And to Aeriel's utter shock when she had a closer look at Invictus' legs. It was pitch black, drenched in greasy liquid.
"Lord Invictus, oh my-! What have they done to you?"
Invictus was still sinisterly laughing whilst Aeriel was freaking out for her life at the condition her lord was in. Worriedly, she brought out a spare of clothes she had in a small bag.
"I don't have a pair of boots for you to wear, Lord Invictus. But, I have some clothes here."
His lower half was dark, and his upper body was in its worst possible condition. Varicose veins were way past their worst state, but Invictus' joints impossibly didn't lock themselves.
"Wahaha... Thank you, Aeriel," Invictus said all of a sudden after hysterically laughing for a few minutes. "Of all the people I know, I did not expect you to risk your life just to free me. Thanks to you, I am given the chance to take everything that they have!"
From guffawing, teary-eyed to emitting such a terrifying bloodlust with a serious expression on his face, Invictus took the clothes and wore them.
In the morning, it was searingly hot inside the Oubliette, and when it was evening, the temperature inside the bottle dungeon would be freezingly cold.
Being naked for two whole weeks was torture. Well, the Oubliette itself was torture to Invictus.
Such an important part of his life will never be forgotten. This memory, filled with grief, regrets, and suffering, will always remind Invictus of his goal and the things he needs to fulfill and accomplish.
When Invictus was done wearing the clothes Aeriel gave him, he turned to look at her and saw the relief on her face. She was definitely crying and
happy at the same time, tears flowing down her face.
"I'm glad, Lord Invictus. When I overheard from the king's chefs that you were thrown down here, I made a thorough plan to free you. The opportunity came at the right time, so I took it. Honestly, I am a person
that does not like violence, but I will ask Lord Invictus to seek revenge! Please, avenge the death of the missus and Austria!"
Looking back, Invictus remembered the time when he came across Aeriel.
Six years ago, Aeriel, an eighteen-year-old stoic girl was harvesting grapes under the sun, holding a basket made from interwoven strips of cane with her straw hat and her raggedy floral dress swaying along the fresh breeze of summer.
Whilst picking combs of grapes, Aeriel was whistling and humming the lyrics of her favorite song her mother used to always sing to her whenever
she was feeling down or sad.
The three acres vineyard is owned by a well-known noble in Estaria. He hires jobless people around his town to take care of his vineyard in exchange for coins, money they will use to bring food to their table.
Every worker had it pretty easy, and the pay was quite good until the vineyard's owner mysteriously passed away. And that was when things
began to turn for worse.
Female caretakers became a target of the promiscuous head of the family. Having no wife at all, he began to exploit the weakness of the poor female workers, taking advantage of them to fulfill his lustful desires.
Aeriel's turn to be brought to the promiscuous vineyard owner came. She was aware of what was happening to every female that had been delivered to the main house of the family and obviously did not want to have anything to do with the sly and lustful bastard.
Not only that, the male caretakers of the vineyard work twice as much as the female in the field. The cruelty ended up with people being stranded inside the vicinity.
The authorities caught wind of the savagery and quickly made action to rescue everyone from the wickedness of the family head.
Aeriel was about to leave the vineyard after realizing everything that was happening around her. Some of the women that went inside the house never left the house. No news about them was heard, and no sights were seen.
"Your name's Aeriel, right?"
The stoic lady was stopped by the family head's personal assistant, his advisor.
A middle-aged man, wearing butler's clothes and glasses due to impaired vision.
His intimidating aura was weakening for Aeriel.
Sensing that she was in danger, a prickly feeling occurring at the back of her neck, Aeriel kicked off the ground.
Through the fields of grapes, she sprinted, running away as fast as she could without looking back to see if the middle-aged man went after her.
Of course, the family head's personal assistant instantly followed through the viny rows of plants, swiping away each obstacle blocking his vision.
He was following with haste, eager to catch Aeriel, otherwise, he would be punished by his liege. It is not just some verbal abuse or mere lashing but harsh punishments everyone would wish they succeeded in their task.
Trotting to the dry and rocky ground turned out to be a tiny obstacle in Aeriel's path. She had a misstep and eventually lost her balance, resulting
in the middle-aged man catching up and capturing her.
Forcefully, she squirmed as much as possible, struggling to free herself from the powerful arms of the advisor, but her efforts were all for naught.
The advisor carried her all the way from the fields to the main house. Aeriel will serve as the family head's meal to satisfy his sexual desires.
"Put me down!"
A flurry of punches did nothing to the personal assistant. Helpless, Aeriel braced herself for what was about to happen to her. When she noticed that her efforts were futile, she temporarily gave up.
She will look for the right opportunity to escape. And if she doesn't, Aeriel will end up becoming food for the hungry, lustful desires of the family head.
"Tone down, woman. Viscount Morgan is preparing her rituals."
Candles were lit all over from the doorway to the hall. The advisor kept walking down the large hall full of candles lighting their path.
Then Aeriel smelled the rose-scented perfume coming from the master's bedroom.
Before coming in, the middle-aged man knocked to inform the viscount that he had arrived.
"Did you bring her?" Said the voice behind the door. Heavy breathing could be faintly heard from inside.
"Yes, sir."
"Open the door and leave."
The door's lock cracked open, and they entered the room where the red rose petals were scattered all over the bed and the floor.