I caressed his cheeks, he closed his eyes, thoroughly feeling the warmth of my soft touch.
"Eric listen to me...I plan to free you from your brainwashing!"
I thought those words will give you comfort but...
Why are you making that face?
He looked at me with eyes filled with deep emptiness, his face was expressionless...
I don't understand you...
"Are you abandoning me?"
"Huh?"
"You too...you are abandoning me too like mother, right?" He said.
A dark energy leaked from his body.
What is this aura? It's unbelievably scary...
No way...is this what the nanny was talking about...?
An half between a human and an elf. An existence that is forbidden in this world...
Such a dangerous creature!
No...Amidst it all is just a little boy...!
I reach out my hands towards him, the dark energy almost burns my hand.
I caress his cheek just like before and suddenly the aura disappears.
The life returns to his eyes. He seems to have calm down.
"Caroline...I-" before he can say anything, tears rush down his eyes.
"It's okay...you don't have to say anything" I wipe the tears from his face.
Even though this boy will grow up to kill me...I can't help but feel sorry for him. He really has no one by his side afterall. Abandoned by his mother, and sold to the slave market by his greedy father, it all must be so traumatising for a little boy like you!
"This...No way did I do this to you!!?" He looks at my burnt hand and immediately feels guilty.
"It's okay I'll ask the nanny to heal it later" I hid my hand away so that he wouldn't feel bad.
But Eric grabs my hand carefully and looks at it so preciously...
"I can't believe...I did this to you. I don't deserve to live, please punish me!" He says with tears in his eyes.
I can't deal with him. He's too much.
I take my hand away from his and sigh.
"You don't have to be punished for something as trivial as this. But remember not to loose control over yourself like earlier..." I say calmly.
"That's because...that's because you said that you'll abandon me!"
He's really like a puppy.
"Look Eric... I didn't say that I'll abandon you. I'm just going to undo your brainwashing, so that you can be free from this madness. Also if you are worried about a place to stay then don't, because I've already decided to send you to The Arguens Duchy"
"Why!?" He asks with a look of betrayal.
"What?"
"Why are you throwing me away? Are you bored of me?"
"No that's not-"
"If you are going to throw me away then just kill me! If a slave has lost its use for his master, then he's better off dead!"
I can't even look into his eyes...A young boy asking me to kill him because he has lost his use....
He talks about slave and Master so casually.
Maybe because I'm not from this world, that such things are unusual to me. Class system, inequality, owning a person, people abusing their power, killing innocent people like they are toys!
This boy is brainwashed to love me...he is brainwashed to believe that I own him and can kill him if I want to!
I feel ashamed, even though I'm a different person, I'm still in Caroline's body. I feel responsible for making him like this.
I lean down before him and touch his face with my hands.
"Listen Eric...Whatever you have been told to is a lie! You are not my slave! You are nobody's slave and you only belong to yourself! You are only like this because of brainwashing...! you don't deserve any of this! You deserves to live freely with your head held high far away from here...far way from all the things that hurt you...!"
"But I don't want to do that...I want to be yours! I want to stay with you!" He says.
That's right...birds in a cage think that flying is an illness!
"You don't think like that...you are brainwashed to think like that! Once I get rid of your brainwashing you wouldn't hesitate to..."
"Is that what you think?"
I bite my lips. Even though I try to be calm, the truth is death scares me. Eric scares me!
I have to get away from him! I have to push him away as far as possible! That's right this is the best for us. If we stay together it will only hurt the both of us!
"Yeah, that's what I think. I'll give you a new life in a different empire! Study, work hard and do all the things that you want to! But you are not allowed to come back to this empire or get near me!"
"Is this your way of torturing me?"
I'm literally just trying to save myself from you!
I breathe out a sigh and reply, "I'm not. You say this because of your brainwashing..."
A smirk takes over his face.
"What?"
"Hah! You really think that I'll forget everything after the brainwashing is undone?"
"Obviously. The nanny said that whoever gets their brainwashing undone will loose all their memories completely. You are just 13, if we begin the process now, you will completely forget everything by the time you become an adult! And that's what I want. I want you to forget me and live a happy life far away from here!"
Actually I just don't want to die. I can't tell him that I have already read the novel and I know he will kill me in the end.
"And what if that doesn't happen? What if I don't forget you? What if I still love you even after you undo the brainwashing?" He asks so confidently.
"That won't happen." I reply.
"Want to make a bet?"
"What?" I don't understand what he's trying to pull...
"If I don't forget you after the brainwashing is undone, as you say... Then you have to stay by my side forever!" He said with eyes filled with confidence.
Stay by your side forever? My heart drops at those words. Staying by the side of person who is destined to kill me??
No calm down... Everything is okay. I'll surely make this plan works!
"Okay done. But remember you are not allowed to enter this empire in the next 7 years and promise me that you will take care of the Duchess and protect her from her brother in laws who try to seize her property! Become so successful that they can't dare to touch you!" I said.
By 7 years he will easily forget me and become a completely different person then I'll be able to live my life peacefully over here away from him!
In the novel the Duchess of Arguens was a very kind woman who was constantly attacked by her greedy in laws for her property. The poor widow Duchess who had no son or husband to protect her was always vulnerable. She survived so long only because she had the Vorsacks protection. Caroline treated the Duchess as her own mother and sent Eric to protect her. He saved her once from an attack and that made her very impressed,so she adopted him as her son. And after that the duchy doubled in wealth under his leadership. Eric was said to be a very capable man who had become a powerful leader at a very young age. But he had no interest in power, if not for his devotion for Caroline he wouldn't even care about anything.
"Okay, I'll do as you say. But remember your promise Carrie!" He smiled.
"Yeah...I gotta go now. I have to discuss with father about undoing your brainwashing." I said.
I turn around and walk towards the exit. I don't know why but I felt a feeling that something was going to go wrong. I assured myself that everything is going to be alright but a small part of me keeps on doubting.
"Its all useless. I'll always be yours, my beloved." he laughs
I start walking faster.
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