His hands reached out for something but found nothing. Water filled his mouth. He heard himself scream, but he couldn’t hear the sound.

"T-Teo!" He pushed himself up, but his feet slipped again, and he slid sideways. The ground gave way beneath him, and the water suddenly rose above his chin.

"H-help!"

He grabbed at the water, but it did nothing. He kicked, which helped slightly but not enough. He could feel his body getting heavier.

He was panicking. Water went into his nose.

Teo was shocked, he jumped in. He tried to grab Milo’s hands. But Milo was frantic.

"Stop moving! Milo! You’re going to pull me under. Stop moving and let me hold you!"

Milo heard him, but his body wouldn’t listen. He grabbed at Teo’s arm.

"Let go of my arm! Grab my shoulder! Stop grabbing my arm!"

Milo managed to get one hand onto Teo’s shoulder. Teo was small, but he was in deep water, and slowly Teo slipped an arm under Milo’s and pulled him sideways toward the rock.

Milo’s knees found solid ground. He grabbed the grass at the edge of the rock with both hands and held on, refusing to let go.

He pulled himself up onto his hands and knees. Water came out of him when he coughed. He stayed on all fours for a moment, catching his breath.

Teo pulled himself out next to him. He was pale. He sat on the grass and looked at Milo, his hands were shaking slightly.

Neither of them said anything for a few seconds.

Milo was trembling violently. But finally, he sat down on the grass.

Teo looked at him, then started laughing.

"How could you have drowned? It’s not deep!"

Teo found it funny. He sat with his knees up and laughed until his eyes were wet.

Milo looked at Teo, embarrassed. He was still trembling. His heart was beating very fast. His hair was plastered against his face, and his clothes were completely soaked through.

"It’s not funny. I was scared!" Milo said. His voice came out quieter than he intended.

"I could tell." Teo was still laughing, but he reached over and handed Milo the towel from the rock. "I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d panic like that. I really didn’t think it was deep enough."

Milo took the towel and pressed it against his face. He sat there. His heart was slowing down.

After a moment, he started laughing too. How silly he was.

Damn! It was too embarrassing.

"I really thought I was going to die," Milo said.

They sat on the rock together in the sun, both of them soaked, laughing at the same thing.

"Don’t do it again!" Milo warned.

"Yes, yes! I won’t!"

After a while, they walked back through the trees and crossed the open field. Milo’s clothes were still damp, and his hair had dried unevenly in the sun.

Teo was talking about something he wanted to eat for dinner.

Then they reached the path that ran past the animal enclosures.

Milo heard screaming, heart-wrenching. A high-pitched, continuous scream coming from somewhere ahead.

He looked up and saw four of the bodyguards from the mansion, walking in a group along the path toward the far end of the enclosures, dragging a man with them.

The man looked terrified and was kicking. His wrists were held behind his back, and he was constantly struggling against it, his whole body twisting wildly.

His clothes were torn and bloody. He wasn’t a small man, but the four guards around him moved him forward without difficulty.

They were heading toward the crocodile enclosure.

Milo stopped walking.

Teo stopped beside him as well. They were curious.

The group disappeared around the corner of the path. The screaming grew louder.

"LET ME GO! I REALLY DON’T KNOW WHERE MACRON IS! PLEASE! LET ME GO!!"

The screaming mixed with crying.

Milo felt a chill, his chest tightening. He felt pity for the man, he wanted to help him.

"What are they doing to him?"

Teo stood very still beside him. His voice came out softer than usual. "I think they’re going to feed the crocodile."

Milo turned and looked at him. "What do you mean, feed the crocodile?"

Teo swallowed. "Uh... with him, maybe."

"But he’s alive."

"I know."

Milo looked back toward the path where the group had gone. The sound was still there, farther away now but not gone. "That’s not possible."

"I’ve heard it happen before," Teo said. He wasn’t looking at the path. He was looking at the ground near his feet, his face pale. "The staff talk about it sometimes. I’ve never seen it. I don’t want to see it anyway."

Milo stood there. His feet had stopped moving on their own.

He had been in this house for weeks. He had trained in Salvatore’s office. He had sat on the man’s lap and cried into his shirt. He felt like he was part of the mansion.

But then, on the same property, there was a crocodile enclosure where they fed the animals like this. It was surely ordered by Salvatore—the man who was so gentle, cared for him, and trained him to be stronger.

Milo seemed to snap back to reality: he wasn’t in a fairy tale. Salvatore’s world must be different from what he’d imagined.

Milo and Teo trembled as they heard the man’s voice turn high-pitched, as if he were being tortured. "HELP ME! H-HELP!! ARRGHH! PULL ME OUT!"

Both of them pictured the scene as if it were from a horror movie. But now it was real.

Soon the voice faded away after he’d struggled for a long time. Maybe his body was now scattered on the ground. Milo felt like he was going to vomit just imagining it.

Milo’s hands were cold.

Teo reached out, grabbed his sleeve, and pulled. Not hard, just enough to get him moving. "Come on. Let’s go!"

Milo let himself be pulled. He turned away from the path and followed Teo along the outer edge of the grounds, a longer route that looped around the far side of the garden and led back to the mansion from the opposite direction.

Neither of them said anything for the first few minutes.

Teo walked with his eyes fixed ahead and his hands in his pockets. He wasn’t trying not to say anything, but his face was pale.

Milo walked beside him and said nothing because there was nothing to say. He was too shocked.

Salvatore hadn’t lied when he told him he might feed him to the crocodile. He’d thought he was joking.

Milo trembled. What if the man decided he was no longer needed and fed him to the crocodile?

Huh... Nooo...

"Teo, what do you think if Mr. Portello decided to feed you to the crocodile?" asked Milo.

"No! Don’t think about it. Salvatore won’t feed us to the animal!"

"Maybe he’s run out of meat and one of us should be sent to the crocodile."

Teo shivered. After all, he was just a kid. He believed everything. And now he was scared.

"It won’t happen!"

Milo sighed. "He could do it if he thinks we’re not useful enough for him."

"Nooo, don’t say that!"

And that night, Salvatore came back around eleven to find both of them waiting for him in the living room. They were just reading a book when the man arrived.

"What are you doing here? Go to sleep!" said Salvatore.

Milo and Teo both stood up quickly and smiled.

"We’re waiting for you. We’ll help you with dinner," said Teo.

Milo nodded.

Salvatore looked at both of them. "No, I won’t eat. I’ve already had dinner."

Both of them looked disappointed.

Salvatore said nothing. He walked to the office with Roderick.

While they were inside talking, Milo came in with a tray of wine glasses, while Teo brought a bottle of wine.

Roderick stopped talking.

"We brought you wine. I’m sure you need a drink," said Milo, smiling. He placed the tray on the table.

Teo set the bottle on the coffee table.

Salvatore looked at them suspiciously. "What’s going on with the two of you?"

"Nothing, we just wanted to make sure you don’t have to do anything. We’re useful," said Teo.

Salvatore was silent for a moment. "Well, thank you."

He didn’t realize that the two of them would drive him crazy the next day.

They both left the room.

"I hope they didn’t plan anything suspicious," said Salvatore.

Roderick just smiled. He returned to his report. "Are you really sure about this? You can’t underestimate them."

Salvatore nodded. "Yes. Cut off any contract with them. The sooner, the better."

Roderick had dealt with Hartley all day and still didn’t understand why Salvatore had suddenly decided to cut them off.

"It’s not worth acting impulsively just because of what Nero did to Milo," said Roderick. He needed to make sure Salvatore didn’t dig his own grave.

But Salvatore had thought everything through. If Andro were to die, it would cause them a lot of trouble. He still didn’t trust Milo’s abilities one hundred percent, but he was willing to take the risk.

"It’s not about Milo. Just do what I told you." He didn’t want to tell Roderick what Milo had seen.

Roderick sighed. "Well, I told them today. Let’s see what they’ll do tomorrow."

"Ask Felix to bring Gallo tomorrow. I don’t want any more excuses," said Salvatore.

"Well, you tell him. He said he’d come today."

"Why? I didn’t ask him to come."

"Well, I don’t know." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Salvatore sighed, frustrated.

Roderick just chuckled. "Just give him a chance. Maybe he won’t chase after you."

"No way. He’ll be even crazier." Salvatore held his temple. "Unbelievable."