A Slave Of Rubelfast – R15 - Chapter 20

Ellier thought for a moment that she had misheard him. But he licked his lower lip and grabbed his pants.

 

“What? You lunatic!”

 

The man that tried to make a move vulgarly seemed to be in his mid-forties, causing Ellier to utter a curse unwittingly.

 

“How dare you swear at someone when you’re nothing but a slave? It seems like your habits need a little fixing!”

 

The man lunged at Ellier as if he had been waiting.

 

But Ellier snatched a branch off from the floor and struck him in the stomach.

 

“Heok! Cough cough! Ouch, you b*tch!”

 

“This b*tch, that b*tch, where are you looking with such a dirty gaze? Is that how you talk to a girl that’s old enough to be your daughter?”

 

The wooden stick in Ellier’s hand struck the servant’s body randomly. If it was a sword, the servant would have turned into mincemeat.

 

“Arghh! Help me! A slave is beating up a person! Help me!”

 

At the man’s scream, several other figures appeared in the distance.

 

“What, what’s going on!”

 

“Has that gone crazy?”

 

Ellier didn’t stop hitting the servant that had fallen to the floor until the other servants rushed towards her.

 

However, she wasn’t able to win against the power of the servants that roughly manhandled her.

 

Ellier was beaten by the servants several times before being dragged to the mansion.

 

In the midst of such a situation, Ellier hugged the bag that contained the herbs tightly.

 

Ellier was dragged by the servants to the open area behind the mansion, and threw her to the floor, spitting and kicking her while swearing profusely.

 

Even the maids that found Ellier an eyesore joined in and beat her, and Vedell, who had come over from somewhere, tried to remove them.

 

“What are you doing? Why are you hitting that child?”

 

“Get out of my way! You arrogant slave, you’ll only come to your senses after being beaten up!”

 

“Stop it!”

 

Vedell tried to protect Ellier from the men, but the agitated servants even threw fists at Vedell and drove him away.

 

After being hit by someone and rolling on the floor, Vedell jumped up and ran toward the knights’ drill hall.

 

It’s because he knew that Slarhan and Tariq would be sparring at this time.

 

Moments later, there was a booming voice resounded in the open area where Ellier was being beaten.

 

“What the hell is this entire disturbance about?”

 

It was Tariq.

 

And next to him stood a frigid-faced Slarhan.

 

“Oh my, Viscount Dinell!”

 

“Heok! Even the L–Lord!”

 

Even though Vedell insisted obstinately that they had to come and stop them, Tariq and Slarhan had only assumed that the servants were just having an argument.

 

However, as soon as everyone stepped back furtively and they spotted the person that laid on the floor was smaller than the other servants, both of their gazes turned tumultuous.

 

“Is this the standard of the servants in Ventiark mansion?”

 

Slarhan’s chilly voice seemed to freeze his surroundings.

 

Tariq, who was standing next to him, sighed and gestured to the man that seemed to be the mastermind with his chin and ordered.

 

“Explain in detail what’s going on.”

 

“That’s, t–this slave clubbed me! That’s why I’m trying to admonish her and change that habit…”

 

Slarhan, who paused at the word ‘slave’, stepped forward before Tariq could stop him.

 

There was only one slave in this house.

 

He walked straight towards the fallen slave and carefully hugged the small girl, who was soiled with the saliva of people and dirt.

 

At that appearance, those that lent a hand to beat Ellier took a step back stealthily.

 

However, they couldn’t escape from Tariq’s terrifying spirit.

 

“Ellier.”

 

“Ouch, oww, it hurts…”

 

At the sudden sound of Slarhan’s insipid voice, Ellier let out a groan.

 

It’s fortunate that she hasn’t lost consciousness, but Ellier had a wretched appearance.

 

“Did you really hit that servant?”

 

“Yes…”

 

The servants’ faces turned noticeably relaxed at Ellier’s meek answer.

 

But Ellier glared at them fiercely.

 

It’s because she was famIliar with Slarhan Ventiark.

 

This man was disgusted by such crimes, to the point of fastidiousness.

 

As such, she was going to tell him everything.

 

“Why did you do that?”

 

“It’s because he wanted me to sell my body.”

 

“…What?”

 

“He said that he also wanted to have a taste of the duke’s favorite slave. He lunged at me when I refused, so I picked up a branch on the floor and hit him.”

 

“Lunged…? You mean he was trying to force himself on you?”

 

“What else can a man, who suggested to another to sell their body, intend to do? Master. Should a slave that’s about to be r*ped just accept it? Did I… do something wrong?”

 

Slarhan’s head slowly turned toward that servant.

 

“You. How old does this child appear to be?”

 

Slarhan asked with a dry voice.

 

“What? Ah, well, around sixteen…?”

 

“Right, she’s around that age. She just turned seventeen this year. She’s still recovering from a severe illness, but how old are you?”

 

“I–I’m forty-two.”

 

“Forty-two? So you tried to r*pe a girl that’s young enough to be your daughter. Is that something a human would do?”

 

At those words, the servant made excuses like he was being falsely accused.

 

“I–I was, I was just suggesting a way to make some pocket money! It’s well known that slaves would make pocket money like that. But she cursed at me…”

 

“So you decided to r*pe her?”

 

Tariq, who was behind Slarhan, shook his head.

 

That servant will soon be thrown out of this mansion. It’s because Slarhan doesn’t raise beasts next to him.

 

“Your Grace, I will definitely discipline the servants.”

 

“There’s no need to insist on such things twice, Tariq, I’ll say it myself. Where’s the butler! Gather all the servants in the mansion together right now!”

 

Slarhan’s voice, which had been close to quiet, thundered throughout the mansion.

 

It was the first time that Slarhan, who was taciturn and barely showed emotions, was so angry.

 

At Slarhan’s furious voice, the butler and head maid of the mansion rushed down, and all the mansion’s servants that were gathered in the hall trembled.

 

Within the hall that was engulfed in a pin-drop silence, Slarhan’s cold voice resounded lowly.

 

“Within Ventiark Castle and Ventiark mansion, such vulgar crimes won’t be condoned, regardless of status. The main culprit of the assault incident will be kicked out immediately, and those that participated in the assault will be whipped based on their degree of involvement, and their salary will be cut by 30% for three months. You can leave this mansion right now if you’re dissatisfied. Of course, a letter of recommendation won’t be written. You can’t be thinking of selling out Ventiark’s name after committing such a sordid crime like this, can you?”

 

The servants and maids that took part in Ellier’s assault knelt down on the floor and prostrated, but Slarhan didn’t retract his punishment.

 

After a wave of his icy anger swept past, everyone in the Ventiark mansion firmly believed that Slarhan affection for Ellier wasn’t of a normal degree.

 

As he watched the entire scene, Vedell’s eyes glistened subtly.

 

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After Slarhan turned the mansion upside down, he entered the office, Tariq followed closely behind and glanced around, before quietly closing the door of the office.

 

Slarhan also seemed unprecedentedly displeased in his eyes.

 

But this was partly caused by Slarhan.

 

A slave that has served her master with her body would have been seen as easy.

 

If he had embraced Ellier in his bedroom, thoughts of touching her wouldn’t have crossed anyone’s mind.

 

However, the fact that he secretly embraced her in the training ground’s dirty warehouse meant that Slarhan had merely thought of Ellier as relief for his desires.

 

To be honest, Slarhan possessing such desires was more surprising than anything else.

 

Tariq sighed deeply and spoke cautiously.

 

“Your Grace, it’s unfortunate that this has happened, but Your Grace has also given the servants room for misunderstanding.”

 

“Room for misunderstanding?”

 

“You meet that child in the training ground’s warehouse almost every evening, right?”

 

“You knew about it?”

 

“Then how long were you planning to keep it a secret?”

 

“That’s… I was afraid that you’d feel uncomfortable.”

 

Tariq sighed again.

 

Of course it’s uncomfortable. His Lord, who’s a duke, had to embrace a slave girl of all things.

 

However, at this rate. Slarhan’s reputation would only fall.

 

“If you have that child’s interests in mind, just do it in a more official setting.”

 

“Official setting?”

 

“Yes, why did it have to be in the warehouse? Everyone would find it weird. After hearing about the rumor that you and that child were together, everyone would think of the slave child as insignificant. No, aside from her, you must keep your dignity in mind.”

 

“Hmm… I was being considerate of you and the other knights, but that became a problem. Alright. Thank you for your honesty.”

 

Tariq wondered why Slarhan considered that as being considerate of the knights and himself, but it wasn’t a pressing matter.

 

After sending Tariq out, Slarhan headed to Ellier’s room to tell her that Tariq had been granted her permission to use the training grounds.

 

While it wasn’t bad to practice swordsmanship in a small vacant lot behind the warehouse, it would certainly have looked a little strange if someone had seen it.

 

He still couldn’t understand why that would become ammunition for them to belittle Ellier.

 

And in the meantime, Ellier had washed herself with the help of a silent maid, and was examining her wounds.

 

When Slarhan entered after a light knock, the maid left the room after a quiet bow.

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

Although it was asked as a greeting, the colourful bruises and red cuts could be spotted on Ellier’s limbs at a glance.

 

Perhaps because Ellier noticed Slarhan’s gaze, she secretly covered the wounds on her arm with a hand.

 

“I–I’m fine.”

 

Her response that she’s fine elicited a sigh out of Slarhan.

 

“Can I take a look at your back?”

 

“My back?”

 

“It’s just to check on the wounds.”

 

“Yes, well…”

 

With Ellier’s permission, Slarhan carefully lifted up Ellier’s shirt and checked on her back.

 

There weren’t any blood clots, but the traces from the servants’ kicks and the maids’ pinches remained in the form of black bruises.

 

“You won’t be able to sleep properly like this.”

 

“Wounds like this will heal quickly.”

 

“Tsk.”

 

Ellier’s shoulders flinched at the sound of his clicking tongue, but Slarhan’s furrowed brow didn’t ease.

 

He had barely managed to keep her alive, but she became as covered in bruises as when she was brought back from Rubelfast.

 

For some reason it’s very upsetting.

 

While this senseless lass was saying that she will heal quickly in order to reassure her master, no matter how fast she could recover, such wounds would remain for more than half a month

 

The bruises would take an entire month to disappear completely, so he washed his hands in the nearby washbasin, cut a small wound on the index finger of his left hand with a small knife and placed it in front of Ellier’s lips.

 

“Lick.”

 

“…what?”

 

“Blood. Lick.”

 

“Oh, no, no! T–the wound isn’t severe enough to require Master’s blood…”

 

“It’s trickling down.”

 

Indeed, the blood droplets appearing from the wound were trickling down.

 

Bewildered, Ellier stuck Slarhan’s index finger into her mouth, and at that moment, his shoulders stiffened.

 

“Oh, did it hurt? So you didn’t have to do this…!”

 

“It doesn’t hurt. Lick it a little more.”

 

Ellier couldn’t win against Slarhan and eventually licked the tip of his index finger until it’s clean.

 

While the wound was small and not much blood appeared, Ellier’s injuries weren’t at a life threatening extent, so this much was enough.

 

“I think it’s enough…”

 

“…I see.”

 

Almost all the bruises on Ellier’s body disappeared the moment she licked up Slarhan’s blood.

 

‘It’s really amazing. If this truth became well known, the emperor might try to wring out all of Slarhan’s blood. He would also imprison the entire Sabi clan.’

 

While Ellier was checking her own body with amazement, Slarhan looked downwards at the slowly shrinking wound on his index finger quietly.

 

He had held out his index finger because he thought it would be easy for Ellier to lick it, but it felt very strange when his finger went into Ellier’s mouth.

[T/N: At this rate, Ellier’s gonna become a vampire >.<]

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