CH 31

“You can’t remember anything?”

“…Yes.”

I sighed deeply upon hearing the man’s answer. Maybe it was my fault for expecting such an easy source for Damian’s information.

Losing all motivation, I was massaging my temples when the man timidly piped up.

“There is just one thing I remember.”

“What is it?”

“My name. It’s Tuule.”

He didn’t remember anything but his name?

I managed to curl my lips up at the man who called himself Tuule.

“Your name is Tuule?”

“Yes.”

“Tuule, do you really not remember anything that happened? It can be just a small detail, so tell me anything.”

Tuule peered at me anxiously, then hung his head as he responded.

“…I’m sorry. I can’t remember anything, as if someone had painted over it with black paint. I only have fragments of memories left.”

‘Did he lose his memories because of Damian’s poison? Or is he lying to me that he lost his memory?’

Thinking that the man might be lying about his memory loss, I examined him carefully.

‘I’ll know soon enough.’

“I see. Then you should eat first. You must be hungry.”

I offered him the food laid out on the table. The man’s eyes widened when he saw the scrumptious food in front of him, and then, with one last bow, he started to scarf down the food.

Quite a bit later, when the man put the fork back down on the table, I asked him with a smile,

“Do you have any place to be?”

The man shook his head slightly.

“Then, until you have some place to go, why don’t you stay in our mansion?”

At my suggestion, the man waved his hands profusely and hastily turned his head from side to side.

“No, it’s alright. It’s already been more than an honor for a slave like me to receive such treatment.”

“…You can’t remember anything else other than that you’re a slave.”

The man swallowed largely out of surprise.

“Tuule, it’s okay if it’s even the smallest detail, so can you tell me anything that you can remember?”

When I asked him once more in a gentle tone, the man opened and closed his mouth multiple times, as if wanting to say something.

I patiently waited several more minutes for words to come out of the man’s mouth, and when he finally seemed to make up his mind, he spoke with an unsure voice,

“…To tell you the truth, this may sound like complete nonsense, but I’m certain my tongue was cut off. And I was severely tortured before it was cut off.”

“…”

“But when I regained my senses, my tongue was back. I don’t have the slightest idea what happened. I can’t tell you about something that I’m not sure of myself. I apologize that I hadn’t told you this in advance.”

It’s probably a good idea not to tell him I healed it.

“How terrible. Do you remember who cut it off?”

“My eyes were covered when it happened… But I remember their voice. It was a man, and he had an exquisite voice. And they smelled strongly of blood.”

His clear, slate-colored eyes didn’t seem like they were lying to me. I smiled nicely at the man and patted his shoulder.

“I see. It must have been hard to recall those memories. Thank you for telling me. But it’s not just a customary offer to ask you to stay, so make yourself comfortable in our mansion until you find someplace to go. Ask a servant, and they’ll lead you to an empty room.”

“I can’t cause any more inconvenience. I’m just a mere slave…”

“You don’t plan on going outside like that, though, do you?”

I cut off Tuule and stared down at his body. Up until now, Tuule had only been wearing a towel to cover his protective parts.

Following my gaze down his body, Tuule jumped back in shock and wrapped his arms around his body. Tuule had done it to desperately hide out of embarrassment, but due to his large size, it only made him stand out.

“I’ll make some new clothes for you. So stay and rest here at least until then.”

“Th-thank you.”

“Well then, you may leave now.”

Conforming to my order, Tuule bowed to me and left the room. After confirming that the door had closed, I turned to Cassadin, who had been standing next to me with his arms crossed.

“Cassadin.”

“Yes, Sister.”

“You should also head out.”

Even after hearing me tell him to leave, Cassadin stood there like a statue.

“Cassadin?”

When I called to him once more, Cassadin turned to glare at me in that same position for a couple of minutes before swinging open the door and leaving.

Clack.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Did he not like that I brought a new slave that much?

Staring at the door that Cassadin had just left through, I recalled what I had heard a few moments ago.

‘Strong smell of blood and exquisite voice. And the clean cutout of his tongue.’

The clues that Tuule provided pointed to just one person.

The one who cut off the man’s tongue was definitely Damian.

But the odd part was that the obsessively germophobic Damian personally cut off the tongue of a slave instead of ordering a servant to do it instead.

The strong scent of blood and obsessive germaphobia.

And Damian’s heart disease.

What was the piece I was missing? Would I be able to figure it out if I met Damian again?

Not long after Cassadin had left the room, Father barged into my room without even a knock.

I was about to complain to Father, but I immediately closed my mouth. The look in Father’s eyes was different today. If he usually looked at me with unconditional affection, his eyes now held a mixture of sorrow and resentment.

Quietly staring back at my father, he then approached my seated position on the bed and initiated the conversation.

“Aren, my daughter.”

Father stooped down to be at eye level with me. As he grasped my hand that had been sprawled on the bed, I could feel his hands trembling faintly.

“Let’s say Cassadin was a special exception.”

“…”

“Why did you let that slave into our home?”

Father attempted to smile, but his lips trembled as they failed to curl up completely. I truly felt sorry for causing my father to worry.

“I’m sorry, Father.”

“I heard you took Cassadin to the Imperial Palace on the day of the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet.”

“How did you know that?”

Father let out a deep sigh as he answered.

“I heard about those rumors wherever I went. Something along the lines of ‘The Serkia Family has been hiding an incredibly handsome man within their walls.’ I have also been told that Lady Ively, the one who has been spreading the false rumors about our family, has been announcing to everyone that Cassadin was hers. It was only an assumption, but it must have been correct.”

“….”

“Aren, though it hasn’t been revealed yet that Cassadin was a slave, it could be exposed at any moment. Not to mention, you’ve brought in another slave.”

Father wasn’t in the wrong for worrying this much. So I squeezed my father’s trembling hand.

“I’m sorry to have worried you, Father.”

“Can’t you just kick out that dark beast right now? Your father is already troubled enough with Cassadin alone.”

“…”

He desperately pleaded with me. It seemed that Father couldn’t stand more slaves entering his household.

“Alright. I’ll do as you wish, Father.”

Hearing my answer, Father’s ashen face brightened back to its usual color.

“But could you give me just a little bit of time?”

But the next words made his smile sink back down.

“What do you mean? You won’t kick him out right away?”

“…I have something I need to check.”

I straightened my back and stared into Father’s eyes.

“It won’t take long, so just give me a few weeks. After that, I will send him away without another word.”

Tuule had originally been Damian’s gift to the Crown Prince. So after I extracted all of the information he knew, I planned to return Tuule to his original owner.

‘The Crown Prince has a record in my past life of making Cassadin, who was a slave, into his closest aide. Since it seems he doesn’t have much bias against slaves, he’ll likely treat Tuule well.’

I didn’t have much of a choice about keeping Tuule in our household when Father was this worried about the matter. Not to mention, the slave had originally been meant for the Crown Prince, not me.

“A few weeks.”

After a long moment of contemplation with his eyes shut, Father begrudgingly nodded his head.

“You must keep that promise.”

That night, I had supper with Cassadin.

But Cassadin didn’t seem hungry, as he didn’t touch a single bit of his food. He merely glowered at me from the other side of the table.

His glare was so fierce that I saw an illusion of a dark aura flowing around him.

If looks could kill, Cassadin would have already killed me several times. Then I stopped mid-bite from a spoonful of warm soup and asked him.

“What?”

Cassadin’s expression crumpled up even further. I had asked him whether he had something to say, but Cassadin kept his mouth shut with a padlock securing it.

“Don’t you like the food?”

“…”

I attempted to change the subject, but Cassadin just continued to stare at me. I felt like the food was going to get stuck with how Cassadin was looking at me, so I brought up my glass to take a drink of water.

With the cool fluid running down my throat, I thought that would be enough to make me feel better, but the words that came out of my mouth almost made me spit the water out.

“Is it that you need a night slave?”

“Cough!”

Now what nonsense was this? I beat my chest to clear my throat as I responded,

“What?”

“If it’s a night slave you need, use me.”

I was about to scold Cassadin for teasing me, but he was staring at me with an absolutely serious expression. As I stared at him, dumbfounded, he said in a calm voice.

“I’ve been used a lot more than you think, so I’m confident I’ll do well in that field.”

“…Are you insane?”

“I reassure you that I’m perfectly sane.”

The next words that came out of Cassadin’s mouth left me at a complete loss for words.

“So don’t bother bringing in anyone else.”