The Slave Is Too Handsome - Chapter 86

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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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A slave who’s far too handsome!
086.
‘Camilo, you bastard—how many did you send?’
Lucian’s party and the assassins locked eyes across the distance, tension crackling between them.
No matter how he scanned the terrain, there seemed to be no easy escape route. Finally, Lucian turned to Felix with a low voice.
“Felix, can you use a sword?”
“…Pardon? A…sword?”
“Yes. A sword. That thing hanging at your belt.”
Felix’s breathing quickened. The prospect of losing his life felt unreal, dreamlike.
“You’ll face just one. My men and I will handle three apiece.”
“Me? You’re asking me to face one by myself?”
Felix cried out in alarm, but no answer came. Lucian drew his blade with practiced ease, the polished steel catching the light—and reflecting the shock spreading across Felix’s face.
Dismounting, Lucian swung his sword toward the assassins encircling him.
“Your Highness, be careful!”
What followed was the sharp ring of well-honed blades meeting. As Lucian and his guards swung their swords, several assassins fell where they stood. Felix watched the spectacle unfold, transfixed.
In that moment, an arrow from another assassin flew true toward Felix’s horse.
The startled animal reared and bolted; Felix had no time even to scream before he crashed to the ground once more. By the time he scrambled to his feet, his horse had already fled far into the distance.
“Wait, hold on!”
Another arrow whistled toward him. Felix stumbled backward in an awkward stance, barely dodging it. The assassin pressed forward, blade drawn and aimed at his throat—
“Get your wits about you!”
Lucian stepped in front of Felix, who hadn’t even managed to draw his sword. With brilliant, economical movements, he blocked every attack the assassins hurled at him.
“Hah—hah—”
The longer Felix watched, the more unraveled he became. His breath came in ragged gasps as someone seized him by the collar from behind.
“Draw your sword! Now!”
It was one of Lucian’s guards. Pulled upright by the man’s grip, Felix fumbled for his blade and yanked it free.
Holding the sword clumsily in both hands, Felix took in his surroundings. The moment he aimed the tip at the nearest assassin, an arrow shot from afar pierced clean through his chest.
“…!”
He fell without so much as a cry.
“Felix!!!”
Lucian lunged toward him, only to be grabbed forcefully by one of his guards.
“Your Highness, no!”
“Your Highness, leave this to us and flee! Your safety is paramount!!!”
Another guard swung his sword and seized Lucian’s horse, shouting urgently.
Lucian clenched his teeth and finally mounted, spurring the horse into a gallop. His two guards covered his retreat.
After riding hard for some time, Lucian suddenly wrenched the reins, slowing his pace.
A cliff yawned before him.
“It seems Your Highness’s fate ends here.”
At that grim voice, Lucian dismounted and turned to face what lay behind him.
Before him, the Assassin Group stood with blades and arrows leveled. Behind him, a bottomless precipice awaited. There was no way out.
‘This son of a bitch has me cornered.’
Lucian steadied his ragged breathing. He’d fought off at least four of them on the retreat, yet their numbers remained formidable.
One of the assassins stepped forward—their leader, it seemed.
“Why not surrender?”
Lucian did not answer. For Eloïse’s sake alone, he could not die like this.
“Your Highness!”
The two guards who had pursued caught up, cutting down assassins as they came. Each took down one before collapsing.
“Your Highness…please, live…”
Watching Felix and now his own men fall before his eyes, Lucian’s face contorted with rage.
He gritted his teeth and opened his eyes wide. For the sake of those who had died for him, he had to survive and return.
Three assassins remained.
There was still a chance. Lucian believed it—until a familiar face appeared before him.
“Aden?”
A child’s eyes stared back at him.
One of the assassins emerged cradling Aden, a massive hand clamped over the boy’s mouth to stifle any sound.
Now Lucian understood why the Duke Dominic had worn such an uncomfortable expression and thrown in his lot with Camilo’s side.
“Release the boy. He’s innocent.”
Lucian lowered the sword in his hand as he spoke.
“If you’ll grant me a clean death by your blade, I promise to return the child to his father.”
The leader thrust his sword forward. The others drew their bows taut.
“Ha. How am I to trust such a promise?”
Lucian pressed harder, tightening his grip on the hilt.
“That’s something you can verify…in hell.”
The moment the words left his mouth, arrows flew at him. Lucian spun and hurled himself off the cliff.
“Seize him!!!”
Arrows pursued him relentlessly as he fell.
The assassins rushed to the edge and peered into the abyss below, but Lucian’s form was lost to the darkness.
Splash!
Lucian’s body plunged through the water and into the depths of the river.
The assassins aimed at the water once more, but waited as they might, nothing surfaced.
***
“Hah!”
After no short time had passed, the water churned and Lucian’s torso burst through the surface.
He had drifted far from where he fell before finally breaking through to air.
His sharp eyes scanned keenly for any sign of the assassins.
Only after confirming no one remained did he swim against the current and haul himself onto the bank.
“Hah…”
Catching his breath, Lucian stood and surveyed the area. He dared not lower his guard.
He wrung out his hunting coat and trousers as best he could. He removed his shoes and shook them dry.
Then, without warning, raindrops began to fall from the sky.
Lucian paused and looked up at the darkening clouds; the fine drizzle quickly thickened into a downpour, striking his face.
Truly, the worst of days.
‘First, find shelter from the rain.’
With that thought, Lucian moved forward cautiously, searching for cover while making as little noise as possible.
As if fortune had not entirely abandoned him, he discovered a cave after only a short walk.
Even after checking thoroughly that no one lay within, Lucian remained vigilant before finally leaning his back against the stone wall and settling down.
“Ugh…”
As tension drained from him, a sharp pain bloomed. An arrow had grazed his left arm; his shirt was torn, revealing skin streaked with blood.
Lucian removed his hunting coat, jacket, and shirt, using the fabric to apply rough pressure to the wound.
His mercenary skills had not rusted over after all.
His expression darkened as he laughed bitterly to himself.
‘I was careless. Foolishly careless.’
He had suspected Camilo might make a move during the hunt. He’d planned to capture one of Camilo’s men and turn the tables—but…
‘He actually meant to kill me.’
Lucian’s eyelids grew heavy as he cursed his own naivety.
‘When I return, I’ll kill Camilo with my own hands.’
Before Eloïse could execute Camilo, he would deal with that bastard himself, Lucian vowed as consciousness slowly slipped away.
Outside the cave, the torrential rain continued to pour.
***
“He fell down there, then?”
Camilo’s voice rang clear through the drumming rain.
Sheltered by an aide holding an umbrella, he stood at the cliff’s edge where Lucian had plunged.
His gaze fixed on the vertiginous depths below.
“Yes, sir. From this height, the fall would have been instantly fatal.”
The Assassin Group’s leader spoke, but displeasure lingered on Camilo’s face.
“Perhaps. But I can’t be certain until I see his corpse with my own eyes.”
The leader’s brow furrowed. But the moment his eyes met Camilo’s, he quickly smoothed his expression.
“You said there were only two guards?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you had over ten men. How is it you couldn’t kill one man properly?”
The leader’s face darkened at the pointed question.
“That is…Your Highness, the First Prince—that man’s sword technique was…far from ordinary.”
“Just a merchant who ran a trading company, or so I heard?”
The leader fell silent, head bowed.
“Never mind. Bring me his body.”
“Yes, understood.”
The leader bowed deeply at the waist, muttering under his breath.
“Idiots everywhere, it seems.”
Annoyed, Camilo made his way back to the Imperial Palace.
That night, word of the First Prince Valensio’s disappearance threw the Imperial Palace into chaos.

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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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