Exposed

Sigh!

A sigh escaped from the Princess's lips as she stood closer to me. Her creepy smile vanished and was replaced by a warm expression. Her siren eyes had a serene and pleasant look in them. Her face suddenly started to look further more beautiful.

I was so surprised by the sudden change of expression that I even forgot my situation! My surprise must have been clearly visible on my face, I didn't know how to hide it.

"Ha-ha, you should look at your face!" Princess Josephine gave a light harmonious laugh and started talking to me. "You see, sometimes you need to act like a blind person in a kingdom of blind people because if they find out that you have an eyesight, they will snatch it from you."

'Blind people? Acting? Eyesight? I don't understand what you're saying lady! Do you mean to say that you were just acting tough or are you just playing with me?'

My confusion was clear on my face. I couldn't make sense of the situation. How could I? My arms and legs were tied, my speech was magically taken away and I was lying shirtless on the ground when a woman who was 28 was talking in hints!

"I see you didn't understand me Alex." Princess Josephine sat down, while slightly lifting her long gown, on a big rock beside the river. "Let me introduce myself. As you know, I'm Princess Josephine, one of the only two princesses in Bulios. I have five Helots under me and you, Alex, are one of them.

"I gave you your name and with the help of the 'Alter of Submission', you are now bound to me with a curse. I myself am not a Minder but with the help of this pendant, I can still control you."

Saying this, she flushed out the pendant she was wearing, from inside of her leather armor. The pendant had a thin golden chain and an ocean blue orb. Its color was dulled due to the vermillion shade surrounding us and yet it looked as if it held the whole ocean inside of it.

"Do you know Alex?" She asked while placing the pendent back inside her chest. All this while, instead of an assertive tone, she had a friendly one. "Because of the curse, I can slightly feel the changes happening in your body when you are in the range of the curse. I was very surprised when I suddenly felt that you have magically grown stronger in a matter of hours while I was roaming around the village."

My eyes opened wide in shock. Many thoughts ran through my head. I didn't think I would be exposed this easily. Not knowing what to do, I just blankly stared at her.

The Princess just smiled at my expression and said, "I know you are worried but I won't enquire about your secrets. Just as I noticed the strange sensation, I sensed your location through the curse. When I moved to the location, I saw you entering back inside the village through a break in our boundaries.

"A normal slave like yourself shouldn't have the average physique of a knight in training and yet here you are! You just filled my day with surprises and without wasting a minute; I started a search for you in the context of what James told the knights. That is how I found you Alex.

"I don't know what secrets you are hiding but one thing is certain, you too want to escape this hell, just like me. Therefore Alex, I want to propose a deal with you, I will help you escape from this village but in return, I want you to become a Minder and come back to save me and my sister. Tell me, do you accept my proposal?"

As soon as she finished speaking, silence surrounded the place. The only sound reverberating in the area was that of the flowing water in the river.

I looked blankly at her when she said, "Oh! Yeah, sorry! Speak!"

'Isn't she a princess? Her memory's so weak!' I thought to myself as Princess Josephine lifted the spell.

"Believe me princess, there's nothing more I want other than to escape this Hell!"

'And go back to my home planet…' I added in my heart.

"I can understand." She said melancholically.

"As a slave, my desire to escape this village should be obvious but I don't understand why a princess like you wants to leave!"

I started a conversation with her. What choice did I have? I was tied and laid pathetically on the ground. She might also just kill me with a word! Also, after facing such a betrayal, I knew that I couldn't trust anyone here. So, I was just waiting for the right moment while planning my ways of escape.

"You don't know anything, do you Alex?" She leaned closer to my skinny face. "What are those colorful stones that you mine? Why the village only has so many male workers and yet so few of the female breeders? Why was the only batch your mother was from, burned alive? Why this village is still flourishing eventhough it is surrounded by thick forest which is the home of dangerous beasts and monsters? Is this village the only human civilization in this whole planet? Tell me Alex, why do you think the lord never leaves his palace?"

All my thoughts of escaping the situation stopped. I was made to realize how naive I was! I thought that I could just run away somehow with the help of Delta but I forgot to realize that this world wasn't normal at all. Normal logic would never work here. I needed to think outside the box. I needed to stop being a wimp and start to become really serious if I truly wanted to go back. I needed stop being 'Deniel' and embrace my identity as 'Alex'.

Ignoring my dilemma, the Princess continued, "As James had told you last night, the village has a Minder who controls the curse. That Minder is my mother and the Lord's personal 'breeder'."

She stopped for a while. Sadness was evident from her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she started to speak again.

"What I'm going to tell you is something that only the family of the Lord is allowed to know. So, you should not disclose it until you are strong enough to handle the Curse of Submission. Do you understand?"