𝐌𝐘 𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

三十 | 𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

adulation (n.)
adoration. worship.
admiration. devotion.
reverence. favor.

「 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 」
𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

꧁꧂

(Y/N) yelped in pain when Ayal threw her back into her old prison cell once again, his expression riddled with both revulsion and a mild type of satisfaction as Ferid looked on. His expression, on the other hand, was completely ice cold, his red eyes narrowed to shard-like daggers that she felt could cut into her very soul if she stared into them for too long. It was why she quickly looked away, staring at the ground as her heart sank.

She had been so close.

She had been at the finish line.

To have her freedom right at the tips of her fingers before being snatched away was cruel.

Yet, it was what had happened.

"I'm disappointed in you," Ferid announced as he stepped closer to her cell door, only glancing towards Ayal to wave him away so they could be alone. "You have more than what a normal human can have here, and yet you squander that by thinking you can run away. And what did that even accomplish? Nothing." He watched as (Y/N) flinched at his words, his frown only seeming to deepen as he uttered, "Now you have to face the consequences of your actions. You'll stay here for however long you need to, to reflect upon your actions. You should do so preferably sooner rather than later, because who knows how long you humans last with only water."

At his words, (Y/N)'s eyes widened and her head snapped upwards to plead with him, yet he had already swept out of the door, his short cape the last thing she saw as it billowed behind him.

With that, she was plunged into darkness.

Only a sliver of light remained.

That light was probably the right amount for how much light was inside of (Y/N) at the moment, currently the girl doing all that she could not to burst into tears as she huddled against the wall. Holding her knees tightly to her chest, she curled into a fetus-like position and squeezed her eyes shut, wanting for everything to just be a bad dream even though she knew better than to keep wishing. All wishing ever did it seem was end up disappointing her, as her wish for freedom was what left her with the exact opposite. It was heart wrenching, endless cycle that never seemed to have an end.

How much more could she take?

How much more would she have to suffer before she wouldn't have to anymore?

Such questions were left unanswered.

No one could answer her, really.

She was stuck with just herself and her thoughts for hours upon hours in nothing but darkness and silence. It was maddening, in a sense, as the only other interaction she had was when Ayla brought her a single cup of water, watching as she drank it before then taking the cup away and leaving again. She didn't bother trying to converse with him, as any interaction would likely only end with her suffering growing even worse. Already her mentality was stretched as thin as she could bear, wondering if she would be better off sinking into darkness forever, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to truly go through with any of that.

She felt cowardly.

Or maybe, she just didn't want to meet her end in a cowardly way.

Perhaps it would've been better, though, if she had summoned up the courage to go through with such dark and utterly hopeless thoughts, for at least it meant that her suffering would end. She could feel her rationale close to breaking, her sanity snapping, and her very essence of self withering away. Had she always been so stubborn? She didn't think so, so perhaps again, this was truly just her fear getting in her way.

    So, she couldn't do it.

    Ferid had won.

    He would always win.

    It was a terrifying thought, and one she couldn't control as it spun around and around in her mind without stopping. So, at the end of the week when Ferid went to check on her and found her pathetically sobbing to herself, he knew it himself that he had won. He had always known it, since he viewed this small bit of punishment as a means to an end—an end of her complete and utter submission. After all, obedience in a pet was required, and he wasn't about to let his own pet break the chain.

    "Oh, (Y/N)," he crooned as he leaned towards the bars of her cell, his eyes curving in delight when she flinched at the sound of his voice. "What a pitiful sight you are."

    Slowly, she raised her head.

    Her tear-stained face and watery eyes was a sight to behold to him, his smirk growing.

    "I'm hoping you've learned your lesson?" He then hummed as he leaned against the bars, his fangs glinting in the eerie lighting. "Because, I've truly missed having my dear pet around. Don't you miss what we used to have, (Y/N)?"

    She said nothing for a moment.

    Something about the way he spoke made her stomach turn in the worst way possible, yet at that point, she didn't care enough to do anything about it. She was never going to be strong enough to fight him, nor would she ever have the opportunity to escape like she did last time. It was likely she would ever only have one chance at freedom, and that had been squandered. It left her with that one slim glimmer of hope she once had to be completely snuffed out.

    "(Y/N)?" Ferid hummed in a melodic way as he rapped his knuckles against the bars. "Tell me... do you want me to release you?"

    "Yes, master," she mumbled.

    "So... have you learned your lesson?"

    "Yes, master..."

    "Amazing!" He clapped his hands with a small cheer, clearly more than pleased about the situation as he unlocked the cell, strode forward, and promptly picked her up to hold her close to his chest so he could whisper softly into her ear. "Now, let's get you cleaned up."

    He walked out of the dungeon.

    After all, he was so glad that (Y/N) was finally submitting to her role.

━━━━━━━━ ꧁ ♥ ꧂ ━━━━━━━━

「 𝑻𝑶 𝑩𝑬 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑼𝑬𝑫 」