You Were My Slave

What is Sindar’s choice? Elona and Antonio stood still, not knowing what was happening. Meanwhile, the Ashatra warriors approached the two men and carried out the order as soon as the king’s order was given.

The warriors did as Kazan ordered and untied Antonio’s bindings. Elona was led by the hand and pushed twelve paces behind them. But she still stood at the front of the group. This is because all the warriors equally took twelve steps back.

Thus, a circular open space surrounded by warriors was created in the palace garden. There were only two people standing inside, Kazan and Antonio. What are they trying to do? Elona gathered courage and asked General Thortan, who was standing next to her.

“What is Sindar’s choice? What on earth are they trying to do?”

“Sindar is one of the guardian gods of our country.”

Thortan replied in a blunt tone. In the open field, a soldier approached the two men. The soldier took away Kazan’s longsword and handed them each a simple dagger. Antonio’s hand trembled as he took the dagger, a pitiful tremor that was visible even from a distance.

“He is the god of wind and death. Humans cannot dare to ask Sindar to choose. The only one who can ask God to make a choice is one who has attained the status of a god, the rightful king of Ashatra.”

“So, being chosen by Sindar means….”

At that time,someone clashed with the spear and shield with a loud bang. Clang! With a resounding metallic clang, Antonio lunged at Kazan with his dagger. He had practiced swordsmanship since his days as a prince, so he was no slouch. But he wasn’t fast enough to keep up with Kazan, who dodged the tip of his blade and brought his dagger down with great speed.

“Ack…!”

“Brother!”

Elona screamed without realizing it. She hated Antonio; there were many times she wished he would disappear, that he would die. But she didn’t want him to be tortured in front of everyone like this.

Antonio with his right arm heavily slashed, bled profusely as he switched the sword to his left hand. His unstable blade slashed the air again. Kazan leisurely swung his dagger and cut his side. Then the blade pierced Antonio’s back and pulled out, spurting blood. It was a one-sided execution.

‘It’s so cruel….’

At that moment, Elona recalled her dream from the previous night. Kazan had definitely said those same words to her then. You are truly cruel.

At that time, the dagger fell from Antonio’s hand. The dagger that failed to cut off a single hair of Kazan was stained with its owner’s blood. Antonio sat down with difficulty and coughed up blood. Kazan looked down at him with a cold gaze.

“Sindar has chosen you. I will not allow your will.”

Elona’s heart skipped a beat at the simple sentence of death. Antonio’s eyes widened in horror as he heard the word will.

“S-stop… I was wrong… Help, help me, Elona! Elona!”

Antonio frantically searched for his sister. The moment Kazan raised his blood-soaked dagger, Elona vividly remembered the words he had spoken in the past.

It was when he was seventeen. Kazan, who was drawing strange patterns on the ground with a tree branch, said in a lonely voice, ‘People say they wish for the kindness and compassion from the gods.’

“But sometimes, I wish the gods would be just as harsh on our behalf.”

With a whoosh, Kazan sliced through the center of the pattern and tossed the branch away.

The sound of a piercing noise brought Elona to her senses.

The ground was stained red all over. Antonio’s body lay motionless on the ground, like a piece of wood. Kazan dropped the dagger to the ground, its usefulness expired.

It was over, Elona realized, and she locked eyes with Kazan. They were the same color as the drops of blood that soaked the earth. He stared back at her, his eyes demanding.

“Remove the king’s body! We have won!”

The Ashatra soldiers cheered loudly at Kazan’s declaration. Elona felt a chill in the air. The Ashatra king who had crushed Parcion was surely the Kazan she had left behind seven years ago. But in the long time they had been apart, he seemed to have become a completely different man; cold, ruthless, vengeful… yes, vengeful.

Kazan, now empty-handed, strode toward her, his ivory robes heavily stained with Antonio’s blood. Elona’s breath caught in her throat as his red eyes locked on hers. She realized in hindsight that she had missed the most important thing.

Kazan was alive, and he returned to Parcion.

To get revenge on everyone that pushed him into despair.

“The Last Princess of Parcion.”

Twenty-seven years old Kazan, reached for her cheek. Elona couldn’t tell if the liquid that clung to his fingertips was her tears or Antonio’s blood. Only his voice was clear as an imprint.

“From now on, you are my slave.”

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

On the third floor of the Parcion Palace, Elona’s bedroom, which she used before she was imprisoned, was the same as before. After washing off her blood in her bathroom and changing into clean pajamas, she ambled into her bedroom. The events of the day alone were too much for her, and when she returned to her old bedroom, she remembered the nightmare from last night and was in a daze.

‘What…what happened?’

Elona sat on the corner of her bed, despondent. Her head was full of questions.

‘Kazan is alive. But how…? Clearly my brother said that he killed Kazan, 7 years ago…’

But there were several people who claimed to have seen him kill Kazan. Had they all gone along with the lie to save Antonio’s face? But Antonio was not a king at the time, and his reputation was poor, so this was unlikely.
‘But even if he somehow survived, how did Kazan become king of Ashatra? He… he was a slave who had nothing…’

Elona didn’t know Ashatra culture. But common sense dictated that in a country where princes fought for the throne and civil war broke out, how could a man who had been sold into slavery rise to the throne? Only with great power.

‘I have so many questions. Will they answer if I ask them?’

It seemed unlikely. Elona sighed heavily and covered her face with her hands. In truth, there was something else she needed to do first.

‘I owe him an apology.’
Kel: girl… don’t do it, he’ll misinterpret you.

The last conversation they had in her room, just as she had seen in her dream last night, was the last memory they shared. Elona resented her cowardly past self. Why had she been so shameless? No matter how much she wanted to escape from Antonio, she had trampled on the heart of a man who had devoted his life to her, without even a word of apology.

Maybe Kazan’s return now was God giving her a second chance.

At that time, the bedroom door opened without knocking. She looked at the door in shock.

It was Kazan who had entered the room.

After closing the door, he went to the table instead of the bed where she was and slammed something down. It was a liquor bottle. It seemed to have been brought from the victory celebration held throughout the evening. He began to take off his cloak without even looking at her. The sound of the leather straps loosening and the fabric rustling made Elona feel anxious.

‘I have to tell him now.’

She got up from her bed and took a step toward him.

“Kazan, I have something to say to you.”

His hand, which was taking off his cloak, stopped. But only for a moment. Kazan ignored her words and opened the bottle of wine. Does he not want to talk? Elona watched his expression, then finally spoke first.

“For the past seven years, I thought you were dead. At the hands of my brother Antonio.”

Kazan still didn’t look at her. Instead, the only sound filling the room was the pouring of wine into a glass. Elona continued speaking, despite the silence.

“Do you remember our last conversation in this room? When I said I couldn’t trust you, and I… I really, really hurt you.”

Elona, overwhelmed by emotion, felt choked and took a moment to catch her breath. It was very difficult for her to confess her long-held regrets.

“I thought I’d never see you again… and that’s why I’ve regretted it for the past seven years. Every night I dreamed of you, every morning I woke up and wished you were there. If I’d known you were alive, I would’ve gone looking for you a long time ago… but I didn’t know that, and I wasted away, and I’m so… so sorry I hurt you with those words.”

Fortunately, she was able to hold back her tears and finish. Elona looked at Kazan, barely holding back the tears that threatened to fall. The anticipation of being freed from a longstanding nightmare filled her heart.
Kel: oh girl… the disappointment you going to get

I heard a shallow chuckle.

Did I hear it wrong? Elona doubted her ears.

“Elona.”

Kazan called her name. She was overcome with a strange sense of uneasiness as she looked at his back.