Sera was petrified. She couldn't move nor think of anything to say that could possibly free her from the trap she had stepped into. Her master awaited her answer, but there simply wasn't anything she could tell him. There was no lie that sprung into her mind, no excuse, nothing.

It didn't help the slightest that she remained silent but rather worsened her situation instead. Lord Parron's expression had long since changed from confusion to one that reflected anger instead.

 

"Why are you wearing this," Parron asked after growing too impatient to continue waiting for her answer. "Who gave it to you?!"

"I- I don't know..."

"How can you not know? It is too expensive of an item to give away just like that!"

 

An idea suddenly popped up in Sera's head, nothing but a silly excuse that might end up saving her from being tortured or burned alive.

 

"It was a man," she lied, "he gave it to me so I could hide!"

"To hide you?"

"When the demons attacked..."

 

Sera's voice grew more and more silent. She could already feel her eyes burning as the first tears started to gather in them.

It wasn't just the fear from being killed or tortured that gave birth to them, but the knowledge that she would be separated from her mother for the remainder of the short life the humans would allow her to waste away in some damp and dark prison cell.

Now that he was faced by her bitter tears, the anger in Parron's voice quickly faded away. He still wanted to ask something, but he didn't dare to even speak to her now that she had revealed her weakness. It was only moments after that he spoke to her again, this time with a calm and soothing voice.

 

"You were attacked by demons?"

 

Even if she wished for it, Sera couldn't answer lord Parron anymore. He looked at her with pity in his eyes, thinking she was right now diving into the memories of her being attacked by demons and seeing others die. When he then discovered a scar on her back, he no longer thought about ever mentioning her past again. It was obvious that Sera had told the truth.

In reality, Sera's remaining composure got torn apart by memories of humans instead. Before her inner eye, she saw thousands of them charging into the encampment the demon army had set up for the night, slaughtering anybody and anything that lived.

They hadn't shown mercy to woman and children that had followed the army for various reasons, nor did they let horses and pets run away. There was nothing that had been spared, not even the servants that had helped Sera escape into the forests. She would never forget the screams of the two young women that had served her for her whole life.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

 

"Those beasts," he mumbled to himself, "to even lay their hands on a kid..."

 

It was only now that Lord Parron let go of Sera. He slowly raised up and walked back to his table.

 

"Sorry for that," his almost inaudible voice reached Sera. "I won't mention it again."

 

Sera could only nod for an answer, as she was still fighting the chaos of fear, anxiety and relief that threatened to give birth to even more tears. Lord Parron waited for her to calm down a little before he broke the promise he had given her seconds ago.

 

"Why are you still wearing it?"

"They will find me if I take it off. They will try to kill me!"

 

Contrary to what she had said before, this was nothing but the truth. To Sera, there was little difference between a human boy trying to hide from demons and a demon girl trying to hide from humans. If Parron had taken away her amulet to examine it further, she would probably find her end within hours or days at most.

Even if the answer wasn't enough, the obvious signs of fear on both her face and body won Parron over. He couldn't help but sigh before he tried to calm her down.

 

"You aren't in danger anymore," he promised, "I will never allow anybody to hurt my family or my servants, especially not a filthy demon."

"Thank you..."

"Now that that is out of the way, will you tell me what has brought you here? Was it only about my son hurting you?"

"I can't find him."

"He is probably on his way to the library by now. Why don't you wait for him there?"

"Libary?"

"Marcis never misses Darrid's lessons. You will surely show up."

"I see."

 

Sera had no idea who Darrid was, but judging by this explanation, he must be either very scary or very important to Marcis for him to never miss his lessons. Both of these possibilities had a bad aftertaste, as she didn't want to see a scary person and anyone loved by her master would match his character. Either way, Sera would possibly be hurt again.

 

«...»

 

Even though she didn't want to, Sera knew she had no choice but to go. If she were to be kicked out of Lord Parron's house, there was no way her mother would be able to pay for the stronger concealment artifact she would end up needing sooner or later. Even with the free rent and food, it would probably become hard to afford those soon enough.

Sera bowed down to her master and excused herself. She left the room, silently closed the doors and immediately sank to the floor as all the pressure Parron had placed on her suddenly faded away. There still were wet traces on her skin stemming from the tears she had shed, but by now she felt nothing but relief.

 

She was safe ...