Kaiser of the New World

Kai felt another wave of disgust wash over him but successfully held back from showing it, even though it did pain him to do so.

Did she seriously just say that Castillian was 'training' Petunia?

Evil Bastards

But at least there was going to be some good coming from this, and that good was that he was about to be shown where Petunia was being held.

Getting up off the armchair, Kai found it much easier to remain calm when seeing Anastasia's body in the nightgown after finding out what her true personality was like. How could he ever be attracted to someone like that?

Following behind the Queen, Kai remained silent and walked about as blankly as he possibly could to make it seem like he really still was a mindless slave.

Twisting and turning through the alleyways, Anastasia didn't say anything else as they walked. Her expression was strangely solemn, making Kai wonder if she had somehow figured him out.

But no, Anastasia didn't say or do anything.

As they reached the dead end where the maid staircase was, Kai felt a little confused. Didn't Yelena say that the royalty and maids used different staircases for whatever reason?

Did they really just use the same sta-

Just before they reached the painting, Anastasia reached out to the right and grabbed onto one of the candles attached to the wall and pulled it down.

Kai felt even more confused as he heard a loud creaking noise come from behind the painting, like dozens of gears shifting.

After a couple of seconds of waiting, Anastasia smirked and said:

"Come on Pet."

Following Anastasia through the painting, Kai held back the urge to widen his eyes as he saw that the stairs were completetly different.

Gone were the stairs that were made of stone, the stairs that were wet and just looked like something you would find in an abandoned monastery.

The new stairs were coated with a luxurious red carpet with gold trimmings on its edge and in its centre. There was much more light in these stairs, bright candles lighting up every inch of exposed space. There was even a banister running along the wall, which Anastasia placed a hand on as she walked down the stairs.

Kai's thoughts raced as he followed behind Anastasia. He wondered where they could possibly be going and how all this could even work.

After they went down one flight of stairs, Kai heard that same creaking noise come from above him. Anastasia stopped walking a moment before it happened and managed to keep her balance, meanwhile Kai nearly blew his cover by falling over as it felt like the stairs started rotating.

No, they were rotating.

After another couple of seconds, the noise and rotating stopped and a familiar sight appeared on the wall in front of them, that of the back of a painting.

Anastasia stepped through without waiting for Kai, she was still expecting him to be a mindless follower after all, so he may as well keep up to her expectations.

After he emerged from the painting, Kai felt a shiver run up his spine.

He was back in another hallway, only this one had less candles and was just darker overall. It was also colder than all the other hallways, which actually ended up helping to cool his nerves and compose himself.

Glancing over his shoulder, Kai took a look at the painting they emerged from and held back the urge to gag.

It was of Castillian and Anastasia. He was a little surprised that they were both in the picture this time, but he would have rather that neither of them were in it.

Castillian was sitting on a throne wearing only a posh pair of trousers. He had no top on, revealing his hairy chest. He had his signature shit eating grin on his face, only making Kai feel even more unwell.

Anastasia was standing behind the throne, a hand resting on her husbands shoulder. That wouldn't have been that bad, if not for the fact that her hair was disheveled and not in her signature braid. The shoulder straps of her dress were also slipping down, revealing more skin.

Kai held back the urge to gag as he realised what they must have been doing before they forced some poor soul to paint this picture.

As they continued walking down the hallway, Anastasia didn't say anything else, she just remained completetly silent with a blank expression on her face, almost as if she was... bored?

Soon, they ended up reaching a double door, which Kai inwardly felt nervous approaching. All of the words Anastasia had used really creeped Kai out, saying Petunia had 'potential' and that Castillian was 'training her'. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to see on the other side of this door, but he was sure that he probably wouldn't like it.

Placing her hand on the door, Anastasia pushed it open and-

"I can't!"

Kai instantly heard the sound of a young girl sobbing.

On the other side of the door was a spacious room, much like the one he had been summoned into. There was a couple of pillars spread out, but in the centre of the room was Petunia, Castillian and a couple or guard.

Petunia was on her knees, tears streaming down her face. Her cheeks were bright red, as if she had been struck by something.

Castillian sighed and took a step forward, lowering himself to her level and tenderly placing a hand on her red cheek.

"Sweetie, I know you can do this, my eyes do not deceive me. I see what you are capable of. You're potential shines so much brighter than the others. You will be the torch that will lead this world to the top, all I need you to do it light it."

Instantly, Kai became extremely confused. The whole time walking here he had assumed that Castillian was some sort of lolicon or something, that his 'training' was just some messed up shit.

So what the hell was going on? Petunia was going to become the torch that led this world to the top, what did that even mean?

Was he actually... training her to fight?

Sniffling, Petunia lifted her head to look up at Castillian, a look of fear in her eyes. Her lower lip quivered as she managed to squeak out:

"I told you, I can't..."

Castillian sighed and removed his hand from Petunia's cheek, standing back up to his normal height. Instantly, it felt like the temperature in the room had dropped a couple of degrees.

Castillian started walking in a circle around Petunia, his hands behind his back, his gaze surprisingly cold and calculated.

"Are you saying you can't, or you won't? Do you wish to spend another night in the cell, child?"

Petunia's whole body started trembling in fear, her hands gripping onto her arms. Even Kai felt a shiver run up his spine. What happened to the idiotic Castillian who was basically a human puppy when his wife was around?

"N- no! Please... no. I'm sorry, I can't."

Castillian sighed again, Petunia's pleas not reaching him at all.

"I'm growing tired of your acting up, child. You do realise that your fate is in my hands. I can break you if I want to, but I don't. I give you all these chances, yet you can't even pay me back. So tell me, child, why should I bother with you any more?"

Petunia couldn't respond, she could only let out a sob as she started hiccuping violently.

Castillian rolled his eyes.

"Shut her up."

One of the guards to his left approached Petunia. Petunia's trembling got even worse as he got closer. Kai was confused as to why that was, but that confusion was quickly turned to disgust when he watched the guard slap Petunia in the face, sending her sprawling on the ground.

"Child, if you cannot be of benefit to me there is plenty of other uses for you. Do you want to find out what those uses are?"

Still unable to respond, Petunia curled up in a ball, trying to make herself small enough to that maybe they would leave her alone.

Scowling, Castillian clicked his fingers and the soldier raised his hand to Petunia and-

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? She's a goddamn child!"

Kai realised what he had done a second too late as everybody in the spacious room turned to face him. Castillian still had his scowl on his face, while Anastasia was gawking at him with a look of pure shock.

"Pet, what are you saying? Have you-"

Anastasia froze, her eyes widening as realisation dawned on her.

"He's free."

Inwardly cursing, Kai realised that he had blown his cover at the worst possible moment, but what else was he meant to do, just watch all that unfold? Hell no!

Castillian was a disgusting bastard, and he still owed John after all.

Left with no other option, Kai summoned Esurient from his soul and dashed at Castillian. He instantly turned Esurient invisible, making it impossible to tell that he had summoned a weapon.

Kai swung the invisible blade at the King's neck, but at the last possible moment they managed to stumble backwards, avoiding the attack.

The next thing Kai knew, he was on the ground, his vision blurry. He felt something hard hit against the back of his neck, knocking him over.

The next things that he remembered were strange. He kept slipping in and out of consciousness, hearing little bits and catching glimpses of things.

He heard the muffled voices of a man and a woman arguing, presumably Anastasia and Castillian. He also thought he saw someone walk behind one of the pillars beside him, but he wasn't sure.

Turning his head to catch a glimpse of Petunia, the last thing Kai saw was the outline of the girl on her knees, her entire body shaking as she started glowing a violent shade of red.

Then, Kai fell unconscious.