𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫'𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔩𝔩

Part 52

"What I've learned is that you cannot escape your grief. You can try to drown it in distractions, kill it with your vices, or pretend like it isn't even there, eventually, it will spring back out of its secret hiding place and demand you stand and face it."

- Beau Taplin

Fyodor sat unmoving with an expressionless face, it was better to reveal nothing at all that went on in his mind. He knew his plan was going to go accordingly because he had calculated it all very well. What he didn't calculate, however, was this port mafia executive cracking a bottle of wine over his head. That was unexpected and rather bothersome because it meant he would have to wash much sooner than he wanted to.

After Kate's passing, he had taken up quite a bit of her habits, much like the priest said he would. He washed his hair once a week now, significantly more than before. He had a Monday and Thursday schedule going on and now it was going to be ruined thanks to this bothersome man. If he were not being watched and monitored so securely, he would have expressed his frustration in the form of rolling his eyes but he knew not to do something so expressive.

"Give it up, man, you don't stand a chance against Ace," The young boy came out from the corner of the room where he had been watching the exchange. After his own master's leave, he moved in to spare some kindness for Fyodor.

"The only way to survive is to wear this," the boy motioned towards his metal collar. "Leaving this room is impossible. Ace is the only one with the key to open the door. Even we cant enter or leave this cell without Ace's permission."

A towel draped over his head and the boy began to dry his hair as best as he could in conditions such as these. Something warm stirred in Fyodor's heart... Something like this had happened before. Kate had dried his hair like this when she was still with him. Oh, how he missed her. He could have teared up at the mere thought of her but not here and not now.

He stared down silently, feeling his heart ache at the memory. He couldn't show any emotions to anyone here, that might lead to him slipping up. God, she always had to ruin his plans, didn't she? It was rather annoying but he missed being annoyed by someone who he could never stay mad at.

"I remember you told Ace that you'd kill him." The boy's words captured Fyodor's attention and he tried to look at the boy through the side of his eye. "Honestly, I was blown away. I wish I could say something like that... But I can't."

Fyodor took in the boy's words silently. Something about them just reminded him of Kate and he was being thrown off by it all.

"If I went against him, he'd turn my lifespan into gems. You know, it was my dream to become the boss of the Port Mafia someday. I wanted to become the boss and try my hand at running this city. But now I'm one of Ace's collared slaves. I was sold to a human trafficker before I can even remember, and I drifted all the way here. I dreamed of a ridiculous miracle, where someone would come free me from this collar. I finally realized that no one would save a villain like me." He continued on sadly.

Fyodor suddenly realised why the boy reminded him of Kate. They both had come from unfortunate circumstances and had been used their entire lives. Kate was used because of her ability and this boy was used because of his able-bodiedness. He wanted to help this boy but he knew that there was no way that could happen. He promised Kate that her sacrifice would not go to waste so he would have to follow the plans. He stared down at his hands, not wanting to think about anything like that right now.

"What are you doing?" The boy commented, noticing Fyodor's lack of attention.

"I cut my finger on a glass shard earlier." He remarked aloud as he stared at his finger, trying not to think about Kate.