I Bought the Male Lead with Money

17.

The best solution would be for Keith and Yu Jin to become lovers, but it’s still too early for that.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Keith said, but Jinhyeon didn’t let go of his sword. He looked like a frightened, terrified animal. This isn’t like him? Keith suddenly felt suspicious, but he couldn’t back down now. This was the only chance for a peaceful resolution.

“I have a proposal. I’ll free you from slavery and give you wealth. In return, leave the mansion.”

“Without any conditions?”

Keith’s eyebrow twitched at Jinhyeon’s informal speech, but he didn’t get angry. Resolving this amicably was the priority.

“There is one condition. Leaving the mansion is the condition. I’ll provide you with plenty, so go far away from here. You seem to be from the Dragon Continent. I’ll even look into ship passages for you.”

Only then did Jinhyeon lower his sword. He hadn’t agreed to go yet, but he looked like he was considering it. However, his deliberation wouldn’t last long.

What slave would refuse freedom and wealth? Keith coldly observed Jinhyeon. As if to confirm, Jinhyeon, who seemed to have finished considering, asked:

“So you’re saying you’ll give me freedom and money if I go far away?”

“Yes. It’s a good offer for a slave.”

Though he seemed offended, Jinhyeon nodded.

“You’re not wrong. But does the master know about this?”

“Of course he does.”

Keith calmly told the lie. Jinhyeon tilted his head. Then he raised the sword he had lowered to the ground and pointed it back at Keith.

“You’re lying.”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d believe me.”

Keith shrugged and continued.

“But it’s still a good offer for you. I want you to leave Yu Jin’s side, and this will be the last offer I make.”

He didn’t intend to make such an offer again after this. If Jinhyeon doesn’t leave now, Keith would get rid of him, even if it meant killing him. Keith didn’t bother hiding his murderous intent.

“Choose.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Jinhyeon raised the corners of his mouth. His eyes weren’t smiling, but only his mouth formed an arc, making his expression strange. Somehow, it sent chills down Keith’s spine.

Although Jinhyeon was clearly inferior to Keith, his body tensed up strangely. The standoff grew longer.

‘Should I just deal with him?’

As Keith was fingering the handle of his sword, Jinhyeon lowered the sword he had raised.

“Fine. I’ll take the freedom and money.”

“A wise choice.”

“You’re not planning to stab me in the back when I leave the mansion, are you?”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

If Jinhyeon leaves the mansion of his own accord, there’s no need to kill him. Rector had said that continuously killing others wears down one’s heart.

‘Can such a thing even be called human?’

At first, he didn’t understand, but now he does. And Keith still wanted to remain human.

‘So leave.’

Yu Jin would be disappointed when Jinhyeon disappears, but that’s okay too. Keith will soothe Yu Jin’s hurt feelings.

Keith flicked his finger, and a guard standing behind stepped forward with a bag.

First, Keith took out Jinhyeon’s slave certificate from his pocket, tore it up, and not satisfied with just that, he lit it on fire with a candle. After the certificate was completely burned to ashes, he handed Jinhyeon the bag full of money.

“Do you want help with ship passage too?”

“I’ll handle that myself.”

Jinhyeon took the bag and checked inside. Keith had given him enough money to live comfortably wherever he went. After confirming the not insignificant amount, Jinhyeon closed the bag and pointed to the restraint around his neck.

“Alright. But what about this?”

“I’ll remove it.”

The guard handed Jinhyeon something wrapped in a handkerchief. When unfolded, there was a ring with something smeared on the seal part. It was a liquid familiar to Jinhyeon – blood.

“Put that against the connector.”

Jinhyeon did as Keith instructed. When he placed the blood-stained seal against the restraint’s connector, there was a clicking sound of it unlocking. His neck, free after a long time, felt refreshing.

“Well then, I’d like you to leave now.”

Jinhyeon shrugged and followed the guard.

The guard guided Jinhyeon to the back door.

“Leave, and don’t break your promise.”

Jinhyeon left the mansion, leaving behind the guard who was threatening him as if to intimidate. As soon as he left, the guard immediately locked the door and stood like a statue, glaring at Jinhyeon. He seemed worried that Jinhyeon might come back.

‘They worry too much.’

Shrugging his shoulders, Jinhyeon moved away from the mansion along the road. He now had freedom and a lot of money. It was incomparable to when he first arrived here.

Jinhyeon turned around and looked at the mansion. Having walked quite a distance, the mansion now looked small. He recalled his past when he fell into the desert, was caught by slave traders, and immediately headed to the Colosseum.

Although he could understand the language, the environment was unfamiliar. Still, Jinhyeon tenaciously gathered and memorized information about this world.

‘The Lucid family.’

That’s why he knew the power the Lucid family held. With their enormous wealth and power, the things one could do increased dramatically. However, Jinhyeon, not being of Lucid blood, couldn’t possess their wealth or power.

‘That’s what I used to think.’

Yu Jin. The rogue youngest son of the Lucid family. Objectively, his chances of becoming the family head were infinitesimally low, but not impossible. All the other candidates for family head just need to disappear.

Given the nobles’ preference for direct lineage, if all his siblings disappeared or gave up succession, no matter how much of a rogue Yu Jin was, he had a high chance of becoming the family head as a direct descendant. And that Yu Jin said he would grant whatever Jinhyeon wanted.

The moment he heard those words, Jinhyeon realized. Yu Jin would really give him anything he wanted. Even if it was the Lucid family.

I want more.

The beast living inside Jinhyeon whispered.

‘I know.’

If you want it, you should take it. Jinhyeon was still hungry, and he could do anything to satisfy that hunger. And there was still time.

What Keith wanted from Jinhyeon was for him to leave Yu Jin’s side forever, but he had no intention of complying with Keith’s demand. Yu Jin wouldn’t want that anyway.

So this was just a temporary outing. When the outing ends, Jinhyeon will return to Yu Jin.

“Two days left.”

There were now two days left until the day Yu Jin promised to grant his first wish.

He trembled so much when I said let’s have sex. But that sight was quite cute, I almost got aroused right there.

It was dangerous even when we briefly faced each other in the dressing room. I didn’t know a man’s hole could feel so good. The narrow, warm, and soft inside tightly squeezing my fingers.

If nothing had happened after that, I might have taken Yu Jin right there. Literally until my balls were completely empty.

A laugh escaped without realizing. The first is sex, what should I ask for the second? I can ask for anything, but there was a need to sort out the situation. That’s why I thought I should go out at least once, and fortunately, Keith helped.

There’s quite some time left until the promise with Yu Jin. Before that, I planned to confirm what I had been thinking about.

Jinhyeon passed through the street lined with noble mansions and arrived at a bustling square. The center of the empire’s capital, I heard everything spreads out from here.

After only hearing about it in the Colosseum, seeing it in person was as majestic as a scene from a fantasy movie.

A huge fountain spouted water in the center of the square, and people dressed in this world’s clothes were chattering. They all looked wealthy and were accompanied by hired help.

On the adjacent road, four-horse carriages were racing. It was reminiscent of the medieval era, but there were too many differences to be exactly that. As it’s a world where mystery exists, it doesn’t perfectly match any era of modern times.

Even compared to the medieval period, which is the most similar, the buildings visible around the square, like the square itself, were clean. Although the number of floors was low for buildings constructed using mystery, that was simply due to preference, they said.

I heard it’s mainly wizard towers that prefer tall buildings. They say you can see the end of mystery there. I’m curious, but I can’t go there to see for myself anyway.

“Wizards are very arrogant. You’d be surprised to see how they treat those without magical power.”

That’s what someone I met in the Colosseum said. He’s now gone, killed by my hand, but I learned quite a bit from that chatterbox.

Jinhyeon sat down on a chair next to the fountain. The sunshine beating down was warm, and the world seemed peaceful as there were no particular disturbances at this time.

However, you shouldn’t believe everything you see.

‘Where there’s light, there’s darkness.’

The empire’s capital wasn’t a city planned from the beginning. At first, it was an ordinary city, but it started to prosper after being designated as the capital. From then on, it was divided into sections starting from the center, and new buildings were erected.

The people who settled there were those who were somewhat well-off. It meant they were at least commoners with jobs to make a living. Then where did those who couldn’t do that go?

They were pushed out to the back alleys that the state hadn’t yet touched. As people gathered there, something like villages formed, and as villages formed, those who wanted to rule them appeared.

They weren’t nobles. How could noble aristocrats go there to rule over those dirty folks? Then who?

The answer was thugs.

As they gathered and formed groups, gaining power, they even got names. Some got involved in bigger crimes, and there were those who curried favor with higher-ups to gain benefits.

It feels like modern-day gangsters?

‘I’d like to meet them once.’

But just as in modern times, it wasn’t easy to meet such people without preparation here either. Information was needed.