Tamed A Blackened Slave Man

The men that had been conversing amongst themselves seemed to have been startled by my presence, and completely shut their mouths altogether.

“…What is it?”

But they only shook their heads at my question, then with a last bow, left the place as if they were running away.

At the same time, I realized something was wrong with their paled expressions. I felt someone’s gaze trained on me.

Turning my head toward the direction of that gaze, I found a man wearing a black uniform standing there.

The white snow softly fluttered down and landed on his marvelously shining silver hair. Something must have happened in between the time we had last met, as his face looked extremely fatigued.

But the moment our eyes met, the man’s expression brightened as if that had never happened.

How could I ever forget you?

“I’m sorry, I was late.”

With an expression that said he had not a single idea of what to do, but with a voice that was unable to mask his joy, Cassadin spoke to me happily.

When Cassadin saw that I was just staring blankly at him, being at a loss for words, he stepped closer towards me and hesitated for a moment before gently taking my hand.

His hand was warm to the touch. Feeling the cold melt away instantly, I remained still and stared into Cassadin’s violet eyes.

“I’ve missed you very, very much.”

Sounding as if he were almost whispering, like he was pressing something down within him, his voice was trembling faintly.

It had been two months since I last saw you. I didn’t know which of the many words that were jumbling in my head I should say to you first.

Was it because I had told you not to come to the mansion that you stopped visiting? Were you not hurt on the first battlefield you stepped foot on?

Why was it that you hadn’t written to me for the past two months?

“…Have you been busy?”

In the end, the words that I managed to spit out were quite pathetic, even as I heard myself say them.

Though Cassadin was now a Marquess, the times we had spent together in the mansion felt so clear that I naturally addressed him informally.

Hearing my question, Cassadin looked around us for a moment before moving us away from this open area.

Did he judge that our mansion was not appropriate for us to talk at?

‘That reminds me. Those people said that there was a banquet opening at the palace starting today.’

The time was already past noon. Since the Emperor seemed to have been preparing for some time, it was more than likely that the banquet had already started.

I had been following behind Cassadin, but I opened my mouth to ask him the question that entered my mind.

“Cassadin, I heard that there’s a banquet that started today. Don’t you need to go?”

Cassadin suddenly stopped in his tracks and then turned to look at me. From the fiery gaze that he returned to me, I could see that Cassadin did not fancy this banquet at all.

“I do not need to attend the first day of the banquet. I have gotten special permission from His Majesty.”

“……”

“But in return.”

Cassadin leaned forward and carefully tucked my hair behind my ear. His touch was as gentle as ever.

“His Majesty has commanded me to attend both the second and third days with you.”

Now, what was this about?

“But why?”

Cassadin looked around us once more, then began heading somewhere. Our hands were still interlaced together.

Seeming to be worried that he’d lose me, Cassadin held tightly to my hand and did not let go.

The place we arrived at was a residency that was in a location not often visited by people.

It was closer to a small villa than a residency, but it must have been newly built, as the building was immaculately clean and pleasant to the eye.

“This is a new villa I have recently hired workers to build. Which is why not many people know yet that this is my building. I judged that this would be safer since it is clear what may happen if we go to the main residence.”

To his explanation, I stared up at Cassadin. He returned my gaze with a soft smile.

“If it is alright, can we continue our conversation inside?”

There was no reason for me to turn down Cassadin’s suggestion.

The moment we stepped into the villa, I couldn’t find even a single shadow of another person in sight. Seeming to have noticed I found this strange, Cassadin smiled gently as he explained the reason to me.

“I purposefully did not hire servants for this place… I wanted to be here together without the disturbance of others.”

My heart dropped after hearing the second half of his statement, and my eyes shot open as I asked Cassadin.

“Be together with who?”

Cassadin burst into laughter at my question. His light, refreshing laugh scattered into the air. Curling up both corners of his mouth, Cassadin then asked me in return.

“Are you really asking that because you do not know?”

Cassadin gave me a small peck on the forehead before opening the doors to the house. When he opened the door, a cozy room greeted me.

There wasn’t a single window in the large room. Not to mention, the only furniture that was inside the house was a fireplace and a single bed.

Cassadin quietly walked towards the fireplace and lit it up. Staring at him, starting the fire, I asked him.

“Isn’t this a little too empty? Why don’t you hire just a couple of people?”

“There are plenty of people already at the main residence, and you can go out through that door over there to find the storage where all of the food is. If it is alright with you, should I start cooking right now?”

“Cassadin, do you know how to cook?”

Cassadin smiled once more as he answered.

“I wanted to see you enjoying the food that I made for you.”

“…….”

“I practiced cooking during my spare time.”

How could every word that he said feel so kind?

Feeling the unease that had been settled inside of my heart melting away, I walked up behind Cassadin and hugged him tightly.

But when I felt his toned abs through his clothing, I, who began hugging him in the first place, pulled back my arms in surprise.

Or tried to pull back my arms, to be exact.

With his hands grabbing onto my wrists, Cassadin turned his head towards me. The side of his handsome face filled up my entire vision.

When our eyes met, Cassadin leaned towards me, and, with a single hand, he pushed up both of my wrists and used his other to pull my waist towards him.

“That’s dangerous.”

Did he mean that the fire was dangerous, or did he mean himself?

When I tilted my head at Cassadin with a questioning look, he swept in and swallowed up my lips.

Cassadin gently pressed up my delicate skin, then swirled around roughly. Feeling that large change between the two made a moan slip through my mouth.

With only a short break in between, Cassadin invaded once more. The wet sounds that escaped in between our heavy breaths tickled my ear.

It was only later that Cassadin freed my wrists. With my newfound freedom, I wrapped them around Cassadin once more.

When I did so, Cassadin picked up my body like he would a feather and set me down on the bed. Smiling, I returned a smile to Cassadin’s heated gaze and spoke up.

“I thought you wanted to continue our conversation. Did you mean this kind of discourse?”

With a deep laugh, Cassadin responded.

“I see that you’ve gained humor while I was away.”

Then he caressed my neck. I flinched after feeling the quite obvious motive behind that motion, which caused Cassadin’s voice to become even deeper.

“If we are truly going to have such discourse, it will be difficult to attend the banquet tomorrow.”

“……”

“I don’t have the confidence to end it with just one time.”

From Cassadin’s heated voice and intense gaze, I knew that what he was saying right now was the truth.

When I looked up at Cassadin with wide eyes, he folded his pretty eyes and added on.

“Do not worry. I will not touch as much as a hair if you do not allow me to.”

But didn’t he just kiss me without my permission?

I stared back at him with narrowed eyes, which in turn caused him to cough awkwardly.

“This had been because you made me… This was something that I could not control.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at seeing Cassadin go on with his strange excuses while avoiding my eyes. My heart felt tickled. Cassadin couldn’t seem any more lovely than he was right now after meeting him for the first time in a while.

But looking at him, the conversation that the group of men had had suddenly popped into my mind.

‘I also heard that His Majesty is giving a special present to Sir Cassadin.’

‘I don’t know. I heard it was… some woman?’

Gently caressing Cassadin’s cheek, I asked him.

“I heard around that the Emperor is giving you a gift at this banquet.”

Cassadin’s expression crumpled a little at my statement. Without hiding his irritation, he let out a sigh as he responded.

“That old fox is trying to give me the youngest Princess of the Elsia Kingdom as a present.”

My hand that had been touching Cassadin’s face trembled a bit. Feeling that, Cassadin covered my hand with his while adding on.

“When you are the only one I need, that is.”

But I could not muster up a smile. Would I be delusional if I felt that this was all a plan that had been set by Damian to separate me and Cassadin?

I rubbed my hand against the wound that Damian had engraved into my shoulder.

It didn’t hurt anymore since two months had passed since then, but the distress I had felt back then was still clear in my mind.

“I have missed you to the point I was going mad, but I was unable to write to you because of the Emperor’s strict supervision.”

“…I see.”

To think that the Emperor had been watching Cassadin that entire time. It looked like the Emperor did not completely trust Cassadin yet but planned to keep him under his control.

“Were you alright while I was gone?”

You asked me if I was alright when it was obvious you had suffered more. My heart throbbed painfully as I saw you looking down at me with a worried expression.

‘Why do you have to be so kind?’

Leaning my head against Cassadin’s chest, I told him my truthful feelings.

“I’m fine now that I’ve seen you’ve come back safely to me.”

I could feel Cassadin’s light sigh pass over my head. Gently patting my head with his hand, Cassadin spoke to me.

“The reason why the Emperor told you to come to the banquet is most likely to test our relationship.”

What Cassadin said was right. If that wasn’t the case, there was no other reason to invite the both of us when we were no longer siblings.

“…The Emperor will most definitely search for your reaction as he presents me with the Princess.”

“Why is the Emperor doing such a thing?”

“In order to keep me as a useful hunting dog. It’s likely that he considered the presence of another a hindrance.”

When he himself was the actual hindrance. Cassadin’s voice couldn’t have sounded any more miserable as he added on.

Using the hand that had been patting my head, Cassadin played with my ear as he whispered into it.

“I cannot forgive those who dare try to separate us. So…”

His voice sounded calm, but for some reason, Cassadin’s voice reminded me of a growling beast.

“I have decided to become the Emperor of this damned empire.”