The cold morning tickled your toes peaking under the blankets that barely fitted. As the sun peeked through the hills of the green valley, you curled into a ball in the bed you shared with your three sisters. You were squashed together like sardines in a can to make the most of the space. The room in the cabin where you lived was practically empty, you only had a small wooden closet with all your clothes, some stuffed animals for decoration and a semi-transparent white cloth that served as a curtain. You were in your fifth dream when you felt a hand pulling your foot. You snapped your eyes open to see your mother at the end of the bed.
"Let's go to the market," she ordered as you whittled your eyes wide awake.
You nodded in response so as not to wake up your sisters. You carefully slipped out of bed to get dressed in a brown dress, you wore it so much that it already had holes in the skirt. Your mother had sold most of your fancy dresses, so your sisters could buy new ones for the dances they were invited to. She was always obsessed with the idea that one of her daughters would marry a rich man and take them all out of the misery in which they lived. Every morning, she used to repeat the same thing: "Up my future princesses because men don't flirt themselves." You quietly left the room and picked up the old, worn-out basket they used to carry the loaf of bread and potatoes they could afford to buy.
Since your father died a couple of years ago, money was always tight. Your mother, to keep her hopes up and not starve to death, had slowly sold all the furniture in the house. She started with the living room, then the dining room, then her bed and then the decorations. Little by little, they were running out of options. Someone had to sacrifice in the work field, and your mother would not be one of them.
The sun was barely rising over the green horizon. It was too early to go to the human market, but you just followed your mother without question. The grass crunched under your worn boots and the cool air ruffled your hair. As you walked along the path you had created from the many times you had gone to town, your mother was quieter than usual. She was a hard woman to keep quiet, always having to have an opinion on something. "The mornings are horrible," "it hasn't rained in months," "everything is more expensive." She always prattled on about any topic that crossed her mind, but today she was quiet. She just looked straight ahead, walked hurriedly and hadn't even wished you good morning. "Maybe she wants some peace," you thought. You should have realized at that moment.
You knew you reached the main cursed town when the smell of fresh flesh intensified. A place full of curses who were ruled by the ultimate cursed king. Since King Sukuna had conquered the Kamo Kingdom along with his army more than five hundred years ago, the humans who had already lived there for centuries became easy prey for the hideous deformed monsters. Half of the population was eaten, while the other was left alone as soon as their stomachs were full. The only thing that stopped them from eating more was their own limits. From then on, the curses began to coexist with the humans with a huge stone wall in between them. Only instead of treating them as equals, it was a cow-butcher relationship.
Since the curses owned the main town, it was rare to see so many humans walking down the street. They were all heading in the same direction, the gloomy castle of King Sukuna. A striking architectural structure of charcoal color and huge windows with blood-red roses. It was so large that despite being surrounded by towering walls, you could still admire the rest of the castle and its imposing watchtowers. Your astonished gaze kept going up to admire the terrible place. Your eyes could not continue because the top of its towers were hidden among the gray clouds and the vultures flying overhead.
Unfortunately, you had not arrived at the market, but at the gigantic wooden bridge that led into the castle. Several curses in fine armor paraded around the perimeter as you watched two of them lead a lady into the castle. Your breath hitched as you realized what day it was. Today was harvest day. Once a year, King Sukuna asks those who want to work for him to report to the castle and in return their families would be rewarded financially, but everyone knows it's a trap. No one knows exactly what goes on inside the castle, but a tyrant who mistreats his people does not usually offer "work." All the people know that once you enter his castle, you never get out. Even though it is known that entering his castle was like entering a torture machine of your own free will, people in need of money or resources send older relatives or children they can't support to get rid of them.

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Tyrant's Favorite | Sukuna Ryomen x Reader
FanfictionYou used to be just another servant among the human army operating under the command of the terrible king of curses, Sukuna Ryomen. You are an ordinary human who only knows how to wash, clean and cook. Until one day, he notices something in you that...