Sold to a Prince!

Sylvia silently followed Leol awaiting his instructions. She clasped together her hands to prevent them from trembling so much.

But how could she when she was clearly walking into a horde of magical beasts?

Leol noticed her demeanor and asked, the woman's reactions very obvious to him.

"Why do you look so scared? Do you have no affinity or what?"

Sylvia shook her head, silently answering his question, while her blue eyes darted here and there nervously.

The stable doors were now wide open, allowing plenty of light to fall inside, for Sylvia to clearly see all the beasts around her.

There were about three dozen beasts including wolves, panthers, tigers and grizzly bears and they looked slightly bigger and tougher than the typical wild animal equivalents of the same.

Sylvia shuddered and her heart drummed frantically. This was a bit too much for her to take in.

None of the animals were even tethered to anything! They were roaming freely inside the stable.

And the stable was also quite wide and it ran long, giving the beasts plenty of freedom and space to move around.

They were loitering here and there, not in the least concerned about the two human beings who were now standing amongst them.

As Sylvia gazed at this nerve wrecking sight in front of her, a small gasp escaped her lips. 

She was sure that something had just brushed past her legs!!! She jumped up in fright, her eyes almost tearing. 

She might have been a bit more bolder in front of the devil but this fear was entirely something else. 

It stemmed from the primal fear of a human being to a magical beast. The two were natural enemies, one a predator and the other a prey, their roles reversing at times.

"You don't have to fear them so much." Leol sighed. He tried to be patient seeing that the girl was very inexperienced.

"They might be magical beasts but they are all tamed. They are under magical contracts. They can't hurt you without his majesty's say so."

Sylvia gulped hearing those important words. These animals were all at the devil's beck and call? She subconsciously shivered.

"Usually they roam the castle grounds and only come back here to rest."

"And while they are here, these guys prefer the darkness for resting and that's why the stable doors are typically kept shut."

"There is a sound barrier preventing the noises from inside going out and vice versa."

Leol then extended his hand to grab a piece of meat from his spatial ring and throw it to a tiger sprawled in front of him. "See. He won't do anything."

"Here. Why don't you try feeding one?" He shoved a thick slab of raw meat onto Sylvia's hand before she could refuse.

Ah~ The young girl looked at Leol and then back at the tiger. Its white fur was glistening with golden stripes on its body.

It came closer to her wanting what was on Sylvia's hand. She was too shocked to move but the tiger wanted the food and it took the initiative.

It used its canines to tug at the edge of the meat and grabbed it smoothly from Sylvia's hand without leaving even a scratch on her.

Leol shook his head helplessly. "Girlie. You need to be more alert." 

"Just because they don't have the intention to harm, it doesn't mean that you won't be harmed."

"Look here. The task is very simple. I usually keep a bucket of meat outside. Grab it and toss some to all the beasts."

"Clean the water in the trough and fill it up with fresh water." 

"Add some more bedding for them and remove any feces lying around. That's about it."

"Do you have any questions? Oh and since you can't conjure water, you can just use the well behind the stable. Got it?"

"Hello? Lady? Do you any questions?"

Leol snapped his fingers in front of Sylvia who was still very much overwhelmed by shock and nervousness.

She dazedly looked at the man and nodded, only to watch him scoff at her and then leave out the door, once again leisurely sitting on the chair, and closing his eyes.

Sylvia trailed his movements in silence as she suddenly found herself all alone amidst the dense oppressive aura and the numerous magical beasts.

Fear and panic once again started gripping her body, freezing her in place. She was not ready yet.

She wanted to call out for Leol, as she couldn't stand this pressure any longer, but her throat dried up and she couldn't bring herself to speak anything.

Her body was trembling and her knees were about to give out. Sylvia's face paled. Tears were threatening to come out of her eyes.

The beasts strolling around her, some even coming dangerously close to her, only made this worse.

She felt suffocated and insignificant. She couldn't face their blatant violent aura. 

She looked at the beasts circling her and her head spun. 

They were snarling and growling at her, looking down at her with their proud eyes, making her feel like a weak little girl. 

They snapped their mouths at her as if she was a piece of meat.

Sylvia shuddered. She gripped her dress like her life depended on it and stood absolutely still and frozen. Fear choked her.

At the same time… another warm feeling slowly filled her entire being. 

Something intangible coursed through her veins along with her blood and it gave her a bit of strength.

She could now at least breathe and once she started gasping and taking a few breaths in, a slight color returned to her cheeks.

She was able to react and tears streamed out of her eyes. She had put up with too much for far too long. She just couldn't take it anymore.

The rich woman from the previous day whose name Sylvia couldn't recollect, Ana's condescending words, Leol's harsh criticisms, and more importantly… the hateful man's devious ploys… everything washed over Sylvia at the same time.

She glared at the beasts who were growling and snarling at her and shouted back. "Damn it. Damn it all. I can also roar. All right?"

She clenched her fists and closed her eyes to shout back at the top of her lungs, letting out all of her frustrations at the same time.