𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 -★彡[ᴅᴀɴ ʜᴇɴɢ]★彡

- 𝟖 -

[Y/N] continued to stare at the floor, terrified that if she lifted her head and met his gaze that she would give something away. Perspiration dripped down her forehead caused by the immense amount of stress and anxiety that tumbled its way into her heart, threatening to crush her under the immense pressure. She desperately clung onto the hope that the man before her would take pity on her and act as if he didn't see anything.

"Do you expect me to believe that?" his voice was surprisingly cold, causing you to glance up at him in alarm. Instead of a human being, he looked like a gigantic and terrifying beast.

He really is a dragon.

[Y/N] didn't have the strength to stand as her lashings from earlier had caused immense amounts of pain to sear through her legs simply from falling down, and she no longer had the means to resist if this monster tried to do anything against her. The familiar fear was instilled in her veins when she realized that she was about to be punished.

There was nothing she could do to resist—she had learned that a long time ago. The more she tried to push against the abuse the stronger it became. Each lashing had slowly whittled away her confidence, leaving her with nothing but a dull sense of terror when she stared up at the man who was likely about to torment her like everyone else.

Throughout her life, [Y/N] had experienced many different types of torture that those around her had put her through. These experiences had all trained her to just let people have their way with her.

"...anymore." A voice that sounded so much like her own but came from a force seemingly outside of herself feebly croaked. "I can't take this anymore, ■■■■■■!" Hearing her strange and sudden outburst, [Y/N] suddenly covered her mouth with her hands, feeling incredibly nauseous.

The monster before her seemed to return to a normal form, his eyes glimmering with confusion as he stared down at the trembling princess. If he hadn't thought her to be insane before, he most certainly would now.

Without saying a word, he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

Her body convulsed with the desire to vomit whatever she had in her system, but she had long since thrown up everything in her stomach due to the events earlier that day, even the acid in her body. After the wave of nausea subsided, [Y/N] slumped limply to the floor, lacking even the urge to heave herself back into bed. The floor was hard and made her wounds ache more, but the pain was dulled by the realization that Dan Heng had likely gone to report her strange behavior to either his comrades or worse, the royal family. She shuddered upon thinking how brutal they would make her execution.

I don't want to die. She stared dully at the small line of light filtering from under the door to her room. I want to live.

Bruised and battered, [Y/N] lay on the floor waiting for the guards to storm in her room. But much to her surprise, the door opened to reveal a familiar silhouette.