‘There, in prison, was the only place where I could be human…’
A worn-out kid stared with lifeless eyes at the distant light behind the prison bars.
‘But was I really a human even in there…? I had no sense of time or anything. I had no idea if I was alive or dead… I didn’t know if I had a voice, never really heard my own voice back then…’
He didn’t try to move or struggle to free himself from the heavy chains around his wrists, ankles, and neck, like a tattered and dirty doll silenced and seated in the dark.
‘Was I even treated as a human in that house…?’
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The Red Flower
Chapter. 17
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A fancy black car stopped in a dark corridor, away from snooping eyes; two men in black suits walked out and stood behind the trunk. “Set it free,” one of the men still in the car ordered through the earpiece. The two immediately opened the trunk, revealing a cage in the dark, narrow space. One of the men bent down to be at eye level with the one inside the cage and raised a picture of some old man in an expensive suit. “This is your target this time.”
The other man silently pressed a button, and the cage door opened. The two men quickly stepped aside, and not even a second passed before a small body emerged from the cage and dashed to a gate of a fancy hotel and straight to the same old man in the picture. The kid that moved at the speed of light navigated the area with his inverted vision and quickly found the target before going straight and passing through the target’s body. The said man was talking and laughing with a glass of wine to other wealthy people but suddenly froze in place and trembled; blood came from his mouth and nose before he fell on the floor with eyes wide open. Everyone in the hall fell silent at the loud crash of glass beside the fallen body and looked at the dead man on the floor; panic ensued in the room, but nobody saw the tiny shadow quickly retreating out of the hotel and back to the car, back in the small cage, just as taught.
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“How was its performance in yesterday's mission? Heard that it was easily accomplished,” Said Xenos, sitting leisurely in his big office with a relaxed smile. An old man dressed formerly underneath the lab coat smiled proudly, “I would never recommend anything unprofessional to you, Mr. Xenos.”
“But I wonder why you have to hide it from me. I’m really curious to see it now.” Xenos rested his cheek on his palm and smiled with his droopy eyes looking straight at the other, making him look intimidating to the old man standing before him.
The old man stood straight still, looking slightly down and away from Xenos’ eyes as if ashamed, frowning with no apparent smile. “It’s still violent and wild outside its cage. I wouldn’t say I like to put you in danger to such a threatening animal, sir. I’ll make sure to tame it properly so you can see it in its best behavior,”
“Hmm…” Xenos slightly tilted his head to the side with a pout, not entirely convinced. He smiled a little later. “Well, as long as it does its work properly, then all’s good for now.” he shot a look at the other with a smirk. “But I’d like to see it soon, Henrik.”
The old man, Henrik, sharply stared at his boss before he lowered his head courteously. “Of course, Mr. Xenos.”
.
.
In the Cavalons’ mansion, a kid sat quietly behind bars in the dark, staring blindly at nothing, eyes so dead and unfocused. He was only looking at the bars because it was the only thing in front of him as if he was trained to look in front and nowhere else. He couldn’t even move even if he wanted to; he was chained to the cold wall behind him and far from the bars. The only source of light passing between the bars in the quiet basement never reached his feet. He didn't bother to push the hair strands away from his eyes, too tired to blow them away with his breath. He twitched when the sudden voice of steps was heard and echoed in the basement. He realized the voices and vaguely knew what was coming but wasn’t at the same time; his head was locked in an endless void. He just sat quietly, waiting for them as usual.
Guards stopped before the bars and walked silently toward him while holding a weird helmet. He knew he had seen that helmet somewhere before but had no idea where or what for; it was as if his memory wasn’t even his to begin with, nothing made sense to him, but everything was familiar for some reason. One of them sat on one knee and put the helmet on the kid’s head, ignoring how the kid stiffened and silently scared. And with a press of the button, the kid jolted hard and then went limp right away.
They removed the helmet and silently left the kid alone, passed out in the dark.
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“Hmmm… it seems this time also, the target is from a wealthy family. I wonder what’s his purpose, can’t be a coincidence at this point,” said a good-looking man with short brown hair and sharp ocean-blue eyes. He sighed and leaned back in the comfy office chair, looking at the tablet on the desk before him. “Nothing important with this data…”
The other one, a man with beige-short hair and khaki eyes, nodded. “Henrik contacted me. Xenos has plans to meet your son face-to-face. I think he is suspicious and wants to know Javi’s whereabouts.”
The kid’s father stared at the man sitting before him, resting his head elegantly on his fingers. “We can’t let that man know about us getting a spy into his company to meddle with his plans… we have to do something about Javi soon, something that makes him control the shadow even out in the light.”
The other man in the white suit smirked, “Armand made something that could help, but we must approach him carefully. He will only be a child once we use it on him, a child with feelings and senses.”
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Javi twitched and opened his eyes once he heard footsteps again in the corridor. Guards stopped before him; they silently removed the chains from him and dragged him to the cage outside the prison. “You’ve got a new mission.”
He turned into the shadow once he was outside under the light and started struggling and growling violently, they pushed him immediately inside the cage, and he started thrashing and kicking the bars inside, baring his teeth at them. One of the guards pulled a remote control from his pocket and pressed a button; the cage suddenly released high electricity and electrified the kid. Javi went limp the next second, and they pulled the cage to a car like they hadn’t just tortured a child.
.
.
Javi opened his eyes tiredly again to find himself back and tied in the prison. What happened? He had no idea, he couldn't remember anything, and it felt so painful to try to remember. He was so drained; his body was so worn out and numb. He only stared silently at the bars as usual.
Footsteps, he twitched in his place. He was scared but couldn't move, too tired, and a voice in his head told him it was useless to try and run away from what was coming. They put the helmet on his head, a jolt, then back to darkness.
He opened his eyes yet again to feel the same, if not worse. The kind of exhaustion where he feels like crying, whining, anything, but nothing comes out, forced to go through the same cycle and accept it as it is. His soul begged to be let out of its body, to be freed from this nightmare.
"Tired, huh?"
He was silently startled by the sudden voice beside him. He looked to his left by the side of his eye.
A man with round shades was sitting beside him, relaxed as if he wasn't in prison with the neglected doll, smiling leisurely. "Aren't you bored in here?" he asked the little boy, who didn't understand and felt too tired even to try to understand. "I'm sure the life behind those bars won't let you get bored," the man pointed his finger to the bars. "Don't you want to be free?"
Javi remained silent.
"Good news, kid, you're going to be free soon. But…" the man tilted his head, looking playfully at the kid, "Let me know later if you liked the outside world or… preferred to stay dead in this small prison~"
"Hey!"
Javi blinked at the voice of a child; the man disappeared in the blink of an eye as if he wasn't even there…
Outside bars stood a child with fancy clothes, smiling excitedly at him. The boy opened the door and hopped to sit before Javi. "I'm Edmund! Your cousin!! You can leave this sad place and play with me from now on if you have this!" Edmund showed a long blue necklace to the other. He then showed another necklace around his own neck that was similar to the one he was holding. "I have one too, so I can play outside! You also want to play, right?!" he didn't wait for an answer and put the necklace around Javi's neck, causing the haggard kid to flinch and close his eyes in reflex at the sudden approach.
The hyper child smiled wide at the other, "Now we can play together every day!!"
Javi was so lost and unable to keep up with the child smaller than him…
Edmund happily set him free from the chains by pressing with his tiny finger on the button at the wall beside Javi’s head. Javi slowly took the blue necklace, which looked like a drop of water, staring at it in wonder in his two tiny hands.
“Let’s go!!” Edmund grabbed his arm and happily ran out of the prison, unbothered by the stunned Javi, who stepped outside for the first time without the guards and wasn’t turning to the shadow; he couldn't describe what he felt as he let himself be dragged by the younger boy.
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Javi stood still in his place, too lost, confused, and maybe scared to move further into the colorful room. The place was full of toys and bright colors; it was a place he wasn't familiar with. Edmund went to a box in the corner and threw all his toys to the floor, which startled the other kid.
"Hehe~" Edmund ran to Javi and pulled him into the room, pushing the stunned kid to sit obediently on the floor beside the pile of toys before running to sit on the other side. "Let's play!! I've always wanted to play with you! It was so boring to play alone all this time!" the kid pouted childishly.
One of the toys caught the brown head’s eye, a cute doll of a black cat and a small black hat with a blue ribbon on top. He stared at it with wide, wondering eyes, bringing his hand hesitantly and slowly to poke its ear. His eyes brightened at the feel of the soft, fluffy toy.
“OH! You like Mr. Black?!” Edmund smiled broadly and took hold of the plushie with his two tiny hands, “Here! You can play with him!!” he happily offered the toy to Javi, who silently stared at it before carefully taking it from the other’s hands, admiring it.
The door handle moved, and a man with beige hair walked in with a smile. “Dad!!” Edmund instantly jumped and ran happily to his father, who lowered himself to welcome the coming hug of his tiny son. His father patted the son on his head and smiled. "Were you having fun with Javi?"
Edmund nodded cheerfully. "Yes!! But… he never talks…" he loudly complained as if the kid wasn’t in the same room and listening. The father looked at his son with a gentle smile, "He just needs some time to get comfortable outside his boring room, just a little more, and he'll be happy with us. Because we're all a big happy family, right?" turning to Javi with a smile, making the kid flinch from it in fear and scooted back despite the man not moving, the black cat completely forgotten and left on the floor. The man silently stared coldly at the trembling kid with terrified eyes.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
There was a quiet knock on the door behind the man and his son.
The father turned to glare behind his back, the smile no longer there.
A young man in his twenties stood respectfully, wearing glasses over his yellow-honey eyes, tan skin, and black hair. He stood with a stoic face by the door. "Pardon me. I’m here to pick up the young master."
Edmund's father stood up and smirked at the butler. "Armand, take good care of our precious son. You know more than anyone else how important he is to us."
The butler nodded. "Of course, sir." He silently passed by the father and to the little kid in the corner, and his eyes softened when the kid looked up at him. He calmly went down on his knees before the confused kid. He smiled warmly and opened his hands to the kid. "Time to go, young master."
Javi silently stared at the welcoming hands of the other and hesitantly stood up and moved slowly toward the butler, looking unsure of what to do. Armand smiled fondly and gently hugged the tiny body safe to his side. He stood up with a smile, securely resting the kid’s head on his broad chest before turning around to leave, making sure to hide his smile from the father and his son as he walked out of the room.
.
.
Armand opened the door to Javi's new room; there was only a double-sized bed and the minimum necessities; it didn't look like a child’s room. He smiled down at Javi and took him to the bathroom to shower the boy, cleaning him properly and carefully. He then made the boy sit on a chair before a tall mirror in the bathroom and started cutting and styling the boy's messy hair. Once finished, he wrapped the little body with a fluffy robe, carried him again in one hand, walked to the bed and put the little boy on it; he changed him into his pajamas; Javi didn't utter a single word and only remained silent the whole while as the butler finished changing him to his new clothes. Armand smiled fondly at the wide-eyed child. "Time to sleep, young master."
Javi blinked and stretched his hands out, waiting for something. Armand was confused at first but widened his eyes when he noticed the tiny hands were trembling slightly. The butler felt horribly hurt and furious; he quickly controlled his facial expressions as he gently hugged the boy back to his chest. "No, you don't need to be chained anymore. Never." he patted the child’s head comfortably until the boy with glistening eyes stopped trembling; he then made Javi lay down on the comfy bed and under the warm blanket before switching off the table lamp. He sat on the bed beside the boy and smiled warmly at the innocent eyes of his young master. "I'll be here. You can rest now, young master." he kept his hand on the pillow beside Javi’s head.
The kid slowly moved his hands from under the blanket and held the man’s big hand, basking in its warmth and staring at it in silence. The tired child’s eyes slowly closed, and about to sleep in peace for the first time after a nightmare that felt never-ending.
“…ánk… y- ou…”
That was my first time hearing my own voice…
My first words to the man who raised me…
My one and only family, Armand…
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.
"I missed you, my son."
Javi trembled and stood still, face down and unable to look his own father in the eyes. The man went down to be at eye level with his son. "I’m sorry I've left you alone for so long…" the man furrowed his eyebrows sadly; he slowly took his son's tiny hand and smiled softly. "But I brought you a present," he put something heavy in his son’s trembling hands. "Your first toy, you like it?"
Javi only trembled more, eyes widening at the foreign thing in his hands.
The man didn't seem pleased by the reaction and brushed back the kid’s styled hair with both hands; Javi gasped as he could feel a little bit of force in his father's hold when he forced his head up to look at him. "Say something, son."
Javi opened his mouth; trembling lips tried to utter something.
"Try 'Yes, father’. You can do it, right?" though his father was smiling, his eyes were threatening. Javi quickly forced his weak voice out.
"Y-y-y… yess… yes… fa… th… fa-ther…"
His father smiled with satisfaction and let go of the kid's head to pat his head fondly. "Good boy, easy, right? Use your toy properly, and I'll reward you later."
Standing guard by the closed door, Armand forced his eyes closed, trying hard to hold back the frown from showing as he witnessed the whole scene, fist clenched behind his back.
Javi's hands trembled while holding the gun, hugging it to his tiny chest, thinking that would please his smiling father.
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“A’mmand…”
“Yes?” The butler snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look down with a warm smile, finding the tiny young master looking down with a look that didn’t fit a child his age and with the big gun in his small hands. “Father… hate me…?”
Armand looked sadly at the boy before going down on one knee, smiling back as he comforted the poor child, “No, he and your mother loved you so much. But… your father is stressed because of your mother’s absence… let’s wait for him to be just fine again.”
“Mo- ther?” Javi looked innocently at the butler, who looked sullen. “She…” he moved his hand to pat the young master, only to hesitate and stop midway. Javi blinked up at him, eyes wide and confused. He smiled at the pure child and gently patted his head, “She told me to make you the strongest man ever! So she will be happy forever!” he smiled playfully at the adorably confused face. He slowly took his glasses off and let them hang by the neck, taking the gun from the tiny hands, “Strong… so you’ll be able to deter all kinds of poisonous people.” Looking at the weapon coldly, “You should never be an easy target in this house or the outside world… even if you have to hold a gun in your tiny innocent hands, I will…” staring fiercely at the gun, “Make sure to keep you safe till the end. Even if I left this world.”
His words remained a mystery to the blinking young master…
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Gunshots were heard in the quiet white training hall, each bullet hitting the target perfectly. Javi's hands trembled with the big gun in his hands, panting and sweating as he looked down in fatigue. He looked up when more long androids popped up around him. He reminded himself of what Armand had instructed him before entering the hall.
“Young master, I have no idea how they will test your abilities, but remember what I taught you.” The butler held the necklace around the kid’s neck, looking at the young master with serious eyes, “Think of getting out of there alive no matter what by using your gun and the shadow.”
The young master immediately turned into the shadow, pointing the gun forward, “Seven.” He swiftly shot the seven androids within seconds. He slumped a little once he turned back to normal, huffing and panting even more than seconds ago, face so pale and drained.
The brown-haired father sitting behind the glass and in the observation room stared intently at his son.
“Woaah!! Just like a ghost!!” Edmund threw his hands up in excitement, turning to his smiling father with a broad smile, “Right, dad?!”
“150 androids in 2 hours, not bad.” The father in the white suit smirked, glancing at the stoic butler behind the father in a red suit, “As expected from Armand’s student.”
Said butler wasn’t listening to anything as he frowned a little at the trembling legs of his young master, barely standing up.
“Dad!” the joyful child pulled lightly at his father’s white suit to gain his attention; he pointed toward the glass and at the panting kid in the training hall, “I want to see more!!”
Armand frowned at the child; he firmly looked at the smiling father, “Excuse me, the young master is at his limits, any more than this and…”
“But everyone says he’s good and perfect, so…” the child stared wide-eyed at the frowning butler, “I want to see more.”
“What’s wrong with that? If he can destroy 150, surely he can destroy more, can’t he?”
Armand stared hard back at the smirking father, tightening his hold around the hidden gun by his side.
“No, we’ll stop here. He has a mission from Xenos tomorrow.”
Everyone fell silent and turned at the stern voice of Javi’s father, who turned around in his seat to look at the butler with a satisfied smile, “You trained him well in two months, Armand. Good job.”
The stoic butler looked slightly troubled for a second before turning his head to the side, giving a silent nod to the young master’s father and ignoring the scornful eyes the other father threw at him.
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At night, his first mission in a human form came for the first time. He stood still, far from the target, guards behind him waiting for him to shoot. With hesitant hands, he raised the gun to point it at the target sitting on the ground in a dark alleyway and looking drunk. It was an easy mission, one hit on a stilled figure. He pulled the trigger as ordered, and a flying bullet went straight to the man's heart… and died. Blood, he saw blood coming out from the man… the figures in the training hall didn't have that red liquid, he thought.
He lowered his gun with trembling hands, looking at the bloody sight in fear. Yes, he didn't know the man was dead; that was his first time killing someone while being conscious; he was aware and wide awake. However, he couldn't help but feel he had done something horrible. The gun fell to the ground, and he started trembling badly and sweating; tears filled his eyes. He wasn't aware that his body was slowly turning black until he looked down at his hands; the shadow was about to take over him. Guards hurriedly ran to him and yanked his arm to pull him back into the cage.
Suddenly a strong hand slapped all the hands away from the tiny boy and pulled Javi into a tight hug. Armand glared fiercely at the guards with cold, furious eyes while hugging his young master securely by his side. "Is that any way to treat a child?! Did I permit you to touch him?!!" he coldly looked at the cage in the car by the side of his eye. “Also, never bring that hideous thing ever again.”
The guards flinched at the tone and lowered their heads down.
"All of you wait in the car."
“Yes, sir.” All guards nodded and immediately went to the car, leaving the butler and his young master alone. Armand hugged Javi as he sat on his knees on the floor, gently patting the kid’s head as he softly whispered, “I'm sorry, young master… it's alright. Everything’s good now. You’re alright…”
The young master’s hand clutched at the butler’s suit, looking down with tears refusing to fall down his cheeks, feeling safe close to the man.
“Forget about what happened… tomorrow I'll take you somewhere beautiful. I’m sure you'll like it. You’ll be so happy."
Javi sniffled and looked up at Armand with wide blue teary eyes. "Happy?"
Armand smiled warmly and ruffled the little boy's hair. "Yes, you're going to see something veeeeery big and blue!” he lightly pinched the kid’s cheek, looking at him with eyes full of kindness and fondness, “So blue, just like your eyes and your necklace… it’s so beautiful."
Javi widened his eyes innocently before wiping his tears with his tiny fists. Armand chuckled and stood up with Javi still in his arms. "Let's go back and sleep, so we can wake up early tomorrow to have fun."
Javi nodded and hugged the other tightly with eyes closed. "Y-yess!"
.
.
The next day they woke up early as promised; Armand dressed Javi appropriately and took him to the car, just the two of them.
Armand stopped the car after the short ride and stepped outside, opening the door with a smile for the giddy kid. Javi stood still, eyes wide and sparkling, admiring the vast sea… Armand smiled affectionately and bent down. "Young master, go ahead. Play to your heart's content." Javi turned to look at his butler with wide eyes. Armand chuckled and patted his head. "I'll be waiting here for you."
Javi nodded, then slowly and carefully walked to the sea; he stopped and glanced back at Armand, who nodded with a smile. Javi went down the stairs and to the sand, slowly closing the distance until he reached the moving water, looking silently as he was still entranced by the beautiful blue. He lowered himself down, careful not to dirty the expensive suit that the butler dressed him in; he slowly brought his hands to touch the cool water, smiling at the ticklish feeling.
"Are you new here?"
He turned to the side to find two boys about the same age looking curiously at him, one with black hair, the other with reddish-orange hair. The black-haired one moved closer to him and narrowed his eyes. "But I've never seen you in the orphanage, plus you’re wearing a suit… are you rich?"
Troubled and nervous, Javi turned to look at the smiling butler sitting on the stairs not too far.
“Hey,” Javi flinched and turned back to the raven head, who moved close with a frown, “Can’t you talk or something?” he gasped loudly, “Don’t tell me you’re mute?!”
“Stop it. You’re scaring him, Bren.” The orange head lightly pushed the other with a sigh, sitting before the silent boy with a friendly smile.
“But I’ve never seen him around here before… maybe he’s a new orphan.” The black-haired kid pointed at the confused young master, who sat obediently with a straight back, forgetting about his clothes getting dirty.
“Hello, my name’s Owin. What’s yours?” the smiling kid, Owin, asked gently like he was talking to a child younger than him.
“J-Javi…” came the weak answer.
“Oh, he talks?!” Bren asked curiously. “Yes…” Owin threw a look at his friend for a second before smiling back at Javi, “You see, usually only Bren and I walk around this beach, so we were surprised to find someone else playing around here.”
Pointing to the side with his thumb, “That guy over there often comes here. He sometimes gives us yummy food and presents for no reason. Is he your father or something?”
Javi stiffened and nervously looked down at his hands, “A-Armand… he… m-my… family?”
“Wait, why do you talk like that? Kinda cute—”
“Seriously, stop.”
Owin smiled again once he dragged his blunt friend back to his side and away from the nervous young master. “As I said, I’m Owin, and this is Bren. We are orphans, which means we don’t have families. So we live in an orphanage.” He pointed at a cottage in the small forest on a distant hill. “That’s the orphanage, the only house around this area.”
Bren frowned at his friend, “Shouldn’t he know what orphans mean?”
Owin sighed, “He looks like he doesn’t know…”
Both stared at the silent boy as he stared long at the orphanage; his eyes looked empty for a second as he mumbled, “Bad house…”
The two friends stared long at the young master, then at each other, “Bad house? How does he know?” wondered Bren, “Maybe because he’s too pure?” Owin asked, “Huh?” Bren looked at his friend like he had said something ridiculous, “Pure kids can distinguish between good and bad people. Same goes for places, I guess…” Owin reasoned. Bren blinked blankly at his friend, “…what are we talking about?”
All three stayed silent for a long moment.
Owin grabbed Javi’s leg suddenly with a wide grin, “Anyways! Let’s play, Javi!!” he proceeded to take off the boy’s shoes and socks, “You never tried to put your feet in the ocean water, right?”
“Ah! No- I …”
“Thought so~ alright, we’ll go together!”
“What—”
Bren stared at his friend assaulting the boy like he wasn’t the one who warned him of scaring the boy a minute ago; he still laughed at the scene as Javi was forced up on his feet, looking troubled while Owin folded the fancy cuffs up to his knees. Bren threw his sandals and jumped to his feet, pushing the troubled kid from the back, “We’re going first!” he announced to his friend, who took his own shoes off and rolled his clothes up as well. Both friends ignored the weak, troubled attempts of the young master to stop what they were about to do.
Splash—
The young master stilled at the feel of his feet underwater, the waves pushing gently at his legs; he didn’t know why his view blurred in tears.
The ocean… wasn’t just salty water to me… at that moment, I felt cool water washing away all the horrible things within me…
And I felt like crying for no reason…
“Hey,”
He turned to look behind at the smiling friends, “Feels good, right?” Bren asked.
The young master stared silently, gradually smiling into a wide, innocent smile.
“See? So pure…” Owin said as he smiled fondly at the boy before him, “Wanna slap him.” Bren said all too suddenly, yet his tone felt anything but serious.
Just like a normal child, I forgot everything bad and began thinking…
“I like my life. My life is good!”
Reality is different.
I wasn’t supposed to be a normal child…
.
.
“Oooh~ So this is it!”
“Yes, sir.”
The man cooed at the frightened and still child, “So small. What’s your name~?”
“He doesn’t have one yet, sir.”
“Huh? Why?? Nice to meet you at last, little buddy~”
Javi trembled in his place, looking up at the smiling man who stretched his hand to pat him. As the cold hand touched his hair, he slapped it away on impulse. He got an immediate punch to the face, sending him to the wall. He fell down with a weak groan in pain. He trembled yet tried to remain still when a rough hand pulled him from the floor by his hair, "I’m sorry, sir! It seems he still needs to be tamed!"
Xenos laughed lightly while rubbing his hand that was just slapped. "Calm down, Henrik. The poor kid was just so nervous. No need to be harsh," he walked toward them and went down to Javi’s level with a cold smile. "But don't do that again, okay? Maybe we should meet another time, little shadow~"
Outside the company and in a secret corridor, Henrik threw Javi violently at Armand, who caught the kid directly without letting out any sign of emotion to the old man. "Teach it how to behave next time. It was about to expose us all. And make sure it completes tonight's missions. Now, leave."
Armand silently stared at the retreating man and tightened his hold around Javi, who trembled and hid his face in Armand's chest the moment he was thrown at him.
Once the old man left, Armand leaned a little to look at the young master’s face. He wiped the tears away from the scrunched face of the young master, who tried hard to prevent the tears from falling, rubbing his closed eyes roughly, "Don't worry, everything's going to be… alright, I'm sorry… young master."
I Had no idea why they treated me the way they did…
I had no idea why Armand would apologize each time I got hurt…
I just believed his words.
“Everything will be alright.”
I easily believed those comforting words. It worked every time, and it calmed me down almost immediately…
Then at night, I kill people I don’t even know…
Then panic and cry…
Then again, I forget everything and play on the beach in the morning…
“Everything will be alright.”
But soon, I came to notice…
His hands stopped playing with the sand, silently turning them to look at his palms, the bickering of Owin and Bren growing distant to the background when he felt he was suddenly in a pool of blood as he thought.
‘These hands… are anything but innocent or pure.’
“Everything will be alright.”
And eventually, I started to regard them as nothing but empty words.
Going along with the constant missions and welcoming the numbness into my bones after every single kill.
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The End of CH. 17.1