Tamed A Blackened Slave Man - Chapter 47: The Stench Is Quite Similar, Is It Not?

‘So Father noticed it as well.’

His remarkable elegance was not something that could be hidden by will. Starting with myself, I’d felt that something was strange about Cassadin the first day I brought him here.

‘How would Father react if he learned that Cassadin is the Crown Prince of the Hyran Kingdom? Would he feel sympathy for him or immediately try to kick him out?’

Mustering up a smile, I acted oblivious to his speculations.

“…I’m not sure either.”

“So not even my daughter knows about him.”

Father looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

“To be truthful, every single thing that Cassadin had done since the day you brought him here has been bothering. He’s a slave born, after all. If it had been possible, I wanted to throw him out immediately.”

“…”

“But these days, I’ve been having the question of whether Cassadin was actually a slave. Not only does he know how to read and write, but he’s thoroughly reviewed and revised the documents as well. He finished work that even nobles like me struggle to finish in several days in a single day.”

I massaged my arm, hoping to rub away the chills that had crawled up my skin. Was assisting Father’s work also a part of his brilliant plan? What about causing Father to suspect him? Was all of it planned?

I didn’t know.

I thought I had gotten somewhat of an idea who Cassadin was, but I didn’t know anymore.

“Cassadin also came to my office yesterday and said this to me.”

This I hadn’t heard of. For what reason did he come to visit Father?

“…He requested to be exiled from the family.”

I felt my heart drop hearing what he said.

“What? Cassadin asked you to exile him?”

“Yes. He claimed that he should no longer burden the family after the news article went public.”

As he said that, Father took out a newspaper from his desk drawer and handed it to me. It was a newspaper that I knew all too well.

The paper with the article anonymously targeting Cassadin with his past as a gladiator slave.

“…So what did you say to him?”

“I asked him why he made such a decision all of a sudden.”

Father paused and looked out of the window. Following his gaze, I could see that the skies were dark even though it was morning.

Possibly due to the soggy weather, a white bird that had been preening its feathers on a tree branch hurriedly flew away elsewhere.

I was staring up at the white bird flying into the distance when Father’s voice gently landed at my ears.

“He said… He wanted to repay the kindness you had given him.”

“…”

“He claimed that because he was the cause of this, he had to be the one to end it, and promised me he would return once it’s over.”

“So, did you accept Cassadin’s request to be exiled?”

“Cassadin seemed to have made this decision after much thought.”

So…

“He is no longer here.”

Cassadin really left. By choice.

Damian’s mansion was tall and wide, as if trying to imitate the imperial palace. And inside one of the dozens of living rooms within that mansion, there were two men sitting, facing each other with an expensive wooden coffee table to separate them.

“I didn’t expect you to come looking for me.”

Damian commented, a small laugh escaping his mouth.

The man in front of him was one who couldn’t help but be complimented as handsome even to the same gender.

His beauty which couldn’t be covered by the dark robe he was wearing, did, in fact, deserve to be called the face of Gods. Though he didn’t want to admit it.

Not long after he ordered the news about Cassadin to be published, the man himself had come to visit him.

“I’m well aware that Your Grace was the one who spread the news that I was once a gladiator slave.”

His voice suited his spectacular appearance, even though he didn’t like the contents of what he said.

“Is that the only reason why you came all the way here to see me? Do you have any proof that it was me?”

As if he had been waiting to be asked that, Cassadin took something out of his robe. What Cassadin took out from the inside of his robe was a single monocle, which was shattered into pieces.

“…Are you here to joke around with me right now?”

In response, Cassadin answered in a monotonous voice.

“Take a closer look. I believe Your Grace will surely remember what this is.”

There wasn’t the slightest hint of humor in his voice. Hearing him, Damian squinted and leaned forward to take a closer look at the unrecognizable object, which was assumed to be a monocle.

Some time passed when the realization suddenly hit Damian like a bolt of lightning.

That reminded him, he hadn’t seen Kindel since last night. He thought the butler had been busy finishing the work he ordered him to do, but what if that wasn’t the case?

Uneasiness started to billow up inside Damian’s heart.

“Is it Kindel’s?”

“That is indeed the name of the owner of this monocle.”

Cassadin responded dryly to Damian’s question. He was beyond leisurely, almost looking bored. Seeing him in such a state, there was a burning fury simmering within Damian.

Damian responded in a tone as sharp as his eyes,

“You, a mere lowly slave who became a noble out of sheer luck, dare threaten me, the Grand Duke?”

“Threaten you? Of course not.”

Cassadin shook his head and added,

“I’ve come to suggest a deal with Your Grace.”

“…A lowly slave like you, make a deal with me? Hahahahaha!”

Damian burst into laughter as if what he had just heard was utterly ridiculous. After a mad fit of laughter, Damian suddenly stopped and spoke,

“You must have a death wish.”

In response to Damian’s frigid voice, Cassadin let out a small sigh. The small sigh told him that the man in front of him didn’t realize that where he was currently sitting was inside the mouth of a serpent.

Damian, who lived for the superiority he enjoyed in his life, and the leisurely attitude Cassadin was displaying made him incredibly displeased. He was a man who knew better than anyone how to utilize the weaknesses of others.

“I heard you become fearless when foolish, but you’ve chosen the wrong opponent.”

Using the information he had, Damian started to threaten Cassadin.

“I know you were the one who attempted to poison the Crown Prince. Not to mention the disgusting life you lived as a gladiator slave.”

“…”

“Just how much did you get paid every time you sold that almighty body of yours? I knew you were a slave, but that’s absolutely pitiful.”

Damian brought up his hand to cover his nose as if there were a putrid smell. It would have been enough for others to start shouting in anger, but Cassadin remained still, not moving an inch.

He thought that the man had been pretending to be alright to cover up his anxiety.

That was, until Cassadin opened his mouth.

“Whether it’s a man who leeches off the blood of commoners to decrease the pain of his heart disease, or one who’s sold their body in order to survive, I would think that the stench is quite similar, is it not?”

The corner of Cassadin’s lip curled up slightly, almost looking like he was smirking at Damian.

Just how much did this man know about him? It was at this point that Damian realized Cassadin was not just an ordinary slave.

How did this man figure out the secret that he had been concealing for the past several years?

‘No. He may just be trying to see my reaction with information that isn’t proven. There is no possible way that Kindel would have confessed that I drink blood to him.’

The only person in this entire empire who knew he suppressed the pain of his heart condition by drinking the blood of the commoners was Kindel.

A few years ago, when he had been scouring the empire for every single doctor to exist in order to cure his heart disease, he met a man who visibly decreased the pain in his heart.

But the man never revealed what it had been that improved his condition. The man who hesitated to tell him the reason only answered Damian with a pale expression when he pushed a blade against the man’s throat.

‘I…I’ll say it! So please, please spare me!’

‘My patience doesn’t last long.’

‘…Blood, drinking blood will help.’

‘Blood?’

“Y-yes! Blood. Though it will not cure the heart disease, drinking the blood of a human will alleviate the pain.’

‘…Then I shall test it with yours.’

’Wh-what? Aaahhh!“

The unnamed commoner was the first sacrifice to decrease the pain of Damian’s heart disease.

That had already been several years ago. The only ones who knew of this were Damian and Kindel, just the two of them.

So what Cassadin is saying right now must just be a baseless assumption.

Completing his analysis, Damian folded his arms and put on a mask of confidence as he opened his mouth.

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.”

“Do you think I’m saying this without any proof?”

“What you have just declared is slander against my name. So there will be no one who blames me for slaying you right here and now.”

After quietly listening to Damian, Cassadin took out something from his robe and placed it on the table again.

With a solid clack, the object in his hand revealed itself. The object was a medicine bottle small enough to be held in one hand.

Inside the bottle with a black stopper was a bright, crimson-red liquid.

Damian also knew very well what Cassadin had just taken out of his robe.

How could he not know? It was the medicine bottle containing the blood of the commoners that his butler always carried around in case of an emergency.

“Your butler has already confessed everything to me.”