My eyes slowly opened as I lay on the ground.
The first thing I felt was pain.
"Agh."
My head throbbed as a hoarse groan escaped my throat.
Then came the ache in my jaw.
My right hand rose to my cheek, fingers pressing against it as I tried to rub the pain away.
That's when I felt it.
The weight around my wrist.
Heavy.
Then the sound, sharp and unmistakable, as I moved my hand.
Clang.
My dazed eyes drifted downward.
A metal shackle bound my right wrist, and a chain extended from it. My gaze followed it, and I saw the second shackle locked around my left wrist.
They were connected by a short chain—barely a meter, limiting my movement.
Clang.
The shackles rang as I moved my hands to the floor, pressing my palms against the cold stone, and pushed myself up until I was sitting.
That's when I felt it again.
Weight.
And that strange coldness pressing against skin.
My head lifted slightly, and my right hand moved toward my neck.
Cold metal.
It circled my neck, scraping against skin with each movement.
I blinked, my vision cleared a little more as I shifted my legs, trying to sit more comfortably.
Then—
Again.
Weight.
Screech.
Metal scraped against stone.
My eyes dropped to my feet.
Two more shackles, locked tightly around my ankles, connected by a short metal chain.
Haah.
I exhaled slowly and leaned back, pressing my shoulders against the wall, and closed my eyes.
My thoughts were slow, and my memories were blurred, hazy.
Nothing.
'What happened?'
I opened my eyes again, staring at the restraints.
A collar around my neck.
Two shackles on my wrists.
Two more on my ankles.
Wrists bound together.
Ankles bound together.
My voice came out weak.
"How..?"
How am I here?
Confusion clung heavily to my mind.
What happened?
I didn't know.
I didn't remember.
Slowly.
The fog surrounding my thoughts cleared.
And memories resurfaced.
Earth.
Lukas Wane.
Terros.
Adonis Ashspire.
Then—
Lisa.
My mind raced again.
Escape.
Right...
I needed to escape.
My body moved with that thought, hands pushing myself upward.
Clang.
Thud.
Only to fall down a breath later.
My head rang, and a sharp pain shot through my jaw.
Thud.
The shackles around my limbs pulled me down to the floor again.
Then—
I remembered.
The escape.
Running blindly through the corridors.
Shouts and footsteps chasing me.
The guard.
His fist.
My jaw ached at the memory.
'I failed.'
Realization settled fast.
But—
Despair not.
My breath quickened, just a pace faster.
I placed a palm over my chest, heart drumming wildly.
Clang.
The sound of the chains accompanied the movement.
Then—
Before despair could settle, it turned into something else.
Desperation.
A face resurfaced.
Lisa.
My hands trembled at the thought of her.
I couldn't stay here any longer.
Clang.
My hands moved toward the shackles around my ankles.
I pushed my fingers into the gap between skin and metal, pulling and pushing at first light, then more strongly, and at the end, just forcefully.
But—
Clang.
Besides the scraping of metal against my skin.
Nothing.
The shackles felt even tighter, but I didn't care, my eyes had already shifted away from them.
The cell.
There must be something...
Something to help me.
The cell was different from the last one.
The stone walls and floor were...cleaner?
It seemed like it.
No straw.
No cracked stone.
No scraps of cloth.
The bars were thicker, sturdier, and newer, and the door, properly embedded into the wall, not just lowered into the hinges.
A lightstone illuminated the corridor and cell in a dull white glow.
Desperation turned into despair once more.
There was no way.
No weak point or gap.
Just when that thought settled.
Step.
My body tensed for a moment at the sound of footsteps.
Step.
They grew louder, closer, with each footfall.
Step.
At last, someone appeared.
He halted directly in front of the cell, eyes traveling slowly over my shackles before shifting toward my face.
I pressed my back tighter against the wall, my racing heart had slowed as I watched his scarred face.
His lips curled into a faint smirk before he spoke.
"Bastard," he said, amused. "You finally woke up?"
The smirk across his lips didn't make him any less menacing.
My body tensed even more, awaiting with a bated breath his next words.
He leaned forward, hands gripping the bars.
"You took your sweet time, huh?"
I shifted slightly under his gaze, chains scraping across stone.
Screech.
The sound wasn't loud, but enough to fill the silence.
His smile widened further as his gaze dropped to the shackles.
"They're beautiful, aren't they?"
I swallowed.
"What..?"
His chin nudged down, toward the chains.
"The shackles. Brand-new magic gear. We got them a few days ago as a sample."
A chuckle broke out of him.
"You should feel honored, being the first person to test them."
My throat felt dry, confusion etched into my voice.
"Magic gear..?"
He only smiled, not answering.
Instead, he reached for the chain at his belt, searching for one of the keys.
Click.
He pushed the key into the lock and turned it.
"You see," he said as he opened it and stepped inside, "those shackles are special. Only a magic engineer can take them off."
Step.
He stopped directly in front of me, hand reaching forward.
"And they've got a little extra function."
I didn't speak.
No, I couldn't.
I could just watch every movement of his, fear creeping into my limbs before I knew it.
Some pressure held me down like an invisible weight.
His hand reached for the chain that bound my wrists.
He pulled.
"Aghh!"
Pain tore through me as the shackles and collar tightened instantly.
He pulled again, smiling.
"The more you resist, the tighter they get."
"Aghh—"
Metal bit into my skin.
The collar tightened until breathing became difficult.
He pulled once more.
"The more I pull, the more it bites."
I gasped, vision blurring as the metal dug deeper into my skin.
Warm blood ran down from the shackles.
It felt like I was suffocating.
I was only able to take small breaths, barely enough to keep me alive.
Then—
Clang.
He let go.
For a moment I thought it was over, but—
"Gha—"
The metal stayed tight around my limbs, stopping me mid-breath.
There was no air in my lungs, panic rose, I lifted my hands, clawing against the metal around my neck, desperately for air.
But—
That only made the shackles tighten further.
Thud.
My hands fell limply to my sides, head raised high as if that would let me get more air.
My vision blurred further, darkening at the edges.
The guard in front of me was nothing more than a black silhouette while the light behind him became too bright.
His voice cut through it all, like a sharpened knife.
"And the funny thing? They only loosen on their own after enough time passes."
His chuckle terrified me.
"Ah, don't worry. They'll never kill you, but they'll make you feel like it."
I barely heard him or his laughter.
Breathing was all I could think about.
Hah.
Short breaths.
Hah.
They kept me alive, barely.
Eventually, after a few more breaths, the pain eased, metal receding just enough to make it feel like saving.
He stood in front of me, watching everything.
Then—
As if he only remembered now.
"Oh. Right."
Rustle.
He pulled a folded stack of papers from his pocket and held it up in front of my eyes.
"Interesting news we got."
My vision had settled again, enough to discern what he was holding.
A newspaper.
The front page showed a picture, big enough to take up the whole page.
It was me—dragged out of the tribunal hall in chains.
But what stole my gaze was something else—
The headline.
[Marquis's Bastard Son Assaults and Harasses Commoners and Maids — Sentenced to Slavery]
My heart went cold.
The scene resurfaced again, but his sharp laugh brought me back.
"So we got ourselves a really popular bastard. Adonis, right?"
Rustle.
The paper slipped through his fingers, falling softly to the floor.
"Now we've got two reasons."
He rolled up one sleeve.
The smile vanished from his face as he spoke firmer, almost cold.
"First—you're a fucking noble."
He rolled up the other one.
"Second—that little escape attempt."
My body trembled uncontrollably.
His forearms were thick. Veins popped up as he cracked his knuckles.
"You caused trouble. The boss cut our pay."
Smack.
"Agh!"
His fist hit before I could react.
My jaw snapped to the side. Blood filled my mouth.
"We lost money. You nobles understand debt, right?"
Smash.
"Arghh!"
Another punch.
It felt like his fist was made of stone—not flesh.
My jaw ached as if it would snap at any moment.
All the while, he continued in a calm tone.
"Some of us needed that money."
Crack.
"Aghhh!"
Something broke—my nose.
Thud.
Blood poured down my face as my head slammed into the wall.
The world seemed to spin around me.
"Just because a bastard of a fallen noble thought he could run."
His boot slammed into my stomach.
Crack.
"Arrghhh!"
My body folded.
Thud.
I hit the floor hard, shackles tightening under the movement.
"Now there are a lot of angry people."
Another kick followed before his words finished.
Crack.
I heard a cracking sound.
"Ghaa!"
My limbs twisted and turned under the pain. The shackles tightened further as they felt resistance.
It felt like one of my ribs snapped. The collar tightened further as I spat out blood.
My hands reached out, desperately crawling on the floor for air.
Hah.
I felt like dying.
Hah.
Blood filled my mouth.
The collar was tight.
Too tight.
It felt like I would either drown or suffocate at any moment.
Tears blurred my vision.
Step.
He crouched down, whispering.
"Don't worry, little noble. We won't kill you."
Then he laughed, sharply, as if entertained by the thought.
"We'll sell you to people who'll make you wish we had."
Bam.
Another kick sent me flying, back crashing against the wall.
Thud.
He straightened again.
"My shift's over. Don't have too much fun without me."
Pfui.
Something wet hit my head.
Step.
"Noble disgrace."
Click.
The door locked again.
Step.
Step.
His footsteps drowned in the corridor, and silence returned.
I lay there, shaking.
My hand shifted to my side—my stomach.
A sharp pain flared up each time I took a breath, like something sharp stabbing inside me.
My hands moved, trembling, shifting me carefully until I lay on my other side.
Hah.
'Better.'
The collar was still tight around my neck, making every breath a desperate struggle.
Hah.
Between sharp breaths and sobs, I looked toward the door.
Hoping he will never come back.