Chapter 3

I walked right in, grabbed a dusty chair from the wall in the dark. I dragged it with a loud screech to the middle of the hall, sat down with a flourish, and propped up my legs.

"You must be the director, right?" I looked up at those red eyes and cut straight to the chase. "Your service, environment, and facilities are all a mess.

"I want this fixed right now. If not, I'm reporting you to the health department and getting this place shut down."

Those red eyes wavered for a second.

The temperature dropped a few more degrees, making me shiver.

From the darkness, that deep voice sounded again, this time with a hint of confusion. "Who are you talking to?"

"You, obviously," I answered without hesitation. "Who else is in here besides you? Oh wait, yeah, the spectres."

I meant those half-transparent figures floating behind him.

His office was pretty nice. He even got secretaries. Though these secretaries look seriously underfed, way too skinny.

"Can you see them?" The confusion in his voice was more obvious now.

"Yeah. They're floating right there. I'm not blind," I said, rolling my eyes. "Let's cut to the chase. I want out, a full refund, and some extra for the emotional trauma. Or else, I'm filing a complaint."

A long silence followed. He seemed to be going through some kind of massive mental shock.

For thousands of years, he'd built up a presence meant to terrify anything that existed, but it somehow felt ridiculous to a human like me.

Not only was I unafraid, but I was actually negotiating with him.

Finally, the darkness faded away, revealing the person sitting on the throne.

He was an incredibly handsome man, his skin so pale that it almost looked transparent. His long hair hung loosely over his shoulders, and he wore an old-fashioned black robe that made him look cold and noble.

He was the final boss of this Nightmare Hospital, the very source of all fear, the Archdemon, Rex Marshall.

Right now, he was staring at me like I was some kind of bizarre creature.

When I got a good look at his face, my eyes sparkled.

Damn, he was hot, but he was also a shady boss.

"What are you looking at? Never seen a beautiful woman before?" I shot back, feeling a bit awkward under his gaze. "Hurry up and give me an answer. I'm busy and don't have time to hang around in this dump."

Rex, who'd been around for ages, was at a total loss for words for the first time ever.

He waved his hand, and a fancy wine glass filled with dark red liquid suddenly appeared on the table in front of me.

He changed his tone, sounding almost seductive, like a devil whispering. "Human, your bravery pleases me. Drink this Wine of Oblivion, and you'll get eternal sleep, free of pain and trouble."

My brain started auto-translating again.

It sounded like, "Human, your bravery has pleased me. This stuff is great. You'll get a peaceful sleep, with no pain or trouble."

I looked down at the liquid in the glass. It was dark, bubbling weirdly, and smelled strongly like some bitter medicine.

My brain instantly cooked up a cheesy drama. A domineering director fell for me, but he was terminally ill.

He was so handsome. It was such a shame he was dying young. This had to be some rare medicine, right? It looked super bitter.

Feeling a surge of sympathy, I pushed the glass back with a dramatic sigh. "Hey, handsome, if you're not well, don't drink alcohol. It's bad for your liver. This looks like medicine.

"I know, medicine always tastes nasty, but you look so pale, like you're about to die any second. You need to start taking care of yourself."

For the first time ever, Rex's lips twitched.

"What did you say?" he ground out through clenched teeth.

"I said you need to take care of yourself," I said. "Don't waste your body because you're young. You must be spending all night overworking and exploiting your employees.

"Listen. You can always earn more money, but health comes first, okay?"

As soon as I finished talking, the temperature in the hall dropped again.

Rex began to release dark mist around him uncontrollably. His crimson eyes were locked tightly on me, burning with rage powerful enough to destroy the world.

I, a human, told him that he wouldn't live much longer just now.

His anger felt almost physical. The whole hall was shaking a little, and his secretaries behind him huddled together, terrified out of their minds.

However, in my eyes, all this terrifying stuff turned into something completely different.

Did I hit Lord Marshall right where it hurt? He looked so mad, and his face was paler now. Oh, poor thing.

Instead of being scared, I felt more sorry for him.

"Easy. Don't get so worked up," I said, trying to calm him down. "I know you're stressed, but getting angry is bad for your health. With your condition, you really shouldn't have emotional ups and downs."

"I'm not sick." Rex sounded like he was yelling, but to me it sounded like a panicked excuse.

"Alright, you're not sick. You're totally healthy." I nodded, like I was talking to a cranky kid. "I'll skip the medicine wine. Keep it for yourself. I'll go now and won't bother you while you recover."

I stood up and tried to sneak off.

"Stop." Rex suddenly appeared in front of me, blocking my path.

He looked down at me, his pale, handsome face covered in shadows. He once again tried to use his irresistible charm to control my mind.