*POV Aliyah
I didn't expect that damn Charles would enslave me. It feels terrible to go from a hunter to a slave of prey. It was an insult to me. But I couldn't resist. This is the only way I can survive and get out of here.
Lost in thought, I didn't notice that the woman in front of me had stopped abruptly. I crashed into her back, and the suit in my hand fell to the ground. It is the servant uniform I received this morning.
"Damn it! Don't you have eyes?" The woman's gruff voice resounded. She turned to look at me with angry eyes.
Through Serena, I know her name is Ashe, who manages the enslaved people here. She is only thirty years old, but due to her hard work from a young age, she looks fifty years old. Her face was haggard, and her high cheekbones added to her stern and fierce look.
I originally wanted to apologize to her, but her attitude made me highly uncomfortable. When she came to see me in the infirmary in the morning, her attitude was not good; she seemed to hate me when I first met her.
'That bastard Charles' subordinate is just as obnoxious as he is. I thought in my heart.
On the surface, I don't show any emotion. I bent over to pick up the uniform when Ashe's foot stepped on my uniform.
She didn't seem to notice that she had stepped on my stuff. "From now on, you will stay in this room. Outside working hours, you cannot roam around and only stay in the room. Here are some rules here. It is best to memorize it today. You will receive a hefty penalty if you break one of the rules. After ten minutes, go to the back garden to start working." Ashe said disdainfully and stuffed a piece of paper into my hand. After that, she turned to leave, but she remembered to trample on my things a few times before leaving.
I suppressed the anger in my heart. I'll teach her a lesson, but not right now.
I looked at the double-sided printed paper in my hand; on it were twenty rules and fifteen things strictly forbidden here. I snorted coldly, looked at it, and then folded the paper. Then, I picked up my uniform and opened the door to my room.
The room was relatively small, with only a single bed, a wardrobe, and no windows. The only good thing here is that it has its toilet. I prefer to use something other than shared bathrooms.
After looking around, I was about to change, but seeing that the suit had many stains, I put it down and left the room. I definitely won't wear it even if I get reprimanded. Now that I'm a slave, is there a worse punishment?
Here is a vast mansion with five floors, loads of rooms, and different areas. I walked around for a while, and by the time I reached the back garden, it was ten minutes late. That made Ashe even more annoyed.
"I thought you were dead. I was going to find your body." Ash scoffed.
"Thank you for taking care of me. But rest assured, I have lived a long time. By the time you die, I'm not dead yet." I replied.
Seeing Ashe's face change from white to blue made me happier inside. She probably didn't think that I dared to respond so bluntly.
"You..." Ashe was about to curse, but she stopped short when she noticed I wasn't wearing a servant's uniform. She got even angrier, pointed her finger at me, and yelled, "why don't you change uniform? You scum! I don't teach you a lesson, and you don't know fear."
Then she raised her hand to slap me, but how could I stand still and let her hit me? Just as her hand was about to touch my face, my hand caught her arm.
"Don't think I'm afraid of you. If you dare hit me, I'll show you what despair is." I spoke in a low voice, with cold eyes, exuding a murderous aura.
Ashe was so scared that she froze. After a while, she came to her senses and pulled her hand back. She tried to stay calm, but I could see fear in her eyes.
"Today, I forgive you once; if you still don't wear your uniform tomorrow... then I will report this to Sir Charles," Ashe said awkwardly to neutralize this embarrassing situation.
"I need a new suit," I say.
Ashe frowned but still seemed scared of me, so she quickly agreed. Then she gave me the task, "you pull all the grass in this area. If you don't finish it today, don't eat it."
I looked around. It's about the size of a medium-sized stadium.
Is this what you call a garden? More precisely, it was no different from a vacant lot by the forest's edge. It has yet to be taken care of regularly, so the grass is dense and almost knee-high.
"Am I the only one doing this?" I pointed at myself and asked Ashe.
"That's right!" She replies.
My heart fluttered a bit, but I still had some hope to ask, "Where's the lawn mower? Don't tell me I must pull all the grass here with my bare hands."
Ashe smiled; perhaps seeing me miserable made her happy a little. "There's no lawn mower. You have to pull the weeds yourself with your hands." She was afraid I wouldn't listen, so she added, "This is Sir Charles's orders."
My hopes crumbled. If this is Ashe's idea, then I can use some force to threaten her, but this is Charles's idea I can't resist.
It's not that I'm afraid of him; I'm just scared of involving Serena. Anyway, I'm taking the punishment for Serena.
"You should work obediently. Don't mess around. Someone will supervise you." Ashe said and quickly left before I recovered.
Standing under the hot sun, my heart is icy. Looking at the endless grass, I cried without tears.
With a sigh, I also had to start weeding. I did as I silently scolded that damned Charles.
Suddenly, I felt someone looking at me; I instinctively searched for that gaze.
I quickly spotted Charles standing behind the window on the fifth floor of the mansion, staring at me.
With a hunter's keen eye, I saw his mouth curl up into a curve. It was not a happy smile; it was filled with mockery at me.
The anger in my heart wanted to explode, but I could do nothing about that bastard. I could only hold up my middle finger for him to see.
The sun shines brightly on my white skin. The scorching heat of the sun made me sweat profusely. I felt highly uncomfortable looking at my palm covered with grass and dirty dirt. My hands that, once held weapons and were stained with the blood of damned wolves, were now in such a bad state that they had to be weeded. It's ironic!I was complaining while working, so I couldn't pull much weed. Until sunset, I could only uproot one corner of the yard. It's less than a tenth the size of this vast courtyard.Looking at the forest's edge beside me, my heart fluttered, intending to escape. I looked up at the window where Charles stood looking at me in the morning; he was no longer there. Around the empty land, there was no one in sight, only the sound of the wind rustling and the birds chirping in the forest.The image of being tortured with a whip popped into my head again. If they knew I didn't lose my memory, they would torture me again to get information from me. Although being beaten wi
"Fuck! Who are you? Stop!" A hoarse male voice shouted behind me.Only a madman would stand to be caught. I ran with all my might even though the wound all over my body was aching. At the turn, I continued to run straight without turning into the corridor with my room because it would be a dead end if I turned into that corridor.Reaching the stairs, I immediately ran upstairs without thinking. The two sentinels who chased after me still didn't give up.Thanks to the darkness and the many twists and turns, I had a chance to avoid their gazes and hide in a corner. I heard their conversation nearby without waiting for me to catch my breath."You keep looking! I'll go turn on the lights.""Ok!"In my heart, panic. If the lights were on, it would be hard for me to hide. The probability of being caught is ninety percent.While thinking, the footsteps got closer to me and stopped not far from me. I secretly watched him. He was slowly opening the door of a room. Perhaps the half-closed door
Early in the morning, Ashe came to where we were being punished. She boldly said, "Because someone broke the rule by going around at night voluntarily, but that person was not arrested, so everyone will be fined. The amount of work is doubled today. Everyone has ten minutes to return to their room and change clothes."As soon as Ashe finished speaking, there were many whispers and lamentations. People were standing all night and not getting enough sleep. Their strength was almost exhausted. Even a hunter with endurance like me felt tired and had aching feet.A few people pleaded with Ashe. They promised to make up for the work another day. But Ashe disagreed. She yelled and chased them away.I also returned to my room. Lying on the bed, I didn't want to move even a little; my body had no strength. Just thinking about weeding by hand makes me want to die.Thinking like that doesn't mean I really want to die. I have witnessed many deaths, so I always cherish my life. Most of all, humans
I glanced at Dante, who was standing solemnly beside me. He was the commander at this base while I was away. Dante saw me frown and understood what I was thinking. He sternly ordered the guard outside the room to "take this slave to Ashe to handle!""No, no... please, don't make me... I don't want to go... please... no... don't come near me... Nooooo..."The maid was gagged and dragged out of the room."What about this soldier?" Dante asked my opinion again."It's up to you to handle it!" I replied coldly. I want to avoid getting involved in small things like punishing my subordinates. Dante said yes and ordered the soldier to leave the room.At this point, only Dante and I were left in the room. I asked, "Isn't there a camera in the hallway?""It was installed in the past, but most of the base's technological equipment was damaged during the last riot. I sent a request to the center pack for assistance repairing and installing new equipment, but The money sent here is only half the r
After bathing for more than an hour, I calmed down. I changed into a neat and clean outfit and returned to my office.As soon as I entered the room, I was met with the image of a disheveled Aliyah sitting on the sofa. Her whole body was still wet, her hair messy, and her clothes and face smeared with dirt. In her hand, she was holding a half-bite apple; her fingers were still covered with mud, and her mouth was chewing. When she saw me, she was startled, hiding the hand holding the apple behind her back.I was dumbfounded for a few seconds. Even Ryan had no words to say when he saw this scene.Although I'm a cleanliness fan, I wouldn't like dirty things. Except when on the battlefield, I always want everything around me to be clean and tidy.When I saw Aliyah lying in the grass, I asked Ashe to tell her to take a shower before coming here to meet me. Because I'm afraid the dirt on her body will spill into my room. But now, it's not just mud; the dirty water on her body has wet my sofa
*POV AliyahOut of Charles' room, my heart still pounding, my hands shaking slightly with fear. Thinking back to when I had aggressively asked Charles to kill me, I felt so stupid. At that time, I was too excited to say those crazy things. If he really kills me, what should I do?I am stupid! I still know how to control my emotions in all cases, but I don't understand why when I meet Charles, I become so out of control of my feelings. He is obnoxious. I can tolerate anyone, but I don't want to put up with him at all.I was about to return to the lawn to continue working, but my stomach rumbling made me depressed. I could have taken the apple, but because I was angry, I left it. God, what stupid thing did I do?After thinking for a while, I decided to go to Serena's infirmary. I need some painkillers and some food to fight this hunger.Standing outside in the hallway, I heard many murmurs in the infirmary. There may be a lot of people in the room. They are all women."Ghost! Really? Th
Building B is small and much worse than the main building: old dark walls, many small cracks, murky air, and a musty smell. As soon as I entered the lobby, I could smell the food. I immediately followed the scent to the kitchen. Opening the door at the end of the hallway, I met eyes with a large, crowded, and noisy dining room. All the enslaved people and soldiers are gathered here for dinner. Everyone is focused on eating and chatting with friends, so no one notices me. Looking around, I didn't see Ashe, but I did see Serena in the crowd. She was sitting at a table with a bunch of enslaved women. Serena seemed to notice my gaze and looked up. She immediately stood up and walked towards me. “Did you come here for dinner? Come on, sit with us.” Serena said enthusiastically. I shook my head, refusing Serena's invitation, "No, I'm here looking for Ashe; she asked me to come to the kitchen to find her." Serena's eyes widened in surprise, "You've gone wrong. Ashe was only in the kitch
"Is this Sir Charles's orders? How strange!" The man was as surprised as I was. He eyed me from top to bottom to find out what was so special about me that Charles had to ask me to serve him.Ashe glanced at me; perhaps she was wondering the same thing as the man. But when she saw my stricken state, she had just been beaten, and she said contemptuously, "It's not very attractive either; you must be the new slave, and Sir Charles wants to test you.""All right! Hurry up and wash your face. Sir Charles won't like to see you like this. If you make him unhappy, it may involve us being punished." The man worriedly said."The toilet is over here. Hurry up!" Ashe also rushed to urge me.I dragged my body to the toilet. Looking in the mirror, I saw the side of my face was red and swollen, the five-finger mark imprinted on the skin of my face. How strong that slap was to make my face look so shallow.I wash my face in cool water. Even just touching the water, I felt my face hurt. So I don't da