Winter Swan

It was too late. There was no turning back now.

His words sounded so threatening that Silje shivered. Just for a second, she regretted walking this whole way.

But just like Kail said, it was too late now. Silje continued to stand and glare at him. Kail's face crumpled in anger as he growled at her, "Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you make me angry? I told you that it would be better for you to just stay put. Whatever I do to you from now on, it is all on you. It's all your fault so don't blame me."

She knew it was over for her, but she didn't show any emotions. She didn't move either; she just continued to stand straight and waited for her fate.

Kail smiled bitterly.

"I see you are not sorry about anything. No regrets, eh?"

He threw away his cigarette and as if on cue, his gang circled Silje.

"Kail! There is no need to wait around any more. Let's just get her now!"

"We'll take care of her for you."

And with that, one of them slapped Silje's face.

"AAAAH!"

Silje screamed in shock.

Immediately, Gunhild took the chance to punch her. Silje felt horrible pain. Did her teeth break? She fell onto the snow in shock and agony.

Felicien kicked Silje's stomach, making it impossible for her to breathe. Felicien screamed at her and started to stomp on Silje hard.

"AAAAH!"

Silje couldn't help but scream from the pain. It felt like her body was splitting into pieces. She covered her face by reflex as they continued to kick her.

Just then, Kail walked toward them. Felicien spit on Silje and asked, "Kail, should we just kill this crazy b*tch?"

Kail had his arms crossed and was silent.

"Kail, get rid of her now!"

"No one will find her body if we kill her here."

Felicien picked up a brick from a nearby pile, mad with excitement. Silje saw this and started panting. Her legs wouldn't move. All she could do was crawl away, but she wasn't fast enough.

Was this really the end for her?

Silje covered her eyes.

"Aaaa!"

Silje screamed in fear as she heard the brick break loudly. When she uncovered her face, she saw that the brick was now in pieces nearby.

It was Kail who took it away from Felicien and destroyed it. He said menacingly, "I am the one who gets to punish her."

Dark and quiet, Kail stared at Silje fiercely.

Something was different. She could feel it. Her body could feel the unpleasant sensation of what was coming next.

Something very bad was about to happen.

His punishment.

Against the snowy wind, Kail the grim reaper in his black fur coat walked toward her. With his broken arm, he slowly took something out from his pocket.

It wasn't a surprise that he had taken out a knife, but still, seeing it for real made Silje gasp.

He looked different. Until just a moment ago, he looked like he was too lazy to get involved, but now, the king looked different. Finally, the predator was revealing his claws.

It was true. If she had stayed put where he left her just as he mockingly suggested, Kail would've let her go. That could've been his punishment and by remaining in that spot, it would've meant that Silje accepted his sentence.

But it was too late now. She broke his arm, embarrassed him, and shook his authority in front of his own gang. Kail wasn't going to let her off easy.

This was the real punishment at this very moment, in this very place.

In the dark, Kail held up his knife quietly. The sharp edge shined and Silje trembled in fear.

He smiled faintly and ordered with his low baritone voice, "Give me your hand."

At first, Silje thought she misheard him. When she remained motionless, Kail glared at her coldly and ordered again.

"Give me your hand now."

When Silje still didn't move, the others yelled angrily.

"What the hell!"

"Do as he says before we bury you alive!"

Felicien raised his hand as if he was about to slap her. There was no way out of this. Silje was tired of being threatened, so she slowly gave her hand. Kail continued to stare at her while he used his right hand to pull up her sleeve.

In the harsh wind, her fragile wrist was revealed. Kail smiled cruelly and placed his knife on her skin.

His hot breath touched her ear as he whispered, "This is all your doing."

Kail elegantly moved his knife and in a few seconds, it left a long red line along her wrist.

And suddenly, red drops of blood started to fall on the white snow.

Did they not expect him to really do this? Even Kail's gang gaped in shock.

This was something only the cruel king could and would do.

Silje paled as well. Her body suddenly became covered in cold sweat. She couldn't breathe from the terror and shock. When the drops of blood created a large red spot on the white ground, Kail finally turned away.

Silje was in such shock that she remained quiet and still. Distantly, she wondered, was he satisfied now?

She wanted to ask him if this made him happy, if this was enough.

Unfortunately, she couldn't move at all. Her head was blank and she froze while staring at the devil standing in front of her.

In truth, she was so cold and numb that there wasn't even much pain. The only thing she could feel was slight stinging on her wrist where Kail had sliced his knife.

She was still in shock when he called her name with his low, calm voice.

"…Silje Kim Pettersen?"

In the snowy wind, Kail tried to say her name with his lips and frowned at the strangeness of it. He continued to stare at her and added, "Now you can walk home while bleeding."

"…Devil."

Ignoring her words, Kail smiled viciously and continued, "This is what you wanted, right? You got what you asked for, so let's see if you survive this or bleed to death. Let's see how far your luck goes, Silje."

This was the first time he called her by her first name.

In the snow, Silje glared at Kail.

Messy dark hair, sharp cheeks, and intense eyes.

The face of a malicious devil.

Tonight, she knew there wasn't anything she could do to him, but she swore she would never forget what had happened today. Someday she would get her revenge.

Silje was still pale, but she said to him with genuine ferocity, "You are a devil! A devil!"

The others surrounding them giggled loudly.

"And you are a smelly Asian monkey."

"You'll be dead before you reach home. Haha."

They continued to laugh at her. Kail seemed to be annoyed as he waved at them to be quiet. Elegantly and precisely, he wiped his bloody knife with his handkerchief and put it back in his pocket.

Then, he ordered, "Let's go."

The group started to walk back to the car. Kail did the same, but before getting into his car, he glanced back at Silje.

She remained standing where she was in anger and pain. With a cold expression, he stared at her while he started to quietly and mockingly sing, "Joy to the world."

A dark and long night was ahead of them. As the car disappeared into the darkness, Kail looked back once more from his seat. On his detached face, there was a faint smile on his lips.