Leniency or Cost?

**Ivery Clark POV** 

My breath hitched. *Anything…?*

The idea was dangerous—too dangerous. 

Alrigo never made empty offers. He was a man who dealt in power, in control, in unspoken debts that bound tighter than chains. And yet… he was offering.

My pulse pounded, my mind racing ahead of reason. If he meant it, if he would truly grant me whatever I wished for…

Freedom.

The word surged to the surface before I could suppress it, raw and desperate. Could I dare to ask? Would he laugh? Would he punish me for even thinking it?

I swallowed, steadying my breath, ignoring the fire he was trying to ignite inside me. This was a golden opportunity, and I had to use it wisely.

“My wish,” I said, my voice firm despite the tremor in my chest. “Let my brother have a taste of freedom. Even if it's little.”

The air between us shifted. The teasing glint in Alrigo’s eyes dulled, replaced by something colder, more dangerous.

“Your brother?” His voice lost its velvet edge.

“Yes.” I met his gaze, refusing to flinch. “ Give him better conditions to survive. You’ve kept him locked up down there... for days now.”

“Of course.” His jaw tightened, his grip firming just enough to make me aware of the strength lurking beneath his touch. “It’s always him. Every time I ask something of you—every time you have a chance to prove where your loyalty lies—you choose him.”

"Then what choice have you left me with Alrigo..? Would you rather grant my freedom instead?” My voice didn’t waver this time. My heart did, hammering against my ribs like it knew the danger of the words I dared to speak.

“You and I know it’s not impossible. You could let me go. But you just won’t. This is why I asked for my brother’s freedom. My brother is barely surviving. Even if you can't forgive him, at least treat him like a human.”

The air between us crackled with something heavy, something suffocating. He stood there, motionless, the silence deafening as I waited for him to respond. 

“Just because I said I’d be lenient doesn’t make you a princess, ma bella.” His voice was velvet and steel, roughened by something unspoken. “I said lenient, not forgetful.”

"And you think I owe him compassion?" His words were sharp, cutting edge. "You think because you’re pleading for him, I should give him something better than the fate he’s earned? He tried to kill me, Ivery. That’s not something I will forget.”

My chest tightened at his words, but I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t. I had to see this through.

"Then take a deal instead," I forced out, pushing against the suffocating weight of his presence. "If you help my brother live normally, I’ll..." I hesitated, pulse thrumming.

Alrigo went still.

"You’ll what?" His voice was softer now, almost indulgent. But I knew better. There was nothing gentle about him when it came to things he wanted.

I forced myself to hold his gaze. "I’ll completely submit to you. A true submission.” 

A flicker of something crossed his face. Surprise. A sliver of it, quickly devoured by something darker. “A true submission?”

"On your terms," I clarified, pushing through the fear curling in my stomach. "No more running. No more fighting. Just me, exactly as you want me.”

His silence was unbearable, stretching between us like a thin wire, ready to snap.

Then—he smiled.

Dark. Knowing.

“Ah, ma bella...” His voice dipped, silk laced with steel. “Now that… is an interesting offer.”

His thumb brushed the side of my jaw, tilting my face up as if inspecting the weight of my words. "But do you even know what you're offering..? You think this is just about sharing my bed? Giving in when I demand?"

His smirk curled like a wolf baring its teeth. "No, Ivery. Submission to me means more than that. I want your mind. Your voice. Your every thought. I want you mine in every way possible."

I swallowed down the unease creeping up my throat, forcing my back to stay straight. "Then free my brother from misery. I’m asking for dignity. Let him have light, let him have food that won’t make him sick. Let him meet my mother. That’s my price.”

"Your price?" he echoed, chuckling low. "You’re negotiating as if you hold any power here. You don’t.”

I clenched my fists against the table. “Then don’t act like you’re giving me a choice,a wish.” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.

His gaze darkened, a muscle in his jaw ticking. For a moment, I thought he might snap but instead, he exhaled sharply, a humorless chuckle slipping past his lips.

"Fine," he said, his voice smooth, almost indulgent. "Let’s go with your way." He leaned back slightly, studying me like a game piece he was about to move into checkmate. "I’ll arrange everything. He’ll be pulled out of the dungeon. I’ll have him shifted to another house. Give him better treatment. Let him breathe." His eyes flickered, watching me too closely. "I’ll even let him meet your mother."

My stomach twisted, the words too good to be true.

"But…”Alrigo leaned in again, this time closer, caging me in between the hard table at my back and the dangerous heat of him in front.

"I own you," he whispered, the words a slow, deadly caress. “Every shiver. Every breath you hold back. Every sound you try to hide.” He let his lips barely brush against my jaw. “All of it. All of you.”

A violent shiver ran through me, something dangerously close to fear—or something far worse.

But I swallowed it down. I forced myself not to recoil, not to show weakness.

“…Fine,” I murmured, barely above a whisper. "If that’s what you want.”

"That’s what I expect," he corrected smoothly.

My stomach twisted. There was no turning back now. But beneath my obedience, beneath the quiet yes, something darker unfurled.

He thought he had won.

Let him believe it.

Let him think I had broken beneath his will, that I had finally learned to submit. That I was his now, to shape, to possess.

But he had made a mistake.

He had given me a glimpse of his weakness. A sliver of vulnerability hidden beneath all that ruthless control.

And now, I would use it. The crack in his armor was there, small but real.

Slowly, carefully, I would wrap myself around him, threading through the cracks in his armor until I was the only thing he saw, the only thing he craved. I would let him consume me, only to turn the fire back on him when he least expected it.

And when the time was right—when he had given me everything, when his obsession had twisted into something inescapable—I would leave.

I would abandon him the way he had stolen my life.

And then Alrigo would know pain.

Not the kind he could fight. Not the kind he could kill his way out of.

No.

I would teach him a suffering far worse.

The kind that came from losing something you never even realized had become your whole world—until it was gone.