Chapter 12

I stood still and let my eyes take in Riorem’s outfit.

It looked good on him, but he didn’t look comfortable at all.

‘…What are you staring at?’

Riorem said, his ears reddening in annoyance.

He was obviously uncomfortable with me staring at him without answering.

‘I was just curious. I’ve never seen a man who isn’t a sex slave wear such tight clothing before.’

Liorem didn’t argue.

After a few moments of silence, he rubbed the nape of my neck uncomfortably.

The jewellery hanging from my buttons jingled in response.

The shirt underneath was ludicrously opulent, too, in retrospect; each gem adorning the buttons was large enough to be a brooch.

‘I suppose that’s not too far off the mark, after all, a clown is just a slave in a cassock.’

Riorem muttered to himself.

But then his expression changed and he looked at me.

‘Of course, that has nothing to do with you. I’ve known how to tame an insolent slave since before I came to this country.
I knew it well before I came to this country.’

‘Is that so, Riorem? You didn’t seem at all familiar with the use of slaves to me.’

‘I know what constitutes submission, do I not?’

Having said that, Liorem pulled something out of his nightstand drawer.

A click.

A thick metallic sound was heard as soon as he set it down on the bed.

It was a leash with a chain the size of a finger in the middle of a leather thong.

‘I have a slave that’s not too long to leave on the bed.’

A large hand grabbed my throat.

‘I just got this off the vendor’s shelf for the slave. Fortunately, it seems to be the right size.’

Squeak.

Riorem choked me.

I couldn’t help but smile.

‘You’ve got something special, Riorem. I wouldn’t have bothered asking you to leave.
if I hadn’t asked you to leave.’

‘You think I’m going to stay home like a dog on a leash, do you?’

Tsar-

A dull noise at the base of my throat.

In an instant, soft leather was wrapped around my neck.

Blue eyes peered down at me.

I was still dressed in my white collar and black collar.

My naked form reflected in those clear eyes.

Riorem smiled.

‘You will wait patiently. Like a good slave.’

With those words, Riorem walked out the door.

As noon passed and the afternoon wore on, there was still no one in the bedroom.

It wasn’t as bad as I thought.

After a lifetime of constant noise, the silence was actually quite pleasant.

But having no water or food to drink was a different matter.

In the morning, I could manage with a nap, but by the afternoon, I was thirsty and couldn’t sleep.

I waited for Riorem in silence, thirst, and a little hunger, feeling like a dog on a leash waiting for his master.

Then, in the late afternoon, I heard the door open.

It was a small door for the servants.

‘I thought you said you didn’t let anyone into the bedroom.’

In fact, I hadn’t had a sip of water all day and was lying in bed.

My doubts were resolved as soon as the intruder appeared from the other side of the bed.

It was a young boy who entered the room. Unlike the servants, he was dressed in plain clothes.

‘Eh?’

The boy’s voice was hushed.

‘Here, in the lord’s bedroom, eh?’

He seemed taken aback by the unexpectedness of the situation.

Several times the boy stammered out half-sentences.

Blessed.

In his arms, the boy held a handful of freshly picked, vibrant flowers.

They were as plain as the flowers on the coffee table.

‘Mmm.’

I groaned softly.

She must be an errand girl, someone who helps with odd jobs for a fee.

Probably a vase boy.

These children are not officially hired servants, so the instruction to ‘stay out of the bedroom’ would not have been passed on to this child.

In other words… It meant that he was the only one who could fetch water for me, without realising that he was breaking Liorem’s orders.

‘Fill the vase first.’

‘Yes… Yes.’

As if realising what I was about to do, the boy walked over to the coffee table where the vase was placed.

Even as I took out the dried flowers, he stole glances at me out of the corner of his eye, as if he wasn’t sure whether to trust me with the expensive dress or the leash.

I spoke to the boy in a soothing voice.

‘Riorem has gone to the castle for a while. Arte… The king sent for him.’

‘Well, I know that, because I pick flowers near the gates……’

‘I see.’

I nodded in agreement.

From then on, the boy began to spy on me more surreptitiously.

A woman who calls her lord intimately by his first name.

I don’t know, but she picks flowers and offers them to him.

He seemed to have decided that this was someone he couldn’t look straight at.

It’s very simple from here.

I called to the boy as I flopped down on the bed.

‘When you’ve finished plucking the flowers, will you do one of my errands for me?’

‘I… Go? An errand?’

‘Yes. I just need you to fetch me a glass of water.’

‘Such as…

Brown eyes glanced at the bell beside the bed, as if to say that such a thing could be done by calling a maid.

I smiled softly.

I laughed softly and replied.

‘May I? I was thinking of giving the child who brought me water quickly another loaf of bread next week.
next week?’

The boy rolled his eyes again at my comment.

A small reward for a small errand. But it was certainly generous for the labour

A reward.

‘So you don’t think it’s dangerous.

As expected, the boy was soon done pondering.

Kubuk.

The boy bowed and left the bedroom at a shuffling pace.

‘I hope you brought some cold water.

I licked my lips with my tongue as if to quench my thirst.

I hoped the boy would bring ice-cold water rather than hurry back.

After all, it’s not like Liorem would be back right away after being summoned by the king.

‘Speaking of which, when will Riorem be back?’

As I burrowed into bed, I thought of Riorem.

A lavishly decorated Riorem who looked more like an ornament than a long-lived man.

‘…A slave in a cassock.’

I thought back to what Riorem had said before he left.

Common sense told me it wasn’t so strange.

It was hard for a former slave to rise to the same status as a noble would be unlikely to enjoy the same status as a noble.

But this was the Kingdom of Arete.

A country where you didn’t have to be the first-born to be the heir.

A place where merit was the most important thing.

Even the current King of Arethe was a man who enjoyed making unconventional appointments.

So I’m guessing Riorem is in for a treat in this country.

After all, he was handpicked by the King of Arete himself.

But after a shoddy first night, I realised that Riorem’s enjoyment was not as great as I had heard.

I thought Liorem’s life was not living up to the hype.

From the beaky maids to the frivolous.

My suspicions were confirmed when I saw Riorem being summoned to the king.

A man who had spent his entire life as a slave could not possibly be skilled in the art of dress. much less an Arete-specific.

Perhaps his ‘new master’ had ordered it. He would have always followed it.

Like when he was suddenly ordered to report to the castle.

‘I didn’t protest too much, I hadn’t had much time to rest after the journey.

Of course, given the size of the estate and the position of having an army under his command, it was clear that Riorem was an important position, to be sure.

But as powerful as he may be, he does not yet seem to have the power to enslave the Princess of peroa.

Then I was in trouble.

Someone might come along who wanted to take me away from Riorem and use my bloodline to rebuild the duchy.

‘There is even a man in this country.

My ardent suitor.

Commanded the expedition to Messenia, much to Teumesa’s chagrin.

Coffin.

The mad prince of Arete.

‘Alpheios to Arete.

My head prickled at the thought of the blood-soaked blonde.

I’d heard most of what happened outside the duchy from my betrothed. Leaks to Felvice’s palace.

There was always only a fraction of the information that trickled in.

It was all because of my father.

He didn’t want me to know about the situation.

He didn’t want me to know anything about the situation.

I would marry whomever he chose.

So I changed fiancés regularly.

I told new and interesting stories.

I needed a man to dance with.

Even I didn’t want to keep Alphaeus as my fiancé.

Of course, he’s a warmonger who’s been to every battlefield in the world.

But… that doesn’t mean I can let him into my bed, does it?

‘If my brother were alive, I would come to you, but… You don’t think he’s alive, Rorem.’

‘I…?’

At this point, I could see why Teumesia Lavros found my presence so burdensome.

‘…I’m tired.’

I’d been suffering from fatigue, thirst, and hunger all day, and I couldn’t lift a finger.

I couldn’t lift a finger.

Luckily, I heard the door open before I was completely exhausted.