well, the question is if that is a matter best left unanswered. yes the master has more than enough power to do that, (i will admit that possibility  crossed my mind very early on the first build, given furry erotica dives pretty deep on fetishisation at times), but they also often despised him as a mere beast. in that sense while a master may not have had any regards from abusing Asterion, it is still possible the thought never crossed their minds. but it is also a very unconfortable topic that can easily backfire were it to be elaborated on, with that thought it may be for the best to leave it as a mere implication instead of actually saying it, as often is done with potentially triggering material that while it fits naturally with the story, people wouldn't necessarily be okay with seeing that play out at all. reading the comments around here should be pretty easy to find people who aren't willing to read the ruthless route for example, and that's  arguably tame if you ask me.

Hmm, this would certainly be a very difficult topic to cover. I will reluctantly agree it should be mentioned somewhere, but I'm not sure how it could be done tastefully. You mentioned the therapy sessions, I'd agree that seems like a good place to put something like this. The dynamic between MC and Asterion would have to be quite strong for the two of them to talk about something like this. Although I suppose that's true of the two of them discussing any of Asterion's past trauma.

Perhaps the developers will just say 'Nope Asterion has never been sexually abused' and then we won't need to worry about this at all, and can just ignore it?

This is actually a topic we discussed very early on in development. Given everything Asterion has been put through, was he ever sexually abused? The Ruthless route gives a glimpse at the sort of stuff that can happen, and it's not pretty. By the sheer horror of what goes there (or by a Borgian mindset that given enough time everything that can happen will happen), one can certainly deem it "plausible."

As you put so well, it's an uncomfortable topic. It's a spiky question that can make it hard to enjoy some of the sweeter moments in the story. The doubt is bitter, isn't it?

Now, we are very deliberate with the things we say and how we say them... and we are equally deliberate with what we don't say. And the same goes for Asterion, who has thousands of years of experiences and only so much time, so many opportunities, to say things. And he knows that what he reveals about himself changes the way people see him. In fact, the mere choice to tell the MC about how the hotel works is world-defining, as it sets in motion so many of the things you can do in the story.

In fact, maybe it's worth stopping to think for a second just how much of what happens only happens because Asterion tells you things at the right time. Maybe people should reflect about what it means for Asterion to have created the hotel himself, then made it so the human master gets to be under the spotlight while he's the one defining its future across generations.

With that said, I will not answer the fundamental question of "Was Asterion ever sexually abused?" Whatever is the truth, whether there was any sort of abuse or not, to give an answer would make it too easy. Instead, as a reward for being so inquisitive, I will give you broader questions as a prize: what is Asterion not telling you? What goes on inside his head which you are not privy to? Sometimes you'll have a brief chance to glimpse what's on his mind, but just how much did you see? What is the mind of a man who's been through so much for thousands of years like? Can any person in a single lifetime learn all there is to know about a man like this?

And, to top it off... By my tone here, just by my acknowledging that this was a question we thought about early in development, someone could make the assumption that obviously it means that the answer is "yes, he was abused." But I'm not letting this hypothetical reader off the hook so easily. In truth, when you keep in mind all the questions I posed in the previous paragraph, I want you to be aware that the truth may just as well be "no, he wasn't abused" and we still have yet darker things in store. Maybe we considered sexual abuse too easy a topic. Or maybe we covered it elsewhere and you didn't notice.

You know, when you stop and think about it, the valley truly is a horrific place. And, worse yet, maybe these truly horrific things are already in the game, and you never noticed them! This goes down to the very way in which the world of Minotaur Hotel works — one can perform fully functional, world-changing rituals like Pedro and Oscar do without being even aware that they are doing it. Perhaps you, as you played the game and picked your decisions, performed rites without knowing — and just what effect did they have?

But is the valley even the darkest place in Minotaur Hotel?

I hope this message of mine did not answer your question. In fact it is my hope that it was both rewarding and uncomfortable for you to read it. However, I will congratulate for playing the game inquisitively, which is one of the meatier ways of playing it.

As a final rubbing of salt on the wound, though, I will say I deleted a few of the paragraphs I wrote for this post. They said too much, knowing all of that stuff would have made it too easy for you.

I'm not saying that sexual abuse isn't terrible, but where do you think Argos got that white bull pelt? I'd hate to think how that felt when it probably happen while alive, just the act of Argos having that pelt shows how badly Asterions abuse got at one point, and that could have been the considered a lesser form of abuse, it could have been much worse