"The name's Deirgo, the oldest. Nice to meet you, Sevianna!" The blue-haired guy said. He then proceeded to name his brothers. Jaavin had short, light blue hair, Olivan's was curled and violet, while Kleid's was long and indigo-colored.
"Jaavin's the second, then Kleid, and our youngest, Olivan! We're the Fetcher brothers~" He said with so much enthusiasm, expecting some kind of reaction from Sevianna. But he forgot. Sevianna's expression remained unchanged, like that of a statue. He slumped against the window, depressed.
"Sevianna Louscatt?" A deep, deep voice came from the person in the last carriage. It was Kleid.
"Sevianna," Sevianna retorted with her cold voice. "Just Sevianna."
She no longer had the right to bear the family name, as she had long been disowned by her own biological father. A raging flame burned in her eyes. The feeling was mutual. She never did have a father.
The atmosphere suddenly turned gloomy.
Adounis glared warningly at Kleid, who raised his hands in surrender. He had only wanted to confirm his suspicion. Why had he almost been sentenced to death?
Time seemed to stagnate until a voice, filled with rage and disbelief, boomed from behind Adounis and Sevianna.
"Sevianna! What are you doing?!"
It was Brand. His face was etched with a deep frown, sweat dripping down his forehead. He had been running around searching for Sevianna after losing his connection to the collar. At that moment, he had a very bad feeling. His frown deepened when he saw her holding hands with a handsome man. He felt inferior in comparison.
"Come here," he commanded, adding magic to his voice.
But his expected outcome didn't happen. The collar didn't even light up! His face went pale, and his knuckles turned white.
Sevianna reveled in his terrible expression. She had to admit that she had been waiting for the day she could see his face distort like this. A cruel smile tugged at her stoic features. "What great timing! I had wanted to say goodbye~"
Her pale blue eyes narrowed with satisfaction.
Brand snapped out of his stupor, his bloodshot eyes almost boring a hole into Sevianna's neck. He stubbornly tried to activate the collar. "Sevianna, come here!"
'Could it be that the collar was malfunctioning?' Although it had never happened before, it wasn't impossible. This was his first final product, and though he was a master at his craft, errors were bound to slip through.
Sevianna's smile widened until her eyes shaped into slits. "No way~" She turned to the similarly enraged man beside her. She had no idea what had made him angry, but since it wasn't directed at her, she didn't care. "Let's go." Then, she took the initiative to pull him toward the first carriage—she assumed that was where they would sit.
Adounis' boiling rage dissipated instantly, replaced by giddiness. He shot a victorious glare at Brand while obediently letting Sevianna lead him.
Brand could literally taste a metallic fluid in his mouth from his internal struggle. He wanted to take Sevianna back by force, but he had barely taken one step when Adounis abruptly turned around and waved his hand. He was forcefully teleported.
Sevianna watched Brand's helpless and enraged face for the first time. Then, she turned to look at the grinning man who was staring at her, waiting for praise. Her lips formed into a line, and with the tips of her ears slightly reddening, she softly said, "Thanks."
She quickly retracted her hands to her chest and boarded the carriage, unsure why she couldn't look him in the eye.
Adounis, left behind, was about to fly from happiness. He also boarded the carriage with a huge grin plastered on his face. The four brothers looked at each other, their eyes filled with speechlessness. What had happened to their prince?!
The ride to wherever they were going was quiet. Sevianna fixed her gaze outside the window, while Adounis stared at her. This continued until the sound of a massive gate opening broke their thoughts.
Sevianna watched as the gate opened to reveal a floating castle. The road toward it stretched from where she was to its entrance, and it didn't seem to have anything beneath it to stabilize it.
It was fixed in the air.
The carriages neatly entered and encircled a tall fountain before coming to a stop. Six people, three on the left and three on the right, lined up to greet them.
Everyone got down from the carriage, and the six people greeted them in unison upon seeing Adounis. "Welcome home, Your Highness! Welcome, young masters!"
They waited, but there was no response from Adounis. He had turned toward his carriage and extended his hand.
Sevianna paused before getting up, staring at the extended hand for a long moment. Though her insides were blushing and screaming with excitement, Sevianna's face remained stoic, frigid. She placed her hand in his and, intentionally, gently scratched his palm. She hid the mischievousness in her eyes as she bowed slightly and stepped down.
Adounis' throat went dry. His heart fluttered with something he couldn't quite understand. And when he looked at her expression, there was nothing to be read. His ears turned red, though they were hidden beneath his long hair.
The six people were experts in their respective jobs and showed no outward reaction, but their eyes blinked in surprise. Who was this girl? She even got their prince to help her?!
A girl in a maid's uniform bowed lower than usual, hiding the jealous expression on her face. She had noticed the slavery collar on Sevianna's neck and couldn't understand why their prince was helping a slave.
The six all had their own thoughts hidden deep within, but they dared not voice them for fear of incurring their prince's wrath.
Adounis didn't let go of Sevianna's hand, even when she tried to pull away. He led her inside, undeterred by the sharp daggers his neck seemed to sense from her murderous glare.
In truth, he loved the attention she was giving him. He wondered if something was wrong with him for feeling that way.
The four young masters didn't follow the "lovebirds" – although one was smiling while the other was glaring, and they hardly looked like a couple at all – and instead headed to the living room of the castle.
Adounis led Sevianna on a tour of the castle, his grip on her hand tight. While he explained where everything was, he was unaware that Sevianna wasn't listening at all. Her attention was fixed on their locked hands. Though her face looked like she was about to murder someone, her heart was actually swelling with sweetness.
Sevianna: 'I want to snuggle~ Really want to hug him~' *rambles on*
Lily: 'I hear nothing. I know nothing.'
Unbeknownst to either of them, the maid from earlier had followed at a distance. Her once-tender face had twisted into envy, and her eyes were bloodshot. She dug her nails into the trunk of a tree, but it did little to soothe her rage. She wished she were the one beside her prince.
Adounis continued his little tour, and by evening, he brought Sevianna to her new bedroom — which had been arranged while he distracted her with the tour.
Sevianna looked at the magnificently crafted door, her expression a mixture of complexity as she glanced at Adounis. 'This is not where a slave should be staying,' her face seemed to say.
But as always, Adounis ignored it and reminded her not to stay up late. Though Sevianna was swirling with questions, she eventually stepped into her new room.
Adounis kept a doting look on his face. But when he entered his own bedroom, just across from Sevianna's door, his gentle expression turned cold.
"Gareth."
A man in a black long-sleeved uniform appeared out of the black smoke that seemed to form around him. He was one of the six who had greeted them upon their arrival. He kneeled on one knee, his right hand over his left chest, and lowered his head. "Yes, Your Highness?"
A cruel light flickered in Adounis' eyes. "I want everyone in the mansion to know that Sevianna is mine. You know what to do if anyone touches her." His voice softened slightly at the mention of Sevianna's name.
Gareth was startled by the order. Then his face turned gravely serious. "What would be the level of gravity, Your Highness?"
Adounis eyed him coldly. "If they insult her, they're insulting this prince."
Gareth was so shocked that he forgot his manners and looked directly into Adounis' eyes. When Adounis' red eyes began to glow brighter, Gareth snapped back to attention. He swiftly transformed into smoke and vanished, carrying out his important mission.
Adounis sank onto a sofa by the window. As he gazed at the scarlet-colored moon lighting up the night, his doting expression returned. "Her eyes glow red too when she's angry... Never have I appreciated the moon as I do now."
For a month, Sevianna lived in Adounis' castle as a freeloader. She would sometimes wander into the forest just outside the castle, lost in thought as she aimlessly strolled. She also indulged herself by "playing" with the high-level monsters in the area, earning a reputation as an infamous presence to the unfortunate beasts.
Of course, she never forgot to tease Adounis whenever he was home. By the second week of her stay, he had adamantly refused to work in the main castle and opted to work in his own private quarters instead. He always felt a restless tug at his heart whenever he couldn't see her for more than three days.
The six people who had greeted them were the only ones taking care of the castle. There was Gareth, the maid, the cook, the butler, the gardener, and Adounis' assistant. Sevianna had sensed other presences hiding around the castle, and she believed they were Adounis' secret guards.
While the five of them were slowly adjusting to their new member, one of them had been seething in anger. And finally, she snapped when she saw her prince kiss the back of the slave's hand before reluctantly leaving for work. The rage consumed her so completely that her eyes were bloodshot by the time morning came.
Knowing the prince was out, she confronted the slave.
Sevianna had planned to stroll in the forest and play with her new "friends" again when her path was blocked by the maid.
The maid's face was demonic, befitting her race.
Her appearance seemed out of place in a maid's outfit—green eyes and long blonde curls tied into a ponytail. She looked like a noblewoman forced into servitude.
Sevianna narrowed her eyes, displeased. She stepped aside, intending to pass, but the maid blocked her path again. It seemed she wouldn't let her go, no matter what.
"You slut, what did you do to our prince?" The maid hissed each word through gritted teeth.
Sevianna's eyebrows rose, but she remained silent. Her eyes, however, watched the maid with quiet interest.
"Don't you know your place?! You're a slave!" The maid's frustration was clear, and Sevianna's indifference only seemed to irritate her further.
Slave.
Sevianna: *sigh* 'This shit again? Alright, since I'm bored, I'll entertain you.'
Lily: *sits impeccably while sipping tea*
The word echoed in Sevianna's mind. She hated it—hated it so deeply she wished it would disappear entirely. "Ah, wasn't there another person who called me that too? What did I do to her again?"
Sevianna's pale blue eyes glowed red as she searched her memory, trying to recall a certain encounter with one of Brand's women.
The maid didn't understand what Sevianna was thinking, but when she saw the red glow in Sevianna's eyes, she froze. She had always believed the new slave was merely human.
In this world, humans made up the majority of the population, while angels and devils made up the rest. Despite the fact that angels and devils hid their prominent features—wings and horns—as a sign of respect, it wasn't difficult to differentiate them.
Those with strong magical aptitude could see the aura surrounding a person. Angels had lighter auras, while devils had darker ones. Humans typically had a mixture of both or none at all.
Sevianna's aura, however, was a mixture of both.
Moreover, red glowing eyes were known to exist only among higher-ranked devils. And yet, her eyes were glowing red...
The maid's knees buckled as she fell to the ground, terribly shaken.