Send Them To My Mansion.

Sorayah's heart plummeted as Dimitri's finger extended, pointing directly at her. A cold shiver snaked down her spine when his gaze locked onto hers, a slow, sinister smile stretching across his lips.

"The one with the red ribbon," Dimitri said, his voice dripping with amusement. "I want her."

The grand eunuch, with his stone-faced discipline, bowed deeply. "As you wish, Beta Lord. She will be assigned to you immediately."

Sorayah's pulse pounded in her ears. No. This couldn't be happening. Her mind raced, desperate for an escape, a way out of this nightmare. But before she could even process her thoughts, the eunuch strode forward, his bony fingers closing around her arm like an iron clamp.

"Come," he commanded, yanking her from the line. "You have been chosen to serve the Beta Lord."

Sorayah stumbled forward, her body unwilling to obey, her heart screaming in protest. As she was dragged closer to Dimitri, she could feel the heat of his gaze, burning into her skin.

Panic seized her chest. If she became his, she would never escape as it was obvious Dimitri had his eyes on her. She had disobeyed him at camp earlier, hence it's obvious he still held grudges and wouldn't rest until he bent Sorayah to his will.

Desperation surged through her veins, and without thinking, she dropped to her knees, her hands trembling as she clasped them before her.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to serve you, Your Highness, the Beta Lord," she uttered with seriousness etched in her tone . "I'm incompetent, clumsy… I'm certain I'll only upset you, and I don't wish to displease you. I still have much to learn, please, I beg you, choose someone else."

A hush fell over the room.

The eunuch's face twisted with rage at her defiance. "How dare you, wretched servant!" he bellowed, lifting his hand to strike her.

But before his palm could descend, a sharp, chilling voice sliced through the air.

"Since she belongs to me now," Dimitri murmured, his tone deceptively calm, "I alone will decide how to punish her."

The eunuch froze, his raised hand trembling midair.

Dimitri's cold smile widened, but it did not reach his eyes. Those piercing emerald eyes, void of warmth, void of mercy settled on the eunuch with an eerie detachment. "You know how much I hate people touching my things," he continued, voice laced with quiet menace. "It displeases me." He tilted his head slightly. "And you, Head Eunuch, should know what happens when something displeases me."

A sickening silence followed. Then...

Thud.

The eunuch fell to his knees, his forehead pressed against the cold floor. His entire body quaked with fear.

"I...I apologize, Beta Lord," he stammered, his voice hoarse.

Dimitri took a slow step forward, his polished boots stopping mere inches from the eunuch's trembling form. He regarded him like one would a worm writhing beneath their heel.

"You should be grateful," Dimitri mused, his voice now a chilling whisper. "If I were in a worse mood, you wouldn't have the chance to apologize."

The eunuch swallowed hard, his face pale as death. He knew. Everyone in the palace knew. Dimitri was ruthless beyond reason, a force even the Alpha Emperor himself tread carefully around. The rumors whispered in dark corners, spoken only in hushed tones claimed that the emperor commanded Dimitri in public, but in the shadows, even he feared him.

The air was thick with tension. No one dared breathe too loudly.

Dimitri turned his attention back to Sorayah, still kneeling before him. Alot of people feared him but her...

She was different.

"I already picked you," he said, his voice dangerously smooth, yet carrying an edge sharp enough to cut through steel. "You have no right to give me stupid excuses. Do you think I didn't see the others before choosing you?" His lips curled into a smirk, but there was no warmth in it. "And yes, you will serve me."

His gaze hardened, turning ice-cold and brutal. "If you work diligently, then perhaps you'll be lucky. But if you can't…" He tilted his head slightly, his tone growing eerily casual. "Then you should watch out for your head."

A chilling silence followed his words.

Sorayah swallowed hard, her heart pounding against her ribs. She clenched her fists at her sides, forcing herself to stay silent. It was obvious that Dimitri had no intention of changing his mind, and pressing him further might only result in her head rolling across the cold stone floor.

Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had suffered too much to break now.

Perhaps this was a twisted stroke of fate. Maybe she should start her revenge with Dimitri. Or… maybe there was still a way to return to the palace, where her vengeance truly lay. For now, she had no choice but to obey.

Just then, a faint movement caught her eye.

Lily stirred in the wheelbarrow where she had been lying, a weak groan escaping her lips.

Sorayah's breath hitched. Lily!

Without hesitation, she rushed forward, her feet barely touching the ground as she knelt beside her.

Lily's tired eyes fluttered open, hazy with exhaustion. "Your high..." she started weakly, then faltered. Realizing the unfamiliar faces surrounding them, she quickly corrected herself. "You're alive."

Sorayah's fingers closed around Lily's frail hand, and the tears she had been holding back finally spilled down her cheeks.

"I'm glad you're alive too," she whispered, her voice breaking. "You had me so worried, Lily."

"I'm sorry," Lily murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. A faint, fragile smile crossed her lips. "But I'm glad… I'm alive to serve you."

The quiet moment was shattered by the eunuch's sneering voice from behind them.

"She survived?" He scoffed, his expression twisting into a smirk. "It won't matter. She's still going to die sooner or later. Once she fails to serve her masters properly in the palace, she'll lose her head."

Sorayah chose to ignore him. Eunuchs like him thrived on making life unbearable for people like her, especially if she had been staying in the palace. But since she wouldn't be, she knew that Lily might become the one to suffer instead. The eunuch was clearly annoyed by Dimitri's reprimand, yet he dared not show his displeasure in front of him. However, Sorayah knew all too well that his resentment wouldn't simply disappear, it would fester, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Instead, she slowly rose to her feet, wiping her tears as she turned back to Dimitri. She knew what she had to do.

With her head bowed, she took a step forward. "I agree to go to your mansion," she said, her voice steady despite the fear coiling in her stomach. "But only if my sister comes with me."

A heavy silence settled over the room.

The weight of Dimitri's gaze pressed down on her like an iron shackle. A sense of unease prickled her skin, and hesitantly, she lifted her eyes only to be met with the chilling sight of him crouching down to her height.

She barely had time to react before his fingers grasped her chin, tilting her face up to meet his.

"Are you trying to give me a condition?" he murmured, his voice dangerously low. "Tell me, little one… are you toying with me?"

Sorayah's breath hitched, her pulse hammering in her throat.

Dimitri's grip tightened. "You truly think you have a choice?" His gaze flickered toward Lily's fragile form in the wheelbarrow. "Do you really believe you wouldn't come with me if I decided to kill that sister of yours right now?"

A sharp gasp escaped Sorayah's lips.

She instantly dropped her gaze, her body trembling as she bowed deeply. "Please, Your Highness, Beta Lord," she pleaded, desperation lacing her voice. "I'm not challenging you. I wouldn't dare. I only ask… she is all I have left."

Her voice cracked, but she forced herself to go on. "Please… have mercy. Let her come with me. I will do anything you ask, just… don't harm her."

For a long, agonizing moment, Dimitri said nothing.

Then, something flickered in his eyes something almost imperceptible. Pity? Amusement? Or perhaps mere curiosity? Whatever it was, it was gone in an instant, replaced once more by that cold, calculating glint.

"Very well," Dimitri said at last, drawing out the words as though they amused him. "I'll allow your sister to come with you."

A wave of relief rushed through Sorayah, her body sagging slightly.

But then his smirk returned, cruel and sharp. "Don't mistake this for an act of kindness," he continued, his voice dripping with condescension. "It's simply a whim. And whims… can change."

He cast a glance at Lily, his expression darkening. "Besides, she might not last long. Rather than presenting the Alpha Emperor with a defective product, one that might die at any moment, I may just spare him the trouble."

Sorayah bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste blood, forcing herself to remain silent.

She kept her head bowed, her hands clenched so tightly her nails bit into her skin. Even so, she couldn't stop the small, almost imperceptible shake in her shoulders.

It didn't matter what he said. For now, Lily was safe.

"Thank you, Beta Lord," she whispered, barely audible.

Dimitri's eyes lingered on her for another heartbeat, afterwhich he began making his way towards the bathhouse exist, his movements fluid and deliberate, exuding power with every step.

"Send them to my mansion," he ordered coldly, not sparing her another glance.

The eunuch bowed deeply, his face impassive despite the tension lingering in the air. "As you wish, Beta Lord."