…I was never one to be fooled by handsomeness, but I followed Lockhart to the tower where the spy was kept.
As we made our way out of the main palace and towards the north tower, we caught sight of Dioana and Jeremy in the distance.
At their age to be curious, I didn’t want to make a bad impression by being seen, so I hurried up to the tower with Lockhart at my side.
I climbed the stairs to a small room.
The guards saluted as I entered and opened the door. Their security were high as they realised that a spy had entered the castle.
How dare they allow an intruder into this Sterren castle. I wanted to punish them immediately, but that would be for another time.
“Let’s go inside.” Inside, there was a man with a hood over his face, tied up against devices that looked disturbing just to glance at, with a furnace as the backdrop.
Lockhart quickly removed the cloth from his head.
The man’s head fell straight down, so we couldn’t see his face. But it was clear that he was in a very bad state.
I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket, raised it in my hand, and slowly reached for the man’s head. As our eyes met, the man’s eyes widened ever so slightly.
“What? Look at you!
The corners of the man’s mouth, where a dimple had formed, rose like a crescent moon. Soon after, a heartfelt word burst forth from his lips.
“Master!”
“Master?”
Everyone stared at each other in confusion.
The man threw himself forward as if to meet a very welcome visitor. Only after Lockhart gave him a slap to the face.
“Your Excellency, are you a one-sided man?”
At Lockhart’s question, I glanced at the man for a moment.
I stared at the mountains in the distance, trying to hide my embarrassment.
“No. I don’t even know this man.”
“But he said that you’re his master?”
“No master. Lockhart, you must have misheard.”
…I should have spoken more casually, but flustered, I ended up stumbling over my words. A strange tone in my voice caused a spark of doubt to intensify in Lockhart’s eyes.
My one-sided feigned ignorance didn’t seem to fool him after all.
Whether he was clueless or cunning, the man finally gave in.
“Didn’t my master rescue me and bring me here three years ago, and you even called me Darling?”
“What, you dare to mock the Archduke, I’ll have to pull out your tongue to make you come to your senses!”
Furious, Lockhart acted as if he would cut out the man’s tongue at any moment, and the guards seized him by the face and shoulders.
As Lockhart approached with the torture device used to pull out tongues, I finally stopped him and said.
“Stop, Lockhart, there’s no need for that.”
“Yes? But, Your Excellency!”
“He’s right. This must be the slave I bought during my exotic journey three years ago. I was in a frenzy north when I received the news telegram and gave no thought to his whereabouts.”
Lockhart’s mouth dropped open, disbelieving.
Of course, I don’t believe it either. I can’t believe it’s him.
I put my hand to my forehead and slowly rub my head, as if I was in a trouble.
All the while, the intruder was still smiling at me.
“You do remember me, don’t you, master!”
“Hah….”
“He’s right, Your Excellency. Are you really acquainted with that spy, Your Excellency, please explain, Your Excellency!”
One side was jumping up and down with excitement, the other side was demanding an explanation.
Caught in the middle, I tossed and turned like a rock, blaming myself for my past misdeeds.
‘If I hadn’t saved him that day three years ago….’
I wanted to tear my hair out of my face or beat my chest in frustration.
* * *
From the age of eight, I was trained in swordsmanship and other forms of self-defence by my brother, who was the next Grand Duke of the North.
For thirteen years, I never missed a day of training, and with the blessed genes I inherited, I was able to hold my own against the best knights in the Empire.
Of course, he was outclassed in hand-to-hand combat, but only in terms of his swordsmanship.
A woman who was curious, unafraid, brave, and rich enough to travel the world.
At the age of twenty, I set out on a journey around the world with plenty of money and a modest amount of luggage.
it was not an journey like the pilgrims , but a rich and joyful journey with the family’s money inthe joyful spring.
Usually I would return home after two or three months, but sometimes I was gone for half a year, sometimes a whole year, and my brother would write to me, saying that he would only see me on my deathbed, or that I had made a living in a foreign country.
Half right, half wrong.
I have not lived in a foreign country, but I have travelled far and wide, and have seen many things, many arts, and many gentlemen.
Few would resist the hand of a young, energetic woman of wealth, status, and honour.
That day, as I awoke in my king-sized bed, wide and soft, I turned my head and looked to the side.
Dark hair of a colour not often seen in the Empire, dark eyebrows, long shadowy lashes beneath, and an imposing bridge of a nose. And moderately full lips that begged to be kissed.
He’s asleep, unashamedly pulling the white blanket up to his chest in contrast to his muscular body.
The waving blue sea behind him.
“This is it.”
Yes. This is it. This is happiness.
Pulling the corners of my mouth into a satisfied smile, I stretched my stiff body from last night’s workout and jumped out of the bed, heading straight for the shower.
“It’s nice to have hot water like this in the middle of the ocean.”
Of course, I’d invented the time period.
Eventually, after giving myself a pat on the back and washing every inch of my body, I opened the door to the steaming shower and stepped out in my robe.
It was a beautiful morning that made me smile.
The staff had just set the table with morning coffee and bagels with cream cheese.
As I sat down in my chair and sipped my coffee, a huge body moved on the bed.
Still a little dazed, it looked around, then locked eyes with me at the table.
“You up, darling?”
I was the merciful one who, on a good day, bestowed the title of darling on my overnight partner.
Apparently uncomfortable with the title, the dark-haired man stared at me for a moment before smiling and pushing himself to his feet.
“Come and eat”.
“…And you?”
“I’m full.”
I said, looking at the man, and his ears began to blush.
I liked how he looked so innocent, but he was a beast at night.
“Thank you so much for yesterday.”
He picked up a piece of clothing from the floor and lifted it up, revealing a robe of buttons, ruffles, and tears.
Staring at his ragged poet shirt, I click my tongue in unnecessary embarrassment; it must have been my grabbing and ripping that made it so tattered.
“Don’t get dressed. I’ll get you a new one, and you don’t have to thank me, I just liked you.”
He stopped getting dressed and just stared at me. He was quite an interesting man at the time.
He was obviously taken from the slave market, the heir of a ruined family, he spoke Manuar Imperial language with ease, and he carried himself with a certain air of nobility, as if he were an aristocrat, but he was busy looking away.
Above all, a man who dares to make eye contact with me, how can I not be attracted to him?
No one has ever looked me in the eye before. Everyone else, regardless of their status, just looked down when they made eye contact with me.
But this guy….
“What’s your name?”
“I have no other name. They say a slave must be named by his master.”
“What did your former master call you?”
He didn’t answer my question, just smiled.
Pretty fierce for a slave. I let out a small, knowing laugh.
Perhaps he is the eldest son of a fallen noble family.
Otherwise, how could a slave who had been bought and sold at the slave market look my master in the eye and smile with such ease?
“You don’t want to tell me, do you? Never mind, I don’t need to find out.”
“I would be honoured if you would name it.”
He sounded strangely aristocratic, and I was convinced.
“Why would I? I’m going to call you by your original name. Why, does it hurt your pride to say your original name?”
If a nobleman with any pride left in him was going to be a slave, it would be a tragic end.
Perhaps if I hadn’t bought him, he’d be in another lady’s bedchamber by now.
After all, he’s only my one-night stand.
“…That’s not true.”
“True or not, I’m afraid I’m not going to give you a name. There is no slavery where I live, and since you’re in Imperial territorial waters by now, you’re legally a free citizen. So you are not my slave. I never intended to have any in the first place, and you can make your own way when you arrive.”
“What about me?”
