It was a sunny afternoon, people in town were moving here and about without catching one's breath. People were trying to live their lives and continue surviving until their very last breath. Some had more money than average while some didn't. But a population of people in the town had absolutely nothing. No money, food or shelter. Those were the beggars that slept and lived in the alleyways of the town.

Alec was familiar with this. He was one of them himself. He had to steal to live. Stealing pieces of bread or fruits without getting caught. He didn't care about money, he just needed food to continue living. His parents asked him for that. To live on even without them by his side. Continue living for him and his family. That was what kept him going and alive. If it wasn't for that, he would have been dead years ago.

Stealing of course wasn't the safest thing to do. If one gets caught they would be beaten up to death or almost at the brink of death. Due to this harsh environment, Alec learnt how to stealthily steal and run off before one could notice. Though he had been doing this for years, the adrenaline pumping through his veins never ceased to disappear.

It was when one day, he happened to be caught by the person who sold meat skewers. He had taken one silently but after not eating for days, he stumbled on his feet causing him to bump into some barrels nearby which brought attention onto him.

"You...!" the seller gritted his teeth angrily as he marched towards Alec, grabbing him by the collar.

Alec choked on air, unable to breathe because of how rough the seller had held him.

"So you're the pesky brat that kept stealing my food," he sneered before angrily throwing a punch at the 13 year old boy.

The seller kept punching and kicking him. Alec made wheezing sounds and painful groans but nobody cared. He could feel eyes on him yet nobody tried to help him. Only watching him helplessly get beaten up to a pulp by a man almost five times his size. It was only until he was slowly losing unconsciousness when the seller finally stopped and threw him aside.

"Worthless brat, don't you dare try stealing my food ever again!!"

Alec coughed out blood as he laid on the ground, unmoving. His body hurts, the pain was unbearable. He wished it would go away. He wished everything would disappear. What was he truly living for? His parents were now gone. Yet they asked, begged him to stay alive but slowly he began to wonder, was it truly worth living?

He was treated like a pest, a useless creature and nobody wanted him nor care. What was the use of breathing? Him leaving this planet would do good for everyone. His existence meant nothing to anyone.

'Please forgive me mother, father..' he weakly thought to himself as he felt his conscious leaving him.

Then he felt someone stepping on his hand before halting their footsteps.

"..What is this doing here?" a cold voice spoke.

It sounded like a young girl's voice, almost quite childlike yet it was so cold like winter. Alec tried to look up at who was speaking but he was once again kicked away by the person who had spoken.

"This is why I hate coming to places like these.." the young girl sneered, "I can't believe daddy brought me to such a disgusting place with disgusting people."

Alec didn't say anything. His body ached yet he wanted to see who was speaking so rudely in front of him. Holding in the groans of pain that nearly fell out of his lips, he finally raised his head. It was a young girl with cold sharp honey coloured eyes. Her hair that was coloured crimson red was up into two pigtails.

She looked frightening yet beautiful. Alec has never seen anyone with that hair colour before. It felt so different like a new light that shone upon him. The young girl noticed his gaze and looked down. She stared at him for a while before smiling. Alec felt like her smile was off but said nothing, only looking at her.

She bent down ever so slightly and held his chin, examining his features before speaking, "Tell me. What's your name and age?"

"..Alec..13." he croaked out before wincing in pain from his injuries before this.

The young girl hummed in reply before letting go of his chin. "You shall come back with me. Starting from today you will be my exclusive butler."

"You want to live don't you?" she whispered into his ear like a sweet devil.

He stared at her. Her smile felt ominous yet it pulled him in. Without letting her wait too long, his mouth moved on its own.

"Yes."

The smile on her face grew wider before calling a guard with her to take him into the carriage. He felt himself being lifted up. Unable to hold on anymore, he slipped into darkness. When he opened his eyes once again, he was in a room. It wasn't the nicest but to him it was a blessing to be finally under a roof once again.

He was alive.

"You're finally awake?" a servant knocked on his door and walked in.

Alec nodded and stood up. The servant eyed him up and down then smiled. "Looks like your injuries have been healed quite well for the past few days."

"..Yes." he softly answered them.

The servant placed something on his bed before turning to him, "These will be your work clothes from now on. Everyone here will be teaching you everything so don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions."

Alec nodded once again and when the servant left, he got dressed into his clothes and left the room he was in. He was given a tour around the estate before they began teaching him what he needed to do and the proper manners as a butler.

"Since you are Lady Elenor's butler that means you would need to learn how to fight, the Marquess had personally hired a trainer for you to learn from." one of the older butlers said after they had finished today's lesson.

Alec nodded, excited to learn. He wanted to repay the one who had brought him in which was Elenor. He found out she was only a year younger than him. Since she brought him back with her, he was able to live because of her.

Because of her, he wouldn't live as a pest. He will finally be useful and he'll be able to fulfill what his parents asked him to do. Live.

With a new determination bubbling inside of him, he began working hard on his lessons until he was finally good enough to be able to serve her.

Only after half a year, he became her exclusive butler. Those six months he only focused on becoming the best so he could serve the person who saved him from poverty. To him, she was someone like a goddess. His saviour that pulled him out of the dark.

However, everything slowly fell apart and his mindset began to change once he became her butler. A crash sound echoed in Elenor's room before silence fell. It was only a few days of working as her butler.

"What is this?" she coldly asked as she stared at the now broken teacup she had thrown.

"Your tea mi-"

"Tea?" she scoffed, folding her arms, "You call that disgusting crap tea?" she raised an eyebrow.

Alec bowed his head, "Please forgive me milady, I will remake it once again-"

His hair was gripped forcefully before being slapped on both sides of his cheeks. His body immediately froze once he felt hands on his cheeks. He gazed up at her who had a sinister smile on her face.

When Alec saw that smile he now understood. That smile he had seen for the first time was the same as this.

"I gave you shelter, food, clothes and everything and this is what you repay me with?" she sighed before letting go off his hair and instead lifting up his chin.

"Insolent butler. You must be punished." she chuckled but it only gave goosebumps to him.

"Mi-" before another word could come out of his mouth, another slap fell upon his cheek.

He stumbled backwards causing him to fall down to the ground. Elenor looked down on him before he noticed something in her hand. She noticed where his gaze was going and lifted up what was in her hand.

"I secretly bought it not too long ago, it seemed interesting." she turned to him.

"And now I want to test it out."

In a swift movement, he felt a stinging pain throughout his body. He nearly let out a scream but a hand covered his mouth.

"If you let out a single sound, I will be sure to do worse." she softly said before removing her hand away.

As she continued hitting and whipping him, he could only hold in his cries and pain, hoping that would make her stop. After a great amount of time, she finally stopped and forcefully lifted his chin up making him look at her straight in the eye.

She sighed before slowly stroking his face, "Thankfully I didn't hurt your pretty face hahaha!" she cackled darkly.

"You are mine, understand? You are my butler. My slave. My toy and I am your owner. Understand?"

Not wanting to be tortured again, he nodded. Seeing the fear in his eyes made her smile even more. "Good boy. You are to obey my every order. After all,"

She leaned close to his ear, "I saved you."

After that, Alec realised he was never pulled out of the darkness but instead fell deeper into it. His life as her butler was worse and more tortuous than living on the streets, barely breathing. Hell. This place and life he was living was hell. The devil themselves took him.

Everyday without fail, he would be tortured, abused by her. No servant noticed his bruises or injuries as it was always hidden behind his clothing and his face untouched, only a slap or two on it but it would fade away before he left the room. Even if they did what could they do? Every worker knew how Elenor was and barging in whatever she did was courting death itself.

Alec wasn't mad at them. No, they were kind to him, always helping him up when he was in need. He knew they couldn't help him even if they tried. As time went on, Alec became the best butler and worker in the estate within only a year but at the cost of what?

He felt his body turning numb to the pain that he had been inflicted with all this time. He could barely feel anything at this point. His face that could show and express his emotions turned blank, emotionless and cold. He only spoke when needed if not he wouldn't open his mouth.

He was now standing beside Elenor as she vented out her anger by throwing things around her room.

"That bitch clung onto my prince!!" she shouted furiously, throwing a vase close by to her down to the ground.

She turned to Alec with furious eyes. He calmly stood there, unmoving. She made her way to him and lifted her hand up. He anticipated for her hand to come down onto him but it didn't. Her face had a distorted smile before she lightly stroked his cheek. He knew she had a thing for pretty and beautiful things. Which was why she was obsessed and in love with the prince. He wouldn't say she was in love. It looked more like she was crazy for him.

"Ah you are truly a beauty.." she muttered to herself.

"Alec." she coldly spoke.

"Yes milady."

"Get rid of that lady that was beside my prince."

"Yes milady."

"Kill her."

Alec was about to answer her like usual but froze once he heard those words. Kill? Yes she would abuse and hurt people to get what she wanted but kill? This was the first time she had ever ordered that.

"Did you not hear me?" she snapped, frowning when he didn't reply to her.

"I order you to kill her. She touched what was mine." she glared.

Alec looked down, "Yes milady. I will do as you say."

Elenor smiled widely and stroked his head, "Good boy. Now leave."

He bowed and left the room. He took in a deep breath. That day was the day he stained his hands red for the first time. The stench was terrible but he had smelled it before when he was lying on the streets. Nonetheless, killing someone for the first time was horrible. His breath and hands were shaky but it wasn't because he had done a murder.

No. It was because he somehow felt fine with it. He didn't care if they died in his hands or someone's. He felt no sympathy for them. He also came to realize that if she ordered him to kill more, he didn't mind. He would also not be tortured or abused by her.

Alec cleaned the body up and left no trail or evidence before he left which resulted in him not getting caught. Due to his excellent work, Elenor praised him and slowly stopped abusing him as much as she used to.

This continued on until Alec was 16 years old. Another day where the sun shone brightly yet his mood was far from happy. He wished to be freed from this place and the hands of the devil. He slowly made his way to Elenor's room with the usual route he had been using for years. He knocked on the door before speaking,

"Milady, are you awake?"

He received no reply. He waited for a while before finally opening the door and walking in. The redheaded girl that was sitting dazedly on her bed turned to him before blurting out words he didn't know would change his life and flip it upside down.

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as a thank you for waiting for a week o((>ω