His Dark Desire: Tales of a Yandere

176 v. His Leverage

After the chain incident, Dominus has mellowed down. He has become more gentle, Mary knows it was partly because he felt guilty overseeing the bruises and wounds on her body.

She tried to cooperate with him as much as maybe possible. She didn’t want a repeat of being in shackles.

She sighed as she thinks of what may currently be happening to her friend. She wondered if she should try again soon to look for him.

Dominus has trusted her enough during the past few weeks, letting her explore the castle once again. What was stopping her is fear.

Fear that if he finds out what she has been doing, he will once again be overcome by deranged ideas. The madness in his eyes that night still terrified her until the present day.

She took a sip of tea from the cup she was holding and continued to watch the flowers in full bloom. Red roses seemed to cover the ground like a blood river.

From afar she would look like a contented fiance of a rich and powerful man who dotes on her from every turn. It may even be possible that everyone who knows her existence thinks that she was the luckiest girl alive.

For she is so plain and ordinary to even be paired with him even as a joke. She laughed at her own misery that no person can possibly see.

She was wearing an expensive dress but behind all that are bruises and wounds yet to heal. She had to put on makeup even on her skin directly just so the servants wouldn’t see.

.....

Otherwise, she is not allowed to go out of the room. She started wondering if all prince charmings eventually turn into monsters.

The fairytales she heard as a child... are they just fairytales because the stories had been cut short?

She forced herself to smile when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. Like a doll that couldn’t frown or show any sadness, she had to keep a front.

She didn’t even have to guess who it was. For he was the only one who could approach her.

The servants need to be rung, she looked at the miniature bell placed on top of the table, the servants here are just like dogs being called by their master.

But she is no different. No, she is even worse. She is someone chained to his side and could never even attempt to leave.

“You came home early today,” she said, glancing at her watch.

It was a limited edition Rolex. Something she would never have even considered wearing from her salary back then. But such luxury just felt like chains on her wrist.

Heavy chains continued to tie her to him. Did she mention he can’t refuse his gifts now?

For fear of making him disappointed... she simply cannot throw them away. Even if her stomach churns and her entire being rejects them.

She has to wear them and accept his gifts with gratitude in her heart. That is what this relationship is all about.

“Are you disappointed, my love?” he asked her, his voice gentle and yet she could tell the veiled threat.

“Of course not, I am always so happy to be with you. I am glad that you had less work today,” she smiled readily as he kissed her nape.

Her hair has been put up today, it has always been perfectly styled by her personal assistants who made sure she looks her best for their employer.

He said he wanted her to look like royalty. Like the queen she is, she should always look like one.

Because it made him happy she had to agree to everything. Unless she wanted to remain in her room then at that time all she is allowed to wear are flimsy nightgowns that leave nothing to the imagination.

“I am glad to hear that from you, my love. You have really changed in the past few days. You have become so much more perfect than you already were. My queen, I am so happy to be seeing these changes from you. In fact, I am so exceedingly glad that I am to reward you with a perfect gift,” he smiled.

She tried to look for the gift but she didn’t see him carrying anything, she felt her heart thump ferociously against her chest, “Where is it?”

He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “Or who is it?”

She felt her body turn cold as images of her fears started flooding her brain. She held tightly into his arm and looked up at him with dread.

“Oh, why do you look at me like that, my little butterfly? I wonder what evil thoughts run inside your head during this time. I couldn’t decide whether to be extremely pleased or disappointed over this,” he snickered.

“Who is it?” she asked, her face grave.

He caressed her cheek and pressed a gentle kiss, “Who else but your family, my love.”

As if on cue, she can hear the happy chatter of the kids as they ran towards the house, pushing each other desperately for a chance to be the first to hug her.

She hugged her nephews and gave each a resounding kiss. The children were followed by her parents and her sister who seemed to be in a rather good mood.

Amidst the noise created by her family is that dull feeling of ache that she couldn’t rejoice completely. For she is still as trapped as she was before.

To think giving her family a chance to visit is already a treat for her is even more shameful as it shows the reality of her existence.

What hurts her more is the fact that she couldn’t really tell them what has been happening to her. She could never tell them that she was being detained here against her will.

She couldn’t risk her family’s safety like that. She understood now why he brought them here, to remind her what she can lose if she continued to try struggling away from his grasp.

She faked another smile, she couldn’t let them see through the cracks. Rather than losing them completely, she would rather perform her part, as his happy fiance.

She nearly lost her composure when her father spoke, “You guys are taking forever to wed. Mind you, my daughter is already going to be past the marrying age in a year’s time. Do you really wish my daughter to be such a disgrace? Plus this setup of living together before marriage is something I do not approve of. I am already losing face before our family.”

“Yes, this matter really felt severe for all of us. Since our Mary is the weaker sex and we do not have the privilege of being born into a wealthy family such as yours. We cannot really be expected to take everything at face value. We need assurance that you will marry our daughter or we would rather take her away from you,” her mother spoke just as well.

The threat in her voice made Mary’s intestines twist and turn. She looked at Dominus who was as far as she can say trying to maintain a cool appearance.

He has a friendly smile despite the dire words she knew he would not have taken so lightly. There was no telltale sign on his face aside from the slight clenching of his jaw which can only be apparent through careful observation.

“With all due respect, mother and father, I have always been laden by these concerns as well. What do you all say about me doing what should have been proper all this time?” his voice was light but she had a feeling he wasn’t joking.

“Well by gods, do it already young man? We all wanted to see little grandchildren from our youngest daughter as well. Better get on your knees, the sooner the better of course,” her mother chimed in, making her skin crawl.

She made the mistake of looking at Dominus and meeting his eyes, as if that brief encounter has given him a brilliant idea, he smiled brightly at her.

“I think we shouldn’t ambush my fiance like this. The term is already fiance for god’s sake. We know we will marry. It’s just a matter of when,” she tried to remedy the situation with a slight tremor in her voice.

“Ambush your fiance? As long as we don’t see a ring on your finger, how can we be satisfied? We may not be as rich as he is but we are an honorable family as well. Do you think letting you live with a man not your husband has not caused us woes? This is already too much,” Cinderella spoke, raising her eyebrow at her.

She would have naturally ignored Cinderella and her quips but right now she had already reached her limits.

What woes was she talking about when she was the one shamelessly spending all the allowances being sent by Dominus to their parents?

They do not realize how much more helpless she feels every time they too accept his ‘generosity’. It was as if his actions were being justified because her family is being paid anyway.

She would have shut her mouth but to hear such complaints from someone enjoying her life out of her own misery, isn’t that too much to bear?

“Please tell me about your woes. What are those woes you talk about when you are enjoying every second of spending money that is not yours to spend? Is that what you wanted? To exchange me like a cattle for money?” she hissed.

It was a momentary loss of composure, and for that someone who has never raised her voice in her own family, she expected her family to understand and have even a little patience.

But when her father spoke she knew as always, her parents will always take the side of her sister, “That is enough. We will return every single cent you think we have spent. And we will stop living off your estates. As long as you are not married and continue to live in a strange man’s house, you can forget about your family.”

She felt her whole world darkened as every one of her family left her with her captor finally smiling when they were gone, “See what you did my love? I guess right now, we will have to see if they change their mind. I wouldn’t want to force you into something you wouldn’t want to do. After all, marriage is forever.”