episode_0018

Episode 18

-Whoaaah!

“Oh my!”

“Are you coming to your senses?”

I came to my senses after being hit with cold water.

The tattered skin and flesh of his back were strewn across the floor, and his broken fingernails were embedded in his hands that he had clenched tightly to endure the pain, making him feel the dizzying pain once again.

“Now the back skin has all fallen off, so there is nowhere to hit.”

There was no feeling on my back anymore, and I could see the flesh lying on the floor, perhaps revealing bones.

“…”

Tania ordered her to be whipped for three days, but she kept losing consciousness in between due to the pain, so now she doesn’t know how much time has passed.

“Ugh… Ah…”

I wanted to ask how much time had passed, but my voice was hoarse and I couldn’t speak properly.

The guards smiled bitterly, as if they knew that it would be more painful not to know how much time had passed.

“Okay, let’s start with treatment first. If we hit him any more, he’ll really die.”

The guard came over and sprayed a peculiar-smelling chemical on my back.

-Whoaaah!

“Keuaaaak!”

It is a drug that is made to inflict pain, and as soon as it touches the wound, it feels like a hot pain as if hydrochloric acid has been poured on it.

“Hehehe, it’s a recovery potion specially made to torture criminals. It’s so stinging even when applied to bare skin, but if it’s a wound so bad that you can see the bone… Just imagining it is horrifying.”

“Sob… sob…”

“Don’t worry, the recovery effect is certain.”

#

Lyman de Normand, the only remaining heir to the Duke of Normandy after the barbarian Leon was stripped of his noble title.

The boy, now five years old, is locked in his room, crying under his blanket.

‘Lee Man, if it weren’t for you, I could have become the master of this dukedom.’

“Ugh…”

There’s no way Leon would have said something like that.

Did I do something wrong to my brother?

Why would his brother, who always loved him and played with him, say something like that?

Is the position of a peacock really that desirable?

If he wanted it so badly, his older brother could have just taken the position of successor to the Duke’s family.

Now five years old, Lyman de Normand had no need for such complicated things as a ducal heir.

‘I just want my family to live together happily…’

Yesterday, I told my mom to ‘give the Duke’s seat to Leon’ and persuade my dad, but my mom just hugged me with tears in her eyes.

Mom said she couldn’t see Dad anymore.

That’s what death is like.

I don’t know.

Right now… I just wanted to see Leon.

‘If I go to the dungeon, will I be able to see my brother?’

Serena said that the dungeon is a place where bad people go, but Leon can’t be a bad person, right?

He goes down to the dungeon to meet his brother and tells him that the Duke of Normandy’s throne belongs to him and that he wants to reconcile with him.

Lyman de Normand slowly got out of his bed and sneaked out of his room.

My sisters told me never to go to the dungeon, but I wanted to see my brother now.

##

How much more time has passed?

Now it seems like I’m unconscious more than awake.

When I regained consciousness and looked around after fainting for a moment, the guards seemed to have left for a moment, perhaps because it was their shift change time.

Any moment now, other guards will come and start whipping you.

“…”

For a moment, the thought crossed my mind, ‘Wouldn’t it be easier if I just died?’

but…

‘father…’

My father’s last moments keep coming back to me.

‘Okay, let’s hold on. Even if it’s so hard and painful that I might die, let’s hold on for at least 8 years and then die.’

I think I can finally close my eyes in peace if I know the truth about my father’s death.

‘…No, that’s not it.’

Clement de Baston, I will not die until I kill that bastard.

I will definitely avenge my father no matter what I have to do.

If I die like this without being able to do anything, who will be able to avenge my father?

“Ugh…”

“…Hyung?”

A voice that shouldn’t be heard in this dungeon was heard from behind me.

I wanted to turn my head to check if I had heard correctly, but my body was so exhausted that even turning my head was difficult.

“…”

I wanted to ask how he got in here, but all that came out of my already split throat was the sound of air escaping.

It is too cruel and shocking a sight to show to a young child.

“Brother!”

I thought he would scream and run away, but instead, Lee Man ran towards me.

“Does it hurt? Are you sick?”

I strained my throat to force out the sound that wouldn’t come out.

“Lee… Man…”

I didn’t want to show this side of me.

“Hyung, can you do some peacock work, okay? So let’s go instead of staying here…!”

“…”

Liman, who was trying to pull my body out with his hands like bracken, began to struggle and exert his strength.

But my body didn’t move at all, and soon the guards came running in a hurry at the sound of Lee Man’s shout.

“Master Leeman! You shouldn’t be here!”

“No! I’m going back with my brother! Hurry up and untie this!”

“Your Highness, he is no longer a member of the Duke of Normandy, but a heinous criminal! It is dangerous, so come here quickly!”

“I don’t like it! If you touch me and my brother, I will never let you go!”

Liman, who was sticking right next to me and sulking, acted as if he would never leave me.

After a while, Mother, Tania, and Serena came down to the dungeon together.

“Lee Man, it’s dangerous, come here quickly!”

“Mom, I want to go back with my brother, okay? My brother is sick!”

“Tania, Serena, go and bring Lehman.”

“Yes, mother.”

“I hate it!”

Tania and Serena forcibly pulled Lehman away from me and ran outside.

“…”

“I can’t keep you in the duke’s house any longer.”

My mother opened her mouth, glaring at me with cold eyes.

“…”

“The longer you stay with the Duke of Normandy, the worse your influence will be on Riemann. I should hand you over to the slave trader tomorrow.”

“I have extracted you to the brim with blood, so either live your whole life as a slave and die, or meet a piece of trashy master and die after 8 years. No matter what happens, you will never set foot in the Normandy Dukes’ household again.”

“…”

There was a lot I wanted to say, but maybe it was because my throat was sore or because of the contract, but my voice just wouldn’t come out anymore.

I only hope that the Duke of Normandy will fare well while I am away.

.

.

.

The next day I was able to come out of my dungeon and see the sunlight.

Fearing that I might die, they stopped further torture and focused solely on treatment, so my last night at the Norman Duke’s house was somewhat comfortable.

A slave trader dressed entirely in black came to the mansion in a carriage and greeted my mother.

“I heard the news, I am so sorry, Duchess of Normandy.”

“…That’s not for you to mention.”

“Sorry, I got off topic.”

“Okay, take the slave. As we contracted earlier, you must stay alive for 8 years.”

“Yes, you don’t have to worry about that part. When you sign the contract with this slave, just add the condition that you cannot take the slave’s life for the next 8 years. ”

“Is that well kept?”

“It is okay to sell slaves for 8 years as a rental, not as a sale. If a slave sold as a rental dies or becomes disabled, you will have to pay a huge penalty. If you cannot pay the penalty, the person who bought it can become a slave according to the law.”

“Hmm… That’s okay. This slave can be treated roughly as long as he doesn’t die for 8 years.”

“Hehehe… Don’t worry, we are experts at managing slaves so they don’t die.”

“Take me now, I don’t even want to see your face.”

“Yes, we’ll take care of the rest of the necessary procedures. Let’s go.”

-Clang!

The slave trader came to me, put a leash and gag on me, my arms were bound with chains, and dragged me into his carriage.

With the sound of the carriage pulling away, I took in the last glimpse of the Normandy Duke’s mansion, which was gradually disappearing into the distance.

###

It’s already been a week since I was sold to slave traders and locked up in a cage again.

Having been tortured and injured in the duke’s house, I was able to rest comfortably for a week while my body recovered.

Maybe it’s because of the contract I made with my mother, but I feel like I’m being more careful because I might die.

And today the corridor of the iron cage where I was locked up seemed a little noisy.

-Ding ding ding!

“Everyone, wake up! An important guest has arrived, so please straighten up and wait!”

It suddenly occurred to me that maybe Alice felt this way when she first met her.

‘I wonder if Alice is doing well. Maybe she’s heard the news about me.’

Even if Alice heard the news about me, I hope she doesn’t come looking for me in danger and lives happily.

I can only hope that Claire and the others will heed my last request.

-Crunch…Crunch…

The sound of a woman’s shoes is heard from the hallway.

Since the area I was in was a place where male slaves were kept, female guests also visited frequently.

However, I have not been sold yet because my body has been damaged by torture and I have been treated as a non-commercial item. However, I think they have fully recovered now, so from today on, I will be treated as a commodity.

The sound of footsteps grew closer, and I locked eyes with a familiar woman with silver hair and blue eyes.

“Oh my, hello? We’re old friends, right?”

Rose de Baston, daughter of the hated Duke of Baston, was looking down at me with greedy eyes.