Chapter 5: Become a slave.

*POV Aliyah

I didn't expect that damn Charles would enslave me. It feels terrible to go from a hunter to a slave of prey. It was an insult to me. But I couldn't resist. This is the only way I can survive and get out of here.

Lost in thought, I didn't notice that the woman in front of me had stopped abruptly. I crashed into her back, and the suit in my hand fell to the ground. It is the servant uniform I received this morning.

"Damn it! Don't you have eyes?" The woman's gruff voice resounded. She turned to look at me with angry eyes.

Through Serena, I know her name is Ashe, who manages the enslaved people here. She is only thirty years old, but due to her hard work from a young age, she looks fifty years old. Her face was haggard, and her high cheekbones added to her stern and fierce look.

I originally wanted to apologize to her, but her attitude made me highly uncomfortable. When she came to see me in the infirmary in the morning, her attitude was not good; she seemed to hate me when I first met her.

'That bastard Charles' subordinate is just as obnoxious as he is. I thought in my heart.

On the surface, I don't show any emotion. I bent over to pick up the uniform when Ashe's foot stepped on my uniform.

She didn't seem to notice that she had stepped on my stuff. "From now on, you will stay in this room. Outside working hours, you cannot roam around and only stay in the room. Here are some rules here. It is best to memorize it today. You will receive a hefty penalty if you break one of the rules. After ten minutes, go to the back garden to start working." Ashe said disdainfully and stuffed a piece of paper into my hand. After that, she turned to leave, but she remembered to trample on my things a few times before leaving.

I suppressed the anger in my heart. I'll teach her a lesson, but not right now.

I looked at the double-sided printed paper in my hand; on it were twenty rules and fifteen things strictly forbidden here. I snorted coldly, looked at it, and then folded the paper. Then, I picked up my uniform and opened the door to my room.

The room was relatively small, with only a single bed, a wardrobe, and no windows. The only good thing here is that it has its toilet. I prefer to use something other than shared bathrooms.

After looking around, I was about to change, but seeing that the suit had many stains, I put it down and left the room. I definitely won't wear it even if I get reprimanded. Now that I'm a slave, is there a worse punishment?

Here is a vast mansion with five floors, loads of rooms, and different areas. I walked around for a while, and by the time I reached the back garden, it was ten minutes late. That made Ashe even more annoyed.

"I thought you were dead. I was going to find your body." Ash scoffed.

"Thank you for taking care of me. But rest assured, I have lived a long time. By the time you die, I'm not dead yet." I replied.

Seeing Ashe's face change from white to blue made me happier inside. She probably didn't think that I dared to respond so bluntly.

"You..." Ashe was about to curse, but she stopped short when she noticed I wasn't wearing a servant's uniform. She got even angrier, pointed her finger at me, and yelled, "why don't you change uniform? You scum! I don't teach you a lesson, and you don't know fear."

Then she raised her hand to slap me, but how could I stand still and let her hit me? Just as her hand was about to touch my face, my hand caught her arm.

"Don't think I'm afraid of you. If you dare hit me, I'll show you what despair is." I spoke in a low voice, with cold eyes, exuding a murderous aura.

Ashe was so scared that she froze. After a while, she came to her senses and pulled her hand back. She tried to stay calm, but I could see fear in her eyes.

"Today, I forgive you once; if you still don't wear your uniform tomorrow... then I will report this to Sir Charles," Ashe said awkwardly to neutralize this embarrassing situation.

"I need a new suit," I say.

Ashe frowned but still seemed scared of me, so she quickly agreed. Then she gave me the task, "you pull all the grass in this area. If you don't finish it today, don't eat it."

I looked around. It's about the size of a medium-sized stadium.

Is this what you call a garden? More precisely, it was no different from a vacant lot by the forest's edge. It has yet to be taken care of regularly, so the grass is dense and almost knee-high.

"Am I the only one doing this?" I pointed at myself and asked Ashe.

"That's right!" She replies.

My heart fluttered a bit, but I still had some hope to ask, "Where's the lawn mower? Don't tell me I must pull all the grass here with my bare hands."

Ashe smiled; perhaps seeing me miserable made her happy a little. "There's no lawn mower. You have to pull the weeds yourself with your hands." She was afraid I wouldn't listen, so she added, "This is Sir Charles's orders."

My hopes crumbled. If this is Ashe's idea, then I can use some force to threaten her, but this is Charles's idea I can't resist.

It's not that I'm afraid of him; I'm just scared of involving Serena. Anyway, I'm taking the punishment for Serena.

"You should work obediently. Don't mess around. Someone will supervise you." Ashe said and quickly left before I recovered.

Standing under the hot sun, my heart is icy. Looking at the endless grass, I cried without tears.

With a sigh, I also had to start weeding. I did as I silently scolded that damned Charles.

Suddenly, I felt someone looking at me; I instinctively searched for that gaze.

I quickly spotted Charles standing behind the window on the fifth floor of the mansion, staring at me.

With a hunter's keen eye, I saw his mouth curl up into a curve. It was not a happy smile; it was filled with mockery at me.

The anger in my heart wanted to explode, but I could do nothing about that bastard. I could only hold up my middle finger for him to see.