Then she got bored.

“Clean the place,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “All of it. I don’t want to see a single spot left untouched.”

All of it.

Ground floor. Stairs. Rooms. Top floor.

I didn’t argue.I just started.

I wiped floors, scrubbed surfaces, cleaned glass, and carried things back and forth until my arms felt heavy and useless. Every movement hurt, but I kept going. Time blurred, and at some point I stopped thinking.

Just move. Just finish. Just don’t stop.

When I finally finished, I stood there quietly, waiting.

She walked through the space slowly, looking around, then clicked her tongue.

“This is what you call clean?” she said, her tone filled with disgust. “Are you blind, or just stupid?”

My chest tightened.

“I’ll redo it,” I said.

She laughed, a short and sharp sound.

“No,” she said. “You don’t get to fix it that easily.”

She turned slightly.

“Bring it,” she ordered.

Someone stepped forward behind me, and before I could react, they grabbed my hands, rough and tight. Something hard pressed against my fingers.

Wood.

My breath caught.

“Wait—”

Too late.

They tightened it.

Pain exploded through my fingers so suddenly I couldn’t even process it. It felt like my bones were being crushed slowly and deliberately. I gasped, my body jerking forward as a broken sound escaped me.

Cassandra watched, calm and attentive, as if this was nothing more than a passing moment.

“This is what happens,” she said, her voice steady and almost bored, “when someone forgets their place and tries to act above it.”

The pressure increased.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

A scream tore out of my throat, raw and uncontrollable, echoing through the room.

It hurts! It hurt so much.

My vision blurred, my body shaking, but they didn’t stop. Not until I couldn’t even tell where the pain ended anymore.

…

By the time Reed showed up to take me back, I was barely holding on.

My body felt heavy, my hands throbbed, my back burned, and every breath hurt. I didn’t even know how long I’d been there. Cassandra looked at me before I left, her lips curving into a slow, cold smile.

“Look at you,” she said, tilting her head. “You’re still alive. That’s impressive.”

Her eyes dropped to my hands, then back to my face.

“When you get back,” she continued, her voice soft but sharp underneath, “you know what to say and what not to say, right? Or do I need to remind you again?”

I lowered my head.

“I understand,” I said quietly.

She stepped closer.

“No, I don’t think you do,” she murmured. “Let me make it clearer. If you open your mouth and say anything you shouldn’t… even a single word… I won’t just hurt you next time. I’ll make sure you beg for death and still don’t get it.”

My fingers trembled slightly.

“I won’t say anything,” I repeated.

She smiled.

“Good. That’s what I like to hear.”

Then she waved her hand dismissively.

“Take her away. She’s making the place look ugly.”

Reed didn’t say much when he helped me out, just a quiet look, a tight jaw, controlled anger he didn’t show. We went straight back.

Ezekiel was already in his room, sitting behind his desk, going through documents like nothing else existed. He didn’t even look up when we walked in.

“You’re back,” he said flatly. “How was your time with Cassandra?”

I opened my mouth, but I didn’t get to answer.

“Boss!” my friend rushed forward, dropping to her knees so fast it echoed. “You have to do something! Elowyn was tortured! Cassandra didn’t just punish her, she went too far! Her hands… they almost—”

“Enough.”

Ezekiel’s voice cut through her instantly.

He finally looked up, not at me, but at her, his eyes sharp.

“Take her out,” he said. “Twenty lashes.”

My friend froze.

So did I.

My heart dropped.

“No—” I forced myself forward despite the pain and dropped to my knees. “Boss, this has nothing to do with her. She just spoke out of turn. Don’t punish her for this, please—”

His gaze shifted to me, annoyed.

“Nothing to do with her?” he repeated slowly. “She just accused someone who’s about to stand beside me publicly. You call that unrelated?”

My chest tightened.

“She didn’t mean it like that—”

“She spoke,” he cut in. “And what she said crosses the line. That’s enough.”

Future… beside him.

So that’s how it is.

Even words against Cassandra weren’t allowed.

Not even a little.

I swallowed hard, then lowered myself further until my forehead touched the floor.

“Then let me take it,” I said quietly. “Punish me instead. She doesn’t deserve this.”

There was a pause, heavy and dangerous.

“Elowyn,” he said, his voice colder now, “are you going against me?”

I didn’t move.

“I’m asking you to let me take it,” I repeated. “Please.”

Silence stretched.

“Fine.”

The word hit hard.

“If you want it so badly, you can have it,” he said. “Take her place. Twenty strokes.”

My back went stiff.

“Take her out,” he added, already looking back down at his desk. “Make it count.”

They dragged me out before I could think anymore.

Then it started.

The first hit landed across my back, sharp and heavy, knocking the air out of me. I bit down hard.

Second.

Third.

Each one tore through me, pain spreading deeper and hotter until I couldn’t tell where it started or ended.

Don’t make a sound.

Don’t make a sound.

I clenched my teeth harder.

By the time it ended, I wasn’t sure how I was still conscious.

They dragged me back to my room after.

I didn’t even feel the ground properly anymore.

Just… weight.

Darkness.

Later that night, Reed came in quietly.

He brought medicine, sat beside me, and sighed.

“Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” he muttered. “You know he still cares. He just… can’t see clearly right now. He’s too caught up in her.”

I didn’t answer.

I just let him treat the wounds.

Care doesn’t look like this.

Does it?

I kept that thought to myself.

Because it didn’t matter.

Not anymore.

The next day came too fast.

Ezekiel was heading out to the mountains for a hunt, and Cassandra went with him. He stood there in black, fitted gear, rifle slung over his shoulder, sharp and untouchable under the sunlight.

People stared.

Of course they did.

He helped her onto the horse himself, carefully and slowly, even lowering his hand so she could step on it to climb up easier. Cassandra laughed softly, leaning into him, and people noticed.

They always did.

“Did you see that?” someone whispered nearby. “He actually did that for her.”

“Yeah,” another voice replied. “Everyone says he’s ruthless. Took down his own brother’s faction, wiped out enemies without blinking. But look at him now… he’s completely different around her.”

“Right? Elowyn’s been with him for years, went through everything with him, and I’ve never seen him treat her like that.”

“Guess it really depends on who you are.”

I heard every word.

Of course I did.

I just didn’t react.

I kept my head down and followed behind them.

That was my role.

During the hunt, it got worse.

He stayed close to Cassandra the entire time. When she got tired, he slowed down. When she complained, he listened. When she missed a shot, he guided her hands, steady and patient.

At one point, she spat out fruit seeds, and he caught them without hesitation. Later, she handed him something she had already taken a bite from.

He ate it with no hesitation.

I had never seen that before. Not in all the years I stood beside him. So that’s what it looks like.

I lowered my eyes again.

And kept walking.

….

By late afternoon, Cassandra got bored with the hunt, and she let out a small sigh while tossing her rifle aside to one of the men.

“This is getting dull,” she said, stretching a little as she leaned closer to Ezekiel. “They just run and die. There’s no challenge at all. I want something more interesting.”

Ezekiel glanced at her, and there was that patience in his voice again, the kind I never heard directed at me.

“Then tell me what you want,” he said calmly. “I’ll arrange it.”

She smiled slowly, and her eyes moved across all of us standing behind them.

“I want to try something different today,” she said. “Something more fun. I want a live target.”

The moment those words left her mouth, everything went quiet.

No one moved, but I could feel the tension. People lowered their heads, trying to disappear, and even the guards stiffened slightly.

But Ezekiel didn’t react much.

“If that’s what you want,” he said, like it didn’t matter at all, “then do it.”

That was enough for her.

She laughed, clearly pleased, and started pointing around lazily while dragging it out on purpose.

“Not you. You look like you’d faint. And you… no, you’d probably cry before I even shoot.”

Some of them forced small laughs, but no one actually relaxed.

Then her finger stopped.

On me.

“I’ll take her,” she said, her voice bright. “That one. She looks like she can handle it.”

My chest tightened, but I didn’t move.

Ezekiel followed her gaze, and for a second, he just looked at me. I couldn’t read his expression, and I didn’t even know what I was hoping for anymore.

“Hmm?” Cassandra tilted her head slightly, her voice soft but pressing. “What’s wrong? You don’t want me to pick her? I thought you said I could have whatever I wanted.”

He looked away.

“As you wish,” he said.

That was it.

Something inside me just… dropped.

It reminded me too much of before, and I didn’t even want to remember it, but I still did. Back then, when we were trapped, there was someone who forced him to stand as a target just for amusement, and every time that happened, I stepped in front of him without thinking.

I still remembered the arrows. The sound. The pain. The one that went through my shoulder and left me burning for days.

He stayed with me that time.

He changed my bandages himself, and his voice was low when he told me not to do something so stupid again.

And I still said I had to protect him.

I thought it meant something.

Now… it didn’t.

I took a breath and stepped forward.

They handed me a watermelon, and I held it up the way they told me to. My arms already felt weak, but I kept them steady because I knew better than to show anything.

“Don’t move,” Cassandra called out, smiling as she lifted the rifle. “If I miss, that’s on you.”

Someone behind her laughed nervously.

“Miss Cassandra’s aim is perfect,” they said quickly. “She won’t miss.”

“Of course she won’t,” another added. “Boss himself trained her.”

Ezekiel stood beside her, watching, and then he said quietly, “Take your time. You’ll hit it.”

She adjusted her stance and aimed.

The first shot rang out, and the bullet clipped the edge cleanly.

People started praising her immediately.

“That was perfect!”

“Did you see that?”

She smiled wider.

Second shot.

It hit even cleaner this time, and the watermelon cracked slightly.

More praise followed, louder now, and even Ezekiel gave a small nod.

“Good,” he said.

My arms were starting to shake, but I forced them still.

Then she didn’t shoot right away.

She took her time.

Adjusted again.

And I noticed it.

The barrel shifted.

Not at the watermelon anymore.

Lower.

Toward me.

My breath caught, and something cold spread through my chest.

Is she… serious?

I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

If I moved, would that make it worse?

“Stay still,” she said softly, almost amused.

Then she pulled the trigger.

The shot came fast.

Too fast.

And the next second, something slammed into my chest.

The impact knocked the air out of me, and my grip loosened as the watermelon slipped from my hands and hit the ground.

My vision turned red, and the world felt far away, like I was already being pulled out of it.

So this is it?

After everything?

My body stopped responding, and the last thing I felt was that cold taking over everything before the darkness swallowed everything.

“Somebody fucking call an ambulance!”

Finally, I can be with Hunter in my next life.