Obsession

Iris had always believed that the world, despite its cruelty, must hide somewhere a small mercy in a corner.

She still believed in this belief…

Until…

Some events happened that turned her view of the world upside down.

…

Iris was just an ordinary orphan girl with no strong background.

She worked in a small kiosk in the morning and sewed in her own shop at night.

Her routine was simple.

But what bothered her was her beautiful face.

She saw herself as ordinary, without any special beauty, just acceptable.

But whenever her face appeared from behind her silver strands of hair, eyes corrupted by filthy desire turned toward her, a predator’s gaze toward prey.

So she had to lower her fringe over half her face and use makeup to make her appearance more ordinary.

And finally, the harassing looks and attempts at flirting decreased.

Today she was at her small sweets kiosk.

She would turn nineteen tomorrow, so she decided to make a small cake for herself at the end of the day.

While she was distracted, she felt a pull on her skirt.

She looked down.

She saw a little girl trembling with fear, hiding herself in her arms.

Iris felt worried, and when she was about to ask her,

she heard a huge noise outside and then—

Bang—

The kiosk door was forcefully pushed open.

Two large men appeared in front of her, masked, with horrible scars covering what was visible of their faces.

The first one stepped forward and slammed Iris’s desk hard.

The poor girl trembled from fear.

She looked down so as not to draw attention to the little girl.

The child felt her gaze and raised her head, silently begging her to hide her.

Iris understood.

They were here for this little girl.

She gathered her courage and asked with a trembling voice:

“Ho… how can I help you?”

Her voice betrayed her.

The man in front of her laughed and said mockingly:

“Don’t worry, miss, we are not here to harm anyone. We are just looking for a little girl who belongs to us and got lost. Have you seen a girl with purple hair coming from this direction?”

Iris’s heart beat violently.

This matched the description of the girl with her.

Unfortunately, there was no one working in the kiosk today except her.

But she never thought of handing the child over to them.

In this kingdom, slave trade was a source of income.

And that was another reason for hiding her features.

Iris closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them with determination and said in a low voice:

“No, I haven’t seen her. Please, if there is nothing else—”

She could not finish her words before hearing a mocking laugh.

The man looked at her suspiciously and said slowly:

“Really?”

Iris’s hands trembled under the desk as she calmed the child.

She forced herself to speak:

“Really.”

The man narrowed his eyes, then laughed again coldly and said:

“Fine, since the lady said so, we have no choice but to search another area.”

He turned toward the door, then suddenly stopped.

The second man, who had not spoken since entering, turned and said in a rough voice:

“It would be better if you are not hiding her. If we find out you are lying… you will not see the light again.”

He stared at her fiercely, then left, slamming the door in anger.

Iris’s legs could no longer hold her, so she collapsed to the ground with a muffled sound.

She covered her mouth and trembled violently.

The girl hugged her and tried to calm her.

Iris looked at the little girl, who was calming her while she herself was trembling from fear.

She wanted to ask her, but postponed it.

She stood up with difficulty and hugged the girl gently, saying:

“It’s okay, they’re gone. I won’t let them take you.”

Iris stood up with difficulty and ran with the girl.

She entered an old storage room connected to the kiosk.

She hid the girl and told her to stay silent, and that someone would come to help her.

When she was about to leave, she heard the girl scream:

“Lady, be caref—”

But it was too late.

Bang—

Iris felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, then her consciousness faded.

“I told you… if we find out you are lying… you will not see the light again.”

Iris sank into a deep sleep.

A hot tear fell on her cheek.

The last thing she thought of was:

calling for help…