Crack!
The sound of a stiff palm colliding with soft flesh cut through the air like a whip.
Bright red pigment immediately began to spread across the woman's cheek where she'd been slapped, matching the scarlet cheeks of the man who knelt next to her.
As silence settled over the candle-lit room once again, the man standing in front of the kneeling pair raised his hand a second time.
The woman's eyes remained focused on the floor in front of her, not a single muscle tensing. Either it was a situation she was accustomed to, or she feared even the tiniest movement would further aggravate her punisher's temper.
"That's enough!"
Kel jumped up, grabbing the Emperor's arm before he could strike Lucy again.
"Please, stop this!" she pleaded with teary eyes.
The Emperor attempted to shrug her off, but she stubbornly tightened her grasp.
"It wasn't their fault! It was mine!" she insisted.
