Chapter 87

Soma awoke bound in ropes.

"Wh-Where am I?"

Soma noticed how he was restrained to a chair. Panicking, he tried moving in any way he could. He tried to untie himself to no avail.

"Help! Help me!"

Soma shouted as loud as he could. That was when he noticed that there were two big and burly men watching him from the shadows. Seeing them glare at him in the darkness made Soma stop trying to untie himself.

"Wh-Who are you?"

The two men who looked like twins didn't answer Soma.

"What're you gonna do to me?"

Again, the two big and burly twins didn't answer Soma.

"Answer me!"

The sound of footsteps caught Soma's attention. He froze. It came from behind him. He tried to see who was approaching him, but his restraints prevented him from looking behind. The footsteps were slow, measured, and steady. Soma felt his heart beat faster, anxiously waiting.

Then, two slender arms hugged Soma from behind.

"My dear Soma, didn't I tell you not to go out at night?"

Soma recognized the voice. Realizing who it was behind him made his blood freeze. How could it not? How could Soma not recognize his own mother?

"Mom-!"

"Shhh! You're shaking," Malty said, tenderly hugging Soma. "Don't be afraid, Soma. I'm not going to hurt you…"

Then, Malty turned Soma around in his chair to face him. That was when Soma saw his mother's true face for the first time. Her eyes carried a darkness he's never seen in anyone. Her face was pale, missing the glow it usually had when their family was together. Her smile that used to be as warm and comforting as the voice Soma used to know now looked as sinister as it could be.

"That is… if you apologize to me and your father."

Soma didn't say anything. His gaze stayed on his mother's true and horrible face. He felt disgust build up inside him. Was this really the mother he loved so dearly? Soma didn't want to believe it, but the truth is right there in front of him.

"I'm not a bad person, Soma," Malty said. "It was just a misunderstanding! You have to go and tell your father that, alright? I don't want to have to kill you both!"

Soma stayed silent. With all his courage, he fearlessly glared at his mother. It was a gesture Malty didn't appreciate at all. She stood up and glared at Soma the same way he did.

"Fine. You have been a naughty boy, Soma!" Malty said, pointing a thin finger at Soma. "And naughty boys must be punished!"

Malty looked up at the two men who watched from the sideline and nodded at them. Soma felt the two of them approach him from behind. In a quick manner, he was gagged and carried with the chair. He watched his mother walk away, disappearing into the darkness.

Soma forced himself to calm down and remember the path they took him. He realized that wherever his mother went should be the exit to the building he was currently in. Soma was grateful that he was only gagged, so he could still see the path where the two men took him. When he escapes, he would at least know where to go.

After a short walk that lasted for about a minute, Soma was thrown into a dark room. The only light in the room came from an empty window, bathing the space in the pale white glow of a full moon. From what Soma could see, the building was abandoned. Either that or it was still being built with all the mess lying around.

Soma listened to the footsteps recede. For some reason, the two men left Soma and didn't even try to guard him. Were they that complacent? Soma didn't care. Instead, he recognized this as a chance. He went back to his attempts to untie himself.

Minutes passed as Soma tried to free himself from the ropes that were binding him. At first, Soma didn't feel the ropes loosen at all. But, he didn't give up. Eventually, he felt the ropes loosen. His skin was red and bleeding from his constant attempts, but that was a fair price in exchange for Soma.

Then, he stopped. Soma heard footsteps. From the sound of it, it was just one person. Suspecting that it was once again his mother, Soma stopped trying to escape and just stared at the entrance to his room.

The sound of the footsteps got louder as it got closer. Soma felt a bead of sweat go down the side of his face, his breathing shallow and fast. Then, the knob turned. The door swung open.

Soma was delighted to see his eldest sister, Sero.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Soma tried to speak, but he couldn't. He was still gagged. But, he was still glad to see his sister. At least one of his family will now believe him.

"There you are, Soma!" Sero said. Hearing his sister's relieved voice made Soma want to cry tears of joy. "I finally found you!"

Soma felt incredible delight that his sister found him. Sero hurriedly went to Soma… and punched him with a solid right hook.

With the strength behind his sister's punch, Soma felt the world around him blur as he fell sideways with his chair. He was too stunned to speak.

Sero kicked Soma in the gut while he was down on the ground.

"I finally found you! You little idiot!"

Another kick. And another kick. 

Soma could swear he felt his heart stop as he tried to think why his sister would even hurt him. He couldn't even properly register the pain of his sister's blows.

"Where the hell did you get that runny mouth of yours, huh?" Sero asked Soma as she squatted down to talk to him. "I knew mom should've talked to you earlier! We could've avoided this mess!"

Soma felt his eyes tear up. Sero knew the truth?

"Don't look at me like that," Sero said with a scoff, seeing Soma's teary eyes look up at her. "I'm not a bad person, Soma. Our mom isn't one either. How else do you think our town developed enough to be considered a kingdom?"

Soma was utterly confused.

"That's right! Her business allowed our town to flourish! You really think our town got rich because of dad's hot springs?" Sero stood up laughing after realizing how naive her little brother was. "The only thing dad is good at is making people love him! We could have been such a powerful family, Soma! A powerful and royal family!"

Sero kicked Soma again. This time, her kick was hard enough to send Soma flying. Soma crashed against the wall hard enough for the chair he was bound to to break. 

Of course, that also meant that Soma was free from his restraints. But at the moment, Soma couldn't even move. He felt a heavy weight seemingly pushing his soul down as he struggled to accept the truth about his family. They were nothing more than a family built on lies and deceit.

"Now, all that is about to collapse!" Sero said, shouting at Soma. "Your little mouth had to go and blab! I can't believe you! Are you that stupid?"

Sero walked to the wall where Soma was leaning against. With a harsh hand, she took Soma's red hair in her fist and pulled him up. Soma felt his heart shatter into pieces as he looked at his sister's face. It was a familiar face, but Soma felt as if it was twisted beyond recognition.

"Was your hair the only thing you inherited from our mother? You're fucking unbelievable!"

Sero let go of Soma's hair and let him crash down on the ground. Then, she kicked him again.

"Next time mom comes here, you better listen to her!"

Sero walked away, leaving Soma behind. But, before she could close the door, she heard Soma call out to her. She stopped and listened.

"T-Tell me." Soma's voice was hoarse. "Freia… does she know, too?"

"Of course she does," Sero said. "Mom told her a year ago."

Sero left the room. She locked the door, leaving Soma behind.

Soma felt his world shatter. He felt numb. His mind screamed at him to move, and he just resigned. Wordlessly, he stood up and grabbed a metal pipe just lying on the ground. He tried smashing the door open, but to no avail.

Soma was too weak. Too young and too weak to change anything.

Not knowing what else to do, Soma just collapsed and wept.

…

(ONE WEEK LATER)

Soma persisted in defying the wishes of Malty. He couldn't bring himself to lie to his father. Despite having his world view shattered, Soma stayed true to what he wanted to do. Unfortunately, it cost him the ire of his mother.

Now, Soma was being auctioned as a sex slave.

"Ladies! We have finally arrived at the last piece of merchandise! Of course, it is the most valuable!"

The scantily clad auctioneer's words were met with cheers and hoots after seeing Soma stand under a spotlight. Soma was rather underdressed with only a cloth covering his private area. He was gagged and masked, but he still glared at everyone in the auction.

"Lady Malty has graced us with this gift!" the auctioneer said, gesturing towards Soma so that all attention was on him. "That fiery red hair, that scary stare! That's right, this little man is the son of Lady Malty herself!"

The announcement was met with oohs, ahhs, and other kinds of weird moans. Soma felt sick. His eyes adjusted enough to see that everyone in the auction was a woman.

"He came from our Lady's womb!"

"I want him!"

"He's mine!"

The audience broke out into heated arguments, all of them fighting to possess Soma. The noisy arguments were only stopped by the banging noise of the auctioneer's gavel.

"Ladies, ladies! Calm yourselves!" the auctioneer said once the audience went silent. "This merchandise is a rather special one, for he won't be your permanent possession!"

The audience made noises of disappointment. Hearing that Soma won't belong to them forever disappointed many of them. But, some became even more excited.

"That's right! Every month, this little man shall change hands! For a limited time only, a lucky one among our audience will have our Lady's son as a boy toy!"

The auctioneer seemed to be a competent one as she was able to hype up the crowd once again. The crowd was back to being in a frenzy, desperate to possess Soma.

"Without further ado, let the auction begin! Bidding starts at 1,000,000 Berry!"

"2,000,000 Berry!" someone in the crowd shouted, bidding for Soma.

"A twofold increase!" the auctioneer said. "Number 35 bids 2,000,000 Berry!"

"4,000,000 Berry!" another member of the audience shouted.

"5,000,000 Berry!"

"6,000,000 Berry!"

"7,000,000 Berry!"

"50,000,000 Berry!"

"A big spender!" the auctioneer shouted. "Number 69 bids 50,000,000 Berry!"

The last bid made the other members of the audience go silent. Almost everyone gave up, but some were contemplating whether it was worth it to bid more than the last amount.

"50,000,000 going once! Twice! Sold!" the auctioneer shouted.

Soma just watched the spectacle with sheer disgust. He balled his fists and gritted his teeth in frustration as he glared at the audience. In his eyes, they were nothing more than deplorable animals.

With his bidding over, Soma just let himself be carried away by the events and let it play out. He was helpless, unable to do anything for himself…

Soma eventually came face to face with his mother and sisters before being handed over to the woman who won the bid for him.

"My dear Soma," Malty said, her voice feigning concern. "It shouldn't have ended this way…"

"You little idiot," Sero said with a disappointed sigh. " I told you to listen to mom!"

"Soma," Freia said, rather wistfully. "Do you hate mom?"

Soma said nothing. The ever-present glare was still on his face. Seeing that Soma wasn't budging at all, Malty had no choice to go through with what she arranged.

"Take him away," Malty said to her lackeys. "And, Soma… you will only be free once you love me enough to obey me. This is for your own good!"

Soma didn't break away from the glare he was giving Malty. For as long as he could, Soma kept his eyes locked on to who was once his mother.