Secrets Within the Estate

1

The country named Lata was up north and known for its cold and snowy weather year-round. Of course, there was summer, but it was only warm for a month at most before the weather turned cold again. 
It was the complete opposite of its lower-neighboring country, Feighn. It was summer year-round there. 

Lata was the only country that hadn't abolished slavery, it was still normal for a family to own one if not several slaves, which resulted in many slaves running away and fleeing into Feighn or Turia. Some even went as far as the isolated country of Laiksha, a country that you could only reach by boat due to it being surrounded by the ocean, because the chance of being found there was much lower.

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It was a normal day for Liam.
He found someone on the street, bumped into them, took their wallet, and apologized before running away.

It was normal.

Liam opened the sack of money he had just taken, and was struck silent from shock.

"Th-this guy is loaded... th-there must b-be at least h-half a year's worth of money for all th-three meals... wait, is this enough to b-buy Ria back...?" He counted the money in his hands.

"If you're going to be stealing things from people, you should hide farther away from them,"

Liam looked up and saw that it was the man he had just stolen from.
He dropped the wallet and immediately started picking it up before returning it to him.
"I'm sorry! I w-wasn't-"

"You could be reported for theft, you know?" The man cocked his head with a smile.
"No, please! Please don't!" Liam took a closer look at the man's clothes. They were high quality and the style that only the rich and important families could wear.

Liam got on his knees and touched his forehead to the ground as he begged, "P-please don't! I w-won't do it again, I'm sorry! Please-"
"Stop begging."
He looked up. The man didn't look angry, and neither did he sound angry, which made him all the more scary to Liam.

The man looked down at Liam with his chestnut-colored eyes.

"I-"
"Let's make a deal, shall we?" He said as he picked the bag of money off the ground.
"...A deal?"
"Yes, a deal."
"Wh-what kind of deal...?"
He smiled as he said, "I'd like to anger my father once more before I die, so I'd like you to pretend to be my lover."
"... pretend to b-be your lover?"

"Yes, I won't force you to do anything or do anything you don't want me to do, everything will require your consent, I won't do anything to you. Accept my offer and I won't report you for stealing my money."

"B-but I'm a man-"
"I have eyes."
"B-but-"
"You have a family to support, am I right? No thief doesn't have their reasons."
"Two sisters..."
"I'll give them somewhere safe to live where they don't have to worry about food or their safety."

"Wh-why me?"
The man smiled and rubbed his chin. "Because you'll anger him very much."

"What?"
"Do you accept my deal?"
"I-"
"It's a yes or no question."
"..."
"I won't do anything to you."
"...for how long?"
"The physician said I have half a year to live at most."

"...okay." It's better than starving in the cold, and if I'm turned in I could be killed since I ran away from my owner.
"Great!" The man pulled Liam's hand and waved for a carriage. His hand was extremely cold.

When a carriage driver stopped by, the man started to pull Liam in, but Liam refused to enter.
"A lowly person such, such as me isn't permitted in carriages... I-I can walk-" He mumbled.
"Stop with that. Get in, please. You don't need to walk. It's too cold and snowy to make you walk outside."