"Mother, you look so beautiful when you dance! You twirl, you move from there to here, you even sing! Is there anything you can't do already?" little Luke asked her. She smiles and pats the blond-haired boy, "yes, there is one" she says. "it's the art of flowers dancing: love and protection" Little Luke tilts his head. "love and protection? How is that different from your dancing?" she chuckles. "well..."
"That dance can save you from any harm, which makes it impossible to be attacked"
...
I opened my eyes and noticed that I was on the bed, already. I didn't even remember going to sleep so how am I in bed already? I get up, "Ow...my back..." Have I turned old already? But I'm 18 in this world, right? I then go to the desk. Nothing is missing, did I just fall asleep and someone carried me to the bed? Just as I was about to open the door someone began to knock on the door.
"come in," I say and the door opens revealing a maid who seems to be in her late 30s, she has brown hair and wears a different set of clothes compared to the other maids I've seen so far. She bowed down. "Young master Luke, the duke has ordered you to go to the main hall in 10 minutes. Please get ready soon" I nodded "Very well, you are free to go now. I shall go there soon"
After she walked away, I sighed and closed the door. "... It's time..." I took a deep breath... these past few days I have been feeling nervous. I feel like I'm forgetting one thing I shouldn't, but... I can't remember it. Something... Something about meeting myself...
I shook my head and began to change my clothes...
...
"This way," the maid says as she guides me to the main hall... I am very nervous not just because I don't remember the scene, but the main hall is not just a normal hall no, no, no. She stops and opens the door for me, the main hall is the place for the 'True Ordane' and the Duke, oh ... It's also the place for...
Execution
Each child who fails the test is killed here. I stepped in and was met with a grand throne sitting on top of the stage. My heart beats fast and I can't help but feel so small, especially when each of the siblings of the Ordane is here. Deon, Leon, Anna, Kyle, and Vincent are here. And all of them are sitting on their respective seats
I noticed there are more kids too and chances are they were the 8th, 9th, and 10th possibly more than the 12th, kids of the Ordane are here. Not only that, the hall has two sections that separate the kids and the other six, which I assumed is also the section where I needed to be. As I walked in all eyes began to look at me
However, I had enough time to learn how to control my face and keep calm as I continued my footsteps. On the seat of the throne there lies the Father of the Ordane. The Duke. Erick Von Ordane. And here's a fun fact: his name means Eternal Ruler. But in the original, he was killed by Deon, now that is not so eternal Ruler is it? Okay, that wasn't funny forget it.
I lower my gaze and dare not raise my head and look at him. 'not yet,' I say to myself in my heart. The duke hasn't told me to raise my head yet. "Luke" my body flinched a little. "Raised your head" I began to do so and was mesmerized... The way he sits with absolute power shows how strong he is and yet, there is a certain charm in the way he looks at me that weirdly enough, makes him look quite gentle.
"Do you know why you were called today?" He asked, "No duke, I do not know why..." I replied. "Today is your birthday," he said if only he wasn't the duke. I would have thought he would give me a gift, but... This is the duke we are talking about... And I have a good reason to be suspicious. Luke's mother, was killed on his birthday, and Luke was killed on his birthday as well. The fact that I am at the main hall where the kids who failed the test were killed means one thing. Did I fail the test? That is what my heart is asking now.
But I was not given any test, my time at the Ordane so far has mostly consisted of three things. 1: running away from my siblings, 2: reading books and gardening, and lastly 3: keeping myself together so that I won't turn completely insane after all the crazy stuff in here.
"Luke" hearing my name being called makes me stop thinking and come back to my senses. "Yes?" I replied, "You are not focusing on me" I gulped. "Yes, Duke... I'm sorry for my rude behavior" he only looked at me and then sighed. Oh oh... Am I in trouble? Without me knowing it Leon smiled in amusement while Vincent and Anna watched in silence.
The Duke stands up.
"Last week, Deon captured a rare prey and wished to give it to you as a gift for your birthday"
My eyes widen- "A... Rare prey? For me?" The Duke nodded. I turn around and look at Deon. He looks at me back, "Therefore, you are free to enjoy your new slave today Luke" he says and right after that, the guards begin to push the cart and take off the big fabric that was hiding the cart... A cage? The guards begin to unlock the cage and force the slaves out. "!?" Everyone including me gasp. How can I not!?
It's...! It's a prince!? Not just that! The prince from the Archangel family!?- "What a beautiful prey he is!" One of the kids says, "Aww I wanna have a beautiful slave as well!" The girl said as she clapped her hands. Ah...of course, I finally have remembered this one, in the novel Deon was able to capture one of the princes from the Archangel family and later present it to the Duke.
However, what baffled me the most was why he gave it to me. In the original, he gave it to the Duke himself, but now it was me whom he chose to gift this prince to!? The 'slave' was pushed to the ground as the guard forced him out. "Urgh!" He groans, his body is full of bruises and scars. Blood dripped out of his wound. Oh shoot, if my memory serves me right, he is Cassian-! Well, his other name would be Andrius.
In the original story, he was captured and was later tortured to the point after his nephew, Aria Archangel finds him, he is described as...
'badly disfigured to the point of no confirmation if that's him or someone else's'
But Aria was sure that the dead body was Cassian's body and after that, the war between The Ordane and The Archangel broke out which caused millions of deaths, this also led to betrayal as Aria's Brother framed Aria for treason, and later caused her to be isolated and she later killed herself. The female lead isn't safe either, during that time, she was captured and well she was tortured as well for her ability to read someone's mind. She was captured by the Ordane, but I supposed that part plays a bigger role since that was the time when Deon and her 'fall in love' although it's just her. Deon was revealed to be using her at the end.
I went to Cassian and took his hands. So big and so strong! But as for now he is in a fragile and vulnerable state, he doesn't have the strength to fight against anyone except for me. I'm the easy target after all. I look at the guards, "Stop it! You'll kill him!" I yell! The guards look at me and stop hitting his back, "It's fine," I look at Cassian, his golden eyes meeting mine. "I'll heal you," I say as I close my eyes. But just right before I could start to heal him, my shoulder was grabbed and in the blink of an eye, I was carried like a Loli in a slice-of-life anime!?
"Wha-"
A blade was thrown at us!? I immediately cover my head!!! "Ah!!" Cassian begins to dodge the blade while still carrying me! Is he using me as a meat shield!? "Uh! Please let me go! I just want to heal you!" I yell he ignores me as he continues to dodge the blade that was thrown at him and me! I sighed! Of course, he will, no one wants to listen to me. "Master!" I see Ansel running towards us and charged with a blade in his hand! "Ah wait-!" *Klang!!!!* The sound of a blade hitting another blade can be heard! I cover my ear! That was too *Klang!!!* ...
I open my eyes...huh? Ansel is hitting... Deon's blade? But... "Stop," he says but Ansel continues to try to go past him and attack Cassian. "STOP!" I yell and right after that Ansel stops his attack and looks at me. Deon turned around. Cassian grips me tighter than before now. "Let go of him" Cassian only looks at Deon without saying or doing anything. "I say let go of him" Deon repeated. But Cassian did not do anything. I tug on Cassian clothes. He lowers his gaze on me ... "Please let me go, I just want to heal you, if you ignore him you'll be tortured!" I say in a pleading tone.
"Ah-" he let me go and I fell to the ground! "Ow..." I clean off the dust from my clothes... "Master!" Ansel yells as he runs to me and he begins to growl at Cassian. What are you? A dog? "Ansel it's fine," I say as I stand up. The guards begin to go to him and just right before they can lock him out Cassian immediately kicks them away, before anything he grabs another guard, and oh no- that...! He'll crush their skull!
"NO!!!" I yelled as I grabbed Cassian's arm. "Don't kill them!" I yell again, Cassian looks at me. "Please don't kill them!" Perhaps it had been 2 or 3 minutes of silence but for me, it felt like an eternity, he then let go of the poor guard that was grabbed by him, the guard fell and I immediately tended to his wound. As I healed the guard Deon walked past us and began to attack Cassian,
*Pak*
The sound of a clap was heard across the main hall. All of us turn to Duke. "Enough," he says. And in the blink of an eye, Cassian was on the ground. Wha- I didn't even see him getting hit or anything! Straight up getting K.O. by the Duke! After that another guard shows up and begins to put the collar on the barely conscious Cassian, Deon then pulls Cassian and walks to me ... The guard that I tend to have been healed and he then thanked me and went away... I stand up...
"Happy Birthday, Luke"
Never in the million years have I ever thought or even imagined Deon saying happy birthday to me. He then takes my hand and puts the chain on my palm. "Why...?" I asked him quietly. He grabs my shoulder and whispers in my ear...
"Enjoy your new friend don't forget to feed him"
After that, he walked past me. I feel my neck being sliced by something... as the blood drips from my neck, The smell of blood fills the room and all I can say is... What the fuck. Before I knew it Cassian grabbed my ankle... My face turns pale... the wound on my neck is not that big, it's just long. Deon just slice me with a needle or what...?
"Brother!"
I heard Kyle yell in the distance but I don't care... My body gives up. I fell unconscious...
*Thud!*
God, I hate Deon so much...
...
I opened my eyes and I noticed that I was on the bed. "Is it a dream...?" I mumbled to myself, "No, it's not a dream" I turned beside me and Vincent!? "Ah!?" I cover myself with the blanket! What is he doing here!? "Seriously? Stop screaming, I'm sick of hearing it" he says as he puts down the collar.
"You got two slaves now, did you have fun with your new friends?" He asked, I shook my head! Why would I be fun with new slaves!? He chuckled " I guess we need to tell Deon to bring you more slaves" I immediately yelled no! He turns to me, "Ah- um ... Well no need! I don't need more slaves!" Please just leave me alone! I cried in my heart!
"Anyway, just go and rest, get healthy fast" My eyes widen a little... Did he wish for me to get better? ... "Just so others can play with me again..." I say it... Oops!? Did I just say my thoughts out loud!? Well, it's probably true no!? Vincent stares at me, "uh..." He stood up and walked out. "Uh t-thank you- ngh!" The door was slammed. "Vincent ..." I sighed...
Beside me... There was a key and a collar, I took them, it was time for me to meet the prince and hopefully, there wouldn't be any fight,
...
I walked to the guards and one of them asked me for what reason I was there. I told them why, and after that, they let me get in. As I walked down in the dungeon I saw a lot of slaves and of course a sight of a dead body. They're not real in my world but it's still sickening... The amount of blood that was splashed on the wall and the smell of a rotten dead body was more than enough to make me feel dizzy, if I didn't hurry up I might just faint once again...
I run as fast as I can to search for the dungeon where they keep the prince, I stop for a second and go inside the room I can go in! I immediately tried to find a bucket, and the moment I saw it I immediately began to vomit... "Urgh!!!" I groan in pain, the smell of the blood and the gore sight of the dead body disgust me, I am a doctor but I'm not a surgeon, I just know about medicine and all... Holy freak... I vomit once again... "Urgh... Ahh...!!!"
... "Hah...hah..." I breathe heavily as I take out the handkerchief from my pocket and wipe my mouth... "Finish?" I turn around and see- Anna!? What is she doing down here!? "Lady Anna-" _ "Pathetic" she cut me off,
Anna: "Vomit just at the sight and the smell of a dead body? How pathetic"
Luke: "My apologies, but I can't control it"
Anna: "Of course you can't, you can't even kill someone can you?"
Luke: "..."
Anna: "What are you doing down here? Oh, it's for that new slave of yours aren't you?"
Luke: "Y-yes..."
Anna: "Go straight down, once you've reached the last floor, you'll turn to the left and then walk straight to the end"
Luke: "T-thank you very much!"
As I opened the door and prepared to go, she grabbed my shoulder. I turn to see her. "Make sure you scream if he does something, you probably can't sense it since it's you, but that guy is as strong as Deon," she says. "Lady Anna..." ... I sighed "It's fine... Since.."
"I'm sure that you or someone else will save me, after all, I'm the best punching bag for everyone haha..." She stared at me, "Lady Anna?" She then sighed and walked past me. Weird... No more insults? She turned back "You're right, don't die, otherwise, I'll be bored" and after that, she walked away.
I headed straight down and went to the left, after that I needed to walk till the last one... Oh, I take out the key from my pocket and unlock the door. After that, I walk in gripping the collar tightly, now that I'm inside... I slowly closed the door. "Huh..."
Cassian is now floating and he is sleeping, I think I know this... According to the novel he was tortured both physically and mentally as the Ordane Family put him into an illusion room and forced him to relieve his trauma again and again till one day he just snaps and tries to kill the Duke the moment the collar is taken away.
Unfortunately for the Ordane, Even till his last breath Cassian never leaks any of the Archangel Family secrets. He groans ... He must be dreaming about his trauma, I walk to him and gently put my hand behind his head while using the other one and putting it on Cassian's chest. As the white-haired man groans even more I begin to gently caress his chest and his hair.
"It's fine, it's just an illusion, this is not real, it's fine," I say the same things over and over. "It's fine Cassian, it's not real" and soon enough the sound of him moaning stops. "It's fine, it's fine you are safe... For now with me" I opened my eyes to see him and my body flinched- he was looking at me. His golden eyes meet mine... "..." Words died in my throat, "what's wrong?" He asked... "Are you finally out of words on what to say?" I shake my head. "I'm just... Stunned when you suddenly look at me"
"I have been opening my eyes ever since I felt someone touching my chest and my head, you just closed your eyes while keeping repeating "it's fine, it's okay" lines"
My cheeks turn red... "My apologies... I thought you were in pain so I figured that it'd be the best action to comfort you" I look down "I didn't know that you were conscious during that moment" he shook his head slowly, "It's fine, I was in pain, and... Strangely, when you "comfort" me, it doesn't hurt as much as it was before," I chuckled "so I manage to help, i'm happy"
"..." I looked away for a second, and after that, I turned back to him. "I cannot free you from this place and neither can I give you any information on the Ordane Family, not just because I'm... Loyal to them, it is also because I am the weakest and most useless out of my siblings," I took a breath. "Therefore threatening me and using me as a hostage is completely useless, especially when I die, they'll probably just feed my dead body to their pets"
"..." He didn't reply, "hello? Are you there?" He opens his eyes once again, "then... What do you want to do with me?" He asked, "Nothing, but I suppose letting you stay in this room will cause you nothing but pure torture" he nodded "Then... Will you be willing to help me take care of my garden?"
"Garden?"
"Yes, garden, I have a personal garden that I have been taking care of, though you and anyone else cannot go into it, won't it be better for you to help me take care of it?" "I can't promise it'll be fun but I can promise that it'll be much nicer than staying in this dark room" - "Have you eaten? I didn't bring any food sadly, but I can bring you food if you go to my room"
Cassian: "Okay, I'll follow you"
Luke: "Thank you for being cooperative"
Cassian: "mmh"
Now how do I take him away? I don't know about this magic at all... "Mmh... Let's see does it just pull you away?" I grabbed his hand and began to pull him, "N-nigh!" He is so heavy! The black mist on his body begins to disappear. After that, he fell to the ground as there was no longer anything to support him floating now. "Whoa-!" *Thud* "ahhh!!!! I'm so sorry!!!" I get on the ground! "Are you okay!?" He looks at me with one of the deadliest stares ever ... "Seriously?" He asked. "I-I didn't mean to! I swear!!!"
"A-anyway, you need to wear this collar then we can go" Before I could put the collar on him, he took the collar and wore it himself. "I'm sorry..." Is he seriously hurt by that fall? I'm sure I will, but for someone as strong if not even more stronger than Deon, that fall should be little to no damage at all! But then again I didn't consider his feelings...
...
"So... He will be with me from now on?" Ansel asked, I nodded. "Yes, so let's get along okay?" He turns to Cassian and glares at him, Cassian on the other hand pays no mind to Ansel.
As they both worked together at planting the flowers and putting them in the basket, I asked the guard to help me, one of the guards immediately ran to me and bowed his head down, I knew who he was, he was the guard that I saved from being killed by Cassian. I just nodded my head as he thanked me once again, the main reason why I saved him was not just to make more people like me and stay loyal to me, but it was also because the sight of a dead body sick me to the core.
I've seen a dead body before, sure. But that doesn't mean I like to see them, I know for a fact that I'm putting myself at unnecessary risk of being killed, but at some point... I also had to take the risk, after all, I'm the second male lead and my true fate is to be killed by Deon, if anything else, I should be worried about that.
That being said, I feel quite guilty for pretending to be like this. perhaps this is a sign of me changing? I'm not sure if this is for good... Or worse.
...
As I spent my time writing in my diary, I heard a knock I then closed the diary and put it back where it belonged, "come in" I said, the door opened and I saw Charles with Cassian. "He has requested a meeting with you Young Master," Charles said as he gripped the chain tightly. Understandably so, Cassian is a very strong man, not securing the chains and ignoring his obvious strength would be foolish.
"Very well, Cassian, please sit on the sofas. As for you Charles," I walked to them, and after that, I took the chain and gently pulled it. I then turned back to Charles. "Charles, can you please bring me tea and some sweets? Oh, please bring my usual snacks too. I hope It isn't too much for you" he nodded. "No, it's fine young master, I will bring it right away" I smile "Thank you, Charles!" He nodded once again and walked away. I then closed the door
I was sitting on the sofa while Cassian remained silent. "Well... What do you want to discuss with me?" He gripped his hand, "are you kind?" He said, "What do you mean?"
Cassian: "Are you pretending to be kind or are you
Just that way?"
Luke: "It depends on what you want to believe in"
Cassian: "What do you mean by that?"
Luke: "Well, will you believe me if I say I'm a good
Person?"
Cassian: "Probably not"
Luke: "You are free to decide whether or not to
believe in me, but at least hear me first"
Cassian: "I see, then let me ask you again,"
Cassian: "Are you pretending to be kind or are you
just that way?"
Luke: "I'm a good person, as good as what an
Ordane could probably be"
Cassian: "I see"
... As time went on we talked to each other and after a minute or so, Charles came with the tea and sweets to which I spent my time with Cassian as we both enjoyed the dessert.
"I'll cut to the short, Luke, I want you to help me to escape"
"I told you, I can't help you escape, I don't have the power, and neither do I have the brains that are smart enough to help you escape the mansion and its forest and its maze"
"There must be a way for you to help me"
"... Well I do, but it's not as great as you think"
"I'll take anything at this point"
"Then... Even if it's just as little as my survival chance?"
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind that I'll try to help you, but..."
I stand up
"I'll help you, for a price"