The Slave Is Too Handsome - Chapter 5

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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 handsome!
005.
Ever since the moment before, nothing but profanity had tumbled from Lucian’s lips.
‘What is this? He speaks so fluently.’
Ironically, the more crudely Lucian spoke, the brighter Eloise’s eyes grew.
There was something arrogant in his bearing, a glib tongue with just enough insolence to it—she found it utterly charming.
‘My taste really is exquisite.’
With that self-congratulation, Eloise fixed Lucian with a direct stare and asked, “What do you want?”
His answer came clean.
“Money.”
He rattled a small leather pouch.
Eloise turned to gaze at her vanity. Several drawers hung open. It seemed he hadn’t wasted time—Lucian had already helped himself to an assortment of jewels and costly ornaments.
‘Is that all?’
Hmm, his ambitions seemed smaller than she’d expected.
The corners of Eloise’s mouth, which had climbed so high, dipped slightly downward. It was in this moment that Lucian, unaware, lost points in her assessment.
“And freedom.”
Lucian tied the leather pouch around his waist as he added this. Then he moved slowly toward the window. He was preparing to flee as things stood.
“Is that all it will take? From the look of you, you’ll end up beaten senseless in some back alley soon enough, robbed of those jewels, and dragged back to the slave traders.”
“…….”
Lucian’s footsteps halted at Eloise’s words. With her hand still tucked beneath her pillow, she continued without inflection.
“Are you simple-minded? No matter how I think about it, staying by my side is far more advantageous, isn’t it? I’ll feed you, shelter you, clothe you. I’ll give you plenty of money, too.”
“…….”
“So long as you obey my orders.”
With one corner of her mouth hooked upward and her arms folded, Eloise pressed on with words designed to scratch at his deepest desires.
“No matter what you give me, the most important thing to me is freedom…….”
Lucian’s voice trailed off as he tried to counter her. Two sharp short swords whistled past his cheeks in succession.
Breath catching, Lucian forced his eyes open to process what had just happened.
When he turned, Eloise sat on the bed like a doll, striking the pose of having just released the blades.
“That one I missed on purpose. Can’t have that pretty face getting scarred.”
Insane.
Lucian’s expression grew weary in an instant. Having risen from the bed, Eloise now drew a bowstring taut. An arrow nocked upon it pointed directly at him.
‘Where the hell is she getting all these weapons?’
A noblewoman with as many weapons as she did ornaments—he let out a strained laugh before he could help it.
“My late grandfather had a hobby of hunting deer, wolves, foxes and having them taxidermied. Those creatures are still down in the Basement. I always thought that hobby was utterly barbaric, you see?”
“Now, wait just a moment.”
“But thinking about it now, starting a collection of my own might not be such a bad idea. And naturally, the first piece in my collection would be…….”
Eloise’s eyes flashed with something sinister.
“……Ack!”
In the next instant, she’d released the arrow and closed the distance in a stride, seizing him by the collar with an ease that took his breath away.
Lucian’s expression froze like time had stopped. A cool night breeze drifted through the half-open window, enveloping them both.
“Where in the world would you find a mistress like this? Pretty, young, kind-hearted. Honestly, if it weren’t for me, you’d have ended up sold to some deranged noble by now—wouldn’t you?”
“Let go of me!”
Lucian batted away the hand gripping his collar. To his surprise, Eloise released him without resistance.
“See? I’m the sort of mistress who’d even overlook a little theft.”
Eloise grinned and swiftly retrieved her short swords from his grasp with movements no noblewoman should possess.
“Ha.”
At the sight of such unmistakably back-alley dexterity, Lucian let out a hollow laugh.
What is this woman, exactly? Her hands move like she’s spent her life rolling in gutters. And violent on top of it all.
“Well? Has your mind changed any?”
A tense standoff of wills settled between them. Just as Lucian opened his mouth to respond, cold-eyed and sharp—
Bang!
The bedroom door flew open with a sound like it might splinter apart.
It was George.
Whatever the quantity of drink he’d consumed, his face—his whole body—didn’t merely flush red but burned as though aflame. His left hand still clutched a bottle of alcohol, its contents sloshing half-full within.
He’d apparently spent the evening since the ball draining his cup at the Tavern before stumbling home.
Falling-down drunk, he bellowed like his very voice might shake the whole wing.
“Eloise!!!”
While Lucian startled at the pig-squealing screech, Eloise regarded her adoptive brother with an expression of indifference. This appeared to be routine—contempt flickered across her face.
“You, you, you wretched girl!!!”
Whether from alcohol’s influence or genuine fury, George’s right hand trembled as he jabbed a finger toward Eloise.
“How dare you make me a laughing stock out there?”
Stumbling forward with an uneven gait, George brought his bottle down upon a flower vase atop the table, shattering it.
Crash. The grating sound of breaking ceramic assaulted their ears. It was the vase Mary had been particularly fond of.
Innocent flowers scattered across the floor. George began grinding the petals and stems beneath his boot heel.
‘I’ll bill him for every bit of this come morning.’
Eloise took it in stride. In truth, the more that fool George raged like this without thinking, the better she liked it. He was essentially handing her justification to make him pay.
“Prancing about as some grand duke’s house, yet you behave no differently from a street rabble in a back alley.”
Lucian’s mind ran along different lines. Seemingly without thinking, he stepped in front of Eloise to shield her from George’s violent rampage, muttering as he did.
When his broad back blocked her view, Eloise’s head tilted slightly in confusion.
‘What is this? Is he protecting me?’
Even as Lucian’s unexpected side caught her off-guard, George bent low and seized the largest shard of the shattered vase. The broken ceramic held a considerable edge.
“Move, you bastard!”
He shrieked without hesitation, clutching the ceramic weapon, and charged at them both.
Lucian made no move to yield despite George’s wild boar charge.
Instead, he snatched up a golden candlestick from the side table and, with swift reflexes, blocked the ceramic shard. Then, before George could charge again, he shoved the brute backward with the candlestick.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Overwhelmed by the force, George tumbled backward and landed hard on his rear end in an undignified sprawl.
It happened that his fall landed him squarely in the pooled water from the vase he’d shattered—the unfortunate positioning made it appear to any unknowing observer as though he’d soiled himself.
In other words, George’s current state was precisely what one would expect had he lost control of his bladder.
“Pfft.”
Eloise laughed with genuine delight. Though she’d endured his abuse often enough, this particular spectacle was far more ridiculous than anything she’d witnessed from him before.
“You, you—what are you doing, you fool!?”
Having scrambled to his feet, George’s ire turned squarely on Lucian. To prevent any potential disaster, Lucian kicked the scattered ceramic shards aside.
George stalked close enough to stare up into Lucian’s face. The considerable height difference gave him pause for a moment.
As though remembering himself, George raised a hand to strike—
This time, it was Eloise who stepped in front of him.
“Don’t lay a hand on my knight.”
The unexpected declaration made Lucian’s eyes widen.
A small, delicate woman standing before him was almost comical—yet he decided to see how this would play out. He was curious what she would do.
“Ha, a knight? Some mere knight dares block a viscount of the De La Croix Family?”
“Consider this a warning. Get out of my sight this instant, or I’ll run you through.”
Eloise leveled her short sword at George. Her eyes were as sharp as the blade itself.
Well, well—quite the savage fighters, these siblings. The De La Croix ducal house is nothing special after all.
Lucian, regarding the situation as though it were someone else’s affair, clicked his tongue.
“…….”
In the polished blade—polished so bright it gleamed—George’s terrified face was reflected back at him.
He was wrestling with himself. Should he leave now without winning any ground, or should he land one blow before he fled?
“……I won’t forget this.”
George chose the former. He who had charged in so recklessly now composed himself as though he were the victim.
He turned his back and walked slowly toward the door. Only then did Eloise’s grip on her weapon loosen.
And at that very moment—
“Ha!”
George scooped up a small shard of the broken vase and hurled it at Eloise.
Caught off-guard, Eloise froze in place—but Lucian swiftly blocked her with his leather pouch.
“Ah……!”
Yet even that effort proved futile. The fragment grazed Eloise’s cheek before falling away. By then George was already fleeing, vanishing around the corner.
“Let me see.”
Alarmed, Lucian quickly inspected Eloise’s face. His sudden concern left her staring blankly back at him.
In a situation where he could have easily slipped away in the chaos, Lucian instead remained by her side. They’d known each other less than twenty-four hours.
More than that—genuine worry was evident in his expression. It didn’t seem like an act, no matter how she looked at it.
‘Why? Why has his attitude changed so suddenly?’
Dismissing George’s commotion as beneath her notice, Eloise’s mind worked rapidly. To mold Lucian into the form she desired, she first needed to understand him completely.
“Ah.”
Eloise winced slightly. Lucian’s finger had touched the spot where the fragment had scraped her skin.
A thin line of red blood traced down her pale cheek. Lucian flinched in response.
Eloise’s voice came calm and measured.
“Now you understand? Why a noble girl carries dangerous weapons.”
“…….”
“So, will you leave me?”
Uncertainty flickered across Lucian’s eyes as he struggled for an answer.

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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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