"Demetri! Tell me what that was about?" With one hand on her hips, Marion nagged at the man who nonchalantly sat on the big leather swivel chair in his study. "What were you doing in the girl's room? Choking her death was not enough, now you want to frighten the lady to death too?" She continued to scold the man before her.
She could no longer afford herself any time to waste on finding cleaners for this man. She is the primary upholder of this manor, and if she wasted any more time traveling across the world searching high and low for servants that could please him, she would be driven mad as stacks of chaos and madness greeted her every return.
"You know what this is about Marion. Do not feign ignorance with me here. I have not the patience today." The man spoke coldly with a low scoff.
"Either way, I am in charge of the servants around here, Demetrius. What I choose to do with them is final. You do not have a say." Marion replied in a serious tone, folding her arms across her chest, clearly irritated.
"Rightfully so." The man responded, acknowledging the fact that it was not his place to butt in when it concerns the servants. "However, you chose to not tell the lady what she was getting herself into before bringing her here? The poor woman looked as if I had grown two heads when she saw my recovery this morning. Do you not find this unfair, Marion?" The man questioned with raised brows, as if he were judging the woman for being a teller of untruths.
"As I did with any of the other human servants." Marion responded with offense at the man's accusations. "And what would you have me do, Master? Prance up to the lady and ask her 'well, would you like to take up my offer? To serve my demon master in his manor, where he will punish you by demon law if you dare to cross him.' I'd love to see you try, master." The woman breathed out a deep sigh after sharing what she had in mind. With a silent scoff, Marion thought to herself, this man was hard to please as always, how did she survive with him this many years?
Meanwhile, a petite woman stood outside the door. Overhearing the conversation within, the young women let out a light gasp. A shiver ran through her body as small beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. She needed to get out of here. With light but scurried steps, the woman made her way down the corridor.
What horror was this? The woman thought. D-demons? Is this really true? Or is this a joke they were playing? However, this was the only way to explain how the man recovered so quickly. Did he really recover? She did not have a chance to peek when the man undressed in front of her earlier. Unsure of the situation, the woman continued down the long hallway, making her way to the front door. With her heart pounding against her chest, the woman only had one thought in mind. Escape.
Approaching the front door, the girl hurriedly swung the door open. When Marion had brought her here the night before, it was completely dark, and she was unable to see a thing. However, it was only today that she realized how much land the mansion truly covered.
The gate they entered through last night was nowhere to be seen. All the girl could see was a very large, luscious and green garden. Many different shades of trees and flowers decorated the garden. The view had truly taken her breath away. She had never dreamed that there could be a place so beautiful. A place that looked so peaceful.
But it was too soon for her to get comfortable at the thought, she quickly snapped out of her thoughts. Now was not the time to be admiring the garden scenery. She remembered she was trying to run away.
Not knowing where to go to find the gate, the woman decided to continue straight forward. She has to reach the gate walls at some point. The girl continued forward for a while thinking that she would be reaching the gates soon.
However, as she continued, her hopes withered away when she looked around her and saw nothing but large trees. It was like a forest in his garden. Spinning around to look at her surroundings, she swore she had just passed this place. These trees look exactly like the trees she saw a bit ago. In fact, everything looked the same. Panic rose in her heart as she realized she is now lost.
Turn left.
Suddenly, the girl heard the voice of a man telling her to turn left.
"Who's there?" The girl asked, swiftly turning around to see if anyone was behind her. She had been wandering this garden for a while now and she did not pass anyone along the way. How can someone be talking to her?
Left.
There it was again, the voice of the man. This time, he spoke more sternly, as if he was threatening her not to disobey his orders. What was there for her to lose? She is already lost. Hesitantly, the girl decided to follow the man's instructions. Turning left, the girl continued walking for a while.
Right.
The man continued to instruct the young girl. Following the man's orders, the girl continued to walk for what seemed like hours. Just as the girl was close to giving up, she finally saw the gate doors. Excitement spread through the girl's body as she ran towards the metal doors with glee. It was a success! She made it through the garden.
However, as she opened the door, feelings of confusion, disappointment, and fear ran through her body all at once. It was then that she realized what was in front of her was not the gate doors at all. Instead, they were the doors she had used to enter the garden earlier.
In front of her was Demetri, sitting on the circular platform above the staircase. The man is eating green grapes with one hand as the other rested on the armchair of his comfortable seat. One of his legs is propped up on the chair, his demeanor was as if he were a king sitting on his throne and had no care for the world.
"Did you come to see me because you missed me, my sweet plum? Did you enjoy your walk around the garden?" The man asked with a smirk as he descended his throne and walked down the steps to approach the girl.
The girl looked at the man approaching her. Confusion filled her mind. How could she end back up here? She thought she had opened the same gate doors she and Marion entered through yesterday. Although it was dark out when she arrived at the manor last night, she could at least recognize the gate. But now, it was gone. The girl's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as she finally understood what was going on.
"You!" The girl said, accusingly pointing at the man in front of her. "I-it was you who was t-talking to me in the garden? How did you do that? You brought me back here!" The girl exclaimed, frustratingly.
"You did not want to come back yet? If I knew that, I would have had you walking in the garden for a couple more hours." The man said sarcastically, as he lightly brushed a strand of her red hair away from her face and behind her ear.
"What will you do with me?" The girl questioned with hesitation as her anger and frustrations slowly turned to fear. If the conversation she overheard is true, would that not mean her life would now be over. Not only did she hear their conversation, but she also even tried to run away.
"You say that as if you have committed a punishable offense. Did you?" The man asked with raised brows as he feigned ignorance.
"Y-yes master." The girl replied nervously, swallowing the large lump in her throat. "I-I went for a walk around the garden when I should have been on cooking duty." With a slight blush forming on her fair cheeks, the girl replied embarrassedly as she lowered her gaze. She wasn't sure if saying this could save her, but she could not tell him she had overheard his conversation with Marion and tried to run away. If what she heard was true, the man would have her head. If what she heard was not the truth but a joke the two were playing on her, the girl would be seen as a fool for trying to run away. This was the best excuse she could come up with.
"Really?" The man inquired with an amused look on his face.
"Yes." The girl replied in a low whisper while nodding her head.
"Well, if that is the case, for neglecting your duties, I would have to give you your punishment." He said with a cunning smile. "Marion!" He shouted. Moments later, as Marion was nowhere in sight, the man shouted again, "Marion!" His demanding shouts caused a shiver to run through the girl's spine.