Staring at the woman dressed as a bunny girl, Rudy's cheeks were flushed red, but the look in his eyes and the way he stood with his hands crossed was anything but tame. Turning his attention momentarily to Custer, he glared at him for a moment before letting loose with his tongue.
"You bought another slave?" He asked, his frown deep as a creek.
Although Custer was under no obligation to play along, he narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"Why wouldn't I? I needed people to run this place." His response only further fanned the flame in Rudy's eyes. However, instead of talking to Custer, the young man turned his attention to the slave instead.
"First Okio, now her…" He muttered to himself.
Feeling the tension weighing in on her, Freya pitched her voice a little higher to make herself sound younger.
"It's okay," she told him, feeling conflicted for she wished for him to help the woman, were she a true slave, but given the circumstance, she wanted him to simply walk away. "I-I don't mind working like this…"
"As if," once again looking her up and down, the hero's expression lightened, and he felt a rush of blood coursing through his veins. To hide his flustered expression in the face of such a luscious woman, he forced a grimace and looked up again. "There's no way you're doing it on your own."
As his sharp gaze turned to Custer again, Rudy felt a light touch on his shoulder. Turning around, he found none other than Cecilia standing behind him with a smile and a smirk merged together.
"Jealous about my master's harem, are we? Hehe~"
"Wh-what?!"
"Oh come on, it's clear as the nightravens what you're trying to do here." Grabbing Rudy's cheeks, Cecilia pinched them and moved them around. "The knight on a horse trying to save a princess, not knowing or not caring whether she wants to be saved~."
Snapping away from Cecilia with a grunt, Rudy's frustration shifted from Custer to his slave.
"What are you even talking about?" Rubbing his burning cheeks, he hurled. "And don't pinch me like that again!"
"Fine~ Fine~" Waving her hand, Cecilia glanced over at Freya. "But if you still don't trust me, why don't we test your theory? Whether we're forcing her to do this or not?"
"What are you saying?!" Wide-eyed Freya stood stunned. But since only Zephyr and Aura could hear when she wasn't directly talking to another person, not a word of her complaint was heard by her son.
"Let's see? How about a kiss!"
"What?!" Freya wanted to scream, but not a word would reach out.
"What are you talking about? Just say it plainly!" Rudy retorted further, not having a clue about what was happening.
From the corner, Okio watched as the drama unfolded, all the while helping the customers. She had no clue what was going on, but wanted to step up and tell everyone to calm down. The problem was that, with Aura gone, she was the only person handling customers.
"How about it, 'princess'? Why don't you prove to the knight that you're not being forced into this by showing your love for your master with a kiss?" Meanwhile, Aura continued to fan the flames.
"I'll kill you…" Freya grunted, but she wasn't the only one who spoke up.
"How can she do anything on her own if you can just force her to!" Rudy complained, but the devil had an answer even to that.
"Do you see a collar on her neck? A brand, mayhaps?" Shrugging her shoulders, Aura pressed the final button with a smirk. "How about it? If she doesn't want to kiss my master, then you're free to take her. I heard you wanted to buy a slave anyway, but we got to Okio first."
'What is she talking about?!' Both angry and confused, Freya wished to choke the devil to death, but obviously that would have to wait until the situation was resolved. 'This bitch…'
Glancing back at her son, she was surprised to find that he was actually contemplating the thought. After all, Rudy wanted a slave to practice in bed, but Custer had taken her away, and now he had a chance to take one of his slaves away from him. It was a chance like no other, and in doing so, he would also save a slave from what he assumed must've been a monster when nobody else was looking.
"She's not branded so…" Turning back to his mother, Rudy looked her in the eye, and the uncertainty in her gaze only made him want to prove that she was being forced to do things. "Alright, but if you are being forced to work for him, then I'm taking you with me."
'This idiot!' Facepalming herself internally, Freya heaved a sigh, but even that did not reach Rudy's ears. 'What am I supposed to do now?'
Looking down at Custer, she noticed his gaze meeting hers, and in them was a moment of recognition about just how awkward the situation had been. If she didn't do anything, then she would have to go with her son, and that would reveal who she truly was, but to prevent that, she had to kiss the young merchant.
Neither option was ideal, but anything was better than letting Rudy know that it was her in that bunny outfit.
"Fine, just a quick peck, that's it!" She said to the merchant, and he nodded back.
Moving her mask just above her lips, Freya leaned forward with her hands on Custer's shoulders. Covering her nose and a portion of her eyes, she was still barely hiding her identity; besides, Rudy's focus wasn't on her face but the action itself.
As Freya's lips curled, her son's heartbeat raced. She was about to kiss Custer in front of him, but to the young hero, it was still a rather exciting sight for the woman in the suit was an absolute bombshell. Leaning closer as Freya's lips brushed against Custer's, the hero's eyes widened while that of his mother closed at once.
The softness of her touch was akin to a loving mother's first kiss to her newborn, and yet being a fiend, Zephyr could feel a tense rush of excitement bubbling up within Freya. She was simply putting on a show, but that didn't mean her body wouldn't react the way it's meant to, especially being a middle-aged woman kissing a young, attractive man.
Opening her eyes after a while, she looked at her own reflection through Zephyr's eyes. For a moment, she froze in place, questioning what she'd done, and yet after so long kissing a man who didn't make her regret it that very instant was comforting in a strange way.
"T-there…" With a gulp, she pulled away and looked at Rudy. "I've done it, now do you believe me? Just leave us alone, will you?"
Struggling with her emotions, Freya was done with everyone involved in that moment. The rush she'd been feeling just moments ago was gone, and now that her mind was hers again, she wanted nothing more than to be the eye candy and wave at potential customers.
'I'm never doing that again…' She thought, trying not to think of the warmth she felt during the kiss.
"Um…" Left shocked by the revelation that at least the new slave wasn't being forced to work for Custer, Rudy was at just as much of a loss as his mother. "S-sorry for doubting you, I guess."
Shaking his head, he tried not to dwell on the matter.
"I wanted to talk to my mom. Where is she?" He asked.
Lying was the only option at this point, and that's exactly what Zephyr did–further boosting his image in Freya's eyes while, at the same time, her son was slowly falling out of favor due to his actions.
'I will have to ask them about Rudy trying to buy a slave later…' And with that thought, she returned to work. Surprisingly enough, after what she'd been through just now, showing off her breasts and the rest of her curves felt like meagre tasks. So much so that at one point, while humming herself a tune, Freya had to stop herself from wagging her rear to the rhythm.
'What am I doing?' She asked herself, tracing the spot on her lips where she could still feel Zephyr.