The Slave Is Too Handsome - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The slave is too handsome!
016.
“Ugh.”
Lusian, sprawled atop the mysterious man, quickly pushed himself upright. A groan escaped his lips.
“He’s right there! Grab him!”
Turning back, he saw Frederick leading a contingent of knights closing in fast. Lusian was just gathering his knees to bolt when—
“Erk!”
“Where do you think you’re running?”
The man beneath him seized Lusian by the collar and yanked him down. Lusian’s hands barely caught the ground as he was dragged along.
“Let go!”
Wearing House La Croix’s knight regalia and hunted by your own comrades—seems you’ve committed some crime?”
At the man’s mocking tone, Lusian finally got a proper look at him.
‘What is this feeling?’
Dark blonde hair verging on reddish-brown, cold blue-grey eyes glinting with arrogance.
A bone-deep revulsion washed over him—a distaste he couldn’t explain. Lusian sensed something profoundly unpleasant emanating from this man.
‘From his face alone, I can tell. This bastard is nobility born and bred—born unlucky.’
The man sneered as he caught Lusian’s cutting gaze.
“Your silence tells me I’ve hit a nerve.”
“Say whatever you like.”
Lusian fought the urge to drive his fist into that face. Instead, he wrenched his collar free from the man’s grip and rose swiftly.
“Heh.”
The man reached out again, but Lusian was already beyond his grasp.
“Your Highness?!”
While the subordinates continued pursuing Lusian, Frederick approached the man with an expression of surprise, extending his hand.
“It’s been a while.”
The man—Second Prince Camilo—declined Frederick’s help and rose on his own. Then he gazed in the direction Lusian had vanished and asked, “Who was that?”

As Camilo waited for an answer, his aide, standing behind him, hastily straightened the Second Prince’s clothes.
“…It’s nothing of consequence, Your Highness.”
“Something you can’t discuss, then?”
“Merely that it’s not a matter warranting Your Highness’s concern. But tell me—what brought you outside the Imperial Palace?”
Lusian’s existence was Top Secret, and Frederick deliberately changed the subject.
Camilo let it go without pressing further. He knew all too well that Frederick, Eloíse’s most trusted knight, kept his counsel close.
“I hear the Young Marquess is throwing a birthday party soon.”
“Pardon?”
Frederick’s eyes widened as if hearing it for the first time. He wasn’t the only one surprised.
“You don’t even know your own house’s affairs? In any case, since I’m going, I thought I’d pick out a gift for the lady myself. It’s an important one, so I wanted to choose it personally.”
“…I see.”
A prince venturing out to buy the lady’s birthday gift himself.
Frederick’s mind spun with this new information.
‘Could it be… an engagement?!’
Frederick intuited immediately that Camilo intended to use this occasion to propose a betrothal with Eloíse.
“Handle affairs well, and I’ll see you again soon.”
The Second Prince swept his cloak about him and departed first, his aide hurrying after.
Left alone, Frederick wiped the troubled expression from his face and made for where his men were waiting. By now, that slave bastard would surely be captured.
“Mmph, mmmph!”
Dead-End Alley. Lusian, gagged and bound, thrashed violently.
He knelt with both arms pinned behind him—a humiliating posture. Frederick, arriving just then, let out a contemptuous laugh at the sight.
“You’ve arrived, sir.”
The knights surrounding Lusian saluted their commander. Several of them had disheveled uniforms, suggesting a spirited struggle had taken place.
‘Beaten down like this by such a wretch…’
Frederick suppressed his wounded pride and asked, “What about the other one?”

Lusian’s struggles intensified at once. One of the knights, smiling slightly at the reaction, responded, “Don’t worry, sir.”

Frederick nodded, understanding the implication.
“Mmph, mmmph mmmph!”
Lusian made furious, unintelligible sounds toward Frederick.
Crack!
Frederick’s hand came down hard on the back of Lusian’s neck. His eyes widened, then slowly closed as his body went slack.
‘That felt rather satisfying.’
Frederick dusted off his hand. He still couldn’t fathom the lady’s choice. What possible use could such a wretch be…?
“Back to the Mansion.”
“Yes, sir!”
One of the knights hoisted the unconscious Lusian over his shoulder. Frederick led the way out of the alley.
***
Frederick stood respectfully before Eloíse, who sat at her desk.
Eloíse, having given up waiting for her subordinates, had returned home early and only received her aide’s report after dark.
“Is something troubling you? This doesn’t seem like you—the work took far longer than I expected.”
Eloíse flipped through the documents casually as she posed the question in an even tone.
Yet despite her measured voice, Frederick immediately sensed his lady’s displeasure. From the moment he’d entered the study, she hadn’t once looked directly at him.
“I apologize. However, I did uncover some rather significant intelligence.”
“Go on.”
Click.
Frederick placed an object on the desk.
“We recovered this from an individual presumed to be Lusian’s associate.”
“A Compass?”
Eloíse examined the Compass. The glass face was slightly cracked. When she flipped it over, an eagle emblem and inscribed text came into view.
“Corinthos Trading Company?”
Eloíse read the lettering slowly, tilting her head in puzzlement.
Despite owning a trading company herself and maintaining connections with others, Corinthos was entirely unknown to her.
“It’s a newly established enterprise, I’m told.”
“Is the one searching for Lusian the company’s owner? Then—is Lusian an employee of theirs?”
The puzzle pieces suddenly fit. His fluency in several foreign languages, his literacy, his sharp instincts—it all made sense now.
‘Such a clever fellow would be too valuable for any company to simply abandon.’
Eloíse turned the Compass over in the lamplight, examining it like a gemologist appraising a stone, lost in thought.
‘But now that Lusian is under House La Croix’s roof, they won’t simply abandon their claim, will they? Not even a prestigious trading company would dare antagonize a ducal house.’
Eloíse opened the second drawer of her desk and placed the Compass inside.
“Where is Lusian now?”
Only then did Eloíse look at Frederick’s face to ask. Catching the slight lift in his lady’s mood, Frederick answered with noticeably lighter spirits.
“Confined in the Annex Underground Chamber, as you ordered.”
“Good.”
As Eloíse rose from her chair, Frederick prepared to follow. The prospect of properly disciplining that wretched slave lifted the heaviness from his shoulders.
Until his lady spoke again.
“I’ll go alone. You handle the work.”
“…Very well.”
Frederick stepped back. Since that insufferable slave had appeared, he’d had no choice but to accept his demotion in Eloíse’s priorities.
***
“Lusian, wake up now.”
“……”
“Lusian!”
“Mm……”
Lusian’s eyes fluttered open. As his blurred vision sharpened, he couldn’t help but scream.
“Argh!”
A taxidermied stag stared directly at him. The beast, crowned with heavy, imposing antlers, was beautiful to the point of unsettling.
‘Where on earth am I?!’
Still reeling from shock, Lusian turned his head and saw a fox, then a wolf.
The opposite side held no comfort either. A massive crocodile and hippopotamus stood as if ready to devour him at any moment.
A crocodile. Lusian had never seen one in his entire life.
“H-haha……”
Their realism made them seem almost fake. Lusian’s breath caught. Cold sweat trickled down his back, and his breathing grew shallow and rapid.
‘Could this be…?’
Then it happened.
“Aaaaahhhhh!”
Eloíse suddenly thrust her face into his. Lusian screamed loud enough to shake the underground chamber, his heart pounding harder than ever. He was lucky he didn’t lose consciousness.
While Lusian had gone deathly pale, Eloíse broke into a bright smile.
“Sleep well?”
“!!!”
Her soft, lilting voice snapped him back to reality.
‘Right. I was caught.’
As Lusian lowered his head, he caught sight of himself—arms and legs bound tightly with rope as he sat in a chair.
“Well? I asked if you slept well.”
“D-don’t come closer! Don’t come any closer!!!”
Eloíse advanced slowly. Lusian’s body convulsed with fear as if he’d seen a ghost.
Thud-crash!
The chair tipped backward, taking Lusian with it.
Eloíse knelt without a second thought to her dress skirts, bringing her eyes level with his.
“My, are you hurt?”
Eloíse asked in an innocent tone. Unable to read what lay behind her expression, Lusian felt only mounting terror. He had to survive.
“Please! Please spare me, my lady!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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