The Slave Is Too Handsome - Chapter 94

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

The slave is far too handsome!
094.
Eloïse, lost in deep sleep, gave no answer.
“Eloïse?”
Lucian whispered again. It was a question that had troubled him the moment he realized he was Prince Valensio.
Separate from his disappearance, Eloïse must have found another way to claim the throne.
What puzzled him was her attitude. Would she have kept her distance from him as she did with Camilo?
She might not have spared him so much as a glance. And knowing Eloïse, she would have had reasons aplenty.
‘To think I’d be grateful for being kidnapped.’
He let out a hollow laugh at his own incomprehensible heart, when suddenly the Empress’s face came to mind.
Throughout his confession to Eloïse, there was one memory Lucian had kept buried until the very end.
The memory of the day he was kidnapped by someone in the Imperial Palace. Not every detail returned to him perfectly, but fragments of that day had begun to surface.
Hands seizing his body, his own struggling resistance, the consciousness that followed fading into darkness.
From among those scattered shards, one image emerged with perfect clarity: the Empress’s smiling face.
‘Surely not. It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be.’
Lucian, grappling with an impossibility he didn’t want to entertain, quickly shut his eyes as though to escape the thought.
Outside, the sound of rain was gradually lessening.
***
“Miss.”
Eloïse awoke to a deep voice calling her name. She blinked several times before sitting up, and a welcome face came into view.
“Frederick!”
“I was worried, miss. I’m so relieved to see you unharmed.”
Eloïse raised herself up and embraced her knight. After wandering through the rain for so long, his appearance had crossed beyond mere dishevelment into something akin to that of a vagrant.
“You’ve had a rough time. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Not at all, miss. The hardship has been yours to bear.”
Lucian, standing at the cave’s entrance, watched the two of them.
When Eloïse’s eyes met his and she turned her gaze away, the rain had stopped and the landscape had grown somewhat brighter. It seemed to be that time between the end of dawn and the beginning of morning.
“And this person is…?”
Two horses, which Frederick had brought, were tethered at the cave entrance. Upon one of them lay a young man.
The man with his eyes closed was the young noble Felix.
Though Lucian had told her about it beforehand, seeing yet another innocent victim after Violet made Eloïse’s heart heavy with sorrow.
“I also discovered His Highness’s guard, but I could not bring them all, so I temporarily buried them where I found them.”
“I understand. Once we return to the Imperial Palace, I’ll finish the rest of the arrangements myself.”
Lucian, thinking of the guard who had suffered such a calamity, furrowed his brow.
“Did you see anyone suspicious on the way?”
Frederick was about to answer when—
“Lucian!”
With Eloïse’s urgent cry, a sharp blade flew toward Lucian.
Fortunately, he evaded it with ease.
As Eloïse emerged in dry clothes, Frederick stepped in front of her, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
“Stay still, miss.”
Lucian quickly drew his sword and leveled it at the intruder.
The assassin, dressed in a black cloak and black face mask, appeared small and slight—apparently reaching this place alone, much like the man from yesterday.
“I was waiting for you anyway. This works out well.”
At Lucian’s words, the assassin let out a bitter laugh.
“I will take your head and share the glory with my comrades!”
Beneath the bold proclamation, the hand gripping the sword trembled visibly. Seeing this, Lucian’s mouth twisted in a smirk.
‘This won’t take long.’
Of the two facing each other, Lucian moved first.
As he swung his blade a few light times, the assassin’s sword flew through the air, stripped from their grasp.
Caught off guard at the sudden loss of their weapon, the assassin was swiftly pinned down by Lucian.
“Ah, ah…!”
Lucian leveled his sword at the fallen assassin’s face. He himself was taken aback by how easily he had won.
Frederick then stepped forward, bound the assassin’s arms behind their back with rope, and knelt.
“Let me go!”
The voice carried a childish quality, and when Frederick removed the face mask, a young boy’s face was revealed.
“And here you are, still so young, already doing things like this.”
Lucian, gripping the Young Assassin’s chin to force him to look at him, clicked his tongue.
But perhaps this was fortunate after all. It would be far easier to manipulate a child.
“Ptui!”
The Young Assassin, glaring at him, spat, but Lucian easily sidestepped the filth once more.
Rage boiling over, the boy’s eyes burned with murderous intent toward Lucian.
“Oof!”
A small fist struck the Young Assassin’s head with force. Turning to look, Lucian found Eloïse glaring at the boy with narrowed eyes.
“How dare you show such disrespect.”
“What are you—mmph!”
Lucian tightened his grip on the boy’s chin, forcing his mouth open like that of a gaping fish. He twisted the boy’s head to face him again and issued a warning.
“Listen well. From now on, I’m taking you to the Imperial Palace, and once we’re there, you have exactly one task: tell me truthfully who ordered you to kill me.”
The Young Assassin flinched under the pressure of Lucian’s gaze, then managed a weak protest.
“Why—why should I?!”
As the assassin struggled in resistance, Eloïse struck the back of his head again.
“Don’t want to? Then die right here.”
Before Lucian’s words had even finished, Frederick beside him drew his blade from its sheath. At the sight, the Young Assassin’s eyes went wide.
“You’ll confess, won’t you?”
Despite his trembling shoulders, the Young Assassin said nothing. Fear flickered in his eyes.
“Since you’re just a child, I’ll explain it once more.”
“……”
“You’re coming with me to the Imperial Palace no matter what. If you’d rather die, I’ll kill you and bring your corpse instead. Either way, it’s all the same to me.”
“What? But you said you needed a confession…!”
“Suppose you arrive alive and in chains. Camilo, who gave orders to your gang, will disown you and have you executed. Why? Because you failed the mission. Your comrades? Will they really risk their lives to rescue you? Well?”
The Young Assassin’s gaze wavered. He knew better than Lucian that no rescue would come.
When Lucian released the boy’s chin, the assassin’s head drooped in resignation, and all light drained from his eyes.
“That doesn’t mean your life has no chance, though.”
The assassin slowly lifted his head to look at Lucian, his eyes pleading to know what that chance might be.
“Go and confess the truth. Tell them that you received Camilo’s orders to kill me. Do that, and I’ll spare your life.”
“Who—who are you to make such a promise?! What makes you think you have the power?!”
The assassin snarled, and Eloïse clenched her fists again. Lucian stopped her with a gesture.
“If you came on a mission risking your life, you should know who I am.”
“……”
“Do you really not know? Did you set out blindly without even knowing your target?”
“Why should I care about some filthy slave—mmph!”
“You should go now, Your Highness.”
Frederick gagged the assassin’s mouth and spoke. Lucian nodded and rose to his feet.
Even then, the Young Assassin’s eyes remained fixed on Lucian.
“Think carefully on the way to the Imperial Palace. Think about what your only chance at life is.”
The Young Assassin thrashed about, so Frederick struck the back of his neck hard. The boy went still instantly.
Lucian placed the unconscious assassin on Felix’s horse and secured his body firmly with rope.
“We mustn’t lower our guard until we reach the Imperial Palace, Your Highness.”
Lucian gave a light nod at Frederick’s counsel.
“The air itself suggests assassins could emerge at any moment.”
“Then I shall escort the miss.”
Lucian turned to look at Frederick. Finding the knight’s expression resolute, Lucian reluctantly nodded.
Lucian mounted his horse while Frederick helped Eloïse into the saddle. Then Frederick settled himself firmly behind her.
“Eloïse.”
Eloïse, now sharing a horse with Frederick, turned to glance back. Lucian, who now carried Felix, added:
“Put on the hood.”
Before the words were even finished, Frederick, sitting securely behind Eloïse, drew up the hood attached to the cloak and placed it over her head. In doing so, half her vision was obscured.
The two horses, vigilance unbroken, began to gallop toward the Imperial Palace. The sky was growing steadily brighter.

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