The Slave Is Too Handsome - Chapter 17

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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 far too beautiful!
017.
“I… I’ve done wrong, master. It’s all my fault.”
Lucian cried out desperately. Eloïse, her expression already blank again, said nothing.
Beyond her, taxidermied animals came into view. Looking around, he realized the entire room was lined with stuffed creatures along all four walls.
The moment his eyes met those of a snarling leopard, his lids clamped shut. Words poured from his lips unbidden, fervent and pleading.
“Please forgive me. If you’ll only forgive me, I’ll do anything you ask—anything at all!”
Pride had abandoned him entirely. He had to prevent one thing above all: being mounted beside that leopard.
……
Lucian’s pale face grew even whiter. He seemed almost translucent. Eloïse, watching him with utter indifference, straightened her legs and rose slowly to her feet.
“……Master?”
When no sound came, Lucian opened his eyes slowly. And what he saw was truly startling.
Shing—
Eloïse withdrew a well-honed blade from a scabbard mounted on the wall. The gleaming edge caught the light so brilliantly that Lucian’s stunned face was reflected in it.
……
The pointed blade drew close to his nose. It was astonishing how deftly the slender noblewoman wielded the heavy sword.
“What did you do wrong?”
……
“I don’t like repeating myself…….”
“Acting without your permission, master. I deeply regret it!”
The blade, which had been aimed precisely at Lucian’s nose, slowly rose upward.
Now it gleamed at eye level with him. This meant Eloïse’s answer was not what she sought.
“I… I happened upon a friend in the plaza, and in my joy, I acted on impulse! I only meant to exchange greetings and return, but then… things spiraled out of control!”
“You only meant to return?”
“Of course! How could I abandon such a fine master as you, miss?”
Lucian spoke hurriedly, gauging Eloïse’s reaction. It was a transparent lie at best.
‘Hm?’
Lucian caught the subtle shift in Eloïse’s expression. Her icy, impassive face had relaxed ever so slightly.
‘Right—no one in this world dislikes praise.’
Seizing on this thread, Lucian added more words with as much sincerity as he could muster.
“You are so beautiful and thoughtful, so generous. Which is why I wish to stay by your side for a long, long time…….”
“It was a brief time, but I was grateful.”
……
“Fare well.”
Lucian, who had been defending himself so fluently, fell silent. Eloïse had spoken the very farewell he’d forgotten—the parting words he’d meant to say to her—with perfect accuracy, not a syllable out of place.
“That wasn’t a goodbye to me, was it?”
“It wasn’t a goodbye—”
“No running. No lies. And I forgive once.”
Overwhelmed by Eloïse’s frigid tone, Lucian found himself nodding involuntarily.
Clang—!
Eloïse let the sword fall to the floor with a metallic crash, then grasped a bell-pull on the wall and tugged it.
‘I’ve bought my life, then.’
Lucian’s shoulders relaxed slightly in quiet relief—and then a knight entered.
Following Eloïse’s instructions, the man helped Lucian and the chair up from the floor, then left the dungeon.
“Are you ready to speak truthfully now?”
Eloïse settled onto the sofa across from him, arms crossed.
‘It’s not over.’
Lucian forced himself to find calm.
He’d been far too naive. He should have armed himself, at the very least.
He resented himself for overlooking the possibility of shadowed guardians.
“Tell me everything—who you meant to meet today, your connection to them, and how you lived before you were sold to the slave merchant.”
“Master…….”
“Until you talk, you don’t leave this room. I’m prepared to stay here a day, two days, three days—even a month.”
At Eloïse’s command, Lucian put on a facade of desperate longing while his mind worked rapidly and coldly.
‘If she wants information from me, she doesn’t intend to kill me.’
With that certainty came rhythm to his ragged breathing, and the iron tension in his muscles began to ease. His face, however, remained the picture of misery.
‘How much truth should I reveal? I’ll need to blend in some lies so nothing stands out.’
“I…….”
The moment Lucian opened his mouth, something fell at his feet with a dull thud.
He recognized the familiar eagle emblem. When his eyes shifted to the inscription beside it, his facial muscles locked rigid.
‘Brick has been captured?’
What Eloïse had thrown was Brick’s Compass.
“You’d better speak carefully. Your contact is locked in another room as we speak.”
“……!!”
Lucian slowly lifted his bowed head, and Eloïse’s cold gaze met his clearly. Fatigue was written plainly across her face.
“Frederick is torturing the owner of that Compass. By now, he’s likely extracted quite a bit of information.”
“If you’re going to torture someone, then torture me instead—!”
“I’d like nothing better!”
Eloïse cut him off, raising her voice for the first time.
Only then did Lucian understand: she had been restraining her emotions this entire time, controlling herself for his sake.
He owed his life to being deemed useful; if he weren’t, he’d have died by her hand long ago.
“So speak honestly. If it comes out that you’re lying, that one won’t be leaving this place alive.”
Eloïse regained her composure and spoke in a measured tone, though her fury hadn’t faded—her clenched fists trembled visibly.
Lucian, observing every detail, made his choice.
“……As you’ve likely guessed, before I became a slave, I worked for the Korinthes Merchant Guild.”
He spoke, hoping his words might soften her heart even a little.
Seeing the subtle shift in her eyes and color, Eloïse felt as though she was seeing Lucian’s true self for the first time.
“The man with Frederick—the captain—is a colleague I was closest to in the guild. It seems he spent a considerable time searching for me after I disappeared.”
……
“Today we happened to spot each other, and I, desperate to return to the guild, acted impulsively and fled.”
Eloïse rested her elbow on the armrest and cupped her chin, gesturing for him to continue.
“As for why I was sold into slavery…….”
Lucian felt less secure now than when he’d stared into the eyes of the taxidermied animal or when Eloïse had suddenly drawn the blade on him—as though walking on thin ice.
‘Brick has to come through this alive.’
Lucian ran his parched tongue over his lips. Since seeing the Compass, his every thought had been on Brick.
“There is a guild bound to ours by old enmity. We’ve clashed with their men many times, and one day, a clash escalated into serious violence.”
……
“I fought boldly, but unluckily, their men captured me. They sold me to the slave merchant.”
“Before the guild?”
“Pardon?”
“How did you live before you joined the guild?”
Eloïse fixed him with a piercing gaze.
“……Just… ordinarily. Day labor, hand to mouth. One day I’d work at a bakery, the next I’d sell fruit. I took whatever work I could find.”
……
“That’s all. There’s nothing grand about it, truly.”
Lucian poured out everything as if emptying his soul, his face a plea for belief—but the noblewoman remained silent. She seemed to be weighing whether his words were truth or falsehood.
“Is there anything else?”
Eloïse, who had been lost in thought, asked in a somewhat gentler voice. Lucian instinctively understood this was his last chance.
“I will never run again. I will listen to your every word and devote myself entirely to your dreams.”
“Good. That’s how it should be.”
Eloïse rose from her seat, approached the wall, and pulled the bell-pull once more.
“Master, what about Brick?”
“Brick? Ah… Why do you concern yourself with him? You won’t see him again.”
“……What? That’s not what you said! He’s done nothing wrong—please, release him!”
Shocked by Eloïse’s cold reply, Lucian surged to his feet, chair and all.
Footsteps drew near from beyond the wall.
“Not what I said? I never promised to release him. I only said I’d kill you if you lied.”
Thud.
Lucian collapsed, falling to his knees on the floor without a sound. He couldn’t even muster a bitter laugh.
In the meantime, Eloïse picked up the Compass from the ground.
“So prove it going forward. Prove whether your vow just now was truth or falsehood.”

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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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