Chapter 05: Free Him

Zarniya's mind worked like this. 

People always make choices. Decisions would always have consequences.

She had options. 

Living a serene and free of danger but alone life—or living with constant competition but a more luxurious life. 

She was not a lazy person but yes, she would rather live a life of the first situation. Why would she fight for a more luxurious life? She was already a princess. And although she loved shiny and sparkling things, she was afraid of complications. 

Today the situation was: 'Oh, there was danger!'

She would die either way. 

She had to make a choice. 

Would she die offending the eldest or would she die offending the newly brought sub-human? 

Offending the eldest meant that she would die of harassment by the entire kingdom. While it was this man, he seemed to be able to snap her neck in a moment of excitement. 

At least she would die in a second if it was him. So, she chose to die in the hands of this man. 

In conclusion, she wanted a peaceful life, she was already living in a castle eating three meals a day. She did not need more luxury, she would die one day, and she was living enough wealth in this lifetime. 

Of course, she was only human, she had greed, and she envied those who were not her. 

Greed was the reason she was alive in the first place, if her mother had not dared to climb up the social ladder, her mother would not be pregnant with her and died of execution. Having greed and feeling jealous was a good sign, it meant Zarniya knew what to avoid. 

She had a resolution after she witnessed the death of her nannies and maidservants before. If she would die, she would die in a swift death. 

Messiah Elizart was scary, enough to make her petrified from the moment she saw him. But everyone in this kingdom… was scary as well. 

He might have looked more terrifying but at this moment, he was only a slave. 

Thoughts, 'If I am careful enough around him, would he still kill me?'

Yet being careful could not be ruled out that his origins had given him a twisted identity. He might be a sick person who would enjoy the suffering of other people. She read in a book that this kind of person might take revenge regardless of how well you treat them. His hatred may be rooted in the fact that she was the master of the contract. 

Zarniya's mind process was too fetched, he seemed to be that kind of person. Harboring hatred, counting deeds, and never forgetting the past. 

It was bad. Very bad if he was one. 

Zarniya had to make a move and release him. 

She had to make sure as much as she could to convey that she had no intention to treat him as a slave. In that case, maybe if he decided to kill her, she could ask him to kill her in a snap. 

Yet, all she could do was stare in fear. 

This was her problem. 

She could not speak with people, and she was easily scared. But when she was alone, or whenever she envisioned the situation, she was so good. 

She could speak long sentences without stuttering, she could say what was on her mind. She was strong in her imagination, in reality, she was a very timid person. She couldn't even talk back to the maidservants. What about such a compelling subhuman?

If she threw him the key, would he be able to release himself? 

Obviously not. 

Zarniya pursed her lips, cold sweat was running on her back, and she could feel the beads of them falling from her forehead. The pit of her stomach felt so uncomfortable… 

Time passed by and she hoped for another person to be present in this space. The guards- or any maidservants, just another person.

Yet no one came. 

She expected this much… They might say that they would summon a royal physician but none of those people who were here were summoning the royal physician. 

How could she appease him with that stab and a burning seal on his body? He was wounded because of her. If only the royal physician was here—she would beg the physician to attend to him— Even if she wasn't aided. 

Messiah did not move from his location and simply observed the surroundings. Having a placid reaction despite the magnetic air still circling his vicinity caused Zarniya to somehow be at ease. The murderous intent was stealth. Zarniya somehow calmed down after some more time of being complacent.

No maidservants, no guards. 

"Me-Messiah," she said. "So…sorry." She muttered, 'I don't want to hurt you…' but couldn't finish her sentence. Calling his name made her nervous. She named him, which means he was her slave, he looked like he did not want to be considered a slave. 

"Mhm?"

Despite her hand being injured, Zarniya couldn't help rubbing her fingers. She moved her feet to take another step towards him. 

"Sor…sorry," she repeated. 

Since no one was around, no one would reprimand her for lowering her head to a slave. She better set the hierarchy between them right. 

She continued to slowly lift her feet to walk towards him with the key in her hand. 

…

Zarniya lifted her eyes. met his gaze, but she quickly looked away. 

His eyes were too dark, she wasn't able to stare straight because of the weight of his gaze. Too heavy— too sinister. As if he was planning to do something bad to her.

The air of violent intent surged strongly. 

Zarniya clenched her teeth and ignored the warning of death. The longer he was in chains, the more fear she was accumulating that he would kill her painfully. They could get stuck here all day… 

"K-key… y-you… can you… free y-you?" 

Zarniya was about to give up from the thought of being close to him. 

Despite knowing in the back of her head that he was already her slave. That this man was already bound to her life. The fear of what would happen once she set him free was too vivid in her thoughts. 

"I can't believe that my Master is so timid. I was told she was the most courageous and powerful woman in this kingdom next to the Queen. How can you be so scared cat?" 

Zarniya paused, her hands trembled. Her pupils shrank as she realized his words. 

He was looking forward to meeting the eldest! 

Princess Felina. 

The courageous and powerful woman… 

He knew who his master was supposed to be.

Zarniya's eyes staggered, in the first place it was already hard for her to look straight at his face, but not looking at him might cause misunderstanding that she was looking down on his status and as a person. 

She did not want that misunderstanding. 

However, it was really hard to stare at people's faces and talk… 

Where should her eyes fall? To his dark eyes that seemed to be brewing an idea of eating her alive. 

Zarniya was not used to talking to people looking at them directly. If she talked to someone of higher status than her, all she had to do was bend her neck and bow, that would show respect. If she talked to lower status, she could still veer her neck and not look directly, this might cause misunderstanding that she did not respect the other party, but they were of lower status. 

Yet, again, she did not want any misunderstanding with him.

"No… not me," she whispered. 

"Hm?"

"It's n-not me," she inhaled deeply. She looked up and stared at his dark eyes, "Y-You're talking about… P-Princess Feli-Felina." 

"Oh," his smile did not recede. "Who are you, then?" 

For a slave, he seemed to be at ease talking his mind. Not fearing to question the woman who his master was. 

Zarniya expected that much. 

On the other hand, how could he fear a woman who was carelessly stabbed by a steward, not attended by her maidservants, and left alone with him, a potential danger to her life? On the other hand, how could they give him to a worthless princess like her? 

Zarniya pursed her lips. She said, "Thi-thirteenth princess… Zar-Zarniya."

Zarniya introduced herself but she did not include the King's last name. She said she was the thirteenth princess however, outside, the recognized royal descendants were only up to the sixth in the ranking of this kingdom. The disparity from six to thirteen, how insignificant was she?

There was silence. 

Zarniya redirected her attention to the chains on the ground, it looked heavy. The rest was hidden in the cloak. 

"Why am I yours?" he asked. 

He did not sound angry- but Zarniya was too terrified to see his eyes again. 

She decided not to answer, she was too nervous to even form a full sentence, she was making herself look like more of a fool with every word said. With trembling hands, she extended her arm and gave him the key. 

"Master, I can't. I need you to do that," he chuckled at her silliness. 

Instead of being embarrassed to turn to redness, Zarniya became white pale at his assertion. His laugh was low and magnetic which caused her heart to tremble in dread. 

When she woke up this morning, she thought that what happened to dinner yesterday was just a dream…yet... 

The tailor came to make her clothes for the banquet and the slave arrived. She was not certain why exactly was this happening to her. Was it because she wished something unattainable that she was being punished instead? When she wished for bread, Beham threw her a stone.

Sadness crept into her, and suddenly Zarniya was less afraid. 

She looked at his cloak, 'I should probably take off his cloak first.'

She was a princess, but she was used to accommodating people, she had to behave if she did not want to be despised. If she could not fade into the background, she had to lower her presence as much as she could. It was very rare for her to be alone with anyone, it was nerve-wracking, and there was no way for her to deviate his attention somewhere else. 

It would be possible if he was higher ranking, because of her disease of not being able to speak finely, the other party would find it interesting at first but eventually they would get bored and leave. 

However, Messiah's status was a slave, he had to accompany her whether he liked it or not. She could excuse him but if she let him wander to her castle, he might think that she was being inconsiderate. She already thought about the possibility of giving him this castle and doing her a favor to treat her as a mouse but that was not a realistic plan.