Amos jolted awake.
“Haaaaaaaaah!” His breathing was ragged.
Cold sweat clung to his body. The room was dark and his heart still pounded violently against his chest in such darkness.
“A dream? or future premonition?” His voice sounded weak.
He raised trembling hands to his face.
“I....”
A soft sound came from nearby.
“Young Master?”
Amos turned sharply. Elena stood near the door in her night attire, expression as unreadable as ever despite the late hour.
“You screamed,” she said calmly.
Amos stared at her silently for a few seconds.
“Elena.”
“Yes.”
“I am afraid..”
A pause.
“That dream again?”
Amos blinked.
“Again?”
“You have had nightmares occasionally.”
“What kind?”
“You usually are in a bad mood for the entire morning afterward.”
“That explains nothing.”
“You have tried asking me to smile once thinking you was still dreaming.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You failed.”
“Damn.”
Elena walked closer. Her gaze lingered briefly on his trembling hands.
“It was only a dream,” she said quietly.
Amos lowered his head.
“What if it wasn’t?”
Silence.
“No.”
Simple.
Direct.
Very Elena.
Amos laughed weakly.
“It is a no then.”
“Yes.”
She reached over and fixed his disheveled hair with practiced movements.
Amos stared at her.
“Stay with me tonight”
Elena met his gaze calmly.
“That will cost you 10 gold.”
Amos froze.
Then a laugh escaped him.
“That’s your standard now?”
“Yes.”
“They suit you, you cheeky maid.”
“Yes.”
For a brief moment, the suffocating weight left his chest. Just slightly.
Elena moved toward the nearby chair and sat down properly, hands folded neatly on her lap as though this were an ordinary nightly duty. Amos watched her quietly.
“You were planning to stay anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Then why charge me?”
“Young Master requested a premium service.”
“That’s robbery.”
“That is business.”
Amos shook his head, another small laugh escaping him.
.....
Morning arrived quietly.
Golden sunlight filtered through the curtains, spilling into the room in soft beams.
Amos opened his eyes slowly.
“Young Master,” came a calm voice from nearby.
He turned slightly.
Elena was still there.
Sitting perfectly straight on the chair beside his bed like some kind of unmoving guardian statue. Her posture was immaculate despite spending the entire night there.
“You actually stayed.”
“Yes.”
“You really charged me ten gold?”
“Yes.”
“How heartless.”
“Weakness costs”
“You evil maid.”
“Yes.”
Amos stared at the ceiling again. The humor faded quickly. His hand slowly clenched against the blanket.
“Elena.”
“Yes.”
“How do I become stronger?”
A pause.
“A broad question.”
“Then answer broadly.”
She thought for a moment.
“Many ways. Extreme training overload 10 hours a day single every day. Life-threatening battles. forbidden ritual to gain power.”
“Tell me more about the forbidden ritual part.”
“No.”
“Coward.”
“It will kill most people.”
“I am not most people but that's understandable”
Amos closed his eyes.
That version of himself from the dream. He was definitely strong. The kind of existence that made others despair.
And the worst part was that Amos understood exactly why someone like that could exist. Because strength solved things. People listened to strength, feared strength, obeyed strength.
If he became powerful enough, wouldn’t it become easier and easier to stop caring?
His chest tightened slightly.
“Do strength changes people?”
Elena looked at him quietly.
“It does.”
Amos laughed weakly.
“That’s not reassuring not at all.”
“Weakness changes people as well.”
He blinked.
“What do you mean?”
“If someone weak cannot protect what matters to them,” Elena said calmly, “they too will eventually become desperate no matter what kind of person they are.”
Silence.
Amos stared at her.
“You’re surprisingly wise for someone who extorts children.”
“Young Master is making your actions while knowing their consequences, plus I am a child myself.”
“You still extorted me.”
“You paid willingly.”
“I was compromised and taken advantage of.”
“Yes.”
Amos groaned softly and sat up. The nightmare still lingered in the back of his mind like cold water crawling down his spine. He hated it. He hated not being able to do anything.
That version of himself, the older Amos hadn’t felt fake. It felt like looking at a path he could genuinely walk. A future waiting patiently for him to make enough wrong choices.
“I want to be strong. Stronger than anyone else, strongest in the whole world,” he muttered quietly.
Elena adjusted his collar automatically despite him still being in sleepwear.
“Then be it.”
“You say things so simply.”
“Complicated thinking does not suit you.”
“You’re getting bolder lately.”
“Yes.”
“Is this because I’ve become nicer?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Just because.”
“Unbelievable.”
But despite his complaint, Amos felt calmer. He swung his legs off the bed and stood up. The morning light illuminated the room fully now.
“Elena.”
“Yes.”
“I think I understand something now.”
“You usually misunderstand things.”
“Erase such thought from your mind forever.”
“Refused.”
Amos looked out the window. At the estate. At the world beyond it.
“Being kind isn’t enough.”
Elena remained silent.
“I thought if I just acted nicer, avoided making enemies, everything would somehow work out.” His voice was quieter now. More serious than usual.
“But in that dream.”
His hand unconsciously tightened.
“Everyone around me was weak against that version of me.”
That wasn’t caused by cruelty alone. It was caused by overwhelming power.
And if Amos remained weak, then someday, when something truly terrible happened....
Would he even be able to stop it?
Or would fear push him toward becoming exactly what he saw?
“I need strength,” he said finally.
Not arrogance.
Not domination.
Not power for the sake of power.
But enough strength to never become cornered into that future. Elena watches him quietly.
“That sounds dangerous.”
Amos laughed faintly.
“See? That’s exactly what I’m worried about. I’ll become stronger,” Amos said slowly. “But properly.”
“Young Master defining ‘properly’ is concerning.”
“I’ll prove you wrong.”
“You say that often.”
“And one day I’ll mean it.”
Elena walked toward the curtains and opened them completely.
Sunlight flooded the room.
“Then begin with breakfast,” she said calmly.
Amos stared at her.
“You moved on to new topic that fast!?”
“Yes.”
“You truly are unmoved by anything.”
“I was moved once.”
Amos blinked.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“You paid me ten gold.”
“You greedy maid.”
“Yes.”
Amos laughed again.