Gamble

Grace's eyes squinted as her ears caught the noise of soft clatter. She turned her body over to the side, inching herself into the very end of the wall, no. What happened last night, didn't happened. It was a dream. A crazy dream. Dreams can be a little crazy, right? Not that she can remember any of her dreams but that's why they're called dreams. Yeah, just ignore the clatter, sounds of metal scraping against metal, and subtle rustling noises, then a loud clang, a boom there, a knock, footsteps, tap dance, ringing. Yeah no, no matter how loud, no matter annoying no matter—

The sounds so loud are cluttering in her ears.

"For fuck's sake!" She threw the blanket off, immediately the floating trays stopped bumping into one another, the shoes stopped tapping against the wooden floor, the firecrackers stopped igniting and..

She blinked again, a creature standing on two legs is beside the doorframe, his aquamarine scales shimmering in the light. His clawed halted ringing the deafening bell.

His tail dropped as he sent an apologetic look, "Sorry Miss Mildred," he said, his voice impossible low and deep, "I didn't mean to awake you, the magic here is still a little haywire, can't control all of'em!" He gestured to the trays, they flew over to the side of the room, her side sat down at the bed.

"I hope you like it." He said as the tray lifted, revealing pancakes and waffles stack together.

"Jared wanted you to have waffles but I wanted you to have pancakes and well…" He explained.

"Who.." She shook her head, "Where am I?"

"Oh well, you are at the Vermilion Spire Estate."

"An estate.." She sighed, "What the heck is this dream…"

"Hm?" The serpentine tilted his head.

"It's nothing." She waved it off, then she glanced at him as he awkwardly fiddles with his claws, why is he still here? The serpentine's eyes shifted at the plate before looking down again.

Grace hesitantly picked up the fork, she slowly inspected the food before her hand brought it towards the stack of pancakes and waffles. She raised the fork to her lips taking the smallest bite she could. Her eyes widened as the flavor explodes in her mouth, she hummed.

"You like it?" The serpentine brightened up.

"Mhm!" She nodded as she scooped more into her mouth.

He smiled, "Oh I'm very glad Miss," He snapped his finger then a blouse paired with a dark skirt puffed into thin air, he held it up for her to see, "My master has prepared you a dress, well, Lydia suggested it but Jared kind of had the final say, he's sort of a fashionista…"

"I see." She said before he could continue further.

"Right," He cleared his throat, "anyway the boss wanted me to tell you that he wants you to be downstairs after you finish eating, no rush or anything." He gently placed the clothes on the side of the bed. He then quietly backed away until he reached the door, exiting the room into pure silence.

Grace sighed as she scratched her head, "Weird dreams," she muttered, "just a weird dream."

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As she finished her meal, Grace took her time getting dressed. Not really looking forward to seeing the guy. All things considered. Once she was finally ready, Grace made her way downstairs, her footsteps echoing softly against the polished marble floors. The grandeur of the surroundings enveloped her, leaving her feeling both awestruck and bewildered.

She wandered through the opulent halls, guided by a combination of intuition and faint echoes of voices drifting from distant rooms. Every now and then, she caught glimpses of peculiar creatures scurrying about, each one seeming to belong to a world beyond her comprehension.

Eventually, she found herself standing before a set of ornate double doors, their intricate carvings shimmering in the soft glow of candlelight. With a deep breath, she pushed them open and stepped into the room beyond.

Memories from yesterday were a blur, auction house, carriage, mansion and here…here is the blurriest one. Grace thinks..Carter did some tests on her, nothing much or dangerous, he checked herblood pressure (high), my eyesight, my reflexes, standard doctor tests stuff. But she was probably too out of it to be fully aware of the stuff he did.

Today Carter was dressed like a scientist, lap coat, glasses, the whole shebang. You could almost forget he was a possible slave owner. In fact, he looked..ridiculous, not like the man from last night.

He was in the corner of the room in front of a…strange retro-futurism contraption, encased in a skeleton of burnished brass and riveted panels. It features a control panel with analog gauges, levers, and a compass that seemed to spin in anticipation on its own.

And the guy was fixing up the cracks in the invention with duct tape.

"Uh.." She blinked "Need some help there?" She said surprisingly her voice came out calm.

Carter spun around and instantly grinned at the sight of her. "Ah! There you are," He approached her, as he did she stepped away.

He frowned, before sighing, "Well I suppose that's a good thing your afraid, after last night I suspect you lost all sense of instinct of survival."

"Who are you?" She uttered, she glanced around the area until her eyes landed on a scalpel, swiftly she grabbed on it. Grace's fingers tightened around the scalpel handle as she held it in front of her.

Carter raised his hands, "Now now Miss, there's no need for that."

"Answer my question." She demanded.

He sighed exasperatedly "Didn't I already told you? Last night? My name is Carter."

"All I remember is you buying me out of an auction." She gritted her teeth, "What do you want from me?"

"Please," He waved, "whatever you have is nothing to me. What I want is to study you." He placed his hands behind him as he started circling her.

"Study me?" She raised an eyebrow, before her eyes narrowed in dusgust, "Your not doing anything to me."

"I assure it's completely harmless," He said, seemingly not able to get it, "I only mean to study your unique…properties."

"Okay cut the crap." She snapped, "Unique properties? Exactly what about me is intriguing you have to pay millions?"

Carter paused in his circling, "Fine I suppose I have to explain everything to you then." He emphazied, "You, somehow, transmigrated into the world of Ethyra. You, as long as others before you, possessed unique abilities beyond any average Ethyrians. I want to study that."

"Transmigrated–you mean isekai?"

"What the fuck is isekai?" He shook his head, "Regardless I much rather prefer you willing corporation."

"Why should I?" Grace grumbled, her mind racing for an idea. Maybe she could hit him and run away? No, there were creatures everywhere, no doubt under his command. Even if she managed to escape, where would she go? If what he said was true, she was in an entirely new environment with unknown threats. And if her 'properties' were as special as he implied, who's to say someone else wouldn't try to capture her again?

The man's hum startled her slightly. "I'm sure you have a reasonable mind, Miss. And the only safe option is to comply and not be such a hindrance to me."

Her jaw visibly tightened, "Even so, what's going to stop me from being such a 'hindrance' to you? You said it yourself, you want to study me, you need me. So, this can only go two ways: either I make this..this experiment the most impossible, insufferable thing you've ever done, or you comply with my demands, and you'll get to have your precious results."

The man's expression darkened as he furrowed his brows, "You don't know what your talking about."

Grace smiled, a glint of defiance in her eyes as she suddenly aimed the scalpel at her neck. "Do I?" she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper.

The man frozed, his eyes fixed on the sharp end of the scalpel, "Stop it. Stop this nonsense at once."

"Or what? You'll find another one like me? Another one with another oh so unique properties." Her trembling hands inched the end closer, "Would you take a gamble another 50 millions, Carter?"

The room seemed to hold its breath as Grace slowly pressed the scalpel against her skin, a thin line of blood appearing beneath its sharp edge. Carter's face paled, "Wait! Stop! I'll… I'll comply. Just please, put the scalpel down."

Grace hesitated for a moment, her eyes locked with his, before finally lowering the scalpel.

He took a deep breath, "Are you mad?"

She simply glared as she gently reached her hand to the cut, the blood dripping on her fingertips, "Says you." She mumbled.