Five years have passed.
A loud, resounding slap interrupted the chatter of the servants in the residence of the local leader, Diggory Millys.
"How dare you defy me, huh?"
A shrill voice of a woman made everyone turn their heads.
Ruth Millys, the lady of the house, now stood in the backyard with hands on her hips. The 30-year-old woman stared angrily at a girl who had fallen on the grass.
The girl responded to Ruth's gaze with a fiery determination in her blue eyes.
"I'm not defying you, Madam. I just mentioned that I have a headache today and asked for permission to get medicine," the girl replied in a firm yet soft voice.
The lady's face turned even redder upon hearing the girl's response.
"Excuses," Ruth grabbed the blonde hair of the girl and pulled. "Yesterday, you said your body hurt, the day before it was your waist. Everyone knows you're just making excuses. Why? Because you're a lazy girl."
Annica grabbed Ruth's hand and pulled the woman's fingers to release their hold, but Ruth only tightened her grip.
"Y-you're hurting me, Madam. P-please let me go," Annica started whimpering. "I'm not trying to avoid my duties, but I didn't sleep last night. My head is really hurting."
Ruth scoffed, "Everyone here also knows you're just a lazy, cheap whore who's here because my husband seems to be enchanted by you. Don't act like you're needed or pretty. Don't forget that you're just a slave in this house. The child of a traitor who secretly stole the kingdom's money."
The last sentence from the woman's mouth tightened Annica's jaw. She could feel her face heating up with the tears of anger starting to gather.
Annica reached down and found a sizable stone. She grabbed it and then threw it with all her might at Ruth's face.
Thud!
The object landed right on the lady's forehead, causing her to release her grip on the hair and stagger backward.
Annica didn't waste the opportunity. She immediately attacked. She climbed onto Ruth's ample body and began swinging her hands, slapping the lady's face.
The servants watching were shocked and started running to intervene. Some pulled Annica away, distancing her from their mistress, while one person went to find Diggory Millys to report.
***
The local leader, Diggory Millys, was in his study, examining the region's expenditure report when the sound of knocking on the door reached him.
"Come in," he responded without turning his head from the papers in front of him.
A servant opened the door and walked in with a pale face.
"Sir... Mr. Diggory..."
Diggory raised his head and saw his household servant, Heidi, standing in front of his desk, breathing heavily as if she had just run away from an enemy.
"I'm busy, Heidi," Diggory replied, waving his hand to dismiss the girl. "I don't have time to think about what I want for lunch today. Just discuss it with Ruth. I need to check this report now."
Diggory resumed his work, but Heidi didn't leave. The young servant shook her head vigorously. "No, Sir. It's not about lunch. It's... It's about Annica."
The response from the young servant succeeded in making Diggory raise his head.
"Annica?"
"Yes, Sir. She attacked Lady Ruth."
Diggory stood up from his chair now.
"She did what?!"
"Hurry, Sir. If not, the lady will surely punish Annica."
Heidi turned on her heels and ran out, hoping wholeheartedly that Diggory would follow.
And, of course, the man followed Heidi. Annica had been in his house for almost 5 years.
When Diggory heard about Annica's family, how the emperor's soldiers raided their residence late at night before brutally executing Logan Tavitian, leaving his wife and children to be sold at an auction house, Diggory knew he would do whatever it took to buy Annica.
Diggory had admired her beauty for a long time—with her wide blue eyes and curly blonde hair. Her small lips and pointed nose. Diggory had even proposed to make her his second wife when Logan was still alive.
Unfortunately, Logan refused. The man believed that his daughter's beauty would be wasted as a second wife. Perhaps Logan hoped Annica would marry someone with a higher status than a local leader.
Diggory was upset with Logan for underestimating him. Their relationship strained because of that issue. But fate played a funny game, placing Annica in his grasp. As people said, patience pays off. He managed to buy Annica from the auction house and made her his private slave. His most cherished possession.
Annica had begged him to buy her mother, Rosalind. Unfortunately, he only had enough money for one person, and he had paid a lot to get Annica.
The last he heard, Rosalind Tavitian took her own life a week after being bought by a wealthy merchant from a neighboring region.
Since that day, Annica belonged only to him and it made Diggory feel special. He loved her wholeheartedly and hoped Annica would reciprocate his feelings someday.
But now, all he could do was ensure that the girl wasn't beaten to a pulp by Ruth.
Diggory walked quickly, following Heidi, who was now half-running toward the backyard.
Arriving in the grassy field of his house, Diggory could see two servants holding Annica's arms—one on the right, one on the left. His wife, meanwhile, stood behind Annica, swinging a stick across the girl's back.
"Stop!" Diggory shouted loudly, making everyone in the backyard freeze. "Release the girl."
The two servants holding Annica's arms quickly let go, as if they had just touched a hot object. Annica's body fell onto the grass. Her shoulders trembled, holding back her sobbing.
Ruth, meanwhile, walked toward Diggory. She pointed to her bleeding forehead.
"Look at what Annica did," she reported. "That slave threw a stone at me. After lying that she had a headache to avoid her work today, now she dared to fight back."
Diggory walked past Ruth toward Annica. He knew Ruth hated Annica. Still, Diggory also knew he was the head of the household. He was the one making decisions at home. Ruth needed to know her position.
"Diggory, you need to expel that girl—"
"Enough, Ruth," Diggory interrupted, raising his right hand. He didn't even stop to continue speaking. "Annica is my slave. You have the right to manage her, but you're not allowed to punish her without my knowledge. What you've done has gone too far."
Ruth couldn't say anything. Her hands clenched the wooden stick she still held as her eyes glared angrily at her husband's back, now bending down to help Annica stand.
Since the girl arrived, her husband no longer paid attention to her. Ruth knew her position when marrying Diggory. She knew that it was common for a man with his status to have more than one woman, even more than one wife. But who would have thought she had to compete with the child of a traitor?
Ugh. Embarrassing.
Competing with a slave for her husband's attention.
Ruth threw the stick in her hand and stomped away, leaving the backyard. She didn't want to see what happened to that slave and her husband.
She would regain the peace of her home by finding a way to get rid of the girl.
Diggory brought Annica back to her room and ordered Heidi to go to the local healer's house to find medicines.
"Don't worry, Annica. I will tell Ruth that you're not feeling well. Today, focus on resting," he said, carefully seating Annica on the bed.
The girl's face was swollen from the tears and clear marks of slaps were visible on one side of her face.
Diggory always enjoyed looking at her face. Her beauty could only be compared to something that could not be made by human hands. Like a wildflower that only grew in the deepest, untouched forest. A beauty that he wanted to own completely. No, the beauty he now owned completely.
The innocence in her face might have disappeared long ago, replaced by something darker, but her small, innocent face could still make it hard for him to breathe every time he looked at it.
"Aren't you busy, Sir?" Annica replied with a strained voice, trying to hold back the pain. She pressed her abdomen while leaning her back against the bed head. "You don't need to accompany me. I'll be fine."
Diggory stood beside Annica's bed, observing her while sighing.
"You shouldn't have fought back against Ruth, Annica," Diggory said softly. "I won't always be at home to watch over you. That woman can make your life more miserable."
Annica turned her face away.
"I didn't ask for protection," the girl replied with a stiff voice. "And I hit her not because I'm lazy. I just don't like the way she calls me the child of a traitor."
Diggory sat down on the edge of Annica's bed and reached for her thigh. He could feel Annica's body freezing instantly. Something that happened every time he touched her, something he now ignored.
"Just because you're an orphan doesn't mean you're alone, Annica. I think about you all day."
Annica glanced sharply at Diggory, "I didn't ask you to think about me. I didn't ask you to buy me. Leave me alone."
This wasn't the first time Annica had defied Diggory. As she said, there was no more innocence in her. Even though her face looking at him was still the same face, with the same blonde hair and blue eyes. But her soul was filled with darkness that Diggory couldn't comprehend.
The man shook his head, "Listen, Annica. I know what you're going through is very unfair, but for your own future, you have to try to love yourself. And maybe with that, you'll see that there are still others who love you."
Diggory raised his hand and swept Annica's reddened cheek.
"I don't want to see this beautiful face hurt like this."
"Ah, I understand...," Annica replied.
The girl moved her foot to Diggory's crotch and stroked the sole of her foot to the object between the man's legs.
"Are you paying attention to me because you're lonely down there, Sir? Is it because Lady Ruth is old now, so she's no longer attractive to you?"
***
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