Chapter 16

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to thank someone you hated. Where you were actually glad to see them and then wanted to smack yourself at the very thought.

Well let me just say, it wasn't pleasant.

When I had braced myself for a hard landing, knowing that I may never be able to walk the same after this short lived fantasy, what greeted me wasn't the floor…

My body tumbled onto a soft coat, arms circled around me as my legs wrapped tightly around… a waist?

My eyes shot open to stare at a fine quality shirt and with a gulp, my eyes raised to stare up into jewelled red eyes that stared down at me surprise.

I wanted to kill myself there and then.

Here was I, I Isabelle, a slave in the Goldiar Dukedom, with my body clinging onto the very Duke of Goldiar. Someone I despised dearly.

I moved away, trying to get on the ground, but his arms don't move. Those jewelled eyes just stared down at me. Gaze mixing from surprise to something that made my heart tremble.

"M-My duke"- I began to stutter, feeling my face flushing deeply.

"Cain!", Angela shouted as she ran down the stairs with a relived face, "oh- oh thank you catching Isabelle. That was so silly of us to do. You saved her life!" She spoke through gasps, but she managed to convey the depth of her gratitude.

The duke grunted as he finally let me down. His face unreadable as he didn't move his gaze off me.

"What exactly were you doing?" He asked sharply, causing me to flinch.

"Uh- well… " I looked at Angela for help, but she was preoccupied with explaining the situation to her fiancé.

"You are a slave of the Goldiar Dukedom!" His voice was so loud that everyone in the room became quiet. His face conveyed a rage I hadn't seen before. It wasn't sadistic. It was just… anger. "You're body does not belong to you. It belongs to me! When you hurt yourself, you hurt what is mine and that will lead to a punishment even you would leave traumatised".

The 'even you' stuck with me. Did he think I wasn't traumatised from all the abuse so far? Did he think I had any mental stability left for him to break?

I wanted to scoff.

How could I forget that I wasn't a slave? How could I forget that I'll always be stuck with this monster?

But I hated to admit that I had forgotten. For a moment I saw freedom… and it was beautiful, but it wasn't mine and it would never be mine.

I lowered my head at the duke.

"Please forgive me, Duke. I had lost my mind for a moment. Punish me as you see fit", I stared at my feet, feeling the rage radiate off him.

"Cain. It was my fault as well. Please don't hurt Bell"-

"We'll schedule dinner for another time. It seems I must teach my slave who her master is", he grabbed my arm and dragged me outside.

I didn't want to admit it. But I was scared of him.

He was never this angry. He usually didn't scare and just enjoyed watching me squirm, but now he seemed furious.

The emblem of the Goldiar dukedom, that was burned into the nape of my neck felt hot at the possible terrors to come.

His carriage waited outside the pathway and although a slave would usually never step foot into a nobles carriage, I was pulled into it regardless.

"Master, I shouldn't be"- my words silenced with a glare from him and I noticed something I hadn't noticed earlier. He didn't feel like a boy right now, he felt like a man.

He sat opposite me and glared at me profusely. The carriage didn't move and it seems like he had no plans on allowing it.

I stared at the cushioned seat I had been forced on. I might've noticed the softness had this been an entirely different situation.

"Do you envy it?"

I jumped at the sound of his voice before I could process his words.

Envy it?

Envy what?

And then it clicked.

Oh…. He thinks I envy Angela…

"Of course not! No! More than that! Thank you so much!" When I recalled the feelings that rushed through me earlier when I saw the house -the farm! I couldn't help the swell of gratefulness that erupted in my chest. For a moment I didn't hate him at all.

"You're… thanking me?" He spoke rather… unsurely. As if he hadn't expected this.

Although, I would never taste that glorious freedom from earlier, Angela will and so will her children. They won't have to worry about slaving away and searching for scraps to eat. They won't struggle like us.

"Yes!", I felt strange tears in my eyes and a smile I couldn't wipe off my face. Kind of like the one I had when I was with Justin. "I think it's quite fair to say that my life or body will never be nearly as valuable as what you've given Angela and I. And even though this situation of mine is quite… unexpected. I don't think it'll be too bad if I know I'll have little nieces and nephews".

At the very least, I knew that mother would be very proud.

The Young master turned away from me, face looking out of the window and when I looked up to meet his gaze, which avoided me, I noticed his ear lopes were kind of… red. His expressions seemed conflicted… as if he was going through some extreme mental turmoil.

"Are you okay?" I asked thoughtlessly.

"Yes. I am". He still didn't look at me and his tone was sharp, "don't forget what I said. And don't… don't feel too much gratitude… otherwise I might end up hating myself for what's to come".

Usually, I'd stay silent after all this, but today I seemed daring. I "felt" daring.

I knew I would spent eternity with this man, this monstrous man. Who was in reality just a little boy.

"What is to come?"

He finally turned to me, gaze staring at me with that familiar cruelness returning. He tilted his head, resting it on his palm as he leaned towards me.

"Would you truly like to know?" His tone warned me, but I pressed.

"I would "truly" like to know".

"Your punishment, of course", he smiled, eyes twinkling as if he expected me to know what that meant.

I didn't understand.

"My punishment? But, what have I done?", I wish I could've just swallowed those words.

His eyes gleamed, the sun causing them to look dangerously sultry beneath those lashes.

"You tried to leave me", now he no longer sat. He towered over me. His knee between my legs as his arm rested above me.

My body froze as he stared down at me like a lion. With a hungry gaze.

And there was no escape.