episode_0029

Episode 29

I opened my eyes in a damp iron cage with not a single ray of light entering.

“…”

It had been more than half a year since I had been subjected to the horrible torture of being whipped by the Duke of Normandy, but my body began to tremble as if the memories of that time were coming back to me in the dark, damp iron cage.

-It’s so painful…

‘I guess this is called post-traumatic stress disorder.’

Although I wasn’t tortured here, my body was in pain as if I had been tortured.

I forced myself to move my body, which was creaking in pain, and leaned against the wall.

‘The more I think about it, the more strange it seems to me, starting out as a commoner, then becoming a noble, and eventually becoming a slave… Now that I think about it, I wonder if Alice is doing well?’

I briefly recalled the time I tore up Alice’s slave contract and sent her out of the mansion.

-Knock knock knock!

“Hey, number 17! Get up! There’s a customer here who wants to buy you!”

The sound of knocking on the iron bars woke me up from my deep thoughts, and I slowly turned my gaze in the direction of the sound.

And… Alice was standing outside the bars, looking at me with her amethyst eyes full of water.

“Ahh… I finally found it…!”

“Alice…?”

“Yes… It’s me… Ugh…!”

“How did you…”

Alice, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, seemed to be doing well except for looking a little thin, which made me feel relieved.

“I’ll save you this time.”

“…”

“…I’m waiting.”

Alice said back to me what I had said to her to reassure her the day we first met.

I wonder if Alice felt the same way I do now?

Strangely enough, I felt relieved when I heard her voice.

I sat against the wall and watched Alice’s back as she walked away following the caretaker.

#

In a luxurious-looking living room, a blonde woman sat awkwardly, fidgeting as if she was in a hurry.

“Master! Please take that slave out of the cage.”

“Is it really okay for you to be a slave who was sold once and then abandoned with a damaged body?”

Alice already knows that Leon was sold once.

Even that she was the daughter of a noble family.

Alice was curious about the identity of the vulgar woman who had been harassing and defiling her master, Leon.

“You said it was sold once? Who is it?”

But the slave trader shook his head and drew the line, saying that he could not reveal the information of the person who had purchased Leon due to a confidentiality agreement.

‘Huh…! I’ll find out someday and make you regret it.’

“…If you change your mind, I’ll introduce you to another slave.”

“No! I absolutely must buy that slave!”

Alice, startled, shook her head and answered, worried that the merchant might not sell Leon.

“Then I will prepare a slave contract and contract for you.”

‘Contract..? What’s that?’

A moment later, the slave trader was holding in his hands a document that appeared to be a slave contract and some tool that appeared to be a torture device.

“What is the contract? I understand the slave document, but…”

“I guess this is your first time buying a slave. Most slaves have a contract written into them for their master’s safety and convenience, allowing them to obey any command.”

“What, anything…?”

“Yes, anything. Regardless of the slave’s will, the master can make him die if he wants to, or make him do something so extreme that he would never be able to do with his mind. Of course, if you don’t want to, you can choose not to write a contract.”

“Gulp…”

Alice swallowed as she imagined all the things she could order Leon to do in the contract.

‘Huh…?’

As she was imagining all sorts of embarrassing things, the memories of the times she had spent with Leon in the past suddenly came to mind, and a small question popped into her head.

‘…Why wasn’t there a contract when I was a slave before?’

“Ah…!”

Tears like chicken droppings began to fall from her amethyst eyes.

A contract that forces a slave to be treated like an object, ignoring his or her will and mind.

‘When Leon was my master, he never wrote a contract for me. Leon really treated me as a slave…’

Leon, who saved her from the hellish slave trade, gave her delicious food despite her status as a slave, and did not make her do any hard work.

Leon never abused Alice, and when she was neglected as a slave in the duke’s mansion, he personally stepped forward to protect her.

Finally, Leon himself, despite being in a situation where his life was at stake due to his own sins, tore up her slave documents and set her free.

What’s more, she was worried that she might be captured by the Duke of Normandy, so she asked Claire and others to take good care of her.

“Ugh… ugh…!”

“Cow, guest…?”

‘And yet I don’t care about Leon’s feelings and only think about using the contract to manipulate him as I please… If I do that, I’m no different from those other disgusting people who abuse slaves.’

Now Alice felt that it was finally time to repay the great favor she had received from Leon.

Leon will now be happy in her arms.

Alice opened her mouth, looking at the contract with a smile.

‘…Let’s use it anyway.’

“Let’s sign the contract quickly!”

Maybe Leon will understand her too.

##

“Master!!”

-Wow!!

“Alice…”

As I came out of the dark, damp cage and followed the caretaker out of the building, Alice ran towards me and hugged me tightly.

“Ugh…! You must have had a hard time. Ugh! It’s okay now.”

“…Thank you.”

-Pat… Pat…

warm.

I looked around while gently patting Alice’s back, who was sobbing while hugging me, and saw Claire standing next to the carriage.

“Your Majesty…”

“Claire… Thank you for taking good care of Alice.”

“I’m so glad I can repay the favor.”

Claire looked at me and Alice and smiled slightly.

.

.

.

As we rode in the carriage, Alice sat right next to me and started babbling about what she had been up to.

Listening to Alice’s chattering, old memories that I had missed seemed to come back to me.

“…It’s like I’m back in the old days.”

“Me too.”

-Keep going…

Alice hugged my arm tightly and pulled me in tighter.

“Alice, aren’t you too close? How about moving away a little?”

“I hate it, I will never miss it again.”

“…”

Yeah, our Alice must be happy to see me after such a long time.

“Hehehe… But now I’m your ‘master’?”

“Well… That’s true, right..?”

Alice, whose amethyst-like eyes had been shining, was now squinting and looking up at me.

As I made eye contact with Alice for a moment, the sticky feeling I felt when Rose looked at me seemed to pass through her eyes.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

It gave me goosebumps for a moment, but it was clear that I had been suffering a lot and was reacting sensitively.

There’s no way our innocent and kind Alice would do that.

“Ahem! From now on, call me ‘Master’.”

“It’s annoying again.”

-Swish swish…!

He gently stroked Alice’s head with his hand.

“I’m not a kid anymore, so stop treating me like one!”

“Okay, okay, I got it.”

Alice seemed to enjoy my touch, even though I said it was tick-tock.

“You’re still wearing the hairpin I gave you.”

The hairpin caught my eye, matching Alice’s amethyst eye color so well.

“…is my treasure.”

“I am grateful that you treasure it so much.”

What a peculiar guy.

I lightly patted Alice’s head again.

This time with Alice seems to heal my heart, which was filled with revenge and sadness.

Suddenly, I thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to live peacefully with Alice, who was like a younger sister to me.

‘Maybe revenge isn’t all I have left, but…’

I have already signed another contract with Clément de Baston.

If I don’t kill Clement, I will lose Alice, my family at the Duke of Normandy, and all the people who are precious to me.

I must become strong, if only to protect my family.

‘Yes, revenge for my father is not the only reason I have to become strong. I have to become stronger to protect my precious family.’

“Thank you, Alice.”

Thanks to Alice, I was able to pull myself together again.

“Huhuhuh… Could you please express your gratitude with a little more sincerity?”

“Thank you so much, Alice.”

“Ugh…!”

When I met Alice’s eyes with a serious expression and expressed my gratitude, she blushed and avoided my gaze.

Looking at Alice’s embarrassed expression, I want to tease her some more.

Why do I always want to play pranks whenever I see Alice…

‘Is it because she looks like my younger sister?’

“Thank you very much for purchasing this lowly slave, Master.”

“What, what…!”

“Master, please do whatever you want.”

“Really…?”

It was quite cute how surprised and at a loss she looked when I called her ‘Master’.

“Hahaha! I’m kidding.”

“…”

-Gulp…

Alice, who had been looking at me with unreadable eyes for a moment, swallowed.

“Alice…?”

“Oh, no, it’s just that I feel awkward being called master… It feels strange somehow.”

“Well, it’s strange that you, who used to be a slave, call me, who used to be your master, ‘master.’”

“Ahem! Anyway, from now on, I’m the master, so you have to listen to me carefully!”

“Ahahaha! It won’t be easy to subdue me, right?”

“…We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Huh? Didn’t you just say something?”

“No? I didn’t say anything. I must have misheard.”

Alice smiled in an unknown way and hugged my arm.