When I opened my eyes, I found myself supposedly transmigrated to some ancient era. Every morning, before light touched the sky, someone would yank me out of bed to haul trash, chop wood, and do whatever filthiest job needed doing.

Somehow, I'd become the lowest-ranked servant in the entire estate. The estate lord's son would climb onto my back and ride me around the courtyard like some pet he was proud to show off. Anyone in the household could hit me, kick me, or shove me aside, and not a single soul would speak up.

Five years passed like that, so awful that I almost lost my mind, as if I were living in hell.

Then one day, a group of servants cornered me. They didn't bother hiding their intention. The moment I saw their faces, I knew I was in trouble. Fists flew, boots landed, and everything blurred. Just before I passed out, I heard them whispering, "We're going to kill him if we keep this up."

"Come on. This place only looks like some old noble estate. It's not an actual one. If he dies here, we're the ones who'll get dragged to court!"

"Relax. Ms. Shaw will handle it. The idiot pissed off her childhood sweetheart. Getting tricked into this place is exactly what he deserves."

Fear swallowed everything, and the world went dark.

When I woke again, the lady of the house had conveniently "returned from visiting her family." The lord threw a grand celebration with tables full of food, wine flowing, and musicians playing like nothing had happened. I carried dishes into the banquet hall and lifted my head.

Her face was the same as my wife's, Melissa Shaw. I set the final dish down, stepped closer, and in a voice only she could hear, asked, "Ma'am… are you enjoying your little game?"

Melissa Shaw's smile froze the moment she heard my question.

Melissa's fingers tightened around the hem of her dress. I couldn't have been mistaken, it was an old nervous habit I knew too well… It really was her! But before she could speak, Connor Hayes shot up from his seat and drove his boot into my stomach, sending me crashing to the ground.

"You filthy servant," he spat. "Who gave you the right to get near my wife? Forgot every rule I taught you?"

Connor had been Melissa's childhood friend. I thought everything was purely a coincidence when I first arrived here five years ago… from their names to their relationship and everything, I never imagined it was all part of a carefully constructed lie.

I swallowed the pain and forced myself to my feet, keeping my eyes on Melissa.

"You insolent creature. Have you forgotten your place?" Melissa said, covering her nose as if my very existence was an offense. "How filthy! It's disgusting! Take him out now and dunk him in the pond until he's clean."

The guards grabbed and dragged me outside. First, they plunged me into the pond, shoving my head underwater, letting mud and foul water rush into my lungs. Then, they hauled me up only long enough for me to gasp, and forced me under again, again and again, always stopping right before I blacked out.

I did not fight back.

Melissa and Connor stood above me, looking down with that same cold superiority. I stared up at the two people who had turned my life into hell. The pain washed over me... the pain that she gave me, and the pain Connor delivered with his riding crop whenever he felt like venting his anger out on me.

Sometimes he would let the servants "take good care" of me. After all the beatings, the spit in my food, and the filth dumped over my head — the abuse became so overwhelming that I once truly believed that I'd been thrown into some medieval nightmare, where a single wrong move could really get me beaten to death.

For five years, this had been routine. I prayed day and night that Melissa would never suffer what I did, and I felt so filthy that I didn't even deserve a place to be in her memory anymore.

How absurd to think of this now.

When I was drowning in that pond and barely conscious... I looked toward Melissa. Was I hoping for something? I didn't know. I only knew she was the woman I once loved… But she didn't look at me. She was kissing Connor like nobody was around.

Of course. If Melissa had ever felt anything for me, would I be in this situation after five long years?

"How dare that creature defile you with those eyes of his?" Connor noticed my stare and scowled with disgust.

"Don't waste your anger on a servant," Melissa soothed him immediately. She flicked an order to the servants. "Drag him up. Beat him!"

They hauled me from the water, and before I could catch a breath, the beating began like a storm. Some servants hesitated, trying to appease the couple with flattery. "Sir, ma'am! There's no need to waste your energy on a lowly servant on such a great reunion day!"

"Exactly. Please go enjoy the celebration. Staying here is just a waste of time." They agreed and left without a second glance, with laughter and music drifting from the courtyard as I lay gasping in the dirt like a dying dog.

I curled my hand into a fist with the last of my strength. For the first time in years, a strange calm settled over me. I knew I would find a way out, I would leave this place, and every single thing they had done to me over the past five years would be paid back. Not once, not twice, but a thousand times over!

When everyone finally left, I forced myself upright and limped back to the reeking stable that had been my “room” for five years. It was a filthy room where I had spent five long years sleeping beside horse manure.

I was still dizzy when footsteps approached. It was Melissa. She appeared in the doorway with a food box in her hand, then she set it down as if nothing had happened. “Here, leftovers from tonight’s banquet, eat it while it’s still warm.”

The memory of her laughing with Connor earlier twisted in my gut. I turned my face away, but she didn’t notice. She kept talking and explaining how Connor hadn’t meant to punish me, how I’d spoken out of turn, and how I should behave next time.

She frowned when she saw me stay silent. “Doesn’t suit your taste? I can ask the kitchen to make something else.” She started to turn, but I rasped, “No,” and pushed the box back toward her.

“A lowly servant like me doesn’t deserve food this fine… let alone the honor of my lady delivering it herself.” Her expression turned cold. “ You ungrateful wretch.” She kicked the box over, sending its contents spilling across my legs and chest. “Still acting stubborn? Looks like you’re not hungry after all. Get to the front courtyard and serve.”

I got dragged out before I could say a word. The servants changed my clothes, shoved me into the manor’s private quarters, and ordered me to haul bucket after bucket of boiling water for Melissa and Connor’s bath. Everyone had been instructed not to help.

“You filthy servant! Don’t you dare slack off!” Any delay earned a lash across my back.

By the time I finished, my shirt was soaked through with blood. I could hear Melissa and Connor teasing each other in the bath behind the curtain. Their laughter mixed with splashes and breathless moans. She had once made those same sounds with me. However, the memory made bile rise in my throat now.

After a long while, they finally remembered I existed. “We don’t need you anymore,” Melissa called lazily. “Go kneel outside.” I limped to the doorway and sank to my knees while the splashing inside grew louder.

It felt like forever.

My legs were nearly numb when Connor finally emerged with Melissa wrapped in silk at his side. He barely glanced at me. “Stay out here tonight and reflect on your mistakes. Keep kneeling.” And then they left me alone.

It took me a long time before I could stand again. I moved toward a corner of the courtyard to escape the wind, but as I passed the wall behind the bathhouse, a faint horn sounded somewhere beyond the estate caught me…

Something hopeful inside my chest sparked.

I crouched down and pressed my ear to the cold stone. The sound was soft but unmistakably real, it was proof that the outside world wasn’t far at all.

It was proof of the way out.

For the next several days, I was forced to serve them closely. I would trail behind them at their beck and call as they wandered the estate, and stand guard outside their door whenever they grew intimate.

Every soft moan Melissa made in Connor's arms cut through me like a blade reopening an old wound. When I wasn't needed, they would send me to keep the young heir company. He was mischievous, but at least he didn't command servants to beat me, so I could occasionally find some relief and breathe in his presence.

One afternoon, he climbed a tree and nearly fell. When I caught him, his shirt lifted, revealing a tiny, red birthmark on his lower back. It was the one my son, Aiden, was born with.

For five years, I had believed I'd transmigrated to another era and I trusted that Melissa in the modern world was caring for our child… How could I know he'd been beside me this whole time and raised to call another man "father"? All happened under my eyes while I was treated like a dog.

Grief and rage tore through me, but I forced myself to remain calm. I knew I couldn't risk anything before I escaped. So I pretended I knew nothing and stayed gentle with him. When I watched my own son laugh beside me, it was the only warmth my hollow chest had felt in years.

One day, Connor arrived with Melissa as Aiden was playing with a slingshot. His aim slipped when he spotted them, and a pebble struck Connor's temple, leaving it red and swollen. His expression darkened. "You little brat! You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he grabbed Aiden by the ear and raised his hand to strike.

"Father, I didn't mean to…" Aiden burst into terrified sobs as I rushed forward. "It's my fault," I pleaded. "I didn't watch him carefully…" Connor paused, a sinister idea sparking in his eyes. "This boy has gone wild," he said softly. "Why don't you discipline him for me?"

A servant shoved a whip into my hand while others pinned Aiden to a bench. "Go on! Stop only when he's learned his lesson." My fingers trembled. "He didn't mean it… it was an accident… he's just a child…How could we use a whip…" My desperate gaze landed on Melissa, hoping she'd speak up for her own son.

"Do it," she said coldly. I froze, unable to lift my arm because he was our child… her own child…

"Since when does a servant question our master's orders?" she frowned. "Do it!"

Connor scoffed and snatched the whip from me. He shoved it into Aiden's hands instead. "This mutt never learns. If you help me punish him, you'll be spared today."

My breath caught, eyes widened in disbelief. Aiden, terrified of being hit himself, didn't hesitate and swung the whip at me with all the strength in his small body. "Filthy servant! That's for defying Father! You deserve to die!" Stroke after stroke landed.

I'd been beaten countless times, but it felt different this time. Each blow burned not only on my flesh but behind my eyes. Tears fell, my heart broke again and again even though it had shattered thousands of times. He kept beating me until he was exhausted, then he ran back to Connor, looking eager for praise. "Father, if he ever upsets you again, I'll punish him for you!"

"Good boy," Connor said, smirking as he left with Melissa and the child.

I watched them disappear in the courtyard, leaving me trembling in red. Something tightened inside my chest. I knew I had to move soon. I couldn't bear to look at their faces for even one more second.