She Belongs To The Devil

Scarlett quickly pulled out two shabby-looking chairs from inside the storeroom and dusted them off. Since she barely got any visitors, she didn't have many things in her house to tend to them.

She tried carrying those chairs from the storeroom but Kenneth quickly grabbed them from her hands and softly said, "Let me help you."

Scarlett smiled softly and gave a nod.

"Where do you want me to put them?" Kenneth asked as his red eyes scanned through the very confined spaces of the house.

Scarlett pointed at the open area outside her small bedroom and replied, "Why don't you arrange them over there?"

Kenneth carried the chairs to the area where Scarlett had pointed him and then put them down. He glanced at Damien, who was still carrying the suitcase and was awkwardly standing near the door, and then invited him to take a seat, "Why don't you come and sit down?"

Damien gave a nod. He took a deep breath before slowly walking towards the chair. However, instead of sitting down, he kept on staring at the old chair. He didn't mean to be disrespectful but he couldn't help but wonder if the chair would hold his weight. It didn't look like it would.

"Is something wrong, young man?"

Damien came out of his daze when Scarlett questioned him.

"Umm…" he smacked his lips and then looked at Kenneth. Unlike him, Kenneth had already made himself comfortable. He shook his head and replied with a soft smile on his lips, "No. There's no problem at all."

He then quickly but carefully sat down on the chair. The chair did make a little creaking sound. But to his relief, it didn't break or anything.

"You should take a seat too," Kenneth said to Scarlett, who was busy looking at the two gentlemen with a subtle yet warm smile on her face.

Scarlett quickly ran to her kitchen and came back with a small stool. She lay it down in front of the young men and then settle down as well.

And before Kenneth had to beg again for her to speak, she cleared her throat and began telling her tale on her own. "Er… I don't know where I should begin. So, I think I will just start from the beginning itself. How it all started."

As soon as she finished saying those few sentences, Damien could see the dark aura swirling around Scarlett. It was as if her soul was filled with great dark secrets, ready to reveal.

Scarlet's pupils dilated as she began recalling all the horrendous things that had happened to her in the past. Enjoy new stories from My Virtual Library Empire

"I was born into a poor but loving family, in an equally poor village. The village was reduced to a pitiable state after a dangerous plague almost claimed everyone residing there. My father and brother also died because of it. Only my mother and I were left behind to fend for ourselves."

Kenneth felt a chill shiver running down his spine. He could see the pain in her eyes and sense the sadness in her tone. He could tell that even after all these years, the loss of her family members still pained her.

But it was much more than that.

Scarlett took a deep breath through her mouth to cool her throat and continued, "With no one left in the family who could earn decently, we became so poor that getting to eat until we were full became a distant dream. My mother still worked herself to her bones to provide for us. But it was barely enough to feed us both. We would consider ourselves lucky if we got to eat more than once a day."

Several frown lines appeared on both Kenneth and Damien's foreheads. Being brought up in households with an abundance of wealth and power, neither of them knew the pain one would have to face because of extreme poverty.

"One day a traveling merchant came across our village situated on that isolated hill. He saw people dying of hunger. Normal people would feel pity." Scarlett clenched her jaw and uttered through her teeth, "But that vile of a man saw an opportunity."

Her hold on her own wrist tightened when she further explained, "He sweet-talked a lot of hungry fools and made them believe that he was a good man doing a good deed for them."

Scarlett paused for a moment to catch her breath. Her chest was getting heavier and heavier as she began peeling her suppressed memories layer by layer.

"That merchant also enchanted my mother into believing that he would take me to the bustling capital and help me find some work." Scarlett let out a pained chuckle and muttered, "He even offered some coins to my mother as a gesture of trust and goodwill."

Scarlett paused again. Her throat parched as she recalled that turning point of her life. She tried gulping several times but she felt as though some fishbone were stuck in her throat.

Damien glanced at Kenneth when silence filled the room. He saw Kenneth looking somewhat impatient, even by that brief moment of silence. He looked too eager to learn more.

So, Damien looked back at Scarlett with the intention of giving a little nudge to keep the story going. "So, did he take you to the capital?" he asked innocently, not knowing the story was about to take a dark turn.

"Oh, that he did. He did." Scarlett took a glimpse of Damien and then her son, and quickly looked down.

Though it wasn't her fault, she felt embarrassed to share her disgraceful past. "I was just twelve back then. I didn't know what was happening at that time. I was just happy to be of some help to my mother. After all, I had seen her smile after a very long time when she received those few coins that weren't even gold."

Kenneth drew in a sharp breath and tugged on the collar of his shirt. He felt greatly uncomfortable. He was beginning to understand where things were heading. And he was not liking it at all. He already hated it.

Scarlett's voice was now starting to tremble as she recalled the past that was buried deep in her mind. She gripped her gown tightly, her eyes dilated, and the pain of her soul reflected on her face as she continued.

"That monster of a man took me, and all the other unsuspecting girls to the heart of the Kingdom. But instead of finding us some reputable works as promised, we were… we were bargained for and sold off like some cattle to another merchant. It didn't just end there. We were chained and displayed again in the marketplace until someone laid their preying eyes upon us and bought us again."

Kenneth's eyes were filled with shock and horror when he listened to that. His forehead and his back were covered in cold sweat.

"You were sold as a slave?" he asked in utter agony.

"Yes." Scarlett's eye rims welled up with tears. She took a sharp breath and looked down. A few drops of warm tears landed on the back of her palms. "At first, I didn't think it was as bad because the woman who bought me treated me like her own daughter."

"I never had to do any hard work except look pretty and sit pretty. She taught me all the noble ways. Taught me how to eat properly, dance elegantly, serve wine to the guests…" She sniffled and mockingly laughed before whispering, "…and she also taught me how to smile."

Her voice cracked when she spoke under her breath, "Seven years… She groomed me for seven years. She turned me into a desirable lady. And after investing her time, money, and effort in me, my 'mother' announced my deflowering ceremony among all the nobles of the capital."

Kenneth inhaled sharply upon hearing about the unpleasant fate that his birthmother went through. He clenched his jaw in pain and fisted his palms.

Damien also looked greatly sad. He was surprised that people on Earth would do things like this. 'I guess these are the type of souls that get dragged down to Hell,' he thought.

Streams of tears kept on flowing as Scarlett kept on speaking, "I knew that it was coming for me… after seeing what had happened to my fellow sisters."

Not just her voice, Scarlett's whole body began to tremble now. She felt goosebumps running down her whole body. She rubbed her shoulders when she whispered in a scared tone, "But I didn't know WHO was coming for me. I hadn't even imagined it in my wildest dreams."