Imprisonment
The world was hazy. My mind felt like thick, churning mud. Everything was blurred. A constant ringing assaulted my ears, and the room seemed to spin endlessly. A scent that was somehow both familiar and alien filled the air—something like damp earth mixed with the musty odor of old wood.
“Ugh…” Only a groan escaped my lips. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest, especially the tearing pain radiating from my back. It felt like I’d been slammed hard against something. My mind refused to clear. My head throbbed as if it would split open.
Wait a second. Why did I fall asleep?
My last memory was darkness. And Yua’s smile. The sensation of something striking my head. A sickening crack.
I barely managed to lift my arm and touch my face. My cheek was sticky with dried blood, and my head was tightly wrapped in bandages. And… the pain wasn’t limited to just one or two spots. My entire body ached.
Why am I here? No—more importantly, where is here?
I tried to open my eyes, but my vision remained cloudy. A blurry darkness. Damp, cold air with no trace of sunlight seeped deep into my lungs. This wasn’t my room. A faint smell of mold lingered.
I… I…!
“Huk!”
I gasped violently. My chest heaved. Lightning flashed through my mind. An instinctive sense of crisis screamed that I was missing something vital.
“Huu… huu…”
Sweating coldly, I struggled to sit up. I planted my palms on the floor—cold wooden planks. My body creaked in protest, but I desperately forced my torso upright.
Something was wrong.
“...?”
It was dark… and strange. Instead of my familiar bed, there was a worn wooden chair. Instead of my soft silk pajamas, I wore rough, stiff fabric. I tried to move.
Clank! Clank!
A cold, dull metallic sound rang in my ears.
“What the hell is this!!!”
My arms were chained to the chair’s armrests. My legs were shackled to the chair’s legs. Cold metal cuffs bit into my wrists and ankles, the chains anchored firmly to the floor. No matter how hard I pulled, they wouldn’t budge.
“Ah! Ah!!!”
The pain of the chains digging into my flesh tore a groan from my throat. The more I struggled to break free, the tighter they constricted around my skin.
That was when the memories came flooding back.
The fragments that had been scattered reassembled all at once, accompanied by a burning pain in my skull. I had been drinking with friends late at night… and then… Yua had chased after me. We argued in the alley… and she had smashed a wooden board over my head…
This was insane. All of it was real. It hadn’t been a nightmare.
Ice-cold sweat trickled down my spine. The moment my sanity fully returned, a massive wave of terror crashed over me.
“Yua! Where are you, Yua!”
I screamed until my throat felt like it would burst. My voice cracked and split, but I couldn’t stop. It echoed hollowly inside the narrow, dark room.
“This is all your doing! Come out right now!”
Chained to the chair, I thrashed desperately. Every frantic struggle sliced through empty air.
[ ]
At that moment, a wooden board appeared right in front of my eyes. It filled my entire field of vision.
It was Yua.
She had been standing silently behind me for who knows how long, without the slightest sound. Her cold gaze seemed to pierce straight through the crown of my head. In the darkness, the faint floral scent she carried grew even stronger, stabbing into my nose. Every nerve in my body stood on end.
Still chained, I glared at her with everything I had. My voice cracked with raw fury. My heart was still pounding like mad.
“How dare you…!”
My anger was about to explode. But her next message froze everything in place.
[I know.]
Yua’s board was resolute. Her eyes didn’t waver in the slightest. It was as if she was mocking every reaction I might have expected.
[Kidnapping. Imprisonment. Assault… Want me to do more?]
Her words stabbed into my heart like a dagger. Want me to do more? That question carried a cruelty without the slightest hesitation. It was cold, dry, and perfectly controlled—silent yet devastating.
“...Hah.”
Her sheer audacity left me speechless. It completely exceeded anything I had anticipated. Even my rage felt frozen solid.
Okay. In times like this, you have to stay composed. They say even if you fall into a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you! Get a grip, Leo. I’m not alone. I’m the legitimate heir of the Heavenfield family. This isn’t over yet.
“That’s right! You have just assaulted, kidnapped, and imprisoned Leonardo Heavenfield—the legitimate heir of the Heavenfield family, your friend and master.”
I swallowed hard and forced myself to speak calmly. I prayed my voice no longer carried any tremor.
“This is an extremely serious crime. According to imperial law, it could even warrant the death penalty…”
I desperately tried to remind her of the empire’s laws and authority. I fought not to be overwhelmed by her unwavering gaze.
“This sin cannot be forgiven. But if you release me right now, considering our past friendship, I will specially—”
I threw my final gamble. I dangled the bait of ‘friendship’ and ‘mercy’ to appeal to her conscience. To make her believe I was returning to the old Leo who had shown her kindness.
[Forgive you?]
Yua’s message seemed to laugh at my words. I saw the corner of her lips curve upward slightly. That faint smile looked more like a sneer.
[Don’t need it. That kind of thing.]
It was firm. There was no hesitation. None of my persuasion worked on her.
My heart sank with a heavy thud.
[What exactly can you even do right now?]
Her eyes scanned my entire body. It was a gaze that mocked me for writhing helplessly in chains. She knew perfectly well that I could do nothing. The confidence of someone who held complete control over the situation. That arrogant look made my anger explode again.
“....!”
I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. Boiling rage mixed with an inexplicable terror.
“Then what the hell do you want? What are you planning to do with me!”
I shouted until my throat felt raw. My voice echoed like a scream in the cramped space.
“Are you going to sell me to a brothel? Or torture me in secret and kill me? You think you’ll get away with doing this to me!”
I tried to provoke her. Anything to escape this situation.
[No.]
Yua’s message cut off every single one of my words in an instant. Her eyes didn’t falter in the slightest. It was as if she already knew every possible answer no matter what I asked.
[But maybe something even worse.]
Her words pierced me coldly. Something even worse. I couldn’t grasp the exact meaning. But within it, I sensed a strange anticipation mixed with an inescapable chill. Cold sweat ran down my spine. All my senses screamed in warning.
“You ungrateful…”
I ground my teeth. My body trembled violently.
“Have you forgotten who picked you up from the streets? The saying about repaying kindness with enmity was made for someone exactly like you!”
I deliberately dug up her past to attack her.
[I know. I’m truly grateful.]
Yua listened to everything I said and nodded. Her message felt sincere. There was no trace of resentment. It was as if she truly understood my words. Her calm demeanor left me at a complete loss for what to say next.
“Then why on earth…? Why are you doing this to me?”
I asked one final time. There was no longer any anger or fear in my voice. Just exhaustion. I wanted to hear the reason from her. The motive hidden behind all this madness.
“There has to be a reason, right?”
The moment I said that, Yua’s expression shifted slightly. It seemed to flush… and her previously calm eyes trembled faintly. Like the surface of water just before a storm.
[I can’t say…]
Her message was filled with hesitation. Just three words. Yet the emotion packed into those three words felt like an unfathomable abyss. I could see cracks forming in her sanity.
“Then what the hell do you want!!! Yua! The more you act like this, the less I can understand you!”
I shouted desperately. I hoped she would return to her senses.
[I don’t know either!]
Her message sounded like a scream. The handwriting shook violently. She gripped the board so tightly it looked like it might shatter.
[I don’t want to do this either! Leo is my most precious person!]
Tears streamed from Yua’s eyes. The cold tears that had once fallen on my cheek now poured down hot and fierce. Her body shook violently. Within those tears lay deep sorrow and an uncontrollable longing.
“You do this to the person you cherish most? You lock up, beat, and imprison the person you say is the most precious to you…!”
I rebuked her. My voice trembled with rage.
[…Because Leo. You ran away. You abandoned me.]
Yua wrote as if bursting into sobs. The handwriting carried an incomprehensible anger. It was as if she was condemning my entire existence. Her body trembled like a small bird. Her eyes stared straight at me. Inside them swirled madness. The madness of someone who would never let me go. A destructive obsession. The desperate cry of a child who had lost everything. All those emotions were tangled together.
Yua wrote again as if sobbing. The letters carried an unknown fury. As if blaming me for everything.
“How many times do I have to say it… I didn’t abandon you!”
I spoke in a heated voice. Her distorted thinking made my blood boil.
[Yes you did.]
Yua’s message held not a shred of hesitation. As if all my protests were meaningless. Her calm certainty made me even more anxious.
[I told you not to go. I said let’s go together.]
[You lied to me and left alone.]
Betrayal flowed coldly from her message. I felt trapped by that icy gaze. The tears welling in her eyes spilled again.
“Ha… This is pointless. Really.”
I spat out the words in resignation. I realized that any further conversation was impossible. Her logic was completely beyond common sense.
“Stop spouting nonsense and release me right now. My patience is running out.”
I made one last threat, invoking my authority. My voice now mixed anger with exhausted desperation. My whole body shook uncontrollably.
[No.]
Just one word on her board. The way it seemed to carry every possible mockery and sneer finally snapped my sanity. A chill ran down my spine. This was an insult to me as a human being. Rage blinded my eyes.
[Then Leo will just run away again.]
Her next words carried deep sorrow and fear instead of anger. As if I had stabbed her heart once more. Her hand clutched her own forearm again. I saw her nails dig into her flesh.
[You’ll abandon me.]
Her eyes were filled with an incomprehensible terror. The tears falling from them felt cold. They looked like tears of blood.
“I told you I didn’t abandon you, how many times do I have to say it!”
I lost control and shouted. Logical explanation was pointless now.
[I’ll be abandoned again. I’ll be taken away again. I’ll disappear again. I’ll be broken again. I’ll get hurt again.]
Her message had become a mad murmur. The handwriting shook so violently it turned into incomprehensible curves. She scratched wildly across the board with the hand holding the pen. It sounded like flesh and wood were being torn.
[No no no no no no no no]
As if writhing in agony, she began frantically scratching at her gloved wrist. The sound of nails scraping beneath the glove continued without pause. The intensity looked like she was trying to destroy herself.
[I won’t let you leave me again I won’t let you leave me again I won’t let you leave me again]
She desperately carved the letters into the board.
“You’re not going to release me…”
I muttered in despair.
“You say you don’t have any other purpose either…”
What she wanted from me wasn’t freedom.
“Then… are you saying we should stay here together for the rest of our lives? That’s ridiculous…”
I could already sense my fate.
[Yes.]
One single word on her board.
“...What?”
For the rest of our lives. Here. With this insane woman.
[Let’s stay together forever. Just the two of us.]
[In our own little hideout where no one else knows.]
[I’ll provide everything—food, entertainment, all of it.]
[So you just have to stay quietly by my side.]
“...Fuck.”
[What did you say?]
“Fuck, let me go! You crazy bitch!”
The moment my words ended, the world flipped upside down. Her hand seized my body. A cold palm pressed against my waist. I was lifted into the air. Impossible strength surged through her arms. And then she slammed me into the wall.
Crash!
A horrifying crack sounded from my back. It felt like bones had shattered. My vision exploded in white. At the same time, my skull rang violently. My body was completely wrecked.
“Cough!”
The pain of all the air being forced from my lungs made me cough. I couldn’t breathe. Agony ruled my entire body. Everything went black. I collapsed onto the floor.
[Don’t resist, Leo.]
Yua’s tone remained cold and dry. My suffering meant nothing to her.
[Does it hurt? It’s okay. I’ll heal you.]
She knelt over my body. A cold hand touched my shattered waist. My body trembled—from pain and fear. Then she placed her hand on me, and a strange warm light enveloped my waist. It was a bizarre phenomenon. My broken leg returned to normal as if nothing had happened. My arms, my back—my entire body recovered in an instant. As though none of it had ever occurred.
But even though the pain vanished, the memory of it remained vivid. The monstrous strength with which Yua had shattered me. And the unknown power she used to heal it.
“What…?”
I gasped for breath. “You… you can use magic…?”
My voice was completely hoarse.
[That’s not the important issue here.]
[Now it’s just the two of us.]
[Let’s talk about all the things we couldn’t before.]
[I missed you so much.]
[I wanted to see you. I wanted to hear your voice. I wanted to touch you. The pocket watch you used, your hair, your old clothes, your room, your bedding—nothing could replace you. I missed you. I wanted to talk to you like we used to. Yes! Let’s talk. What happened to you during the past two years? Ah, right, they probably aren’t good memories. Sorry. Then I’ll talk first. The past two years were so hard for me. I couldn’t do anything. I only thought about you. I stayed up all night wondering why you abandoned me. Not a single day was peaceful. I was terrified you might have died, so I prayed to the gods every day. Please don’t let him die. Please bring him back to my side. And then—what do you know! The gods granted my wish. In my cursed, unlucky life, they gave me the blessing that is you! And…]
Yua’s messages had become an endless waterfall. As if her sanity had completely collapsed, incomprehensible strings of letters poured out haphazardly. Every single one of them was directed solely at me. My name. My memories. Everything about me. It felt like I was losing my mind. My vision blurred.
“Get lost! I’ll handle it myself! Stay away!”
I shouted in a voice filled with rage.
The hellish routine repeated every morning. The warm water and towel she brought. And her touch. I wrapped my body tightly, wanting to escape her gaze.
[I told you I’d do it.]
Yua ignored me and placed the basin down with practiced ease. Her message was calm, as if she couldn’t even hear my struggles.
“No, even so, why do you have to do something like this!”
I yelled. My voice echoed around the room. Every desperate resistance ate away at what little pride I had left.
[Everything about you is mine to…]
“Shut up.”
I cut her off. I could no longer protect my sanity.
“No matter what, isn’t it wrong for a grown adult to have someone else bathe them!”
My voice was hoarse, but her next message froze me completely.
[...]
Nothing was written on Yua’s board. Her eyes were calm, but the unfathomable depth of emotion hidden within them overwhelmed me. It was a gaze that seemed not to understand my words, yet carried an even deeper abyss.
[Leo.]
My name. Just two letters. The murderous intent contained in those two letters tightened around my heart. My body shook.
[If you keep resisting like that]
[Should I hit you again?]
Her message was sweet, like scolding a child. But that single word contained every horrific memory of the violence I had suffered yesterday. The pain of my head splitting open, my bones breaking. To call that ‘hitting’…
“Cut it out!!!!!!”
Enraged at being treated like a baby, I knocked over the bathwater she had prepared. The basin clattered loudly as it rolled across the cold floor. Warm water spilled everywhere. It drenched her completely. And the moment I did it, I regretted it. I saw her eyes narrow ever so slightly with killing intent.
“Ah… no… this is because you made such an unreasonable request…”
I desperately tried to explain. My voice cracked and trembled. “That’s… that’s not what I meant, you know that, right…”
My eyes were filled with terror as I stared at her.
“No, that… I’m sorry, I’m sor—”
I begged. Because I could already predict what she would do next.
Slap!
A crisp sound split the air. My cheek stung. A burning pain swept across my face. I swallowed a small sob and called her name.
“Yu… Yua.”
Slap!
What came back was another blow. Her hand was as cold as ice, but every time it struck my cheek, it delivered excruciating pain. She paid no attention to my suffering.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
Without changing her expression in the slightest, she continued beating me with those deep, dark eyes. My cheeks were already stained with blood, and sensation was fading. I could only curl up in agony.
How long had it been…? It felt like an eternity. She didn’t stop. My cries echoed through the narrow room.
“I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Yua… I was wrong… I’ll take the bath…”
I surrendered. It was humiliating and infuriating, but I had no choice. To stop the pain, the only option was to obey her commands. My will had been completely broken.
Yua’s earlier manic expression had vanished. She looked at me again with an angelic face. Instead of killing intent, her eyes now held a strange satisfaction and an innocent smile.
[Good. You’re such a good boy for thinking properly.]
Her message was affectionate, like praising a child. The stark contrast terrified me even more. She was genuinely treating me like a ‘child who had reflected on his mistake.’
“Fuuuuck…”
I ground my teeth and muttered a curse under my breath.
[What did you say?]
Her board came right up to my face. My heart sank.
Her eyes had already seen through everything.
“Nothing…”
I shook my head. There was nothing more I could do. I had given up on everything.
Night had fallen. I had been fed, stripped, and bathed. Under her perfect domination, my body moved without the slightest resistance. I was no different from a baby. And that wasn’t enough—she seemed intent on devouring even my soul.
[Here, I’ll read it for you~]
Yua told me through her board. She sat beside Leo just as he had once done for her. Now it was her turn to read him a story. Even though it only amounted to me rereading what she had written, she seemed to treasure even that meaningless act.
I looked exhausted. My eyes had lost focus, but I nodded obediently at her words. I submitted to her command. I opened the fairy tale book in front of him. It was the exact same one he had read to me when I was little. The faded, worn pages made the letters look blurry.
[The Little Mermaid]
[Deep beneath the sea lived a little mermaid—]
[One day she suddenly fell in love with a man from the world above.]
[So she offered her voice to an evil witch and became mute.]
I glanced at Leo. He was reading my message. Mute. His eyes wavered. A strange pleasure surged through me at the sight.
“Heh.”
I forced out a laugh. She seemed to be mocking me, but I didn’t care. A sense of kinship. He understands me.
[The very very pretty little mermaid tried to be with the prince.]
I continued writing. Very very pretty little mermaid. Now she had become my beautiful little mermaid. Within my message, the little mermaid overlapped with my own image.
[But because of the evil witch’s interference, she couldn’t be with the prince, and in the end the little mermaid turned into sea foam and disappeared…]
My hand stopped. I could no longer continue the story. This horrific ending. It felt like my world was shattering. A conclusion where Leo and I part ways? I could never forgive it. My hand trembled madly.
“Ughhh!!!”
Rage surged from deep inside me. This was all a lie. Liars. Liars who deny my love. The little mermaid will never disappear. I will never let Leo go.
Rip. Rip.
I tore the fairy tale book apart. The horrible sound of pages being shredded echoed through the room. One page. Then another. I ripped and ripped again. Every page that contained the little mermaid’s unhappy ending was torn to shreds. My fury knew no bounds.
[Leo, this story is terrible.]
I held the board out toward Leo. My eyes burned like flames. He stared at me without a word. Fear lingered in his eyes, but I could tell he understood my anger.
[I’ll tell you a different story.]
I wrote again. This time, it was my story for the Leo in the palm of my hand.
“Huh? I can’t see any more of the storybook.”
Leo muttered quietly. His eyes shook with confusion. It seemed he had realized I was controlling everything. His bewildered expression satisfied me.
[The Mute Princess and the Wicked Young Master]
I wrote again, pouring all my sincerity into it. The Mute Princess and the Wicked Young Master. The title was a story meant only for Leo. I hoped he would understand it. My pain. My love.
“Wait… the title somehow feels…”
His voice trembled faintly. He had already realized my intention.
[Once upon a time, there was an abandoned mute princess.]
[But thanks to a certain young master who picked her up, she lived a very happy daily life.]
[That happiness didn’t last long. The young master was very wicked and abandoned her and left.]
I stared at Leo. His eyes widened. He understood exactly who the ‘young master’ I spoke of was. He had abandoned me. My world had once again been dyed in darkness. His face twisted with despair.
“Wait? That was definitely about me, right? You definitely said it was about me?”
He muttered in disbelief.
[But the mute princess did not give up!]
[The mute princess searched for the young master, and in the end the two of them lived happily ever after!]
I finished my story. My story had to have a happy ending. One where Leo and I stayed together forever. A satisfied smile rose to my lips. Young Master Leo had understood my story.
It felt like I was losing my mind. Leo’s eyes shook. His vision seemed to blur. The fear reflected in his eyes satisfied me. My story. My true ending.
As time passed, I grew more and more worn down. I no longer shouted. Every morning, when Yua came with her sweet messages and gentle touch, I didn’t react. My body was alive, but my spirit was dying. The flame inside me had been extinguished.
And on the third day, I realized it.
There were no windows here, so I couldn’t track the passage of time, but my body remembered the rhythm. Morning. Lunch. Dinner. And the fairy tale she read to me. On the third day, when the storybook changed to a new tale, I stared blankly at Yua’s face.
Why should I resist?
I realized all that exhausting struggle was meaningless. My resistance only made her smile and filled her with satisfaction.
She enjoys my reactions.
All my thrashing, all my pain, all my anger were nothing more than entertaining amusement to her. She pressed me harder to hear my screams and tormented me more to see my fear.
I hate her for that.
Hatred. That terrible emotion filled my heart. All my nerves turned toward that hatred. It was the only revenge I could show her.
Then all I have to do is stop reacting.
Silence. Perfect non-reaction. I would no longer be entertainment for her. And so I gave up on everything. On my entire sense of self.
I’ll just treat her like a ghost.
It was the next morning. Yua entered my room as usual. In her hands were warm water and a towel, as if to begin my morning.
The red marks from yesterday’s beating were still vivid on my cheek. But I felt no pain. All my suffering had now retreated deep inside me.
[Leo!~]
[It’s another good morning today.]
I looked at her writing. Her face was shining brightly, as if I were her most precious person. That sight.
It was disgusting. That smile too.
My heart remained deathly still. All emotion had frozen. I gave no reaction whatsoever.
“...”
My gaze was fixed on empty air. Avoiding her eyes. My ears were closed to her messages. All my nerves were focused on the chains binding my wrists and ankles, and on my heart that no longer beat. I wanted to give up on everything now. Even the fact that I existed.
[…Alright, let’s wash up first, Leo.]
Yua seemed to hesitate for a moment at my lack of response, but she soon held out another message. Her tone was still affectionate.
“...”
I gave no answer, no reaction. I couldn’t even tell if I had heard her. I simply moved like a puppet according to my own will while chained. My body was no longer mine. It moved toward the basin as she commanded. I obediently followed her words. Like a broken person. Like a machine. My body moved exactly as her touch guided it, exactly as she led it. It was as if I had even forgotten how to breathe on my own.
“...”
I put no emotion whatsoever into my eyes. I simply stared at her. When she led me, I entrusted everything to her hands. My heart was silent. My mind wandered the room like a ghost.
Only then did Yua seem to notice something was wrong. The smile gradually disappeared from her face. A strange anxiety flickered in her eyes.
[What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this? Are you rebelling against me again?]
An ominous aura rose from her message. She grabbed my arm roughly. Her eyes stared straight into mine, as if trying to pierce through my heart.
“...”
I gave no answer. Her question simply lingered in the air. My eyes continued to look at her like she was a ghost.
[Hey, answer me!]
Her message was now almost a scream. Her voice struck my ears. But I showed no reaction whatsoever. Her words meant nothing to me.
“......”
My silence provoked her anger. Her eyes blazed with murderous intent. Her hand cut through the air.
[Answer me!!!]
Slap!
A crisp sound split the air. My cheek stung. A burning pain swept across my face. The same pain as yesterday. But this time, I felt nothing. My body knew pain, but my heart was numb. I acted as if nothing had happened. As if she had never existed in my life.
“...”
I behaved as though nothing was wrong. My eyes looked at her like she was a ghost. I saw her tears falling drop by drop. The tears streaming down her cheeks. Those tears flowed through my blood. Her face was a mixture of rage and despair. Her breathing was as rough as a beast’s. My heart remained quiet.
[What the hell do you want!!!!!!]
Her final message dug into my bones. All her anger, despair, confusion, and the madness created by my non-reaction were condensed into that one sentence. She stared intently at my face. As if I had already died.
Several more days passed. Yua’s screams continued day and night without pause. My cheeks were stained with blood every single day. She hit me, screamed, cried, and begged. She tried desperately to find even the faintest light in my eyes. But I showed no reaction whatsoever. I had become a perfect ghost. My soul had left me long ago.
The woman who had been furiously raging eventually changed her approach. She must have grown tired of the fact that I gave her no change at all. She brought out that old mask again. The strategy she had used when I first returned to the mansion—the perfect Head Maid who hid herself completely. The strategy of suppressing all emotion and showing only a flawless appearance. In the place where everything about me had vanished, she began her performance once more.
It was the next morning. Yua entered the room as usual. Her eyes were calm. A faint smile played on her lips. She didn’t avoid my gaze. Within it flowed a strange silence instead of anger or despair.
[Leo. Let’s eat.]
She held out the board. Her tone was businesslike as usual. Within it lay the composure of someone who knew everything about me. I looked at her. There was no light in my eyes. As if I were not a living being.
“...”
I gave no reply. My gaze passed straight through Yua’s face and fixed on the wall behind her. Her words held no meaning for me.
[I see.]
Yua paid no mind to my lack of response. She nodded. It seemed she had interpreted my silence as ‘consent.’ She unlocked my chains and led me to the dining area. Her touch was as gentle and neat as ever. But within it, I sensed a strange distance. As if she were making an effort to hide her emotions. She no longer whipped me.
“...”
I obediently followed all her instructions. She fed me, made me drink water, and placed a spoon in my hand. I was a puppet moving according to her will. Like a broken doll.
[Do as you please. This is just right.]
Her message was written quietly, as if speaking to herself. It was a declaration that she would completely ignore all my resistance, all my emotions. She was no longer trying to enjoy my pain. She simply wanted to possess me completely. To erase every last emotion inside me. To obliterate even the final remnants of my ego.
This was what you would call wearing a mask. The strategy Yua had used right after I returned from the war. The strategy of hiding her emotions as much as possible and showing only a perfect appearance. Beneath that mask, her madness seemed to slowly devour my soul. Everything was calculated and cold. I could see her intention. She wanted to make me completely hers. To extinguish every last spark of resistance inside me.
But how long will that last…?
My silence was my only weapon. There was no way her mask could last forever. Eventually, she too would grow tired of my non-reaction.
That night, Yua read me a fairy tale as usual. She released me from the chains, sat me beside the bed, and instead of leaning on my lap, she sat right next to me. Her hand gently stroked my forehead.
[Time to sleep now.]
Her arm caressed my cheek. Her breath was calm. But my heart remained quiet. Having given up on everything, I closed my eyes. Even sleep was no longer my own will. It felt like her touch was dragging me into slumber.
And so several more days passed. I continued to act like a shadow. Yua continued to wear her mask and treat me like the perfect Head Maid. She fed me, dressed me, washed me, and read me stories at night. Her messages grew increasingly listless. Her eyes were calm, but I could see an unknown anxiety writhing deep within them. My non-reaction had begun to eat away at her.
The change Yua had wanted from me never came. My eyes had lost focus like those of a dead fish. No matter how many times my name was called in her messages, I showed no reaction. I simply moved as she led me, chained as I was. My silence was like a rock. It would not break.
Yua was slowly going insane. Her mask was perfect, but beneath it I could feel the pain of her whipping herself to endure. The tone of her messages began to tremble more and more. My non-reaction pierced her deepest core. Like a dagger stabbing straight into her heart. My silence was slowly killing her mind.
And so the mask began to crack. Her smile turned into a spasm. Her eyes shook unsteadily. Even her once-perfect hand movements began to tremble faintly. Because I gave no reaction, her inner self slowly fractured. The cracks grew larger and larger.
And finally.
The wooden board she held in her hand fell to the floor with a terrible scream. The sound reverberated through the quiet room.
[I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Leo, I was wrong.]
“Huu, huuuuuhk, kheup, huuk.”
It was a face contorted in agony. I saw the tears falling from her eyes. Those tears flowed from eyes already bloodshot red, drawing a horrifying trail. She knelt before my feet and begged me. My heart was quiet, but my ears absorbed everything she said.
[I was wrong… really… the kidnapping, the beating… the imprisonment, all of it…]
She writhed in pain. She scratched frantically at her own forearm. She buried her head against my feet and her shoulders shook. That trembling shook my chains. My shadow covered her.
[I did it because I was afraid you would leave me again like you did two years ago if I didn’t.]
Pure agony could be felt in her voice. Two years ago. The moment she believed I had abandoned her and left. Her fear had been real. To her, my silence was the end of the world.
[So please, just react a little… I feel like I’ll die without you. Every single one of your actions is what gives me life.]
Her voice cracked. She clung to my arm. Cold tears fell onto my hand. My heart didn’t budge.
[I’ll release you.]
[Let’s go back to how we were. Even if it’s just as friends, it’s okay.]
Her voice carried a faint hope. Friends. The woman who had locked me up, beaten me, and dominated me was now saying ‘friends’? It was laughable.
[I really feel like I’m going to die right now.]
Her sobs were heartbreaking. The desperate cry of a child who had lost everything. That cry dug into my bones.
[So please…]
[Say something.]
Her final plea was almost a gasp. She clung to me desperately while calling my name. She looked up at my face. Bloodshot eyes, snot running down her face. The sight fixed my gaze. It was heartbreaking.
But I did not answer. I did not react. I simply stared blankly at the ceiling. My gaze passed over Yua’s face and fixed far away, deep in the darkness of the windowless ceiling.