Chapter 06 [arc three]

Things changed a lot between them.

He tried to speak to her the next day, but her glare made him leave. The day after he came back, she refused to look at him. A week later, he came with books this time, saying he knew she liked to read. When he tried to give one to her, she slapped it to the ground and walked away. Karilyn made her feelings toward him clear. The anger she felt was uncontrollable, and the conversation gave the slave nightmares. She ate alone and spent most of her days in bed and nights with terrible dreams.

Her dreams were a mess of her past life and her new one. She saw her brothers with teary eyes consoling one another as her mother screamed in the background. Someone was telling her that it would be okay, but the elderly woman yelled until she was hoarse. What she was saying was unable to be heard clearly, but Karilyn knew. Everyone was wearing black. They stood before a casket. Her coffin was right there, and it hurt to see. That particular night, she woke up in a cold sweat. The slave sat up and paced around the room for hours.

Every day, she found herself yearning for her family more and more. She existed without any drive to continue on. The ogre king tried to communicate with her, but she wasn't listening. The redhead found that her will to live had vanished. That fire she had under her ass to survive was gone, having fallen out of her grasp. She saw no purpose in wanting to live in a world like this. A world where she had no ownership of herself. None of her goals and future wants and needs were going to matter because of that. There was no point in having them anymore.

She tried to bring it back with activities. The twenty-two-year-old walked to the pool room from before and swam. She floated on her back atop the chlorine-heavy water and stared. Her chest no longer burned, it simply felt emptier. If she had been in a better state of mind, she would recognize her growing depression. It was rapidly consuming the woman from the inside out. Like a poison, it was eroding her personality, and she didn't know how to stop it from decaying. She felt so exhausted; she wished she could just end it all.

That day, she debated just sinking under. She could just let herself drown. The water would burn, but the pain would be over. Her growing loneliness would leave and she would hopefully be reborn into a happier life. Karilyn had been so grateful to wake up unharmed after being hit by the bus. The woman thought the heavens and above had blessed her with her new chance. But instead, she found herself being pulled down into hell. The desire to allow herself to drown grew the longer she stayed. Eventually, she got out and went back to bed.

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A week or so after the incident, Lilibet visited. She brought with her some information that weighed heavily on the woman's mind. The slave looked up to see her wearing her signature glasses. She moved to sit next to the twenty-two-year-old and smiled at her. With her long nails, she grabbed her hands and held them in her lap. Once upon a time, she would be happy for the company. But now she just wanted the woman to spill what she needed to say and leave. Karilyn saw the blonde woman as nothing more than a spy for the king.

"He told me about the confrontation and I get why you're mad. I'd be pissed too. But I feel like maybe I should tell you his side." The redhead managed to roll her eyes as the woman continued.

She moved her long ponytail to the side as she leaned back on the bed and sighed dramatically. "The sacrifice you would make isn't dying. I stupidly assumed he could explain that to you himself, but the man is emotionally dull."

Karilyn scowled and snatched her hands back. She crossed her arms over her chest as she responded. "Then what do I need to give up? That man's taken everything from me and all I want is to be free from his ownership. It's as simple as that."

"It's not for him." She ignored the animosity from the slave woman and continued onward. "The role of a maiden isn't exactly a safe one. Certain demons and humans are aware of you and will harm you. So, he locked you away until you have to make a choice. If you want to give away the humanity you were born with or walk away."

The redhead's eyes widened. "My humanity?"

Karilyn didn't like the sound of that. Losing her humanity at first sounded like another way of saying death. But the blonde already denied that as being factual and now she felt lost. The visual novel made it very clear that turning someone into a cyborg was a last resort. It took multiple months to develop a new body and to get used to it. But she saw no point in the man turning her into some cyborg monstrosity. So there had to be more of this. She doubted the man could make her a demon, so she was really dumbstruck. Her guard was drawn as Lilibet began to explain.

"Sacrificial Maidens are able to become like him. He isn't a demon, and he isn't a cyborg. I honestly don't know what he is anymore, but he's rare. And multiple women want to take your place." Lilibet shook her head as she mentioned them. A dark look was on her face. "He couldn't use them. Our shaman chose you, and that's the truth."

"So because of some shaman, I'm forced to stay locked here as his little mini-me? When there's plenty of willing participants, what the hell." She felt like she was going to be sick. The acceptance of the situation was overtaking her consciousness.

Lilibet sighed and shrugged. "Our shamans are from the olden times. Before society advanced into what it is today, so we take their word as is. Trust me, they chose you for a reason."