Chapter 4: Miserable life

Drake looked up at the ceiling. For the first time, his poker face melted and a weird smile formed on his face. It was full of helplessness and grief.

He started in his monotonous voice. "Kane, unlike you, I don't know much about the outside world. From the day I got my sense, I found myself in this room. I spent all 14 years of my life within these 4 walls."

[What! Don't tell me you spent all your childhood in this jail cell?]

"No." Drake said in a slightly loud tone, "Don't call it jail. This room is my paradise. Though right now it's in a little poor condition, there used to be a time when it was completely different."

He moved his hand and pointed to a filthy wall filled with holes, blood strains, and some yellow filth. "You see that wall? It used to be as white as milk, with countless paintings and decorations on it."

He pointed to the dirty, broken floor. "See this floor? It used to be spotless, covered in silky smooth carpet."

Drake said with a passion-filled voice, "There used to be a table and chair in that corner of the room. That side had a lavish sofa. The bed used to have a clean mattress and see the corner I grew some plants on that side. This was my home. My paradise where I grew up. Don't you dare to say anything about it? "

Kane felt the strong conviction in Drake's voice. He did not know what this kid went through to make him care so much about this room. The concept of home was foreign to him. Still, he knew from experience when to back down, and decided to not agitate Drake. [Oh, I am sorry. I do not know this is your home.]

There were a few seconds of silence.

Drake sighed. "This place used to be my home, but now it's dead. At the start, I had a few maids who took care of my needs. They serve me nice food and sometimes even sing for my entertainment.

Some teachers came here from time to time to teach me different things, from reading and writing to speaking. They taught me about the nobles, the commoner, how to behave, how to eat, and many other things.

Most of all, I was even allowed to go out of the room once a month. Sometimes I even attended some unknown occasional parties and met with different people from the family. Many big, some of the same age, but gradually I came to know their life was much different from mine."

[Oh so you realized you are in a house arrest situation.]

Drake nodded his head and continued to stare at the ceiling. This time, there was a wide grin on his face. Those were the happy memories of his past.

Kane, not caring much, asked, [If you always lived under house arrest, then how come you are in this situation? What happens? ]

Drake frowned, then shook his head. He realized he got lost in the past. He shook his head a little. "After knowing how I am in this trapped situation, I started searching for the answer to why I am in this situation and gradually I came to find out that it was all because of my stepmother that I was in this house arrest."

[ah I see this coming.] Kane mumbled.

"What?" Drake asked, tilting his head.

[Ah, it's nothing, so you found out the culprit. Then what did you do? Did you confront your stepmother? And what about your father and other family members and from the story so far you belong to a noble family?]

Drake went back to the poker face and said, "I came to know many things in all those years about my family. First, my father is the family head who had 2 wives. My stepmother is the first lady of the house and my mother is a war hero. Then there are a bunch of other family members that I don't know much about, and my family name is Duisberg."

[wait wait, first thing is your mother is still alive.]

"yeah, why you asked."

This did not follow the cliche, Kane asked [Did your mother and father know about your situation?]

Drake said with regret, "Yeah, it was my worst mistake to tell them. A mistake that made my life worse."

[Mistake how so?]

"5 Years earlier, when I was around 8, I told my father about how I wanted to live like others. I don't know why, but my father scolded me about how I have to live like a Duisberg, and that day, for the first time, my mother came to me and told me how disappointed she was with me for giving up.

That day, my stepmother whipped me for the first time. From the next day, no maid came to attend to me. No teacher came to teach me and every 2 to 3 days, my stepmother came to whip me. I was not allowed to go out of the room until and unless there was some special function. Even at the function, no one wanted to talk to me. I did my best to revert to the previous house arrest situation, but things only degraded and never improved. I got left alone in the room with no one beside me."

[Dude, it feels like some miscommunication happened between you and your father, but still, he is the family head, so it's not much of a deal for him to know about your situation. Did you try to talk to your mother?]

"Nah, that sentence was the first and last sentence that she ever said to me. I never met her after that."

[Oh she also did not care about you. Damn man, you only have your stepmother that shows some interest in you.]

"I don't want that kind of attention."

[Bad luck my man. You've endured a lot, my friend. Big respect for your strength.] Drake genuinely impressed Kane. He placed himself in Drake's shoes and knew he might be in far worse condition than Drake was.