Piece by piece, the documents from the nobility contracts lay scattered on the table, each deserving to be burned. The low profits and unplanned strategies wasted his time as he reviewed their hollow successes. He ripped through another document, not bothering to look at it any longer. He was fully aware of its uselessness. His assistant stood beside him, bending down to gather the mess he had made, while Gareth impatiently tapped his foot on the glossy floor.

His jaw clenched and his brow furrowed, displaying his annoyance and frustration. Gareth, the King of Vermilion, had been barred from entering this particular chamber of one of his concubines? Foolish. The child belonged to a Baron whom he had ensnared with a forged document. Dare to stir his irritation.

Standing up abruptly, he had had enough of your stubbornness. How dare someone as lowly as you defy his orders? His steps were wide and heavy as he marched towards the locked chamber, his expression filled with disdain. He was not just mad. He was furious. He wielded the power to discard anything he owned as easily as if he were shopping on the street. Yet, you were different.

Standing in front of the closed door, his eyes narrowed as if his glare could pierce through it. "Do you wish to rot in there without food and water? I bet it smells amazing after days of not tending to your needs. You should discard your stubborn attitude," he shouted, banging his fist on the door, his voice raspy and cold. "Open the door!" he commanded. He had never been this worked up over something, and it infuriated him.

"Someone of lower status like you should know your place. I have given you shelter, protected you from the harsh realities of the outside world," he muttered through gritted teeth. He wished to keep you locked away, just as your father, the Baron, had done to you. Turning away, he gestured to his butler, who stood ready with an axe as instructed. If the person behind this door refused to open it, he would break down the door with the axe.