The Knight from the Fairytales-Chapter 26: I suspect he's a masochist

Just as the castle's owner had said, he went out hunting the very next day.
In the early morning while Elsa was still sleeping, Beihai was already fully dressed and began touring the castle, holding a bunch of keys as he checked room after room.
He couldn't conduct a thorough search just yet - the other party had said anything taken must be returned the next day.
But scouting the locations in advance was never wrong. What if it came in handy later?
What surprised Beihai, however, was that the castle's lady had already awakened at this hour, was also fully dressed, and proactively made advances toward him.
Encountering the lady in the corridor, Beihai felt somewhat awkward, as if he were doing something sneaky.
The more embarrassing part came next. The lady's advances put Beihai in a particularly difficult position because she wasn't just raising her hand to say hello. Instead, this was the lady trying to take advantage of Beihai - meaning she wanted to kiss him.
This was absolutely unacceptable, especially since she was a married woman.
At the very least, he'd have to wait until her husband died before saying "Your wife, I'll take care of her, don't you worry."
Moreover, this completely contradicted knightly principles, so Beihai firmly refused.
"Madam, your husband hasn't returned yet. How could I do something that would betray him while he's away?"
"No, kind sir knight, you misunderstand. This is just a form of greeting from my hometown. Would you really make me lose face?"
Refusing the lady's advances would damage her dignity, meaning Beihai had no choice but to accept.
In the original version of this story, that knight had no choice but to reluctantly accept the kiss to avoid making the lady lose face.
But the most crucial part was that if you accepted, you needed to return this kiss to the husband when he came back - meaning you'd have to kiss a man.
With Elsa still asleep, Beihai found himself in a difficult position, but eventually he thought of a solution. He had the lady apply something similar to lipstick.
Then he extended his hand: "I cannot do anything that would betray my brother. I cannot betray him. To respect your customs, I can offer you my entire hand."
The lady didn't press further but instead kissed Beihai's hand, then left directly. After the lady departed, Beihai went to the water basin to wash.
Strangely, no matter how much he washed, the red lip mark wouldn't come off.
Finally, when afternoon came, Beihai watched as Elsa searched for toys in the castle, playing with her until the castle's master returned.
When the master returned, Beihai went up and immediately slapped him, returning the kiss to the castle's master.
This intimate contact indeed transferred the bright red lip mark onto the master's face. After recovering from the slap, the master was somewhat dazed but couldn't really get angry.
Because Beihai had indeed returned what he received as required. As for how it was returned - that wasn't his concern.
In the end, the master even gave a deer to Beihai as his dinner.
Dragging the dead deer to the kitchen, Beihai then handed the kitchen knife to Elsa.
"I'll leave dinner to you. I believe in your skills."
"Eh! Eh! Ehhhhhh!!!"
Elsa held the relatively large kitchen knife with both hands, clearly somewhat fearful. She was supposed to handle this thing?
Really? No joke? Me?
Was there even a possibility that if I, Elsa, swung with all my might, I couldn't even cut through the bones?
"Are you sure you don't need help, Sir Knight?"
"Castle master, no need to worry. She learns quickly, and this is also to encourage her to live independently. She'll have to leave me someday anyway."
Beihai's face remained expressionless as he said this purely because this person could no longer yield Attribute Points and had no value left.
Since that was the case, if he was going to keep her around, she needed to demonstrate some value. I, Beihai, never make losing deals.
Of course, others saw it differently. Elsa even inexplicably got herself fired up with self-motivation.
Is this training? Perhaps Sir Knight was already training with a sword since childhood. Sir Knight can even slay dragons!
This must be a test for me. I, Elsa, will definitely succeed!
When everyone was asleep at night, two voices conversed with each other.
"This knight seems somewhat too brutal."
"Not at all. It's because he respects you, respects me, and respects himself.
He understands how to protect a woman's chastity, maintain a man's dignity, won't commit betrayal, and is exceptionally strict with himself."
"Then let's observe further. Pure kindness ultimately only brings disaster."
On the third day, everything followed the same pattern. That castle lady gave Beihai two kisses.
When the master returned, Beihai followed routine and returned them by slapping him twice.
The harvest was even better than yesterday - a wild boar. Beihai began to suspect both of them were sick. Was the master somewhat of a masochist?
This made Beihai somewhat reluctant to hit him, afraid he might actually be giving him pleasure.
On the fourth day, the lady escalated further by giving three kisses, and finally mysteriously handed Beihai a belt.
At the same time, she spoke very important words.
"Fasten this, and the Green Knight's axe cannot harm you."
Facing this life-and-death test, Beihai directly accepted it - no reason to refuse something free. He immediately fastened it around his waist - looked pretty good, though unfortunately it wasn't adorned with gold or silver.
He tried tightening the belt further, then helplessly loosened it again. The belt felt like it had no magical effect.
If it only had the property of protecting against axe attacks...
When the castle master returned, he happily received three slaps this time. Finally, Beihai handed the belt to him.
"This is what your wife gave me, saying fastening it makes one immune to the Green Knight's axe. It seems you know about that green chapel? Can you tell me where it is?"
The castle master's face was already swollen from the slaps, though the left side seemed more swollen than the right. Clearly, Beihai had held back his strength.
"My wife is correct - this can protect against the knight's axe. Do you need it? If you need it, I'll give it to you."
"I refuse."
"Why?"
The instinctive question slipped out immediately. After all, this was a matter of life and death.
You've returned it to me, and I as the master am giving it to you - this is actually perfectly reasonable. You've even perfectly passed the test.
You didn't keep anything obtained in the castle, and this belt is something the castle master wants to give to Beihai, just like those game animals.
"Because I enjoy saying no when you're being presumptuous."
"Fine. Strange reason."
Beihai couldn't be bothered with this guy. Mere axe attacks were nothing. There were more important matters at hand.
"Elsa, come here and work - butcher this pig!"