CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68: A SIN CALLED DESIRE

Chapter 68 – A Sin Called Desire

"Why... why are you doing this?" Lisa asked, fear laced in every word. She genuinely didn’t understand why she was bound in chains, suspended like a prisoner waiting for death.

So she asked again.

"...Why?"

At her question, Meris simply smiled. She didn’t respond to Lisa. Instead, she turned toward her maid.

"Tell me, Lari... what do you suggest I do with her?"

Her voice was soft, almost playful.

"What kind of torture, I mean? Bury her in a pit of fire? Maybe lock her in a tomb of ice? Or do you prefer lightning?" she added, finger resting on her chin, eyes pensive, as if she was truly weighing the options.

And yes—Lari knew her young lady was absolutely serious.

She sighed heavily, inwardly, as she looked at Lisa—whose terror was so thick it clung to the room like fog. Her entire body was trembling.

Lari lamented.

This is what it was. This is what Fokay and Darklore were. A world where people with power and bloodlines could do whatever they wanted to people without standing. To the ones who lived in the cracks of society, those who only wanted to survive, to love, to be left alone.

And truthfully, Lisa was just like that.

A young girl who wanted to marry a rich, handsome man and live as his housewife.

Not out of greed. Not for vanity.

But for ease.

She didn’t want to smile to everyone for a paycheck. She wanted to belong. She wanted to be herself and devote herself to the man she loved.

Was that... a sin?

Lisa looked at the smiling Meris.

’All this... for him?’

She wasn’t an idiot.

She understood the reason now. She’d pieced it together.

She was being tied up, tortured, maybe even killed later... because she smiled a little too brightly at the wrong man.

Meris saw her expression and laughed. "Yes. All of this for him."

She stood slowly, elegance in every motion.

"You don’t understand, do you?" she asked, voice still light.

"You don’t understand that I’m ready to torture you. To kill you, for Kaden right?"

She smiled again.

"If you don’t understand that... then how dare you even think of pursuing the same man I, Meris Elamin, desire?"

"Do you wish for death?"

Lisa’s throat was dry. Her heart pounded loud enough she thought it might burst.

And all she could see were Meris’s lifeless, silver eyes.

’She... she’s insane.’

Lisa’s thoughts spiraled, regret swelled.

She regretted it all.

She regretted the fact she wanted Kaden.

The fact she wanted more.

The fact she wanted a future...above her station.

And truly...how could she not?

She was just a girl lucky enough to leave her village, to come to the capital, to land a job at Tycoon’s Merchants.

She had been grateful.

But after years of monotony... she wanted more.

Now she understood.

There are things people like her should never touch.

Should never even think of.

So she lowered her head.

"Please... please... don’t kill me. Don’t kill me. I have family back in my village. They count on me. Please... don’t... don’t..."

She repeated the plea over and over, sobbing, her tears falling like rivers onto the cold basement floor.

The sight was... pitiful.

Lari watched in silence. A flicker of pity moved across her eyes—but only a flicker.

After working in the Elamin household this long, you learned to survive. You learned to stop feeling.

"That’s... kind of sad," Meris said, tilting her head.

"Lari, you haven’t told me yet. What should I do with her?"

And this time... Lari responded.

"Are you prepared to face the consequences of killing her, my lady?" she asked, her voice firm and calm. But this wasn’t the flustered maid that usually followed behind Meris’s madness.

This was Lari, her mother figure.

The one who’d raised her.

The one who knew her more than her own mother did. And the one who loved her the most.

"The Tycoon’s Merchants have many type of artifacts. They’ll find out eventually. And when they do... it won’t just be a problem for you. It’ll be a problem for the family."

She said it plainly, hoping to reach her.

Meris knew all of this. She really did.

But—

"You saw how she looked at Kaden! How could I let that go?" Meris pouted, her tone suddenly playful again.

The shift was so abrupt that Lisa’s heart skipped a beat.

But Lari didn’t even blink.

"That’s why I’m offering you a better option, my lady."

She looked directly at Lisa.

For a moment, hope flickered in Lisa’s eyes.

But then—

"Enslave her, my lady."

Lari’s voice was absolute.

"After everything, the smartest move is to keep her close. Make sure the Tycoon’s Merchants never learn about this. Keep her under control."

At those words, Meris’s eyes lit up. Mischief bloomed.

"Perfect idea."

She turned back to Lisa with a wicked smile.

"So...you have two choices."

"You swear on The Will to become my slave forever..."

"Or you die here. Now."

She leaned forward, voice quieter but far more dangerous.

"And don’t forget... you have a family in that village, don’t you?"

"If you choose death I’ll kill them too. I wouldn’t want you feeling lonely up there... or down here."

That smile didn’t fade. It only grew darker.

Lisa’s eyes widened. Her body trembled again. She didn’t want to die.

But she didn’t want to be a slave either.

Swearing on The Will... it wasn’t symbolic.

It meant forever.

"You have one minute to decide," Meris said, voice cutting through her panic.

Lisa bit her lip hard.

A choice?

She never had one.

"I... I swear on The Will... that... I, Lisa... Lisa Ndiaye... accept to become the slave of... Meris Elamin," she whispered with great difficulty.

The moment she finished—

{Lisa Ndiaye is now the slave of Meris Elamin.}

The Will echoed across the air, then disappeared.

A bond was formed. There were no chains or marks to prove it...

But it was there.

Lisa felt it.

She couldn’t hurt Meris, couldn’t disobey her and couldn’t even think of resistance.

She was done for.

Meris felt it too.

She felt the power, the absolute command and authority she now has over another life.

Meris tilted her head and asked softly,

"Do you think this proves my love?"

"I still think killing her would’ve been more romantic."

Lisa didn’t even react. She couldn’t. She was already too far gone.

Already numb and done by all this.

And Lari?

Lari looked away.

’Crazy bitch.’

—End of Chapter 68—