asked curiously. "I highly doubt the military will have any interest in someone like
him."
Kingsley did not exin any further. "Just do as I say."
She felt her heart flutter at themanding tone of his voice. Nodding, she said, "Alright, then.
Leave him to me. He''d be a fool to think he could run away."
After leaving the Bayou, Serena returned to thepany while Kingsley made his way to a cafe
near the entrance of Paradise Mall where he had agreed to meet Cecilia. He wanted to know why
she had called him crying just now.
He saw Cecilia at the corner booth the moment he walked into the cafe. She had make-up on, but it
was such a lightyer that it only entuated her natural beauty, making her look like the girl-next-
door. She was wearing a strappy tank top with a seriously plunging neckline which showed off an
ample amount of her cleavage.
Her sultry and fresh-faced beauty had every man in the cafe ogling her with their jaws wide open.
Presently, they were all craning their necks to get a better look at her, and it didn''t take a mind-
reader to figure out the lewd thoughts flying through their heads.
Under everyone''s watchful gaze, Kingsley walked over to the booth nonchntly and sat down next
to her, a move that rmed, not to mention enraged, all the men in the vicinity.
"Who the hell does that punk think he is? How dare he just take a seat next to her like that?" "Even I
wouldn''t be so bold, and I''m so much better-looking than him. Where did he get the audacity and
the confidence?"
"Hah! Let''s just wait and see. That bombshell over there is way out of his league, and once she
decides to break his heart, she''ll shoo him away!"
Everyone was starting to whisper among themselves as they waited for Kingsley''s downfall, thinking
that he was some pathetic loser who was biting off more than he could chew.
However, the next second, their eyes widened in disbelief when they saw what happened next!