Awakening Domination System: But I'm a Slave?-Chapter 273: Caleb Duskwood [1]

Oliver sat alone in the flickering lamplight, cradling his burned wrist against his chest. The pain was sharp, immediate, but somehow less terrible than the hollow feeling spreading through him.

I was such an idiot.

Then suddenly...

Footsteps echoed from the corridor.

Light, measured steps approaching the hidden entrance.

Oliver’s head snapped up, fear spiking.

Had they come back?

A figure descended the ladder with practiced ease.

Chestnut brown hair. Brown eyes. A soft, sympathetic expression that seemed almost maternal in the dim light.

Elena.

"Oh, Oliver..." Her voice was gentle, pitying as she approached. "Look what they did to you."

Oliver tried to pull himself together, wiping at his face with his uninjured hand. "It’s fine. I’m fine."

"You’re not fine." Elena knelt beside him, examining his burned wrist with a concerned frown. "Your own friends hurt you. Threatened you. Used you."

"They’re not my friends," Oliver said automatically, then flinched at how hollow it sounded.

"No?" Elena tilted her head. "What about that dark-haired boy? What was his name..." She paused, as if trying to remember. "Alaric, was it?"

Oliver bit his lip hard enough to taste copper.

Elena’s expression softened further. "He seemed particularly cruel. The way he looked at you. Like you were nothing." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Stop," Oliver whispered.

"I’m just stating what I saw. He threatened you. Told you that you were just a pawn to be used." Her hand rested gently on his shoulder. "After everything you’ve been through together. All those conversations. Did any of it mean anything to him?"

"I... I don’t know."

"You do know." Elena’s voice was quiet, insistent. "Deep down, you know exactly what he thinks of you. What they all think of you. You’re convenient when useful, disposable when not."

Tears threatened again. Oliver shook his head, trying to clear the fog that seemed to be settling over his thoughts. "You don’t understand. He has reasons—"

"Reasons to hurt you? To burn you?" Elena’s thumb traced gentle circles on his shoulder. "Oliver, look at me."

He did, reluctantly.

Her brown eyes were warm, sympathetic, understanding in a way no one else’s had been. Not Alaric’s cold calculation. Not Caleb’s suspicious hostility. Just... compassion.

"You’ve been trying so hard," Elena said softly. "Trying to survive. Trying to do what you needed to do. And they punished you for it. Is that fair?"

"No," Oliver heard himself say. "It’s not."

"Of course it’s not." Her hand moved to cup his face gently. "You deserve better than this. Better than people who use you and discard you. Don’t you think?"

"I..." The fog in his mind was thicker now. Comfortable. Safe. "Yes. I deserve better."

"That’s right." Elena smiled, warm, encouraging. "You deserve people who appreciate you. Who value you. Who don’t threaten and hurt you when you make mistakes."

"They didn’t... he didn’t..." But Oliver’s protests were getting weaker, harder to form. His thoughts felt sluggish, like moving through honey.

"Shh. It’s okay." Elena’s voice was soothing, almost hypnotic. "You don’t have to defend them. They showed you their true colors tonight. Alaric showed you exactly what he is."

"What... what is he?"

"A user. A manipulator. Someone who takes and takes and gives nothing back." Her thumb brushed across his cheek, wiping away a tear. "But you don’t need to worry about him anymore. Do you?"

"I... no. I don’t." The words came automatically now, bypassing conscious thought.

"Good." Elena’s smile widened slightly. "Because you have me. And I actually care about you. Not like them. I won’t hurt you. I won’t betray you. Will I?"

"No. You won’t."

"That’s right. I’m here to help you. To protect you from people like Alaric." Her hand moved to rest over his heart. "You trust me, don’t you?"

"I trust you."

"And you’ll do what I ask. Because I only want what’s best for you."

"I’ll do what you ask."

"Such a good boy." Elena patted his cheek gently, then stood. "Now, you’re going to stay here for a little while. Rest. Let your wrist heal. And when you’re ready, you’ll come find me. We have work to do."

"Work," Oliver repeated dully.

"Yes. Important work. But don’t worry." Her smile was radiant, kind. "I’ll guide you through everything. You don’t have to think. You don’t have to worry. Just follow my instructions, and everything will be fine."

"Everything will be fine," Oliver echoed.

"That’s right."

Elena turned toward the ladder, then paused, looking back at him. Her expression remained gentle, sympathetic.

But her eyes...

For just a moment, something else flickered there.

Just you wait, Alaric, she thought, climbing the ladder with practiced ease.

I’m going to destroy you myself.

She emerged into the service corridor, her expression settling back into its usual pleasant neutrality.

Behind her, in the hidden room, Oliver sat with glazed eyes and a burned wrist, completely unaware that the spell she’d placed on him weeks ago had just been reinforced.

That his thoughts were no longer entirely his own.

That he’d become exactly what Alaric had accused him of being: a pawn.

Elena walked through the corridors with quiet confidence, already planning her next moves.

Now let’s settle with you too, boy...

Her lips curved into a satisfied smile as she walked through the corridors. Two birds with one stone tonight. Oliver was secured. Now time for another inconvenient variable.

And she knew exactly where to find him.

------

A boy sat alone on a weathered bench beneath the sprawling branches of an old oak tree. The shade was deep here, the evening light filtering through leaves in scattered patterns. His posture was relaxed, slouched, arms draped over the back of the bench, legs stretched out.

The fight with Alaric, then with Oliver. The hidden room. All of it replayed in his mind, questions multiplying.

What the hell is happening?

"Hey."

A soft voice pulled him from his thoughts.

He turned his head to see a girl approaching. Hazel eyes that caught the fading light. Chestnut brown hair falling past her shoulders in gentle waves. She wore a simple dress, nothing fancy, with a small basket over her arm.