CHAPTER 2

I’ve been locked up here. Where? I don’t know. How long? Three days. I can tell because I can see sunlight crawling from the floor to my face, to the ceiling, and to the night. That happened twice so far. Adding today, three. Can I survive to four? My captor keeps feeding me with filthy cinnamon bread. I think I can go for fourth day. Do I want to? I don’t know. I want to live, but this is not life. I can scream but no one will help me. Believe me. I’ve tried. I can barely move. Each movement will only rattle my chains. What kind of life is this? Do I have to live like this forever? For what crime? Rejecting a dirty ring?

I can hear a creaking sound. He’s here! The door is behind me but I’m sure that he’s here!

“Good morning sunshine!”

That’s his voice alright.

“I brought you breakfast! It’s not much but I got it from the bakery that you used to work.”

A plate of bread. Handmade. Cinnamon bread.

“Your mother missed you. She said that the bread haven’t sold well since you’re living with me.”

Sick freak!

“Come on now. We don’t want to waste mother’s bread now, do we?”

She’s not your mother!

“Open wide.”

He doesn’t even wash his hand!

“I said open wide!”

The next thing I know is that my jaw hurts. My mouth is full of mom’s bread. I can feel her warmth and sadness when she made the bread, but the taste was contaminated by his filthy hands.

“Don’t spill it on the floor! Don’t want to waste mother’s bread, right?”

She’s not your mother!

“That reminds me.”

A poster. It has my face in it. It is my missing poster!

“Mother made a poster about you to announce our engagement. I can’t believe that she’s so excited for it!”

Engagement? On a missing poster?! Are you blind?! Who am I kidding. He doesn’t even have a brain.

“Look at the dowry. It’s too high don’t you think?”

How warped is your brain?! That’s the reward for finding me!

“It will take me years to collect that much money. Mother is quite greedy isn’t she?”

You don’t even know her!

“Do you think that she’ll lower the dowry if I send her your finger? I have to pay you less since there’s less of you, right?”

Cut me?

“No. That will ruin you! I can’t have you if there’s a piece missing. We must find a different way.”

Ruin me? Chaining me in a basement isn’t ruining me?!

“I have an idea! I’ll be right back.”

I have a bad feeling about this…

He’s out. I’m left here with my mother’s bread on the floor. What did I do to deserve this? Existing? Everyone exists! Is it because I decided to inherit my mother’s bakery? What’s wrong with inheriting my family’s business? It’s not like it’s illegal! Is—

Wait.

I hear something scraping against the floor. He’s dragging something. Oh no! Is he going to hurt me with it?!

“Hello darling! I’m back!”

Whatever it is, it’s near me.

“Tadaa!”

A sword?

“Do you like it?”

Please don’t hurt me!

“Have you seen this before. My family has inherited it for generations.”

He unsheathed the sword. It’s curved and its blade is golden, glistening from the limited sunlight in this basement.

“This is a Goldcalibur. Six were made but only five of them exist in this world. My ancestors melted five 24-karat golds to make each sword. Several steps were missing from the forging process. What we know is that the blades require a drop of blood from the rightful owner to keep it sturdy. My blood was spilled on it after my father’s death. It is now mine to do whatever I please with it. As long as I’m alive, it will be mine.”

Why is he telling me this?

“I love you but I can’t sell this blade to pay for the dowry. It was said that the missing blade accidentally cut its owner. The body and the blade vanished into thin air. The theory is that everyone killed by the Goldcalibur will be sent to a different world. I tested it twice on your customers. Both of them vanished while I remain here with my blade.”

H-he killed people before?!

“If both of us go to that world, then we don’t have to pay your mother’s dowry. We can live happily ever after. Together.”

I-I should play along, right? He will spare me if I play along, right? What is the right thing to say right now? Should I pretend to love him? Should I spit on his face?

“I’ll send you there first. Stay where you are. I’ll find you. Then, we can build our family there without worrying about mother and her dowry.”

What should I say to him?!

“I love you.”

The Goldcalibur is moving. It gets too close to my face, then he pulls it back. He swings it again. This time, it is close to my neck. He pulls it back again. The blade stays in the air for what seems like an eternity. This is my chance! I’m going to pretend to love him while—

The blade swings to me.