[Disclaimer: This chapter is not for the faint of heart. If you can't handle enslavement, torture, and violence, skip to Chapter 61. Read at your own risk.]
"It's nice to see that you are looking very beautiful today, Master," William greeted Celine with a smile.
Celine was seated on the couch on the first floor, wearing a black dress that covered every inch of her body except her neck and head. Even so, it wasn't able to hide Celine's beautiful curves that made William fall into a daze.
In Celine's eyes, William was still a child, so she didn't pay much attention to his reactions. She nodded her head with a smile as she made a gesture for the little boy to come closer.
"Since you have accepted me as your Master, it is only normal that I give you a gift in return," Celine said as she took a beautiful collar out of her storage ring. "This is your gift as my disciple. Wear it proudly on your neck."
"Um?" William accepted the collar and appraised it using his skill.
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Collar of Wisteria
-- An ornate collar made from Mithril forged by an Elven Master from the Silvermoon Continent.
-- This collar is embedded with runic language that makes whoever wears it become Celine Dy Wisteria's slave for 4 years.
-- Increases resistance to Curses by 50%
-- Cannot be removed except by Celine Dy Wisteria.
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"Hyeok!" William almost dropped the collar in his hands as he read its information.
"M-Master, this collar is too precious," William stuttered. "Allow this humble disciple of yours to decline your magnanimous gift. I am not deserving of your grace!"
He then hurriedly tried to return the collar, but Celine's smile froze him in place.
"What's this?" Celine asked. "I prepared this gift just for you, and you don't plan to wear it?"
"Master, this humble disciple is not worthy!" William answered with a serious expression. 'Fck! You think I'm stupid? Why should I wear a slave collar?! This Sir refuses to become a slave!'
Celine chuckled, but her eyes, that were locked on William, were screaming murder. "Little Will, are you defying your master's orders?"
"Master's orders are something that this disciple would gladly follow," William replied in a respectful and righteous tone. "However, I am not deserving of this amazing gift that Master has bestowed upon me."
"But, I insist that you have it."
"I-In that case, I will treasure this gift with all my heart!"
William hurriedly placed the Collar of Wisteria inside his Ring of Conquest, but the magical artifact refused to be stored inside it.
Celine watched this scene with amusement. William huffed and puffed in an attempt to force the collar to the storage ring, but it yielded no results.
"William, wear it," Celine ordered. "If you do, I promise to give you additional rewards~"
"Master, it's fine. I don't need any additional rewards~" William stated in a righteous manner. "Being your disciple is all the reward that I need."
"Brat, are you going to wear it or must I force you to wear it?"
"I'm not going to wear it!"
"Haha! It seems that you're not as stupid as you look, but it's too late! Your Fate was sealed the moment you entered my house!"
Celine let go of any fake pretenses and cast a paralyzing spell on William. The boy's stiff body fell unto the floor which startled Ella who was standing by his side.
Ella realized that her baby was in danger so she immediately charged towards Celine in order to protect him. However, the Dark Sorceress had already anticipated this to happen.
A blue orb shot from Celine's fingers and hit Ella at point blank range. Immediately, the goat collapsed to the floor, deep asleep.
"Mama!" William screamed. "M-Master! What are you trying to accomplish by doing this?!"
Even though his body couldn't move, his mouth was free to say whatever he wanted.
"I'm just strengthening the bonds of our Master and servan-- I mean, Master and disciple relationship," Celine answered with a smile. "Now, Little Will, time for you to become my slave~"
When Barbatos told William that Celine was the "crazy kind of crazy" he didn't believe him completely. Now, he had no doubt that his Master was indeed crazy. For her to try to enslave a ten-year-old boy with a smile on her face, that was free of guilt, was a very scary thing to see.
Celine took the mithril collar from William's hand and was about to put it on William's neck when the boy asked her a question.
"Master, why?" William asked. "Why must you do this?"
The young boy looked at Celine with a face filled with injustice. She could see the tears that were about to fall at the side of the boy's eyes as he spoke of his grievances.
"Little Will, don't think bad of me," Celine said in a soft voice that was as smooth as silk. "It's just that my experiment failed because you disturbed me when I was at the crucial stage. Don't you know? I spent many years gathering those ingredients.
"I spent a lot of resources to get them and what did I get in return? A bunch of crocodile hides? This is not what you call equivalent exchange, my little disciple."
Celine caressed the side of William's face. "Either your grandpa pays me up in full, or you have to serve me for four years of your life. Either way, it would still not be enough to pay for the losses that I incurred to protect Lont."
"S-Still, isn't this unfair?" William tried to use reason.
"Since when did life become fair?" Celine asked. Her expression gradually became cold as she looked down at the boy on the floor. "Little Will, you have no idea what fairness is. Life has never been fair. There are people who have to beg in order to live, and there are those that were born with a silver spoon on their mouth.
"Both are people, but their circumstances are like Heaven and Earth. William, the only one who gets to decide what is fair or not, is the one with the bigger fist."
Celine's soft and delicate hand caressed William's cheek. "Right now, I have the bigger fist. Because I am stronger than you, I can bully you. This is the law of the strong."
Seeing William's unresigned gaze, Celine no longer argued with him and placed the slave collar on his neck. A resounding click echoed inside the room as the Mithril Collar glowed on William's neck.
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< Warning! Host is being enslaved! >
< Opening System's defensive measures >
< Warning! System's current Rank is insufficient to override the enslavement process. >
< Enslavement Process Completed. >
< Host is now a slave of Celine Dy Wisteria >
< Enslavement Duration: 4 Years >
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William felt his consciousness blur as his gaze clouded over. He could feel his strength leaving his body. He tried to raise his head to look at the beautiful woman who was looking down on him, but his vision was already blurry.
"Sleep," a soft and almost musical order reached his ears. "When you wake up, your apprenticeship will officially begin."
When William closed his eyes and fell asleep, Celine patted his head gently. The cold and arrogant expression she had a few minutes ago were now gone. Instead, she had a sad look on her face as she looked at her one and only disciple.
'I'm sorry, William,' Celine said inside her heart. 'It's fine if you hate me. But this is the baptism that all Dark Mages has to go through. It doesn't matter how much you resent me. I will take it all. This is my duty as your Master.'
Oliver, the parrot monkey, eyed William from his perch and sighed internally. His Mistress might act crazy at times, but he knew deep inside that she was a very kind and caring person. The loyal guardian knew that Celine was doing this for William's own good, but this was something that he couldn't tell the boy.
Oliver decided to observe for now. The only problem was William's family. The Parrot Monkey was sure that the Ainsworth Family would definitely be enraged by Celine's arbitrary action.
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