Sagar was sitting on his bed at that moment. Right in front of him, Abigail was slowly opening her eyes. She was trying to recall how something had struck her head. As soon as she opened her old eyes fully, she saw a small child sitting in front of her.
The moment her gaze fell on him, she was filled with rage and tried to get up. That's when she realized her hands were tied. Upon looking closely, she found that her hands were bound with cloth. Her legs were in the same state. She had been tied to a chair.
Abigail, in a fit of anger, said, "Who are you?"
Sagar, without answering her question (he had barely stopped himself from calling her a devil), said, "Don't move so much at this age, Grandma. Have some mercy on your old bones."
"Alright, no nonsense. Let me ask you straight up. Who was it? Who wanted to kill this child, I mean, me?"
Abigail replied in a calm voice, "No one. I wanted to kill you because you deserve it."
Sagar raised one eyebrow and said, "Fine, I'll buy that. So you're saying a kind mother, who raises a child like her own son, suddenly gets the idea that he should die and poisons him? That doesn't quite add up. Now tell me, who told you to poison me? Just give me the name, or else!"
Abigail said, "I told you, no one asked me to poison you."
Just then, the door behind them suddenly opened, and in an instant, several soldiers stormed in. They grabbed Abigail immediately.
Sagar, who didn't even get a chance to say anything, was in shock. Then, a man entered from behind, his hand resting on the long sword in its sheath. He said, "Master Ethan, are you alright?"
As soon as the man saw that the child was safe and sound, he turned back and said, "You are under arrest for attempting to poison the young master. The Marques will decide your punishment. Soldiers, throw her in the dungeon for now."
Sagar's mind was reeling. He wanted to hurl a barrage of curses at these people. Not only were they taking away his subject, whom he was interrogating, but they had also arrived so late.
"If I weren't so clever, she would've finished her last rites and escaped by now," Sagar thought.
The man turned back again and said, "Are you absolutely alright?"
Sagar smiled and nodded, but behind that smile, his anger was concealed.
The man found Sagar's smile unsettling, as if he had done something terribly wrong.
Sagar said, "By the way, what's your name?"
The man replied, "You already know my name. Alexander. Why are you asking again?"
Sagar, controlling his anger, said, "Alexander, tell me, can I give you a nice, filthy curse?"
Alexander, flustered, said, "What did you just say?"
Sagar replied in a curt tone, "Nothing. Take your miserable face and get out of here."
Alexander, now more agitated, said, "Why are you so angry, young master?"
Sagar, calming himself, said, "Angry? I'm not angry. I'm just saying, leave and let me be."
**Some time later**
Sagar calmed his mind and said to himself, "Alright, first I need to analyze my situation. My name, or rather this kid's name, is probably Ethan. He's likely 10 or 13 years old. I don't have many of this kid's memories, which is a bit of a problem. From what I can figure out, this boy is a noble. The surroundings make it seem like an old era, maybe some ancient empire. That man mentioned 'Marques,' so I think that's a big position."
"Is this kid, whose body I'm in, his son? If so, in such a situation—where his son was poisoned—no one from the family came to check on him except a couple of people. And every time I try to step out, I'm stopped. They say I'm not allowed to leave. It's starting to come back to me that this kid never leaves this room. He's always locked in here. But why? There was hatred in that guard's eyes for this child."
Sagar continued, "Wait, why am I stressing myself out? It's simple. Call someone and get all the information about myself. I'm worrying for no reason. Just make sure no one finds out I know nothing. I have to act like I know everything. That old woman's words won't be believed by anyone, but if I accidentally say in front of someone that I'm a devil, these people will hang me and turn me into tandoori kebab. I just got into this body; I don't want to be burned alive just yet."
"Alright then, I need to control my sharp tongue and gather all the information without anyone suspecting a thing."
With that, Sagar, who was in Ethan's body, stood up from his bed. A smile spread across his face. He gently opened the door and said sweetly to the guard outside, "Oi, you dung-faced idiot, send a servant to my room."
The guard, taken aback, said, "What?"
Sagar glared at him but said, "Don't make me repeat myself. Send a servant."
With that, he slammed the door shut.
Some time later
The door opens. A servant enters from outside and says, "Young Master, do you need any help?"
Sagar glares at him and says, "How dare you enter without permission?"
Hearing this, the servant freezes in fear. He stammers, "But you called for me…"
Sagar cuts him off mid-sentence, "Yes, but that doesn't mean you can just barge into someone's room like that. You should've knocked first, you idiot!"
The servant, now sweating profusely, says, "Please forgive me, Young Master. It's my first day on the job, so I don't know the customs here very well."
Sagar puts a hand on his head and says, "Get out of here and send someone else."
Just as the servant is about to leave, Sagar says, "Wait, you rascal! You said it's your first day? Well, that's actually quite interesting for me."
The servant, who had stopped in his tracks, returns from the door and stands in front of Sagar.
Sagar says, "First, tell me your name."
The servant lowers his head and says, "Master , Parker."
Sagar asks his next question, "What do you know about me?"
Parker, confused, says, "Master !?"
Seeing Sagar's piercing stare, he gets nervous. In his mind, he thinks, "So this is the devil of the palace. The Devil Born. Now I'm regretting my decision to come here. Why did I even take this job?"
Sagar claps his hands loudly and says, "I don't have all day. Speak quickly!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Parker says, "Master , you are the eldest son of Marques Logan Master and the grandson of Duke Sangram Singh."
Sagar then says, "Alright, where are we right now? Tell me about our empire or country and this place."
Parker finds the question odd. Thinking back, the earlier question also seemed strange. Why would someone ask about themselves? So he says, "Why are you asking about this?"
Sagar looks into his eyes and says, "Who are you?"
Parker replies, "Master , I don't understand."
But Sagar's intense gaze, scanning him from head to toe, makes him even more nervous. He says, "I'm just a servant."
Sagar says in a calm voice, "And who am I?"
Parker replies, "You are my master."
Sagar responds with a fake smile, "Good. You know your place. Don't ever dare question me again."
Parker, flustered, nods and says, "Our empire is called Griffin. The griffin is also the symbol of the royal family. Right now, our king is Maharaj Lakshya. We are currently in the northern part of Griffin, on the land of Finsar, known as the 'Sea of Black Gold.' The administration here is in the hands of Marques Logan Master , your father."
Sagar says, "Alright. Now tell me, what do people think of me? I mean, what's my position here? And yes, tell the truth."
Parker pauses for a moment, avoiding eye contact, and says, "You… you are the Marques' son and our master. Everyone likes you a lot."
Sagar glares at him and recalls the events of the day. It's clear to him that this is far from the truth. He takes a deep breath and says, "Look, Parker, I won't take it badly. You can speak plainly."
Parker says, "Master , I'm telling the truth. Everyone likes you."
Sagar repeats, "Look, I won't mind. You can say what you really want to say. If you don't tell the truth, just know that your tongue won't be fit to tell anyone anything ever again."
Parker, panicking, says, "Master , I mean…"
Sagar says casually, as if it's no big deal, "I'll cut out your tongue and throw it to the dogs."
Parker, terrified, says, "Please forgive me! I'll tell the whole truth." And in one breath, he starts, "Everyone hates you. They call you 'Devil Born' because you killed your mother at birth. Ever since you were born, Finsar's condition has been deteriorating, and people hold you responsible. In their eyes, you're a devil. Everyone hates you, and behind your back, they pray for your death. When you were born, a priest prophesied that your birth marked the beginning of the kingdom's destruction. They said a devil was born."
Parker opens his closed eyes and sees that Ethan is completely calm. In fact, his face is almost too calm. It didn't seem like he was even slightly upset or angry. He was just calm.
Sagar slightly tilts his head up, looks into Parker's eyes, and says, "One last question. Why am I locked in this room?"
Parker is a bit surprised by the question but answers, "Master , I'm new here, so I don't know much. I only heard that you, in a fit of anger, threw a glass of juice at your younger brother's face. At that time, the Marques' second wife, your stepmother, saw everything. She got you punished with six months of confinement in your room."
Sagar says, "Alright, you can go now."
After Parker leaves, Sagar softly says, "Six months."
From this alone, he could guess what kind of treatment the real owner of this body, that child, must have endured here.
Sagar gently places a hand near his mouth, struggling to suppress a devilish smile.
He says to himself, "If these people want a devil, then I'll give them a devil."