Kai clutched his leg, his back still hurting. It felt like several bones were broken. His hands bled. But he was more concerned about who entered the room.
Fear gripped him, and he could feel his breath catch in his throat. No one likes to feel tortured. He had entered the torture chamber many times, often for things he hadn't done.
Kai widened his eyes when he saw a man in black silk pajamas enter the room. His movements were calm, but his eyes held frightening looks.
The man was in his thirties, handsome with a muscular build visible through his pajama bottoms that didn't close properly.
Kai lowered his fearful gaze when the man looked sharply at him. He corrected his sitting position with difficulty, trying to kneel down. At that moment, he noticed that his nose still dripped blood. He hurriedly wiped it away.
"What did he do, John?" the man asked. The old man from earlier entered, bowing respectfully.
"Gim found him in front of the house, Master Vlad. He mistook him for a thief and beat him up," John explained.
The man named Vlad walked over, then bowed to bring his face closer to Kai's.
Kai looked down in alarm, his hands squeezing nervously. He was surprised when the man's hand grabbed his jaw firmly. His eyes widened to stare at the handsome face of the man in front of him. All he felt was the pain in his jaw, but he dared not move.
"John said you were a slave. Do you have a name?" asked Vlad in a deep voice.
Kai had trouble nodding. He answered incoherently, "K-Kai."
Vlad grinned. "Nice name." Then he released his grip, and stood up.
"What are you doing at this time of night in someone's home? I don't like intruders on my property," Vlad asked.
Kai immediately raised his head, staring desperately. "I-I'm really not stealing, Master. I'm looking for my master. Please don't torture me..."
Suddenly, the man began to laugh. "If you enter my property, that means you are mine. I'm your master from now on."
Kai stared at him in confusion. But then he realized the situation was bad. It was just that when he wanted to retaliate, he remembered he shouldn't refuse his master's request.
But that man was not his master!
While Kai was still confused and digesting what he should do, the man was already asking John for something.
Moments later, Kai was speechless. Vlad pulled Gim's large body to the center of the room, making him collapse in front of him.
Kai jumped in shock. He scrambled in fear. He stared at the man who now looked terrifying. Especially when he saw that the man held a whip in his hands.
Kai trembled. He immediately bowed down, asking for forgiveness. But, the next second came the sound of whipping and screaming.
Kai was surprised, because the scream came from Gim. The man wasn't whipping him, but Gim! He widened his eyes in shock.
Vlad lashed Gim repeatedly with the whip, making the big man grimace in pain. He stopped whipping Gim after more than ten times and some of his clothes were torn. He looked down at Gim.
"You have to obey me. I'm the ruler. You have no right to decide anything in this house. What you did to him was outrageous. You deserve this punishment." Vlad said, pushing the whip into John's hand.
Gim fell to his knees shaking from the pain. "Forgive me, Master. I won't do it again!"
Vlad signalled him to come out. Gim hurried away from there. Meanwhile, the man approached Kai.
"Whoever you are, wherever you come from, you are now my slave. Master Vlad's slave. Do you understand?" Vlad said, rubbing Kai's head with intensity.
Kai was terrified. He glanced at the whip in John's hand, then nodded submissively.
"Good boy." He ran his fingers through Kai's hair a little rough, feeling string after string of slave's hair.
"All you need to know is that only I can give you orders. If you don't follow them, you know what'll happen." Vlad warned him.
Kai gulped, nodding in fear. But he had to find a master who bought him.
Kai realized that as long as he had a master, wouldn't that be okay? Maybe his new master would treat him better and wouldn't throw him away.
Kai tried to accept his fate.
"Clean him up, bring him to my room!" Vlad ordered John, and walked out.
---
Sylas was asleep when Alvaro woke him up. He quickly opened his eyes and saw him looking worried.
"What's wrong?" asked Sylas, sitting up. He looked out the window and it was still dark. Hadn't they agreed to go back to the palace in the morning?
"Your slave ran away. He disappeared!" said Alvaro.
Sylas was still collecting his thoughts. "Who? Kai? Disappeared?"
They quickly walked down to the first floor of the inn. The doctor stood there, looking calm but his eyes looked worried.
"He's not here?" the doctor asked.
Sylas shook his head. "What happened?"
The doctor explained that he had lost Kai when he opened his eyes to get the potion he would use tomorrow, and the slave disappeared.
They looked around. It was possible that Kai was around. At this time of night, where would he be?
"Can't you use your supernatural powers to see where he is?" asked Alvaro.
The doctor shook his head. "That's not how it works! I can only sense what might happen, but I can't see someone's exact whereabouts! I'm not a witch!"
Alvaro chuckled. He didn't really care about that slave, but felt sorry for him if he got lost in the forest. As a result, he and Sylas searched the entire village in search of Kai.
But, until they approached the forest, wandering around several times, they found no sign of the slave at all. Finally, they returned to the inn.
"He'll survive," Alvaro told Sylas, calmly. "Humans have survival instincts."
Sylas was uneasy because he felt guilty. He should have put the slave in a suitable home and a master. He didn't understand why the slave ran away. Or was it because Kai intended to be free regardless of anyone?
If that was the case, he would feel very calm. But right now the slave had disappeared.
"Let's go back inside. It'll be sunrise soon. We need to leave," Alvaro said.
"Are you sure he'll be okay?" asked Sylas.
"Of course. What can we do if the slave himself wants to leave? Maybe he's tired of being a slave and wants to be free."
Sylas sighed. "I should have given him some money yesterday."
---
At Vlad's house.
Kai shivered in the cold because the house bathroom was separated from the main house. Inside, there were other large houses. Kai was sure he was in Vlad's slave camp.
John gave him a small white cloth. He didn't know what it was for. And he didn't get more clothes. His clothes were taken away by a woman.
After bathing and cleaning his wounds, Kai trembled as he opened the bathroom door looking for John.
In front of the bathroom was a fifteen-year-old boy. Upon seeing Kai, the boy immediately approached.
"Are you done?" he asked.
Kai nodded, asking for clothes. However, the boy only pointed to the white cloth in his hand.
"Use that, why can't you use it?" the boy asked.
Kai stood confused staring at the white cloth. How could he wear a cloth with only 10 centimeters in diameter?
Seeing Kai's confusion, the boy pulled the white cloth from his hand and quickly looped it between Kai's legs and tied it as underwear.
"Oh!" Kai just understood how to wear it. But he only wore that?
"Come on, John said we should clean your wounds. We better hurry, Master Vlad doesn't like waiting!" the boy said, panicking, pulling Kai's hand.
Kai walked barefoot following. His body was uncovered in the cold night air. He shivered even more. Why wasn't he given clothes? Kai really didn't understand.
When they returned to the main house, they passed through several corridors back to the room he was in earlier. There were many rooms lined up there. Kai saw an open room.
His eyes widened to see something, or someone inside. Whatever it was, it lay on the floor unclothed and bound in chains.
Kai's body got goosebumps instantly. His chest pounded. Looking at his current situation, it seemed like his fate wouldn't be much different.
"I don't think you need to worry. Just follow Master Vlad's every order and don't argue with him, and you should be fine. Maybe you'll have trouble the first week," the boy said.
Their footsteps were very slow, because Kai couldn't walk normally.
Kai was silent, praying silently that he could pass whatever happened that was in front of his eyes.