MBYS 05

Chapter 5

 The First Night in the Darkness (2)

As Kailus’s low warning dominated the space, the soldiers’ eyes hastily dropped to the ground.

Eveline swallowed dry spit, pulling up the collar of the loose coat covering her.

“Follow me.”

Kailus turned on his heel without waiting for an answer. In that split second, the tips of his fingers, which had gripped the empty air before limply uncurling, trembled minutely.

It was a strange, precarious gesture, as if he were trying to grasp something only to lose it, or forcibly suppressing a surge of thirst bursting from within.

‘Why is he doing that?’

Eveline narrowed her eyes. Was his pain starting again? Before her questions could multiply, Kailus, walking a few paces ahead, came to a sudden halt. He turned his head sideways to glare at her.

“What are you doing? Come on.”

At his irritated voice, Eveline gripped the trailing hem of the coat and desperately moved her feet. In the darkness, his footsteps were the only thing she could hold on to.

Behind them, the castle gate shut tight with a heavy groan.

The interior of the Grand Ducal Residence she entered following him was another kingdom cut off from the outside world.

The light pouring from the chandelier hanging high on the ceiling shone painfully cold, as if to pierce her eyes, and beneath her feet, a blood-colored carpet that seemed to hold fresh blood stretched far into the distance.

A strange, chilly silence filled the space—all the more cold for its luxury.

On both sides of the vast central hall, dozens of servants stood lined up without even the sound of a breath.

“You have arrived, Your Highness.”

At the very front of the line, a woman in a gray dress bowed low. Her ironed-grey hair swept back without a single stray strand and her wrinkled eyes fully reflected a strict nature.

‘This person must be the head maid…’

Eveline instinctively realized it. If the servants harbored awe toward Kailus, they felt actual terror toward that woman. Kailus was not the only person whose mood she needed to read.

“Grace.”

Kailus called her name nonchalantly without stopping his stride.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Grace’s gaze slid toward the unnatural existence following behind her master.

The Grand Duke, who had thoroughly abstained from women, had brought along a female of strange appearance. A look of flustered disbelief lingered in her eyes, unable to process the fact.

Yet behind that flustered state was a calculating look trying to classify and measure the object’s worth. The head maid was currently gauging Eveline’s usefulness.

Kailus, walking ahead, suddenly turned around and snatched the collar of the coat covering Eveline’s shoulders.

Eveline unwittingly hunched her shoulders.

Gasps burst out simultaneously from all around. Dozens of gazes mixing astonishment and disgust directed toward Eveline.

Standing in her shabby state, she radiated a terrible discord within the luxury of the Grand Ducal Residence.

However, the surrounding commotion was of no concern to Kailus.

He tossed the coat in his hand to a servant standing nearby, then raised his chin to point at the trembling Eveline.

“Wash her.”

“…Understood.”

Grace erased her momentary tremor, returning instantly to the expressionless face of a head maid.

“Shall I prepare a guest room? The eastern annex is currently vacant.”

“No. Next to my room.”

Grace’s expression hardened like stone at the words Kailus casually tossed out as he climbed the stairs.

“But Your Highness, that place is…”

“Since when do you talk back to my orders?”

A chillingly low voice cut off her objection.

“She must be within arm’s reach. That way, I can pull her out and use her whenever I want.”

At those words carrying explicit implications, the servants’ eyes flickered strangely.

Grace firmly shut her lips.

“…As you command.”

Without listening for an answer, Kailus disappeared up to the second floor.

Once he vanished, all gazes turned toward Eveline. She kept her head lowered, tightly clutching only the hem of her clothes.

Though her face burned with shame, she kept her ears open. Their whispers, the changes in their footsteps, the shift in the air. All of it served as indicators for the future she had to endure.

Grace approached.

“Follow me.”

The bathroom she led her to was luxurious. A spotless marble floor and a massive bathtub that could fit four adults with room to spare.

“Fill the water.”

At Grace’s order, the maids moved in perfect synchronization. Eveline could only stand there, unable to even take a deep breath.

“What are you doing? Undress.”

Biting her lip, Eveline unbuttoned her dress one by one with trembling hands.

As the worn cloth collapsed to the floor, her gaunt, emaciated naked body was exposed. Over her bone-thin form, prominent ribs and mottling bruises covering them unfolded like a cruelly drawn map.

“Oh my…”

“Why would His Highness…”

The maids’ whispering pierced her back.

Swallowing her shame, Eveline raised her arms like a doll.

Their hands held no mercy.

“Ugh.”

At the rough texture of the towel touching her bruised skin, a groan escaped Eveline.

“Stay still.”

One of the maids snapped. Eveline squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

Only after her skin was rubbed until it turned red did their hands stop.

“It is done. Put this on.”

What Grace handed her was a single thin silk chemise that was completely see-through.

“I-is there no… robe?”

“My apologies. We do not have any clothes suitable for you to wear right now.”

Grace cut her off firmly. Instead, she picked up a piece of rough linen cloth resting in a corner of the bathroom and wrapped it roughly around Eveline’s shoulders.

“Follow me.”

The moment she stepped out into the hallway, a bone-chilling coldness seeped into her wet hair. Eveline held onto the slipping linen cloth and followed behind Grace.

Passing through the corridor, climbing the stairs, and traversing a long hallway, they finally arrived in front of massive double doors. It was Kailus’s bedroom.

Grace opened the door right beside it.

“This is the place.”

The moment they entered the room, Grace mercilessly stripped away the linen cloth wrapped around Eveline.

“It is warm here.”

The gold threads of the tapestry filling the wall glinted down at her like snakes’ eyes even in the dark. The window was massive, but it was useless.

Thick velvet curtains were pulled shut without a single gap.

Occupying the center like the master of the room was a heavy bed carved from ebony. Black silk drapes surrounded the bed like a massive birdcage.

Eveline involuntarily gasped. The scent of dried rose petals and the acrid lingering smell of beeswax brushed against the tip of her nose.

Only then did the corners of Eveline’s lips twist minutely. This was no crude cage to lock up a beast. It was a suffocatingly luxurious prison created by a master at the pinnacle of possessiveness to lock away his most precious jewel.

Eveline cautiously sat on the edge of the bed. The mattress stuffed with top-grade goose feathers softly wrapped around her thin body.

Instead of the bone-chilling cold, a languid warmth seeped deep into her bones. Her tension released. As a faint sense of relief washed over her, the heavy mahogany door occupying one side of the wall caught her view.

‘Since he said it’s the room next door…’

Beyond that door must be Kailus’s bedroom.

As long as she was useful, she would not be thrown away.

“Be careful not to displease His Highness.”

Grace added in an emotionless tone before turning around. The sound of the door closing firmly spread through the empty room like ripples.

Eveline leaned precariously against the headboard.

As the tightly pulled string of tension loosened, fatigue weighed down on her entire body.

However, she could not close her eyes. It was because she had no idea when he might look for her. She pulled her knees close, curled up, and stared blankly at that door.

How much time had passed? Around the time a cool, pale blue dawn seeped through the gap in the thick curtains…

Thud.

A dry hitting sound echoed, breaking the silence.

Eveline’s shoulders stiffened. The source of the sound was the door connected to Kailus’s bedroom.

“Come in.”

The voice heard from beyond the door was low, yet carried an unyielding pressure. In an instant, Eveline’s heart began to hammer against her ribs as if it would burst through.

She stood up reflexively. Her legs trembled like an aspen tree, but there was no time to hesitate. Without even time to look in a mirror, she stood before the door wearing only the thin chemise.

Beyond this door was him. The stark reality that she had nowhere to run and no right to refuse suffocated her.

‘I am a tool.’

Eveline repeated inside her mind like a spell.

‘A tool does not tremble. A tool must always be perfectly prepared whenever its master reaches out.’

She swallowed a faintly trembling breath. As she clenched her fist tightly, her sharp fingernails dug into her fragile palm. Using that sharp pain as a support, she forcibly held onto her scattering mind.

Her fingertips touched the doorknob. As the chill of the metal touched her, goosebumps ran chillingly up her spine. Unable to even catch her breath, Eveline twisted the cold metal open.

The moment the door opened, a hand suddenly shot out from the darkness and grabbed her wrist. Before she could resist, her frail body was dragged inside the room.

Simultaneously with the sound of the door shutting behind her back, hot breath swept over the nape of her neck.

“Why did you take so long?”

In the voice growling as if biting her ear, reason was paralyzed along with a chilling heat.