Princess Asperia took me by the hand and led me back to her room, and my heart beat fast, wondering if there was some further punishment, but my body felt amazing, all floaty and good... presumably all the endorphins that were produced to try to counteract the pain were around, even if the pain was gone.

She let go of my hand, and turned towards me, sitting on her bed, legs crossed. "Kneel."

I fell to my knees immediately, too fast, even, and whimpered as they hit the floor a little too hard-- it wasn't the worst pain, but I was just done with pain, and started crying.

Princess leaned over a little and petted my head gently. "It's okay, puppy... you're going to be my good girl from now on, right?"

"Yes, Princess!" I tried to wipe away my tears in case my crying was upsetting her, but I couldn't stop new tears from flowing down.

"You're not going to do something foolish like insult me again, are you?"

"No, Princess!" I would really absolutely try my best not to insult her. I don't think I could take something like that again, even if I survived it a second time... and that was 'merciful' in her eyes. That said... "Um..."

"Yes?" She lifted my chin with a couple fingers, but she was very blurry through all the tears.

"I'll do my best... but I'm still foolish sometimes... I won't insult you though, I'll try to get better, I promise!"

"Mmm, good gil, being honest with me... well, if you mess up again, we may have to punish you again, but I hope you won't do anything like that again... I was a little worried you'd die."

"...only a little?" I wasn't even one of her treasures, was I? I started bawling.

"Shhh, shhhh... it's okay... come here, puppy."

I climbed up onto the bed next to her and she pulled me into her lap, stroking my back.

"Really, I shouldn't be reminding you of this... but you have a protection spell on you, put there by Eve." She stroked the tattoo over my womb, and a little shudder of pleasure went through my body and soul."You were only in serious danger when Valentine lost control during her forehead-flick-- if she had slapped you... you may have actually died."

"...you won't punish her, right?"

"Of course not. That was my mistake for having her take part in the Trial of Hands... it probably felt too close to an execution to her after the last time, and she was worried you'd die and it'd partially be her fault. Ironic that could've actually made her kill you because of that." She wrapped a blanket around me and pulled me close, kissing my forehead. "Valentine's a good girl, but she doesn't handle the idea of herself killing someone else well. I wonder if that's some sort of trauma she has, I should look into it."

"...there's nothing weird about not wanting to kill people," I said softly.

"But such an intense need to not cause other's deaths, out of a gladiator?"

"...mmm." I cuddled close as she stroked my back "...maybe being a gladiator is inherently traumatic."

Princess Asperia laughed, but there was no pleasure in it. "You've got me there. It's just an uncommon reaction to the horror there, I suppose. I can't wait until the day I can get rid of it entirely... such a pointless spectacle." She squeezed me a little closer.

"Uh..." I thought it was better not to speak, the more I thought about it.

"What is it, puppy? You can criticize my actions when there's just the two of us... as long as you do so politely." I hesitated for a moment, and she squeezed me softly, and kissed the top of my head, then whispered softly in my ear, "...please?"

"...no, I guess the Trial of Hands has a point. I just..." I started crying again.

"Exactly, I'm glad that you remember that, good girl."

"I just... I saw Velt during it."

Princess's arm around me and body beneath me tensed slightly. "...what?"

"I know, she didn't seem upset... she just..." ...wanted to protect Ava. Did that mean Ava was responsible for the attacks, if that was her true motive? If so, I shouldn't be protecting her, but Velt wanted to so bad that she died... I didn't want to dishonor that, and also I didn't want to anger a ghost. "...she just felt sorry for me... hoped I'd survive...." I'd have to talk to her.

"...mmm... something must be keeping her attached to this world. I'll look into it, we don't want an undead situation on our hands."

"...what?"

"Oh, I suppose it's not exactly a common teaching. Now, ghosts are a... I suppose one say, a larval form of undead. Undead are created by lingering feelings that are too strong to let go of, and they can keep coming back until their feeling is sated, or they let go of the world. Of course, they aren't actually the same as the creature whose emotions they were created by. Think of it as a natural if failed attempt at alchemical transmutation, and you wouldn't be completely wrong."

"...oh. You aren't going to exorcise her, are you? She didn't seem angry."

"...ex-or-cise?"

"Get rid of ghosts?"

"...truly? I have never heard of this."

"...um, it's a thing on my world? I'd hardly call myself an exorcist, but I've about a few basic techniques, if you want me to try it out on a ghost that isn't Velt, I guess...?"

"...no. For now, don't tell anyone about this. Undead are our trump card right now, we don't want to add anything to the mix that might disrupt then until we've won." She lifted me up a little and covered my face in little kisses, smiling at me adoringly. "But enough about politics and undead... what about you, puppy? Is there anything you want?"

"...Can you just hold me for a while? Um, can you promise me you won't kill me if I behave?"

Princess returned to kissing me, and I could feel her lips smile against me during that last kiss. "Oh, of course, puppy... I'd never destroy one of my treasures who was behaving, and you're very precious to me. Do you want anything? Food, water, pleasure...?"

"I think if I was denied an orgasm right now, I'd cry... and I wanna save my orgasms for Eve when she comes back... I wanna be a good girl...."

Princess laughed softly and scritched behind my ears with both hands, causing me to moan and bury my head in her chest. How were earscritches so amazing?

She idly stroked my cheek as she continued to scritch lightly with her other hand. "You are such a good girl... I hope we all get a chance to play together soon, it would be delightful to see your face when you cum again."

She held me until I finished crying, then held me for some time longer, petting me idly, and I was content to relax in her arms. She then took my chin and raised it again, smiling to see I wasn't crying anymore, and I gave her a bit of a smile back, tail wagging... today was very bad, but she'd forgiven me, and as long as I was good and loyal, she'd take care of me... I just had to think of her with similar devotion as I tried to think towards Eve, and everything would be all right.

"Mmm... there's my cute little puppy's smile... I'd like if I could just hold and comfort you all day, but I also tortured Kalei and Ava, and I need to comfort them and re-establish my connection with them too...."

My ears and tail slumped, but I nodded. Even if I needed to be with her, they must need it more right now. "Yes, Princess." She idly played with my hair and rubbed my left ear between her fingers, eliciting a moan. "Awwwh... you look so sad, puppy... tell you what. Your testimony did help rescue them both from torture, so they shouldn't resent it too much. If you wanna stay here, I'll let you-- but you're gonna have to wear that bell again, so we can talk in private, and whenever I clap my hands and point to the floor, you're going to have to get down there. This is about me and them time, and you're just going to be a cute little pet that gets to cuddle some when we're okay with it. Okay?"

I immediately perked up at that, tail wagging, "Yes! Thank you, Princess!" She was being really considerate of me, which made it even easier to believe she didn't actually hate me, that she just wanted me to be her good girl, and as long as I behaved I could survive and not be tortured and get the good pets she was giving me... awwwh, but now she was slipping away.

She smiled down at me and ruffled my hair. "Just getting the little bell out for you and telling Zince to send in Kalei, my treasure-- oh, I meant you, although Kalei's my treasure too..." She shook her head. "I really love that girl, she's so beautiful, she's just not good at anything useful, and my focus is on letting us all survive right now... but I do need to spend some quality time with her. Ava can wait, she knows what our relationship is like, but Kalei... from what it sounds like, she doesn't think I treasure her at all."

She went to her treasure pile and pulled out the little songbird charm, and returned to me, moving her hands to my collar-- then hesitating before she clipped it on.

"You give her lots of affection too, okay? She's a good girl who dedicated her life to me and just wants some love and attention, and with your love hopefully she'll relax a little and reach out to you and the other girls of the harem more. Can you do that for me, puppy?"

I nodded emphatically. "I really want to help her!"

"Awwwh... such a good girl, such a good puppy, yes you are, such a good pet, such a good slave..." She stroked my cheek and clipped the charm onto my collar, her mouth making little soothing warbling sounds, like a waterfall reincarnated into a songbird, then petted my head and walked over to the door.

I relaxed against the bed and watched her walk, and Zince came in a moment later with a big soft rug, placing it by the bed, and I looked up at her and smiled, and she smiled down at me a little, and scritched behind my ear, opening her mouth, then closing it once she saw the charm and just scritching my head a little and smiling a little more down at me.

My tail wagged.