Chapter 16: Struggling Hard

With a fretful expression, Noah slowly followed the old woman to the servant's quarter which was located in a separate section, far away from the main castle. But it didn't put him at ease. That place also had royal guards, fixing their hawk-like gazes on the servants who were performing the duties assigned to them.

Noah observed that were countless people, both men, and women of every age doing their own work. But one thing was similar in all, everyone had fretful looks engraved on their faces and were trying their best to avoid eye contact with the guards. They all seemed somewhat scared but watching the fearful ambiance, Noah grew badly panicked inside.

Clenching the fruit basket in his arms, he walked obediently behind the old woman heading inside. He noticed a few men were chopping vegetables and some others were chopping firewood. Just having a glance at those huge axes, cold sweat ran down his spine and he tried his best to avoid looking at those objects.

"Who are you? I never saw you before?"

A young man, around his age with an arrogant, cold expression on his face, came walking towards them and asked him in a hoarse tone. At his remark, almost everyone there peeked a curious glance at Noah as he was the anonymous one among them.

Watching him grow nervous, the old woman coughed a little before she declaimed in a heavy voice, "Mark, he will be one of us starting today. This boy is newly recruited here."

That man didn't seem much convinced with her answer and scanned Noah from head to toe with a cryptic gaze. He walked another step closer and inquired again, "So you are a novice? In whose place you got recruited here?"

"In whose place?" His words sounded confusing as Noah repeated them after him.

"Huh?" The man crossed his arms before his chest and frowned his brows with a skeptical look at him. "Usually someone gets recruited here in exchange for a servant executed here before. So, in whose place you are recruited?" He explained.

"W-What?" Holding a baffled and scared gaze in his eyes, Noah almost choked his breath for a second. He couldn't help but fretted about the absurd rule of dying someone first for the new one to get appointed.

It led him to wonder about what kind of crazy shit has been going on in this place!?

The old woman carefully observed his expression going pale in fear. She exhaled a heavy sigh and answered that guy, "Mark, can't you see this boy is nervous around us? It's his first day here, stop making him fretful. You can save your questions for later."

"Madam, why are you defending this newbie so much?" The guy shoveled his cryptic stare towards her and sounded a bit hoarse.

But without a flinch, the woman put on a grumpy face and scoffed back at him, "You dare to ask me questions? Have you forgotten I am a senior among the royal servants?" Her grumble sounded a bit intense, which made everyone wince there.

"No...I...didn't mean that, madam." The young guy lowered his tone and tried to explain himself politely. "I was just curious about this new guy and---"

"Stop your questionnaires and everyone, get back to work." Cutting off his remark, she scowled at him and declared in a bold tone, heading inside the quarter first.

As she left, baffled at the uncomfortable situation he was stuck in, Noah peered a glance at the young guy and found him scowling at the old woman from behind while she was leaving. He had a scornful glare in his rolled eyes towards her.

"Tsk...that old hag always scolds me for nothing," he mumbled with a long sigh and shoveled his gaze back on Noah. Frowning his brows, he sounded hoarse, "Hey newbie, what's your name?"

Noah flinched a little at his question as the scornful look in his eyes was making him uncomfortable. He fiddled his fingers, thinking about which name he could use for himself since he was tangled between two separate identities!

"S-Sheoran..." After some hesitant thoughts, he answered timidly, since it seemed to be the right choice for him.

"Hmm, your name is pretty unique. And you look around of my age. I am Mark, and hopefully, we will get along." A vague smirk sliced on his lips as the guy tapped his shoulder once while greeting him.

Before Noah could answer, the guy asserted further, "Since you are new here, I will assign your duties. Go and cut all the fruits that you have brought along." He pointed his finger at a small, wooden platform near them, similar to the ones where the other servants were chopping other stuff.

But a sight froze him, and it triggered the cold sweats to run down his spine.

On that wooden platform, he saw a huge, sharp-edged chopping knife, which was approximately two times larger than the normal ones he had seen. Just the sight of that knife froze him in fear, let alone chopping fruits with it was beyond his imagination.

"W-With that knife?" His finger trembled a little as he pointed towards the knife, and gulped.

"Huh? Then do you plan to chop fruits with your teeth?" Mocking at his clumsy response, Mark threw an arrogant smirk at him and waved his arm. "Go now, don't waste my time. We gotta send these chopped fruits and vegetables to the royal kitchen before noon."

As soon as he walked away from him, Noah frightfully headed towards the platform, wiping the drops of sweat that formed on his forehead. His body shivered again at the sight of that knife, making him remind that he had also a silver dagger hidden deep inside his clothes, which he had forgotten for a moment.

'Fuck, my phobia will definitely get me killed here someday...How am I supposed to chop fruits when I never used a knife in my life?' He pondered, fidgeting his fingers while looking around at others who were concentrated on their own works.

He exhaled another sigh and continued wondering, 'Damn, if only Kirin was here...he would have definitely done something to take me out of this trouble.

But, no, I need to calm down. Panicking here will only get me killed sooner. I must not rise anyone's suspicion here. That's right, it's just for one night. Tomorrow I will be away from his hell...and I will run somewhere far, never to come back again.'

Gulping his saliva, he clenched the metal grip of the knife with his trembling right palm before he wiped off the sweat from his forehead. He tried to place the knife over an apple but his hands were already sweaty and badly shaking. Yet still, he continued consoling his intimidated self.

'I can do this! Just...look somewhere else and cut the apple. That's all! I have to endure...it's just for today...and tomorrow I will be free---'

CHOP!

"AAOUCHH!"

Just what exactly he had feared happened as his grip on the knife slipped with the cold sweat, making a big cut on his index finger. Blood oozed out of his finger as he dropped the knife from his hand and quivered in pain aloud. At his groan, almost everyone there peeked a skeptical gaze as it was a rare sight for them to watch someone struggling with a knife.

'Fuck, it's hurting so much!" Clenching his finger tight, Noah winced in pain as he noticed it was a big cut on his finger. The blood flow wasn't stopping any sooner but he panicked more when he heard giant footsteps approaching towards him.

"Hey," a thick, hoarse masculine voice called him aloud, making him flinch.

Noah lifted up his face and noticed it was a royal guard who had approached him, with a very stern look on his face. His heart thumped like crazy in dread, as chills ran down his spine. He wadded his pupils round and pondered inside, 'Fuck, did I make them suspicious? Did I get exposed?'

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