Boring

"If you find something you do not understand, which I have not mentioned yet, feel free to ask me." Enrique shut the door behind him after they had stepped out of the second room. "Any question?"

Ellie, who tried her best to keep everything he had been saying in her head, nodded. Much as she knew in her heart that she would definitely find a way to escape from the palace, she understood she needed to learn about the place to plan a flawless escape. So while she was listening, a few questions kept revolving in her head.

"Ask."

"These rooms, who do they belong to?" Ellie probed. "I've never dealt with royalty before, so I don't know how to address them properly. I wouldn't want to get into trouble for that." She added a reason behind her question, in case he needed one, even though that was not the only reason she was asking.

"You don't have to bother yourself about that. There are no occupants currently, so rest assured you wouldn't run into anyone claiming them. However, neglecting them, even for a day, will put you in trouble. That, I can assure you." Enrique began to move toward the end of the hallway, and Ellie followed.

"The only person you should worry about for now is Master Storm," Enrique spoke again when they arrived at the last and largest door.

That part of the hallway was the darkest, so she couldn't tell what color the door was, or what material it was made of.

"Any other question?" Enrique questioned, facing the door while she stood behind him.

"No," Ellie responded. There was still confusion about why she had to be the one to clean that devil's bedroom. There definitely was someone doing it before she came into the palace. What happened to that person? Why was the person being replaced, and worse, why did she have to be the one replacing whoever it was?

But Enrique's answer when she first asked, discouraged her from probing further about the topic.

At her firm answer, Enrique twisted the handle of the door and pushed it open. "This is Master Storm's bedroom." He stepped in and Ellie did too, howbeit, with knitted brows.

"Why so much darkness? How am I supposed to clean the place when I can't see anything? What exactly are…" Ellie started to complain when her sight was once more greeted with pitch blackness.

The previous rooms he had shown her had light curtains through which some sunlight seeped in. So she didn't find them completely blinding or uncomfortable. She saw everything in there without a problem.

But this one was totally dark. The moment she stepped in, she felt as if her sight had been snatched from her, and it became worse after Enrique shut the door. Before she could stop herself, she had voiced her irritation.

She however trailed off when a dim, golden light came on after she heard the soft click of a switch.

With a frown still plastered on her face, she looked around the grand, spacious bedroom that had just been exposed to her now-returned sight.

Painted with a dark shade of gray, and decorated with gold symbols, the vast bedroom was bigger than the studio apartment she shared with Nicholas and her parents when they were still alive.

There were strange paintings on the wall, but her eyes were fixed on the one hanging right above the large bed which would carry three grown adults and still have so much room.

"Is this bright enough or do I have to summon the sun in here before you'll be satisfied?" Enrique's voice pulled her attention from the painting, prompting her to look at him briefly.

"It's fine." She responded and lowered her eyes. But the very next second, her gaze moved back to the painting.

A toddler, about two years old, stood in a cage, having on his body no piece of clothing save for a diaper. There were cuts on his head, face, and body, from which blood dripped to the ground, but he didn't look like he was in pain. He had a satisfied smile on his face, and his eyes were bright red, like burning coal.

In his left, outstretched hand was a squeezed, bleeding ball, and the blood dripping from it was going into another ball, cut open at the top to receive the liquid.

His right hand, however, was hidden from view, folded behind his back as if he was intentionally trying to hide what was in it.

Ellie didn't know what to make of the painting. The fact that this was a child disturbed her the more.

"No matter what you do in here, never open the curtains. Take this warning and every other one I will give you seriously. If you do, you will never encounter any problems, and you will last here." Enrique spoke again, his voice, and the clank of his shoes against the glassy tiles reaching her ears.

Ellie was forced to peel her eyes away from the painting, and she advanced with him, half paying attention to what he was saying.

"While cleaning, do not move anything out of its place. If there is a need to move something, ensure you return it to its position once you're done." Enrique halted after saying this, then turned to her, giving her a stern look, his honey-colored, hooded eyes holding a warning.

"Never rearrange, or change the position of anything to a place you think is better. Leave everything the way they are, unless you are asked to do otherwise. Understood?"

"Understood." Ellie nodded, already tired of all the rules. What kind of person doesn't rearrange? Boring.

Enrique turned away from her and she rolled her eyes. As soon as she did that, the door clicked open, and the devil she just called boring walked into the room.

She turned toward the door, and her eyes locked with those deadly attractive grey ones, which complemented the unearthly beauty of his face.

Apprehension rippled through her, but with that was admiration of his otherworldly beauty, which she was sure no male or female she had come across, could compete with.

Wait! What the hell? Why in the fucking hell was she admiring his features and even finding it hard to blink? This devil kidnapped her, was holding her hostage, and she was... Argh!