.

the elevator, the rumbling of the old shafts echoed through their ears as we stood.

      “Last question,” Sapphire asked, breaking the long silence, the question finally formed inside my head. He looked at her and briefly nodded, gesturing her to go on.

      “What did they tell you that made you use real weapons against me? And who was it?”

      His grim expression surfaced as his composed figure went limp. He mumbled some words that were too indistinct for Sapphire to hear.

      She moved her head a little closer. “Excuse me?”

      “She is a dangerous outcast. Use real weapons. Bring her back, preferably dead .” Owen said as if he was reading off a script. “That’s what Aaron said, and Ethan went along with it immediately.”

      Sapphire’s right eye twitched in habit, “I see.” Her fists clenched up as a million insults went hurtling through her head. It seemed like they were trying to kill her after all, going so far as to completely destroy her character and reputation.

      “I was going to kill you in the first place, due to what they said.” Owen explained, “But after the very first encounter with you, I could tell you were nothing like that at all.” The elevator door opened after a brief chime and they both exited, slowly walking towards Damian’s room.

      Owen looked like he was going to tell Sapphire more, from the way he kept looking back at her, but Sapphire stopped him with a wave of her hand. “You don’t need to tell me anything more if you don’t want to.” She sighed, “I have all the information I need.” He gave a grateful glance at Sapphire before turning ahead and stopping in front of a door.

      “We’re here.” He said to Sapphire. She looked to the side of the threshold and saw the matching number beside it. Without another word, he turned the rusty knob and opened the door gently. After the slight creaking had stopped, they were immediately met with the noise of someone groaning in pain.

      Sapphire peered into the room and saw a strange situation unfolding before her. There was a person lying on the ground beside a small bed with sheets and pillows of pure white. He seemed unable to get up as his face planted into the ground again and again after attempting to set himself on his arms.

      “You sure this is the guy we’re looking for? ” Owen whispered into Sapphire’s ear as he leaned over. She gave him a shrug, not knowing the answer either.

      After his ninth attempt, Sapphire grew impatient and broke his chanting of groans with the polite words of introduction, “What the hell are you doing?”

      The person seemed to flinch a little before flinging his head back to look at the two new strangers. Sapphire thought that Damian looked nothing like the teenage boy’s profile picture in her uncle’s file, which was taken two years ago at a shelter for identification, nor did the grainy footage offer any sort of remarkable, distinguishable feature of his face.

      In the profile page, Sapphire saw a teenager of a regular build, a body that any normal person could have. But the person she was staring at did not have any of that. His cheeks were hollow from hunger, his arms seemed devoid of any muscles, and his entire body appeared to have the texture of sandpaper, as if he hadn’t drank water in days.

      Even with his terrible conditions, Sapphire was able to confirm his identity after her moment of shock had passed. Even though he looked nothing like before, his jet black hair and the vague shape of his face were still present.

      “You’re Damian Asher, right?” Sapphire asked him as Owen walked towards him and helped him onto the bed.

      “Y-yes..” He responded hesitantly. “And, um. Who are you?”

      “Then you’re coming with me,” Sapphire said blatantly as she crossed her arms, wanting to make this as short as possible. That response seemed to make him distraught, his eyes narrowed as a look of suspicion formed on his face.

      “What do you mean by that?” Damian asked.

      “I mean that you’re coming with me to the Royal House.” She responded, already annoyed at his uncertainty.

      “No!” He shouted as he reeled back, “You people are the worst!”

      “What do you mean no?” She shouted back, “Do you think you have a choice?”

      “You’re all like this! Thinking the poor are worse than you!”

      Sapphire gritted my teeth and balled up my fists. “Why you little-”

      “Sapphire, that’s not how you talk to people.” Owen interrupted.

      “Whatever, you convince him then. I’m not wasting my energy on this moron. If you can’t convince him either, I’m bashing his face into the ground and dragging him back unconscious,” Sapphire said in a fit of anger as she strode over to the wall and leaned against it.

      “You say you hate the people in the Royal House because they mistreat the poor right?” Owen asked Damian. He didn’t respond, he only glared at Owen and Sapphire with a look of hostility.

      “Trust me, we’re not like that, I understand well what your condition is, and I share your feelings towards these people.” Owen reassured him.

      “You’re a part of a royal family right?” Damian asked and Owen nodded. “Then how can you ever tell what has happened to me these last few years?”

      He sighed, “White hair is the sign for royalty in my family.” He explained as he held out his white hair, in a second attempt to persuade him. “It wasn’t always like this.”

      Sapphire’s eyes narrowed, Owen never mentioned this fact to her.

      “When I was first born, my hair was blonde,” Owen told Damian, “My family took it as a sign of non-purebred blood and threw me into one of those shelters.”

      Sapphire dug deep through her memories, that sounded familiar, like she heard it somewhere before.

      “You’ve been to that place?” Damian looked Owen up and down, as if he couldn’t figure out how someone as well-built as him was ever in that place.

      “For four long years.”

      “How were you rescued?” Damian asked, still cautious but intrigued.

      “My hair developed and became whte, but no one wanted to come and get me, because they wanted nothing to do with me. Only one person decided that I was worth the trouble, and invited me back into the family.”

      The pieces finally came together in Sapphire’s head as she remembered the rumours. During the last five decades, only two major events in the Anaroth family were worth noting. One was the case of Aidan Anaroth, and the other was of an exiled pureblood, whose name was never disclosed.

      But Sapphire was staring right at him.

      “Trust me,” Owen reassured, “Not everyone in the Royal House is what you’d expect, there are still some decent human beings in there.”

      Damian seemed to contemplate his choices for a moment before responding. “Fine, but if I see anyone like those greedy nobles, I’m leaving.”

      Sapphire was eavesdropping into their conversation from the far corner of the room, and that remark almost made her burst into a snort of laughter. Not that you can leave once you’re in there. She know too well from experience what happens if one is caught leaving the Royal House without permission.

      “Great,” Owen said as he breathed out a sigh of relief. “Glad you could understand.”

      He turned his head towards Sapphire, still glowering at the two of them. “Well? Introduce yourself.”

      She sighed and pushed against the wall walking slowly towards Damian.

      “My name is Sapphire Anaroth,” She said in a forced, monotone voice, “Nice to meet you.” She held out her hand. He looked at it for a second before