CHAPTER 131: HELEN’S DILEMMA

"I want a room, yes, the premium, just for two days please, yeah, bring me food now," after talking with the receptionist of a rather extravagant looking hotel—its marble floors gleaming under crystal chandeliers that cast prismatic rainbows across gold-veined walls—he took the keycard that was handed to him and with the girl behind him who had a scarf over her face he made his way to the room number. The price for the place just for two days might have broken the back of an average commoner just hearing about it, the kind of sum that could feed a family for months, but he, HE had funds, after all, the princess had made sure to splurge on him.

The girl trailing behind him noticed this, her eyes taking in the opulent surroundings—the plush crimson carpets that muffled their footsteps, the ornate paintings depicting long-dead nobles in gilded frames—for him to afford a place like ths only meant he wasn’t a normal commoner, but at this point nothing mattered, it was as though her whole world had collapsed and now she stood in the blank vastness, a hollow shell moving through motions while her mind screamed in anguish.

Nothing seemed to interest her, she just kept walking, reliving how she had with her own hands, destroyed her life. It was disturbing to think of, a noble girl born of the highest level in the hierarchy of nobility—someone who had commanded servants with a mere glance, who had been bowed to by earls and counts—reduced to a slave to her own making? She felt... repulsed by her own self, and at this point, clarity returned to her head in full force, cutting through the fog of her earlier desperation like a blade. What was she even thinking, what made it worse was that fact that she was willing to bind herself to someone so easily, to become a literal slave to love, but she hadn’t thought if the said person even felt the same intense way about her, thinking about it, it felt like something had completely blinded her—some mad enchantment that had clouded her judgment—but now that it was unveiled, it was too late, she had already made the mistake and had now bound herself to this bastard who didn’t even understand what he had just done, he had literally cursed himself by enslaving her and the idiot remained blissfully unaware.

"It’s this room," he said, placing what seemed like a keycard before the lock—a sleek black rectangle—and it shone blue before a clicking sound was heard, the mechanism whirring as enchanted tumblers fell into place, it was open.

He grabbed the ornate golden handle, its surface warm to the touch and engraved with intricate patterns, and twisted, the next instant the door swung open with a soft whoosh and he walked in.

"Hm... the princess’ room still grander," she heard something like that from him, his voice carrying a tone of casual comparison that made her jaw clench, but didn’t really pay much attention to his rambling, at this point in her life, she was stuck between wanting to just surrender to the thought of killing herself—knowing she had just taken away the element of choice from her own life and given herself a husband like some lovesick fool from a tragic ballad—and the thought to kill this bastard for enslaving her, her fingers twitching with the phantom memory of how her blade used to feel in her grip, but she couldn’t do it, he had after all issued a command that she couldn’t kill him and no matter what she tried her body wouldn’t obey, as if invisible chains wrapped around her very soul.

He had said something about releasing her if he successfully made it to the academy, but that just further infuriated her, her blood boiling like acid in her veins, as she then realized the bastard didn’t even fully understand the implication of soul bind—the ancient magic that had ruined countless lives throughout history, it was easy to do but extremely difficult to break, if it ever COULD be broken, however she did realize there might be a chance, after all the academy he spoke about was an encyclopedia of knowledge, she was bound to find a professor with knowledge of this, if not, she could just meet her father, however that thought scared her more than death itself as she feared for his reaction of what she had done—the shame, the disappointment, the way his eyes would dim when he learned his precious daughter had become a common slave, so yes, the better option was searching for solution at the academy. All she had to do was make sure he didn’t die till she was able to break the bind, then, ONLY THEN, would she personally kill him with her own bare hands, slowly, methodically, making him beg till death.

"Tch, it’s pretty hot in here," she heard him say, his casual complaint grating against her nerves like nails on stone, gritting her teeth as she looked around the lavishly appointed room—silk curtains in deep burgundy, furniture carved from rare bloodwood that probably cost more than most people’s homes—and in a short while found a cooling relic attached to the top, a crystalline device that pulsed with blue light, she went to what appeared to be the controller, a panel of smooth obsidian inlaid with silver runes, set it, then applied some mana to stimulate the functions and in a second the place turned cooler, the air shimmering as the temperature dropped.

"Nice... Um, what was that your name again?" she heard him say, his tone so maddeningly casual it made her want to scream, and rolled her eyes in irritation, the gesture hidden behind her scarf but the contempt burning in her chest like molten lead, "Helen," she said.

And he just nodded, "So Helen, tell me about this world," he said and a vein appeared on her forehead, throbbing with barely contained rage, "What do you mean this world?" she controlled her anger and asked in a polite tone, each word carefully measured to hide the storm raging beneath, she planned to appear as obedient as possible until she was able to free herself and kill him, it was the wisest thing to do as infuriating him would make this whole thing even more difficult for her.

"Tell me everything about this world, the power system, the kingdoms and everything else," he said casually as though the vast world—with its ancient empires, complex magical hierarchies, and centuries of political intrigue—was just so small to describe in a few words, "Are you by any chance... an idiot," she just had to ask, the words slipping out before she could stop them, it was a normal question, just why in the world would someone suddenly ask about the world, were they living under a rock or something all their life?

He looked at her, then laughed a bit before saying, "Helen, save your frustration for whoever needs it, if I ask you a question, you answer, got it...?" he asked, she clenched her fist until her knuckles went white, biting her lips till blood trailed down her chin, "GOT. IT?" He asked slowly emphasizing on every syllable like she was some dim-witted child, and she nodded, god, she hated this bastard, she could already imagine how much she would torment him before killing him—every cut, every scream, every moment of terror she would visit upon him—that was the only thing keeping her from trying to outrightly kill him now, even though she knew she couldn’t. ’How can he treat me this way?’ she was furious, her entire body trembling with suppressed violence, she had never been this... humiliated, the way the lowlife talked to her, it was like he was talking to a servant—not just any servant, but the lowest kitchen wench—her? Helen LeVeria? A SERVANT?! The very thought made her soul writhe in agony.

’I swear on my life, I will kill him,’ she thought, before composing herself and divulging the information he required.