The Rich Cultivator

Evergreen held the cup to his lips, and the boy hesitated, his eyes wide with fear. Evergreen’s expression darkened again, her fingers tightening around the cup. "Drink it," she commanded, her voice low and dangerous.

He had no choice. Trembling, he parted his lips and allowed her to tip the cup, the warm liquid sliding down his throat. The taste was strange, bitter, but he didn’t dare resist. As he drank, he felt his body grow heavy, his eyelids drooping despite his efforts to stay alert.

Evergreen’s smile widened as she watched him drink. "There we go... That’s much better." She brushed a strand of hair from his face, her touch oddly tender despite the madness lurking beneath her gaze. "Everything’s going to be fine now, darling. You’ll see."

She began to remove her dress.

Evergreen’s obsession with the boy consumed her for an entire year. She kept him hidden in her small treehouse, far away from the prying eyes of those who searched for him. His family scoured the land, desperate to find their son, their hope waning with each passing day. Evergreen, ever the actor, even joined in their search, pretending to console his grieving parents and aiding in their futile efforts. No one suspected her involvement. She wore a mask of empathy so convincing that even the boy’s parents leaned on her for support.

Inside the treehouse, things were different. Six months into his captivity, the boy’s resistance had faded, and Evergreen, believing she had finally broken him, released him from his chains. He no longer fought back or tried to escape. He smiled at her, spoke sweetly, and told her everything she wanted to hear. It was as if he had come to accept his fate, even love her in his strange, twisted way. Evergreen convinced herself that he was hers now, fully and completely.

But then, one day, Evergreen heard troubling news. The girl, the one who had once held the boy’s heart, was to be married. The very thought of it sent a cold fury through her veins. She watched the boy closely after that, noticing the shift in his demeanor when he learned about the wedding. His eyes clouded with longing, his mind clearly elsewhere. He tried to hide it, but Evergreen saw through his attempts. She always did.

One night, the boy slipped away, thinking he was clever, thinking Evergreen wouldn’t notice. But she knew. She always knew. She followed him quietly through the dark forest, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword as she moved with the silence of a shadow.

He found the girl just as the moon reached its peak, the night before her wedding. She stood by the edge of the river, her reflection shimmering in the water, dressed in white, her face glowing with innocence. The boy fell to his knees before her, sobbing, and he told her everything. He confessed the horrors of his captivity, the twisted affection Evergreen had forced upon him, the lies he had told to survive.