Malia hadn't spent much time considering the baron's relationship with his wife, certainly not as much as she is now.   Given that he kept a pair of comely women much younger than the countess for the sole purpose of 'personal service', she'd naturally assumed their relationship was... strained.  She didn't exactly get to know the woman; even the more respected servants weren't worthy of the time of day from her and the thought of her even acknowledging someone like Malia was laughable.  For all the reactions she expected from the baroness, hellish fury and righteous indignation were not two of them.  Did she really love the baron that much?  ...No.  Then all that rage would have been on Malia and left Mina out of it.   Far more likely that she barely put up with her husband's 'hobbies' and resented his playthings.  Probably blamed the pair of them for corrupting him or some other bit of mental gymnastics someone looking for justification will go through.<br/><br/>Regardless of the baroness' feelings, the woman's punishment was an interesting new twist if nothing else.  It certainly hasn't been the first time the baron's thugs have had their way with Malia as a group but the baron usually preferred to keep his fruit ''unbruised' as it were, if just to save the pleasure of bruising it for himself.   Still, experiencing both a beating and being given to the guards at the same time was certainly a... fresh experience.   I suppose the baroness was expecting that to be a punishment?   Surely that will make the little whore regret what she did?<br/><br/>Hardly.<br/><br/>The baroness may be more like her late husband than she thinks.  'Surely enough beatings and humiliation will get her to break!'  Apparently even a murder won't teach them a damn thing.  Malia is not the type to roll over.  Sure, there's a point where obeying orders is just the sane thing to do but that's never going to be the same as being broken.   Oh sure, the baron got close.   Damn close.  It got just a little easier for her to sink to her knees every time she was ordered to and compliance was feeling more and more uncomfortably natural as the years went on; to say nothing of the perverse joy the baron took in pointing out how much less she complained when asked to use her tongue on his various bits.  It's true that she'd passed by that kitchen knife at least a hundred times before she realized she was finally allowed to wear enough clothing to conceal it... but it only took that one realization.<br/><br/>So no.  The punishment added precisely zero regret to this situation.  The stinging bruises and the drying filth are only yet another reminder of why she did it.   If she had a scrap of romance left in her, she might have convinced herself that it's better to be executed for murder than to live another day like that; maybe say 'you can't call what I was in living!' to the theoretical person in her head that gives a damn about her motive.   Of course, that would be a lie.  She didn't kill him because she simply couldn't go on as she was or because she found a glimmer of her old self in the sheen of that blade edge.   She killed him because FUCK HIM, that's why.  Fuck him and anyone like him.<br/><br/><strong>[Tagging Mina]</strong><br/><strong>"We're finally out from under his heel and the first thing you do is try to jump under someone else's?"</strong>Malia says, snapping out of her thoughts, finally lifting her head off the ground and sitting up from having been lying there, seemingly catatonic since the ordeal with the guards.<strong>"No wonder the baron preferred having you suck his cock.  You were already too willing to kiss his ass."</strong>She hisses with venom in her voice and eyes.<strong>"I would literally rather die than be bought by someone even remotely like him."</strong>She punctuates her statement with an angry turn of her head to stare at the wall, though it's mostly to hide the twitch in her eye.   She most certainly doesn't buy her own bravado given that the executioner's axe was profoundly terrifying the FIRST time she escaped it.   It's becoming rapidly more clear that the adrenaline high of killing the baron isn't going to last forever... luckily arguing with Mina is most definitely a good distraction.