My body refused to move.

I would have stayed there too—if not for the sudden force which literally pushed me forward.

Kael was not a patient man.

With a deep breath, I quickly decided to ignore my fear. It would only kill me if I gave into it. I had to face him head on. There was no use continually freaking out over how I wasn't meant to meet him for another few years. There was no going back and changing anything.

I had to live in the now.

And that meant moving forward towards this predator, hoping—praying—that he wouldn't change his mind and kill me out of boredom.

It was strange to have my life hanging in the balance all because of a whim.

It didn't really do anything for my sense of safety.

As I walked down the path, I couldn't help but admire the indoor forest around me. There were tall trees which reached right up into the sky, yet still didn't touch the glass roof. Although the dark clouds were clearly visible, the sound of the rain hitting the glass ceiling of the greenhouse was somewhat therapeutic.

Stranger still—I could hear wildlife in here. Although I couldn't quite name some of the creatures here, I did know a bird when I heard one. I could also hear the sound of running water surrounding me, as if the sounds were bouncing off the objects around me—although I could not see it.

An indoor pond?

I had no idea. Maybe it was some complex irrigation system to keep this amazingly monstrous indoor forest alive.

As I purposefully made my way down the stone pathway, my footsteps echoing around me, some bird briefly flew past me. It was brightly coloured, with patterns definitely not seen back on earth, and it also seemed to give off a luminescent glow. If the plant's leaves didn't rustle as the bird flew into them, I would have sworn that it was all in my imagination.

Finally, I reached a point where I saw the pathway open up ahead of me, with a figure sitting by a table in the distance.

There was no time to hesitate or second guess myself—I'd had enough of that already. It was time to move past my shock and deal with things as they came. The fact that he constantly emanated power and fear didn't do much for my confidence, but I knew that I would never feel comfortable around this man. I just had to face the music.

If I died, I died. But I wouldn't go down without a fight...hopefully.

As I came into view, I glanced at Kael who was staring off into the distance.

Surely he could sense that I was here.

He didn't move. Not even a twitch.

Angry, I stalked forward, watching him as I made my way to the table.

As I kept my eyes trained on his, I finally stopped before the empty chair on the other side of the table. His presence was suffocating me, especially considering how close he was, but there was nothing I could do about it.

It was obvious looking at the setting that he expected me to sit in the empty chair.

But how do I get up?

I was small. This chair was big.

Somewhat shyly, I glanced over towards Kael, hoping that he would somehow get the message and help me.

I was caught off guard when I realised that he had already been looking at me while I had been sizing up the chair. My brain froze over. How long has he been watching?!

For a moment, he continued to stare, then without saying anything he went back to staring into empty space.

Fine. I refused to let myself get angry. Of course he was going to do this, why did I think any different?

I gave a nonchalant flick of my hair, before I reached forward and grabbed the base of the chair. Anchoring one of my arms to the middle of the seat, I then used all my might to jump upwards—and got it on the first go.

Looking back, if I hadn't been practising my mana accumulation, there was no way any normal child could have made this.

Proudly, I adjusted myself on the seat and turned to face Kael with great reluctance. He was still staring into thin air, so I decided to do the same. If he was going to make me wait, I wouldn't be hanging around on his every move. I would do the same. In fact, it was rather easy. Staring at Kael directly took a lot of effort. It drained me physically. Choosing not to look at him was doing myself a favour. In fact–

I jumped. I hadn't been expecting him to talk so soon. Glancing back at him, his eyes were now focused on me again—and he didn't look happy.

It was only then that I noticed the assortment of sweets on the table. Of course I had thought the sweets I had been given in the east wing were extravagant, but they were nothing compared to this. It was a feast my eyes had never seen before.

It was a work of art.

But my body refused to reach out. What would happen if I just willingly helped myself to his food? Yes, he had told me to eat it, but was that a test? Would he cut off my hands for dare trying to eat his food.

I frowned as I stared at the sweets. But he's a demon, he doesn't need human food.

My thoughts continued to swirl.

Then my thoughts hit a road block and I felt my hands become clammy. What he eats is mana.

And what had I been practising on accumulating for months now?

Mana.

I was a bonafide feast, all packaged and fresh and ready to be served.

Surely he didn't bring me here to eat me.

I refused to make eye contact with him over my sudden revelation.

Surely not.

I could feel his eyes burning a hole into my forehead.

There were no guarantees in this world. Was it common here for demons to eat their children? If memory served right, perhaps there had been a mention of it in the original nove-

I felt my lip twitch. Asshole.

This whole situation felt so insane. But it was clear who had the power in all this, and what would happen if one chose to disobey.

So I ate.

It was as simple as that. I wasn't stupid. People who chose to rise up against powers like this were already in their graves.

As wise as a serpent, as innocent as a dove.

Although I was sick of being scared, I still had to obey the laws of this world.

And he was the ultimate power.

The apex—the crux of everything supernatural. Well, for me.

I was still unsure as to how open this world was to not only magic—but supernatural creatures as well. Kael was a demon, and it was common knowledge that people feared demons, especially those that could willingly decimate a nation if they chose to. But for some reason Kael hadn't done that in many years. Was it boredom? Was he too lazy now?

Or did some higher power have control of him?

After the first bite, it was as if my taste buds came alive for the first time.

Holy sh*t. This is delicious.

I took another bite. Then another. I couldn't help myself.

My mouth was open as I was about to take another bite, but I put the food back down. My face was aflame over how easy I had lost control. It was embarrassing to be so caught up about food despite being an adult. Then again—I had always obsessed over food in my past life. Looks like old habits die hard.

I swallowed my fear as I placed my food back on the table, determined not to be intimidated by this very intimidating person. "They do feed me."

He sneered.

I crossed my hands over each other, trying to display the etiquette Lettie had painstakingly showed me. I didn't know how to answer him, so I instead chose to take a smaller bite of the muffin I had been working my way through.

Steeling myself, I looked him directly in the eyes. "They take good care of me."

Somewhere deep inside, I was hoping this would hurt him. I don't know whether it was conscious or unconscious, but I wanted him to feel guilty. There was a hope that perhaps I had hit some paternal chord within him, and that it would bring with it the guilt of abandoning me. That despite him hoping I would die or fade into the abyss of his mind, that I was being taken care of by people that loved me. Showing him that he was replaceable.

That I didn't need him.

He remained impassive.

Of course he wouldn't care. There was no hope of penetrating this steel fortress that was his mind. But I would keep trying.

I gritted my teeth. If there was anything I could do to bring justice to the original Edythe, it was that I would make Kael pay. If I wasn't going to escape this place, I would drag him down with me.

I clenched my jaw. "You would not know what is good or not. You are a demon."

There was silence. Nothing but the rain could be heard.

Frick. Frick. Frickety-frick.

The words had just slipped out in my anger. I had been so caught up in my thoughts that I had failed to filter them out. I panicked but tried my best not to show it.

For a moment, we both stared at each other, blood reflecting blood.

As we stared, I felt a coldness settle into my bones. It chilled me and a shiver ran down my spine, but I refused to break eye contact with Kael. If there was one thing my studies back on earth had taught me, it was how to recognise when a mental war was being waged.

The coldness then spread to my extremities and I felt pins and needles begin to prickle in my toes and fingers.

My mana was draining within me I could feel it.

Without thinking, I subconsciously began channelling the mana around me as I stared at Kael.

And this place was riddled with it.

It was as if I was a magnet surrounded by copious amounts of metal. It literally flew to me, sticking to my skin and being sucked in almost immediately. It had never done this before.

What was going on?

For a brief instant, I saw Kael's eyes narrow.

Then just as quickly, the cold presence within me disappeared.

I felt my body slump as I drew in a desperate breath of oxygen that I didn't know I had been deprived of.

I was still focusing on breathing as Kael rose from the table and came directly in front of me. His cold stare was enough to whither me in fear.

When he reached out, I flinched away.

He didn't hesitate as he grabbed my arm.

Suddenly it was as if fire erupted from my arm and was burning my flesh.

I couldn't hold back the blood-curdling scream that escaped my lips as the fire began to spread throughout out my body. It felt as if it was burning all my internal organs. It was so fast and so quick, that my body writhed in shock and I coughed. Something dark red splattered on the table and the half-eaten muffin before everything around me became blurry from the pain.

With the convulsions and my head feeling like it was now on fire, I felt the world tip sideways as the muscles in my body stopped working.

Then everything went dark.