Anna

After the day Kaelan left me in El's care, my time passed without anything of note.

El hid me in the deepest room of a remote country estate, a room whose windows were even boarded shut.

He protected me, but only managed me as Kaelan's precious possession.

El carefully lowered me onto the bed as though I were a valuable object.

Without saying anything to me, he merely looked around the room, checking whether the boards over the windows were sturdy and whether there were any problems.

After giving me a glass of water, El left the room without a word.

I searched for my eyes, but I was still alone in the darkness.

I succumbed to sleep, exhausted by hunger, fatigue, and the shock of it all, but woke to voices outside the door.

“…Is this really the room?”

A woman's voice...