Pinned to the wall in the foyer, short of breath and dizzy from the slap to her face, Jenny fought against the tendrils crawling in her skull. The insidious whispers that told her to obey, to love, to want the disgusting pig in front of her.

Ferdinand's hand roamed her body, trying and failing to remove her petticoat.

She'd worn Gizelda's gift today; she wanted to make a good impression on the man. The clothes were a pain to wear and to endure. Small mercies that now prevented a worse fate. But the stalemate couldn't continue for much longer.

Ferdinand's muttering increased, and the whispers in her head got stronger. Jenny didn't know how much more she could resist. Even the memories of her time with Gizelda weren't helping anymore. The poisonous murmurs in her mind took too much focus to keep at bay.

In the corner of her eye, she saw the girl walk into the foyer. The child's gait was strange, like she wasn't used to walking. Her nose was scrunched like she fought a bad smell. The white hair and red eyes glowed in the darkness of the room. The girl wore one of the female servants' white shirts. It was too big for her petite frame. She didn't wear shoes, and her lips were thin and severe. A strange expression to see in a kid.

Was she the child of one of the other's servants? Jenny didn't remember hearing about any girl with white hair and red eyes, which was not something she had ever seen before, but Jenny wasn't on the best terms with all the other servants and wasn't pry to the details of their lives.

Jenny and the girl locked eyes before the girl's gaze turned to Ferdinand. The child's eyes widened, mouth open in surprise. Her face morphed into a snarl, and the girl ran towards them, not on two feet like a normal person but on all fours like a beast.

Ferdinand looked back, maybe alerted by the high-pitched snarl. The girl was at his side, teeth clamping on the bastard's waist.

The whispers in her mind relented; at the same time, Ferdinand turned around and punched the girl away from him. The girl’s body flopped to the side like a puppet with its strings cut. The feral girl crashed against one of the decorative porcelain vases, and the decoration, in turn, fell to the ground with a loud crash, breaking into pieces.

After that, things moved almost too fast to keep track of.

Ferdinand whirled and punched Jenny in the face; she fell down, creating an even greater ruckus. The disgusting pig walked to the white-haired girl and kicked her one, two, three times. The girl didn't move, and Jenny wasn't sure if she was alive. Not satisfied, the pig stepped on the girl's arm, and the bone snapped with a sickening crack. He spat, still speaking in that strange language. "Serves you right, bitch!"

Jenny tried to crawl away, her head still spinning, but Ferdinand was on her in an instant. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged Jenny toward the communal room.

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The entrance door to the manor flew open; there, bathed in the moonlight, was Edgar, dressed in his leather armor, sword held in both hands. The manor guard's eyes scanned the scene, stopping for a moment on the body of the child. He took one step inside the foyer, sword ready. "Stop right there, or I'll kill you." The guard commanded.

Ferdinand stepped on Jenny's neck, pinning her to the ground. His hand moved fast, fingers a blur. His voice rose to a crescendo. The air was heavy and malignant. The light of the moon vanished, leaving them all in complete darkness. There was a whistling sound, like something moving fast.

Edgar screamed.

The sound crawled into Jenny's ears and into her mind. It reminded Jenny of the time her father forced her to kill one of the pigs they grew on the farm. She had done a horrible job. She was supposed to kill it with one single hammer blow to the head. It took seven. The pig screamed during it all.

Edgar's screams were so much worse.

The repugnant man turned back to Jenny. "Shit, I'm out of mana, and this mess is bound to attract attention." His hand went to his back and returned with a wicked-looking dagger. He cut his finger, then drew something on Jenny's forehead. "Shame I don't have the time to enjoy it anymore." He slid the dagger into Jenny's stomach with slow and deliberate movements.

Jenny screamed. Her belly was pure agony. The more she tried to get away, the worse the pain became. Something squirmed inside her, then fled through the wound the man created. The pain stopped, and her senses were muted. She couldn't feel anything; not pain, not fear, not despair. Only a faint sense of amusement. After surviving the exodus and prosecution throughout all her homeland and escaping in one of the legendaries sky-ship to another flying-island, her death wasn’t because of the sins of her parents, but because she wanted to become a noble.

Ferdinand got up, and without looking back strode inside the manor. His gait relaxed and unhurried.

Jenny's mind wandered, darkness encroaching at the edges of her vision. She didn't really mind dying. She should have died eleven years ago. Her only regret was not seeing Gizelda again. Would Gizelda cry when she learned Jenny died? She hoped not; she didn't want the person she loved to be sad.

There was a sound nearby. Jenny couldn't move, but soon after, she saw the source. She couldn't believe her eyes. Maybe she was hallucinating. The feral girl stood at Jenny's side, covered in blood, arm bent the wrong way. She'd taken the girl for dead.

The white-haired girl grabbed her broken arm and pulled it back into place, her face contorting in agony and rivers of tears spilling from her eyes. She moved her arms and spoke. The air reverberated, and nothing happened. The girl shook her head, then looked about.

Jenny chuckled at the hallucination. The girl reminded her of Biscuit. In the end, instead of thinking of the woman she loved, she thought of Biscuit, the cute rabbit she wasn't supposed to keep.

The girl walked around Jenny, fingers tracing something on the ground. Jenny didn't know and couldn't care. The end had come. Darkness replaced the surroundings, and cold consumed her soul.

The hallucination brought by death didn't relent. An old, crumbling piece of parchment appeared in the darkness. It demanded her attention. She read the words and chuckled again. She was bonkers and past the point of salvation if the pet rabbit was now offering a chance to live.

Biscuit offers you a contract.

Biscuit promises you power, knowledge, and a chance to live.

You promise your soul in return.

Accept / Refuse