Page 30 of Plaything of the Dark Elf

Dalia

Oh, shit.

He’s back.

When I notice him coming towards me, I freeze up. I genuinely don’t know what to do. The look in his eyes tells me that he wants to tear me apart, but what did I do this time? I’m doing what they want me to do. Isn’t that enough?

“Dalia,” he says again.

I shrink back, trying to get away from him, but he grabs my arms and holds me close. He inspects my skin and his frown deepens. He notices my scars and bruises.

Is that a good thing? I’m not sure, but he doesn’t look happy.

Every day, I suffer at the hands of the other dark elf servants who boss me around and punish me whenever I slight them in any way. They use fire to heat up iron, then press it into my skin while two servants hold me down. Sometimes, they cover my mouth while I scream.

When I talk back and defend myself, they hit me until I turn black and blue. My arms and legs are littered with marks. I’m used to them now. There’s no use covering them up since the dark elves resort to giving me a couple more each day.

The first few days, I would cry while going to sleep. In a place like this, I’m truly alone. There’s no one around who wants to help me, especially not the dark elf in front of me who put me in this situation in the first place.

But I don’t know if that assessment is right anymore. The look in his eyes tells me a different story, one where he’s horrified by the bruisings and abuse I have endured while he was away.

Maybe it’s just my imagination. Maybe I’m so starved for comfort that I’m searching for it in the wrong place. I don’t know, but he touches my bruises softly and flinches when I hiss at the pressure. He stares at me.

Behind him, the servant who has been instrumental in my suffering is lying on the ground with blood drizzling out of his mouth and nose. Is he dying? I can’t even tell if he’s breathing from where I’m standing. The only one who could have done that to him is…

Well, he’s standing before me right now.

There are rumors in the mansion that General Etheron is on the brink of losing his mind. I don’t want to imagine our fates once that happens. He’s going to gut each and every one of us until we’re nothing but slabs of tattered flesh.

He’s a deeply terrifying individual. I regret ever attracting his attention.

But at this moment, after seeing the way he’s willing to batter the one who has harmed me the most, I feel a strange appreciation for him. He’s coming to my rescue, in a way. It’s embarrassing to admit this, but he’s helping me when no one else is willing to.

And for that, a small fondness in my heart blossoms for him.

Suddenly, he takes the collar of my shirt and tears it completely.

I scream, doing my best to keep the fabric on my chest, but he’s relentless in getting my shirt off. It’s not in a sexual manner, though. He’s not kissing me or forcing me to the ground. He wants to see my skin.

Along my back and sides, I have more bruises from my unfortunate encounters with the other servants. They were ruthless with me, not caring if I lived or died after the injuries they inflicted upon me. I’m convinced that they liked seeing me suffer.

Whether it’s because I’m a human or because General Etheron showed me a special interest, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. My body will not forget the horrors they made me live through.

Etheron grabs my arm and tries to force me to the ground, but I resist. This is getting out of hand.

“W-What are you doing?” I try placing some distance between us all while making sure my ripped shirt remains covering my upper body. “We can’t do that here!”

“...What are you talking about?”

He drags me towards him, pawing at my body. I hate it. I’m not in the mood to have sex. Why can’t I ever be left alone?

“No!” I fight back, turning away. “It’s broad daylight and anyone can see us. It’s not right.”

I half-expect him to yell in my face about how I’m being defiant, but he gazes at me and doesn’t say a word. It’s strange.

He doesn’t force himself on me. He doesn’t yell. He doesn’t fight back. This isn’t the dark elf I remember, the one who whispered in my ear how he would take me in the middle of an arena with various other dark elves present. He seems changed.

Is he finally feeling remorseful for the shitty way he treated me? Does he finally see the error in his ways? I hope so because I’m tired of living like this.

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