The Slave Is Too Handsome - Chapter 68

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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!
068.
“Eloïse, where are you going?”
Rather than answer, Eloïse rose swiftly from her seat. Simon followed suit.
‘Honestly, her temperament…’
She had a habit of seeing to matters personally instead of delegating to subordinates. Even Simon, heaving a weary sigh, hurried after her without hesitation.
Eloïse made her way toward the Barracks, situated behind the Tournament Grounds.
Yeong-sik, defeated in the competition, lay scattered about the enclosure, taking their rest. Their eyes naturally gravitated toward Eloïse.
“What’s this, come to flatter the princess?”
“Your Highness, do win the championship! Win it and give us a kiss!”
Several men snickered in voices barely audible. Yet such crude advances fell deaf on Eloïse’s ears.
‘I wasn’t planning to say anything, but you insisted I show commitment. Don’t you have friends close to Camilo? They said they’d sabotage the First Prince’s horse just before the Final Match.’
Recalling Simon’s words, she clenched her teeth and made straight for the Stable.
“Wait, my lady?”
Yeong-sik, standing guard at the Stable’s entrance, blocked her path with a bewildered expression.
It seemed Simon had not been lying.
“Only competition participants are permitted to enter—”
“Move.”
“My lady!”
Eloïse brushed past the tall man with a light shove.
Venturing deeper, she spotted three men standing before horses grazing on hay, and they were doing something suspicious with the bridle of a White Horse.
It was unmistakably the majestic beast that Lucian had ridden.
“What are you doing?”
“Just having a bit of harmless fun—ugh!”
The man who turned around caught sight of Eloïse and fell flat on his backside in alarm.
“The—the lady of La Croix Duchy…”
“What? Who?”
The other two men hurried to confirm Eloïse’s identity. Unlike their fallen companion, they advanced with vulgar smiles.
“What brings a lady to such a foul-smelling place?”
“Ah. A secret meeting with Prince Camilo, perhaps? Hehehehe.”
Eloïse’s eyes turned glacial. These were men of minor noble houses, hangers-on who fawned over Camilo.
‘At any other time, they wouldn’t dare speak to me.’
The one who appeared to be their ringleader extended his hand, but Eloïse struck it away sharply.
“What have you done to Prince Valensio’s horse? Out with the truth before this gets worse.”
“Done? We haven’t done anything!”
The man raised both hands in a gesture of innocence. Yet his face betrayed a contemptible smirk that refused to fade. These were not men who would listen to reason.
When Eloïse pressed past the group toward the horse, one of them seized her shoulder.
“Let go!”
“Don’t make a sound!”
“Hey, someone grab her!”
“We shouldn’t—but!”
The men hesitated, unable to bring themselves to lay hands on the daughter of La Croix Duchy, but they reluctantly grasped her arms and covered her mouth.
“Mgh!”
Eloïse bit the hand covering her mouth and thrashed.
“What’s all this commotion?”
At the low voice from behind, all three men released her and quickly bowed.
“Your Highness—”
“Your Highness, you’ve arrived.”
Turning slowly, Eloïse saw Camilo, his expression weary, and behind him Lucian, eyes wide with shock.
“The lady?”
Upon seeing Eloïse, Camilo’s eyes rounded. Her hair and clothes were slightly disheveled, as though she had been in a scuffle.
He approached her faster than Lucian could.
“Why are you here? What’s happened?”
Eloïse’s lips pressed into a hard line, and her eyes burned with resentment. She had no doubt that Camilo had orchestrated this, whether she understood the details or not.
“The competition should be conducted fairly, Your Highness.”
“What?”
Camilo’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
The Stable. Signs of struggle. Three men trembling before her.
As Camilo pieced the situation together, Lucian stepped between them, examining Eloïse carefully. Concern was etched plainly across his face.
“Are you hurt, my lady?”
Eloïse avoided his gaze as she spoke.
“I’m fine. More importantly, Your Highness’s horse—”
“So you think I sabotaged his horse?”
Camilo cut in with a nudge to Lucian, his tone sharp. Eloïse’s stare was his only answer.
Poison and arrows. She had tried, following Danae’s words, to believe that the previous incident might not have been Camilo’s doing.
But with matters like this continuing to unfold, her doubt was impossible to dispel.
“Clearly you’ve misunderstood something.”
Interpreting her silence as confirmation, Camilo turned sharply. The three men remained bowed, as if awaiting punishment.
“Get up!”
“Out with it—what exactly have you done?”
Camilo seized one of them by the collar and hurled him to the ground.
“Your Highness, we were wrong!”
The man sprawled on the floor kowtowed in supplication, and the other two quickly followed suit.
“We just wanted to stir up excitement with a little trick. Please forgive us! Ugh!”
Camilo’s face hardened as he stomped on the shoulder of the nearest prostrate man.
“So what exactly did you try to pull? Speak!”
“It was—”
“You’ve made the lady suspect me, you fools.”
The moment Camilo mentioned Eloïse, Lucian stepped in front of her.
Camilo paid no mind, delivering a harsh kick to another man’s shoulder.
“Talk! Or do you want this to escalate? Should I erase your entire line?”
“Aah! We put a needle under the saddle!”
“Under the saddle?”
The man who had just been kicked looked up with a deathly pale face.
“We—we were going to hide a small needle beneath Prince Valensio’s Horse Saddle, but then the lady suddenly appeared. That’s all!”
Lucian’s face went rigid. Camilo let out a hollow laugh. They had created this misunderstanding without his instruction and damaged his reputation in the process.
“So this is how little you think of me…”
“No, Your Highness! We only meant it as a jest, to help give you strength—”
All three men began to prostrate themselves more deeply, hands and feet pressed together in desperate supplication.
Eloïse, who had been standing behind Lucian, stepped forward toward the three men.
“El—!”
“Is that truly all?”
“Yes! Truly, my lady! We’ve done nothing else. And Your Highness—Prince Camilo—is completely innocent in this. It was solely our own idea, my lady.”
Despite their pleas, Eloïse’s suspicion did not waver.
Then it came.
“Your Highness! The match is about to begin!”
The aides of both princes came running, signaling that the rest period was nearly over.
“My lady, leave the rest to me—”
“Change the horse.”
Eloïse cut off Lucian’s words, fixing Camilo with a sharp glare.
“Still don’t trust me?”
“It’s not a matter of trusting Your Highness. It’s their conduct that troubles me.”
“That’s easy enough, but will he agree?”
Camilo gestured with his chin toward Lucian. The two men locked eyes in a tense standoff.
“Changing horses at the last moment will affect my performance, true, but I’ll win regardless.”
“That’s—”
There was merit to Camilo’s argument. Switching mounts so close to the competition was risky.
‘But if Lucian rides the White Horse and gets hurt…’
Just as Eloïse’s heart tilted more toward Lucian’s safety than victory, Lucian spoke.
“If that is your wish, I will change the horse. Any horse will do.”
When Eloïse turned to look at him, his eyes reassured her that all would be well.
“Very well.”
Camilo accepted his words instantly, smirking on one side of his mouth.
‘With this, victory is undoubtedly mine.’
He pictured it: winning flawlessly, then stamping his seal on the lady before all eyes. Yet as his mouth climbed higher with the fantasy, Lucian’s next words sent the corner of his smile crashing down.
“A newborn foal—no, even on two legs without a horse, I’m confident I’d still win.”
The two princes fixed each other with murderous stares once more. Sparks seemed to fly between them. A brawl would not have been surprising.
“Eloïse! Shouldn’t you be heading back to the Spectator Seating by now?”
Simon, who had been watching from a distance, raised his voice for the first time.
All eyes in the Stable turned toward him.
He laughed awkwardly and wedged himself between the two men, pushing Eloïse along.
“Simon—!”
“Otherwise the match will be delayed, won’t it? Come now, let’s wish both of you the very best.”
The two princes watched until Simon had led Eloïse out of sight.
……
The way he had touched Eloïse so naturally irritated both already-tense young men even further.
“Your Highness, you must prepare now.”
“Your Highness, are you certain about the horse?”
Their aides attended to their respective lords. Lucian and Camilo exchanged a final glance before moving in opposite directions.
Amid the gathering tension, the Final Match at last began.

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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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