The guy stood up. "Girl's listened up. You must be wondering why you're here inside my manor..."

Ebony rose to her feet ready to flee. "Yes... why we're here? Are you the one who shot me with the poisonous arrow on my back?" she asked, glaring at him.

"No! You and the other girls are sold in the human slavery market by the bandits. I bought you and your companion with 500 gold coins based on the buy one take one promo package..." the guy explained.

The women looked at each other in shock. The only thing they can remember before they fainted.. they were hit by something painful in their back... and they fainted after that.

The other woman jumped towards Ebony's side and hide behind her back in fright. "Is he going to kill us? Or abuse us?" she asked in a terrified voice.

Ebony looked at the handsome guy, the more she looked at him the more her heart beats rapidly in her rib cage. "What are you going to do to us!?" she shouted in alarm.

"Calm down. I have no ill intention towards you. My name is Corbin. I am the new owner of this property. I bought you girls from the slave marketplace with the purpose of putting you here to help me take care of the place. This property needs a caretaker and I'm not always here to take care of it. So, that is your purpose girls. You will live here and take care of the place for me. Don't worry, I'll give you food ration every week. If you are hard worker, you can cultivate the land at the back of the manor. You can grow some vegetables and crops and sell them to the market. Whatever money you get from the sales are yours to keep. The only thing I ask from you is never leave this place and take care of it for me. Do you understand girls?" he asked.

Ebony and the woman looked at each other.

"I heard worst stories about women abducted by bandits and sold into brothels, forced into prostitution and others become sex slaves. If the guy is telling us the truth then I would rather live here as long he won't hurt and abused me. This is a beautiful place to live with! I am an orphan since young, from where I come from, I'm always hungry because the lady of the house only fed me one meal every day," the woman whispered.

Ebony looked at the handsome guy. "How can we trust you?" she asked, suspicious of his true motives.

"It's up to you. Just stay here for one week and you will know that my intention is good. I'm not planning in harming you girls. I only want people that I can trust when it comes to taking good care of my property while I'm away..." he said.

"And what if we can't stay here for one week? And we will run away? What will you do?" Ebony asked.

Corbin shrugged. "Ah, don't do that. Just wait for my return and I will grant you freedom. If that is the case then I will just buy other slaves from the marketplace... and maybe... I will get lucky next time and the girls will stay here and help me take care of the property on my behalf," Corbin said without worries.

Ebony studied him for a few seconds and saw the sincerity in his eyes.

"Girls, just stay here for one week, explore the whole place. If you like it here, then stay. If you don't then leave freely. How about that?" Corbin said.

The women looked at each other.

"We will stay here for one week, my lord!" the woman agreed.

"Good!" Corbin looked at the other woman. "And how about you? What is your name?"

"My name is Ebony," she replied.

Corbin looked at the other girl. "And yours?" he asked.

"My name is Anastasia, my lord," the woman replied.

"Alright, get ready. I'll give you a tour in my property," Corbin said.

The door suddenly opened and the horse driver entered carrying baskets of vegetables and stuff in his hands.

"Just bring them to the kitchen!" Corbin ordered.

"Yes, my lord!" the driver replied.

A few minutes later, he reappeared in the room carrying one sack of rice on his back and head straight to the kitchen area.

"Girls if you're thirsty and hungry, there is drinking water in the kitchen. You can start cooking your meal anytime, after I'm done giving you a tour around the property. I will go to my bedroom upstairs for a while. Feel yourself at home," he said and walked towards the staircase.

The two women watched the handsome guy climbing the stairs.

"I'm thirsty, let's go find some water in the kitchen!" Anastasia said.

The two women stood up and walked in the direction of the kitchen.

The driver had placed the baskets above the table.

Anastasia rummaged through the baskets and found biscuits and bread. "Wow! This looks delicious!" she exclaimed.

Ebony poured water into the two glasses. "Drink water first!" she said.

"Thanks!" Anastasia picked up the glass and drink the water in one go, then she put the empty glass back on the table. She looked at her companion. "Can I eat this? I'm so hungry?" she begged.

Ebony smiled. "Yes. You can eat all that," she said.

Anastasia smiled. "You don't want to eat?" she asked, munching happily on the tasty bread.

Ebony shook her head. "Nah, you can eat as much as you want. I have eaten my lunch a few hours ago," she replied.

Anastasia continues eating the delicious bread. "Do you know that at the previous house where I works as a slave, I seldom eat something as delicious as this one?" she said, licking her finger.

Ebony pitied the girl. "Really? How did you survive with just one meal a day?" she asked.

"Every time my stomach grumble I drink water to quench my hunger. I survived that way. If the lord gives me three decent meals a day then I will stay here forever and take care of this manor all my life. All I want is three meals a day, water to drink and a house to live. These simple basic things are very important for a servant like me," Anastasia said.

Ebony sighed. Humans are cruel to their kind. They don't have sympathy and compassion for servants like Anastasia. On the other hand, she is much luckier, she can always go back to the cave and enjoy living a free life with her sister.

Anastasia looked at her. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

Ebony shook her head. "Nothing..."

A few minutes later.

Corbin appeared at the door of the kitchen. "Are you done, girls?" he asked.

"Yes, we are!" the women replied in chorus.

"Alright, let's start the house tour. Follow me!" he said and walked towards the staircase.

The trio climbed the stairs.

When they reached the second floor. Corbin opened the rooms upstairs.

"Girls, this is my room. You can choose your rooms at the end of the hallway," he said and brought the women to the room.

They entered the fifth room.

Anastasia's eyes lighted up, liking the spacious room instantly. She walked towards the window and looked below. "Wow, what a nice view!" she enthused.

Ebony went to the window and looked below, she saw the garden filled with blooming flowers. "Beautiful view indeed!" she agreed.

"The previous owner loves growing colorful flowers. Girls, all you need to do is continue taking good care of the flowers," Corbin said. "Alright, let's go to the next room," he said.

The trio left the room and went to the next room.

Corbin looked at Ebony. "This is going to be your room," he said.

Ebony smiled. She found the room nice. There is a bathroom, a dresser table, bed, and cabinet. She never had a chance to live in such a huge house and stay in a spacious room such as this one. Somehow the whole thing excites her.

"Girls, let's move on to the rest of the rooms and then go back downstairs," Corbin said.

They finished touring the rest of the rooms including the study room filled with books.

"Alright, we're finished here. Let's go down," Corbin said and walked into the hallway.

The two women followed their new master going down the staircase.

On the ground floor.

There are two more rooms.

Then they went to the kitchen and exited through the door leading to the back of the manor.

Corbin brought the girls to the garden. "This is a two hectare property. You can cultivate the rest of the area if you want. You have my permission. You can grow anything on this place and the plants and vegetables will grow healthy because the soil is rich," he said, trying to encourage the girls to cultivate the land.

"I love growing plants especially flowers, my lord! Leave everything to us!" Anastasia said enthusiastically.

"Good!" Corbin said. He brought them to the location of the stable and the lake located fifty meters away from the barn.

There are two horses inside the stable.

Corbin pointed at the lake about half the size of a basketball court. "You see that man made lake? The previous owner grows shrimp and fish in there. The fishes and shrimps still thrives until today. You can catch the fishes and shrimp anytime and include them in your cooking," he said.

"Wow! So nice! This place is awesome!" Anastasia raved.

Ebony was staring silently at Corbin the whole time, careful not to let him catch her.

Corbin brought them to the wooded area of the manor where wooden picnic tables and chairs were arranged nicely under the shade of the tree. "You can go picnic here if you are in the mood. You can roast fish and shrimp here while enjoying the view and the wonderful afternoon weather," he suggested.

Anastasia's face was glowing with anticipation, she glanced at her companion. "Ebony, let's go picnic one of these days!" she said, beaming like a child.

Ebony smiled. "Sure!"

"Alright girls, the tour is over. Let's go back to the manor!" Corbin said.

They left the picnic area and began marching back to the manor.

The girls were chatting merrily with each other while walking.

On the other hand...

Corbin noticed that one of the women is not human.

Anastasia is no doubt 100% human.

But Ebony is not!

Interesting!