The morning sunlight barely filtered through the narrow window of the stone room, casting long, cold shadows across the iron bars of the cage. Y/N sat quietly on the thin mattress, the heavy chain attached to her ankle clinking softly whenever she shifted. The previous night’s pain still burned in her legs—a constant reminder of how far Gakupo would go to ensure she would never leave him. When the sound of the lock turning reached her ears, her heart sank. The door creaked open, and Gakupo stepped inside, his calm, deliberate footsteps filling the silence like a predator approaching its prey.

“Ah… my beloved,” he murmured, voice soft yet trembling with intensity as he approached the cage. He knelt before the bars, lavender hair falling forward as his eyes locked on hers with a frightening mix of adoration and possessiveness. “You look even more beautiful when you’re still… like a bird resigned to its cage. Doesn’t it feel safe here, away from the cruel world that would hurt you? I will protect you from everything, even yourself. You’ll see, in time, that this is where you truly belong—beside me.”

He reached through the bars, his fingers brushing Y/N’s cheek with a tenderness that contrasted the violence she’d endured. “I’ll never let you starve, never let you thirst. I’ll be here for every need you have, every breath you take… because you are mine,” he whispered, leaning closer, his voice growing darker. “And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll realize how much I love you. Until then, I’ll keep you here, where no one can take you from me. We have forever, my dear… forever.”