Chapter 6
Yuta's POV
Yuta knew his aunt and Riko were still furious with him, but what terrified him most was their silence. After that explosive day when Sura had called off the engagement, both women had retreated into an ominous quiet that felt more dangerous than their screaming rage.
Little did Yuta know that their silence was the calm before the storm.
He was reading a storybook to his youngest cousin Kira when Aunt Ursula stormed in, her face set in hard lines. She held one of her expensive necklaces in her clenched fist.
"Here," she said, thrusting the jewelry at him. "Take this to the goldsmith. I need it repaired by tomorrow."
Yuta glanced toward the window, where darkness had already swallowed the village. All the shops would be closed by now, locked tight against the night, but he didn't dare voice this observation, not when Ursula's eyes glittered with barely contained malice looking as though she was looking for a reason to punish him.
He took the necklace from his aunt and turned back to Kira. "I'll finish your story another time," he said in a low tone.
"That's if you ever get the chance," Ursula muttered as he walked past her.
What did his aunt mean? he thought inwardly. Maybe she would make him so busy that he wouldn't get the chance to do so, he concluded.
As he reached the door, Riko came out and said, "I don't want to ever see your ugly face again," she snarled.
Again leaving Yuta to wonder what she meant, a bad feeling was building up from the pit of his stomach and he tried to brush it off.
Riko had always been jealous of Yuta from the first day he came to live with them. Even though he was male, his beauty outshone hers in ways that made her stomach burn with envy. His fine white hair caught light like spun moonbeams, and his pale lashes framed eyes so ethereally beautiful that people often stopped to stare. He had this air of innocence around him which made most people like him once they saw him, and it didn't help matters when even Sura had called off their engagement all because of Yuta. As Yuta left, Riko looked on hatefully, hoping never to see his face ever again.
The night was cold, dark and moonless. Yuta walked around but found no shop opened, just as he knew it would be. As he proceeded to return home, the aura of the surrounding air changed and he felt someone's presence following him.
His heart started beating faster and faster as he increased his pace at the same time praying silently. He turned around when the footsteps suddenly got louder, only to be hit with something hard on his head. Muffled voices was all he heard before the world turned black.
-----
He woke up with a pounding headache. He tried to move but couldn't. In panic his eyes flew open—he couldn't recognize where he was. The room was near pitch black. He jerked when he heard someone sobbing near where he was on the ground.
"Keep quiet, you'll get all of us punished," another voice snapped.
Where was he?
He only remembered going out last night to look for a goldsmith when he was suddenly attacked…
The door was forcefully pushed open, causing all the thoughts in his head to cease. Suddenly bright light filled the room, blinding him for a moment.
"GET UP, ALL OF YOU! NOW!" a woman's sharp voice commanded.
As his vision cleared, Yuta's blood ran cold. The woman was short and cruel-looking, but it wasn't her appearance that made his heart race with terror. It was the wrongness in the air itself, the way reality seemed slightly warped at the edges. The guards flanking her had skin that bore telltale signs he'd only heard about in the darkest fairy tales—scales along their necks, eyes that reflected light like a predator's.
These weren't humans. He could feel it in his bones, in the way his very soul recoiled from their presence.
Demons. The creatures from his most terrifying stories were real, and he was trapped in their realm.
The woman stood with both hands on her waist as she stared at the new slaves with cold amusement . "You must be wondering where you are. To cut it short, you are now slaves in Lord Elrien's castle, so I suggest you erase all thoughts of your former lives now." She said this with a look that showed she didn't care less what the slaves thought.
Yuta looked around in confusion to see that there were at least twenty others in the room, including young boys and girls and some elderly. Some were sobbing quietly, while others wailed loudly, and still others just sat there expressionless.
"YOU ARE NOW IN THE PALACE TO SERVE. ANYONE WHO TRIES TO ESCAPE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH!" she said, and two guards emerged forward with their swords pointed, as if proving her point to them.
Yuta was held in a shocked state. How was he in a demon lord's palace? Of course he had heard stories of such places from childhood—tales told in whispers about realms where nightmares walked on two legs and cruelty was an art form.
He wanted to tell the woman that he was no slave, that he had a family and that he wanted to go home. He opened his mouth when someone close to him pinched his arm in warning.
He turned to see a beautiful girl about his age shaking her head slowly, as if telling him not to say a word.
"I am your supervisor. You can call me Lady Osbourn. Now you all should come with me—I will assign your chores to you," the woman in charge continued.
"I'm not a slave!" a brave boy dared speak out. "I'm going home!!" He dashed towards the door, only for the two guards to grab hold of him.
"Teach him how to obey," Lady Osbourn said coldly. "He should be made an example for the rest of these slaves," she added, casting a disgusted look on the prisoners.
"Yes, my Lady," the guards said as they dragged the "brave" boy away.
His screams echoed from the corridor, and Yuta felt something die inside his chest. This was real. This nightmare was actually happening, and he was left to wonder how he could have gotten into such a mess. More terrifying still was the growing realization that the creatures from his stories—the demons he'd thought were just figments of imagination—were not only real but now held his life in their hands.