Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Right after Cecilia woke up, her first reaction was to check her neck and only after finding that there was no collar on it, she sighed in relief. Next, she surveyed her surroundings and found out that she was on top of a bed in a foreign place.

The room was very spacious and moderately decorated. As she looked around, her eyes were quickly drawn towards the woman who was as beautiful as a goddess.

Pearly white skin, hair as beautiful as the waterfall, and donned in azure clothes that seemed to accentuate her beauty even more, she was the very definition of picturesque beauty. At this moment, the woman was sitting very close and was staring at her.

Snapping out of her daze, Cecilia immediately leaned behind her bed and tried to hide under the quilt. It was only after she discovered that the woman did not have any ill intention towards her, did she muster up her strength and asked "Who are you miss? And where am I?" Midway through her sentence, she remembered that her father used his magic to teleport her far away from the adventurers that were chasing them.

The moment she thought about that, scenes from the past few days ago, came flooding inside her mind and her mood became gloomy and dark. Cecilia quietly hugged her knees and dazedly stared at the floor.

It was at this moment that the woman seated beside her bed, replied with a smile that had enough charms to steal the brilliance of the world immediately and said "Don't be afraid, we are not going to harm you. You were severely injured and lying unconscious in the forest"

When Cecilia heard her voice, she was immediately stunned. The woman's voice was just like her appearance soft and serene like a heavenly note that soothes one's soul and sounded very pleasant to the ears. Looking at the woman whose smile reminded her of her mother's she finally opened up a little and decided to ask "d-did you... save me?"

The woman neither denied nor agreed with her words and simply said "Hold onto your questions until he arrives". . Just as Cecilia was trying to make sense of what the woman said, the door was knocked and a man soon entered the room.

The moment she laid her eyes upon the man, she immediately realized that the man was not human. He had pitch-black hair that seemed to absorb all the light from the world, two jagged horns that protruded from his head, and a pair of crimson eyes that had enough power to suffocate anyone.

Cecilia had lived most of her life within the area covered by the Astral mist of her village and other than the knowledge that her mother instilled in her about the various races of this world, she did not know much about the outside world. But even she could tell from the features of the man that he was a demon.

The man was a few inches taller than the woman and although he looked quite scary, the man did not display any ill intent towards her.

"Are you alright? Do you still feel pain anywhere?" Simon inquired observing her injuries that had mostly healed.

Cecilia was surprised by the very first words that the man said since she could feel the consideration in his voice.

She did not know how to respond to that and ended up just nodding her head. As if realising her wariness, the man did not approach any closer and maintained his distance. She looked at the man who was trying his best to give his best smile but ended up failing miserably as she could only see wickedness in his smile.

"You don't have to worry, we are not going to hurt you" he assured her before introducing himself "I am Simon, the master of this dungeon and the pretty lady next to you is Irene".

It took her a while but she finally mustered up her courage and said "I am Cecilia… did you guys save me?".

"Hmm? If you mean healed you then yes. We found you collapsed and unconscious beneath one of the trees near the territory of the Elder Treants. At that time you were quite injured and it would be dangerous to leave you there and that is why I brought you here" Simon explained.

"I see… thank you very much for saving me. I do not have anything on me to reward you with so I can only bow my head and say my thanks" Cecilia bowed deeply to conceal the pain flashing through her eyes as she said her thanks.

Simon scratched his head at the awkward reply of the girl and helplessly said "Your thanks are enough I don't need any reward. In the first place, I saved miss Cecilia in good faith without expecting any reward in return. So you don't have to worry about paying me or anything".

Cecilia looked at Simon with big wide eyes stunned at what she just heard. She thought that since he saved her, he would want something in return or worse if he knew her identity and demanded to enslave her?...

While she was still in her stupor, Simon flashed another wicked smile which he thought was a comforting one and said "Well we can talk some more after you are completely healed. For now, you can rest in this room without worrying about anything. After you finish organising your thoughts, you can come to the dining hall and we can talk some more over a meal".

Having said everything he wanted to say, Simon prepared to leave the room when Cecilia cried out "Why are you being so good to me? Why didn't you just leave me to die?!. It would have been far better for everyone if I had just died and now since you harboured me, you guys will also get in troubl…" before she could continue anymore, a voice interrupted her.

"Miss Cecilia if you think your death would make everyone around you feel better then you are just being selfish. From the moment I saved you I knew, you had gone through a lot of suffering. Getting distressed is one thing, but to think about death is just taking the easy way out. However, since I do not know about your circumstances, I might be just being nosy but I still think that simply dying would not accomplish anything" Simon closed the door and left after he said his words.

Irene gently sighed and caressed the emerald hair of the dazed-looking girl and silently left after saying a few words of her own "His words might sound harsh but they are right. I can only imagine the pain and suffering you have gone through so take your time and when you are ready to open up, we are naturally willing to listen".

Tears fell down Cecilia's face like an unceasing waterfall as she hugged her knees and mopped.

After coming out of the room, Irene found Simon standing still in front of a large hall and asked "What do you plan to do with her?".

Simon was shocked when he heard Irene's voice. It was the first time Simon heard Irene's voice since she mostly kept to herself and interacted very little. It was only natural for Simon to get stunned after all he never thought that Irene would start a conversation of her own accord.