Restrained Knight

The carriage stopped at the academy gates, and I alighted in simple cloth attire. My birth mother nuzzled my cheek with tear-filled eyes. Due to the single glove and gag, she couldn't embrace me or offer words of comfort. My brother, Shelvin, had also taken the day off to see me off. The girl pulling the carriage, accustomed to families bidding farewell, kicked her bound "hooves" against the shafts to ease the fatigue from the long journey. "Lilith, have you truly decided you want to become a Restraint Knight?" Shelvin asked. "You know that not only must you stand out from countless candidates, but also, due to the exorbitant cost of the attire, you'll have to serve the nation for at least twenty years after graduation. We don't even know if we'll be able to contact you after that. Even so, have you made up your mind?" "Yes! Ever since I saw the majestic Restraint Knights last time, I was determined! I want to become like her, strong enough to protect my brother and mother! So, goodbye for now! I'll work hard at the academy to become the strongest Restraint Knight!" I hugged my mother and brother. Though the parting was heavy, my mind was made up. I turned and walked through the academy gates, afraid that looking back would make me waver and regret leaving my family. "Don't you know? The rules of football are that each team has two offensive players and one goalkeeper, and one player must be inside the ball," Xi Ya explained. "Offensive players can only touch the ball with their feet, so their hands are securely locked behind them, and their eyes are blindfolded. They can only act on the goalkeeper's commands." "The goalkeeper's hands are unrestricted, but their legs are folded and bound, forcing them to crawl slowly on the ground. Their body is also locked in front of the goal, preventing them from moving too far away. The remaining player will be placed inside the ball and will control its movement through their actions within it, assisting the offensive players in scoring. If intercepted by the opposing offensive players, they must find a way to escape. For fairness, there are two balls on the field, one for each team." "Xi Ya and I have good legwork, so we'll be the offensive players. Laura isn't fast, so she can be the goalkeeper, and Lilith can be the ball! Any objections? If you do, I can switch with you~" I proposed my idea, asking Xi Ya, Lilith, and Laura, while my eyes kept darting towards the uninflated football. Clearly, the novel experience of being the ball intrigued me. Lilith's personality suggested she'd likely switch with me. "No, for certain reasons, I'm not suitable to be the ball. I'll be an offensive player, and Lilith will be the ball," Lilith's voice echoed in our minds. "This should suit your perverted desires, shouldn't it!" The last sentence seemed to be transmitted only to me, as Xi Ya and Laura showed no strange expressions. "Tch... Fine, fine... I'll be the ball... So, how does one become the ball?" Rejected and mocked by Lilith, I couldn't argue. After all, she held the leverage from my amorous escapades the other night. I grudgingly walked over to the football and began to examine it. Lilith pulled open a zipper at the top of the ball, revealing an opening. "Take off your clothes and shoes, and get in."

"Truly, Master Garna's work is unparalleled. This gown is woven from fibers made of dragon gel," the Marquis marveled as he guided my legs into the wedding dress. I felt my legs being tightly encased by the skirt, completely unable to separate. My feet were pressed firmly against my buttocks, perfectly propping up the gown's voluminous train. The hem below my knees was so constricting that I couldn't move even an inch further down. After the Marquis tightened the elastic band from my abdomen to my waist, my lower body was completely enveloped by the dress. "Hoo hoo!" Though I didn't know what dragon gel was, I gathered from Shelvin's effusive praise that it was some kind of rare treasure. Seeing my legs transformed into an integral part of the wedding dress, I was both panicked and astonished. Astonished by how beautiful my lower body looked, even without seeing my legs fully extended. Panicked because my legs were pressed so tightly against my buttocks, and once cinched, I couldn't even wiggle my toes. It was more meticulously and tightly bound than my hands when I was out and about. Placing me on a soft cushion, kneeling, the Marquis bound my hands behind my back, my upper and lower arms stacked together. Simply having my hands behind my back was uncomfortable, but folding my arms behind me caused a pain akin to breaking in my arms, even for someone as flexible as Hill, who had studied dance. I felt my arms being forced into a narrow sheath, further compressing my folded arms. It was then I noticed that where the pair of wings connected to the base of my shoulder blades, there was a downward-facing wing root, which surprisingly had a space carved out to accommodate my folded arms. "Hoo hoo!" The pain from folding my arms was clearly unbearable. Although my mouth couldn't betray my agony, my tightly furrowed brow clearly showed my discomfort. My hands and feet were utterly restrained. Apart from slight movements in my four joints, I was completely immobilized on the cushion, unable to move an inch. My pained hands twitched incessantly, causing the enormous wings behind me to flutter.

After explaining our situation to the woman, she thought for a moment and said, "While I sympathize with your predicament, I'm still worried you'll run off once you're off the cart. So, first, you'll have to take off my single glove and let me put you in some restraints. Then I'll pull you!" "Ah? Restraints too? Wouldn't one be enough?" Lingling sounded displeased. "No, both of you. Otherwise, what if you run off with her in your arms? I'd lose my props too," the woman insisted. With no other choice, Lingling and I had to agree. Once her hands were free, the cart-pulling woman retrieved a roll of tape from the cargo box. First, she signaled Lingling to put her hands behind her back. The woman then proceeded to wrap Lingling's arms tightly behind her, layer by layer. "Wow, this is so uncomfortable. Aila, is it this difficult for you every time you go out?" Lingling, who wasn't very flexible, gritted her teeth in pain as her arms were straightened and bound. "Now you know it's uncomfortable! You were making light of it before!" I looked at her helplessly. As my personal translator, she always twisted my words, even saying that a bound princess was more elegant and that she should try this torment herself. After wrapping Lingling's arms, the woman then secured the bound arms to her body with more tape. Finally, she wrapped Lingling's legs together, completely turning her into a human log. "Ugh, now I know what the Blade Dancer felt like when she dueled Viper," Lingling said uncomfortably, lying in the cart. "Alright, your turn." After dealing with Lingling, the woman gestured for me to present myself. I didn't mind, though seeing Lingling like that made me a little sad. But to get back quickly, I consciously brought my hands together behind my back for the woman to operate. My arms were already fixed behind me in a straight position, and now my prosthetic limbs, controlled by my will, were also being wrapped in tape. This strange sensation made me feel a bit dazed. Soon, I was also wrapped into a tape mummy. The woman wiped the sweat from her brow. "Honestly, the time it took to wrap us both up like mummies could have been enough for you to pull two loads. And how are you going to put your single glove back on later?" Lingling, whose arms had gone numb, regained her spirit. "You talk too much. If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!" The woman directly taped Lingling's mouth shut. I also suffered the same fate, my mouth being taped shut, though it was rather pointless. "Hmph! Serves you right for talking so much! Experience what I usually feel! Oh, and it seems you can't speak anymore now~" Seeing Lingling's state, I couldn't help but mock her. I nudged Lingling with my head, but I was curious how the cart-pulling woman would put her single glove back on to continue pulling the cart.

However, after I lay down, several clasps suddenly sprang out from my wrists, ankles, and neck, completely securing my limbs to the board. This made me feel uneasy; I had never heard of being restrained for a bath. "First, we'll wash your hair. Princess, your hair is long and abundant, and it needs proper care," Ella said. As she spoke, I felt myself being pulled up by the shackles on my wrists and ankles, suspended upside down in mid-air, my long pink hair dangling into the bath. "Wow! So this is how you wash hair over here! It looks so convenient!" Lingling exclaimed from the side. "But I'm very uncomfortable right now!" Suspended upside down, my entire weight supported only by the shackles on my ankles and wrists, I felt miserable. "So, we'll lower you a bit while washing your hair." As Ella finished speaking, I felt my body begin to descend from its suspended position. Under my terrified gaze, my head slowly submerged into the water, followed by my eyes, nostrils, mouth, and neck. Due to the shackles around my neck, I couldn't bend over to lift my head out of the water. I could only struggle violently, simultaneously calling out to Lingling through our bond. "You see, this is precisely why we have to lock you up." It seemed this was a common occurrence. Ella, after lathering shampoo in her hands, dove into the water and began to wash my hair. "Lingling! Help! Water's in my nose!" I cried out to Lingling. "Huh? Oh!" Lingling nodded, reaching out and pinching my nose, which was submerged in the water.