Awakening Domination System: But I'm a Slave?-Chapter 47: Yes Milady [1]

It had been two days since Sari brought him here.

In that time, Alaric had been doing fairly mundane things.

Mostly house chores, such as sweeping the floors, watering the plants in the small garden out back, even preparing dinner before Sari returned at night.

But that wasn’t all he had been doing.

Sari usually left early in the morning and didn’t return until late evening. That meant for nearly the whole day, the house was his.

And Alaric, well, he couldn’t resist the itch.

The first thing he did when left alone... was explore.

Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was instinct. Or maybe just boredom.

But something told him that people like her, people who lived alone, who moved through the world with a certain mystery in their eyes, always had secrets tucked away somewhere.

Hidden passages. Concealed items. Strange scrolls behind false walls.

And once the idea entered his mind, it refused to leave.

Even though he didn’t knew why was he thinking like this.

There was no real reason for it. Just a lingering hunch that there had to be something more in this place.

And now that the thought had taken root...

He had to see it through.

So, he began.

Starting from his own temporary room, he went through the entire cottage piece by piece.

The kitchen, the bathroom, the living hall, the small courtyard, even the roof.

He had searched it all, but found... nothing.

Well, except for one place.

Sari’s room.

That was the only space he hadn’t touched.

Not because he didn’t want to, but because it had always been locked. Sealed off, as if deliberately meant to keep prying eyes out.

But today—

Today he will do it.

So, what he did was simple...

Slowly but surely, he walked near her room, reached out, twisted the knob—

And slipped inside.

Since Sari forgot to lock it.

And when he slipped inside, his eyes widened—

Only for his brows to slowly furrow in confusion.

A wooden table.

A single chair.

A bed.

...

And that was it.

"The hell?" he muttered under his breath.

He stood still for a moment, lips parting as if expecting the walls to suddenly shift or reveal something. But they didn’t.

The room was barren. No closet. No bookshelf. No strange runes glowing ominously on the walls. Just plain, lifeless furniture, as if it were staged.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, chuckling dryly.

"What the hell was I expecting? A secret altar? A hidden stash of forbidden scrolls?"

Still, he wasn’t ready to give up that easily. He walked in, paced around, checked under the bed, tapped the walls, examined the floorboards, but again nothing.

After a few minutes, he walked out empty-handed.

Not because there was nothing hidden.

But because—

Why the hell would someone like her make it accessible when a stranger was living under the same roof?

After finishing his chores for the day, Alaric clipped into his temporary room and sat on the edge of the modest bed.

Taking the book from the table that was beside his bed.

"Fundamentals of Essence."

Sari, had given him access to a small collection of books during his stay.

A quiet gesture, though he didn’t miss the intent behind it. Knowledge was power no matter what the world.

What surprised him more, however, was the fact that he could read them.

The characters were unlike anything from his previous, strange symbols that should’ve looked alien—

But they didn’t.

His eyes moved fluidly over the text, understanding forming without effort. It felt natural. Too natural.

At first, he thought it might be because the body he now inhabited belonged to someone from this world. Maybe he’d inherited some latent understanding through that...

But that theory quickly fell apart.

Because hadn’t received any memories.

Which left him with one last explanation.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, System."

But, again.

The system still wasn’t responding.

No matter how many times he called out in his head, or out loud. It remained frustratingly silent.

He gave a dry sigh and turned his attention back to the book in hand.

Plopping onto the bed, he lay on his back, the book resting on his chest as he flipped it open lazily.

The posture left him surprised too. It felt odd. Not uncomfortable, but unusual.

Why was he reading like this?

Not sitting straight and skimming through it with purpose.

But here?

But it doesn’t matter now how he read, in the end what mattered was the content inside the book, rather than how he read them.

"In rare instances, the process of Awakening may not follow the conventional path. While most individuals awaken between the ages of 12 to 16. There also exist accounts of sudden, violent, or spontaneous awakenings triggered by extreme emotional or physical duress after the awakening age. These so-called ’Late Awakenings’ often result in erratic or unstable Essence flow. In some cases, the Awakened cannot access their path again without reliving similar conditions, such as trauma, intense desire or near-death."

"In rarer still cases, the individual awakens, but their chosen Path lies dormant, locked behind subconscious constraints, requiring either a deep mental shift, or guidance from an external force to awaken fully."

He frowned slightly.

A dormant Path?

Could that be why he hadn’t felt anything? Why even after that blinding pain the day he arrived, nothing had changed?

He ran a hand through his hair, staring blankly at the wooden ceiling.

"Figures," he muttered. "Even the damn book says I’m broken."

Still, a part of him, the part that refused to surrender, held on to those words.

Not impossible.

Just... rare.

Then he closed the book and set it aside, letting out a soft exhale as he lay still for a few moments, eyes on the ceiling.

Then, with a grunt, he pushed himself upright and stretched his arms overhead, his joints cracking lightly in protest.

"Well, since I don’t have anything else to do for a while..." he muttered. "I should get in shape. Quickly."

Without another word, he dropped to the floor and began doing pushups.

After what it felt like an eternity.

He sat back, chest heaving, and wiped the sweat from his brow.

After resting for few minutes, he rose to his feet, and walked to the bathroom and freshened himself.

The sun dipped low, bathing the sky in hues of orange and rose.

He prepared a light meal and then slouched onto the couch in the hall.

The cushion welcomed him like an old friend. He took a bite, chewing slowly, eyes half-lidded.

Then—

Click!

The main door creaked open.

He sat up slightly.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Sari stepped inside, cloaked in a deep, shadowy hood.

And beside her, a figure hooded in black cloak, who stopped just a few paces in, then pulled back the hood, revealing a face half-cast in the dim golden light.

A small smile tugged at their lips.

"You’re doing well," they said in an amused tone.

"I was worried for nothing.