Tamed A Blackened Slave Man

I responded to Damian’s statement in a calm voice.

“Your Grace, why did you say such things about me and Cassadin?”

A small smile spread across Damian’s face at my response. His sharply angled eyes scanned my entire body like a snake.

“Milady, I didn’t speak of a specific person.”

The Emperor opened his eyes wide and prodded Damian on.

“Grand Duke, what do you mean? Explain in detail. What the Duke just said. It was definitely referring to Lady Serkia and Cassadin.”

Seemingly having no intention of responding to the Emperor’s prodding, Damian raised his right hand to his heart and bowed his head slightly.

“Please forgive me for Your Majesty’s benevolence. It seems that I blurted out false claims out of jealousy.”

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed. Knowing that Damian was a smart man, the Emperor seemed to realize right away that it wasn’t a mistake.

Before the Emperor could reply, Cassadin seized the chance to speak a step faster.

“I don’t understand what there is to be jealous about between me and my sister.”

“How could I not be? Even when you are no longer part of the Serkia Family…”

With a dry expression, Damian faced Cassadin and continued speaking.

“You are always next to Lady Serkia, whom I have taken a liking to.”

Damian’s statement caused the entire banquet hall to descend into chaos.

“Did His Grace favor Lady Serkia all this time?”

“Goodness gracious.”

“I heard rumors that His Grace had been showering Lady Serkia with gifts…”

When I shot a look at Damian, he whispered into my ear quietly enough so that only I could hear him.

“That’s why you should have taken my hand.”

I felt a sudden strangeness in what Damian just said.

From what Damian said the previous night, he was at the banquet hall yesterday as well. And out of everyone here, it was certain that Damian seemed the most at ease.

Not to mention, from his actions and speech, he acted as if his heart disease truly did not matter anymore.

‘Don’t tell me, his heart disease got cured?’

“Your Grace.”

I glanced up at Damian. When I looked up at him, Damian responded with a kind smile.

“What is it, Milady?”

Cassadin maintained his composure the best he could on the outside, but I felt his hand tremble faintly in mine.

‘He’s anxious.’

My beloved Cassadin.

There wasn’t even the slightest chance that I would leave you for Damian.

“Why did you have to refer to our friendship in such a way? Just what am I to do if Your Grace says such things that will make the Emperor and the other people misunderstand us?”

When I set a firm wall between us, I heard the Crown Prince let out a small ‘pfft’.

The Emperor glared at Leon, but completely disregarding the Emperor’s judgement, he continued to chuckle and let go of my wrist.

Leon patted Damian’s shoulder as he spoke to him.

“Grand Duke. Why don’t you confess somewhere nicer than this? Didn’t I tell you in the past to use kinder words?”

Damian’s frown deepened at Leon’s taunting. The people in the hall all looked toward us nervously.

“Your Majesty. I sincerely apologize for causing this commotion.”

There wasn’t a single thing that Cassadin had done to apologize. So, the apology just then was essentially a means of recovering the Emperor’s reputation.

With Cassadin’s single apology, the Emperor’s prestige, which had just been rolling around in the dirt, rose back up.

Smiling with satisfaction, the Emperor responded to Cassadin.

“How outstanding. Sir Lumen will be coming soon with my gift.”

As soon as the Emperor said that, the entrance of the banquet hall broke into commotion.

“It seems they are here.”

Soon, we saw a woman coming towards us with her hand placed on the Knight Commander’s arm.

The woman, who had long, sky-blue hair, was so beautiful that even I, of the same gender, couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Her eyes were a vivid turquoise color, making one think that an aurora was encased in her iris.

Noticing that people continued to stare at her, the woman dropped her gaze to the ground.

The melancholic and depressed aura surrounding her only made her already beautiful appearance stand out even more.

The woman in the pure white dress stopped in front of the Emperor. Dropping her head weakly, she opened her mouth.

“I-I am Bella, the youngest Princess of the Elsia Kingdom.”

Her voice was quiet and trembling, yet it sounded like a clear stream of water flowing down a creek. Her eyelashes trembled as if she were nervous.

“How is she? This is the gift I am giving you. Does she please you?”

The Emperor was a cruel man.

He didn’t just ask for the Princess of the kingdom that had lost in the war. He outright referred to the Princess of a kingdom as a gift.

‘So the Emperor also regards others as mere tools.’

It was clear why the Crown Prince had turned out the way he had, being raised by such a father.

If this was our Emperor, then I would have truly preferred Cassadin to be the Emperor.

Cassadin stared at the Emperor as he responded.

“So she is the gift that Your Majesty is giving me?”

“Indeed.”

Cassadin bowed to the Emperor, managing to maintain his composure.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor smiled joyfully upon hearing Cassadin’s response.

“So you are also a man after all. You’ve continually turned me down, and now here you are, swayed by her appearance.”

The Emperor looked at Cassadin, Princess Bella, and then around the entire banquet hall as he nodded.

As he had said, many people inside the banquet hall were completely entranced by the Princess’s beauty, unable to take their eyes off her.

“I guarantee you that there isn’t a single man in this hall who will turn away from this woman’s appearance. Look around. Not a single one of them is able to look away.”

The one who interrupted the Emperor was none other than Crown Prince Leon, who stood next to the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, I believe that should be corrected. Please do not generalize all of the men in this hall. I don’t have a single bit of interest in this Princess’s face.”

I knew he was the Crown Prince and all, but wasn’t that a bit too rude?

It seemed like the Crown Prince, who had already been untethered, had made up his mind to become completely unhinged.

‘It’s not as if the Princess is here of her own accord.’

The Princess just squirmed her fingers timidly, her body trembling. The way her head was lowered and seemed desperate to read the room made her seem extremely nervous.

And without a single hint of emotion on his face, Cassadin spoke to the Crown Prince.

“Please forgive me for the interruption, but the Princess came to this empire alone. I am concerned that Your Highness’s current statement may have been quite rude to the Princess considering the journey she embarked on.”

The Princess’s trembling stopped after hearing the comforting words.

Just as she was about to raise her head, the Emperor repeated Cassadin’s words as if contemplating them.

“……Rude, you say.”

While stroking his beard, the Emperor slowly scanned Cassadin from top to bottom. With narrowed eyes that seemed to be searching for intention, he looked down at my and Cassadin’s entangled hands and drew a meaningful smile.

“It is relieving to see that you are taking care of the Princess as such. This banquet was opened especially for you, so please enjoy it to the fullest.”

“……”

“Since there are many other noblewomen who are waiting to steal you away, it’s best that you hold a ceremony with the Princess in the coming days as soon as possible. What do you think? Though she is the Princess of a defeated country, her appearance and bloodline are of royalty, so there is no better companion for you.”

Hearing the Emperor’s statement, Cassadin squeezed my hand tightly. When I looked up at him quietly, Cassadin was smiling faintly at me.

“Your Majesty, there is already someone that I have given my heart to. Not to mention…”

Turning his gaze to the Emperor, Cassadin continued.

“If the youngest Princess, known to be the most loved by Elsia’s King, is treated in this way, it will be difficult to predict how the King will react to this. He is the man who brought up his small country into a kingdom in mere years, so his intelligence is not to be underestimated as well.”

There was a point to Cassadin’s response. But, the Emperor didn’t seem to be pleased by Cassadin’s answer as his eyes narrowed.

“I am well aware that you fancy someone. If that hadn’t been the case, then you wouldn’t have bothered to decline such an enticing opportunity.”

With a loud ‘ahem’, the Emperor exchanged his gaze between Cassadin and me before opening his tightly shut mouth once more.

“Can you tell me who this woman is, right here and now?”

‘So he is trying to figure out the depth of our relationship just when everyone’s attention is collected on us.’

But the person who interrupted the Emperor’s unfair test was completely unexpected.

“It seems to me that Your Majesty is unable to trust even the man that you had taken in yourself. Why bother to meddle with insignificant matters such as who the Marquess likes?”

Damian’s dry voice caused the Emperor’s grimace to deepen even further.

“I did not ask you, Grand Duke, I asked the Marquess.”

“……I apologize for interrupting once more, but I was just curious, Your Majesty.”

Damian tilted his head to the side, then stared directly into the Emperor’s golden eyes and added,

“Just what is Your Majesty lacking after reaching that state of supremacy…”

Then his angled, green eyes slid towards Cassadin.

“…to be interested in such trivial matters?”

‘Why is he helping me?’

It was strange.

As someone who knew the relationship between me and Cassadin, I hadn’t expected Damian to help me.

There was undoubtedly an ulterior motive for his actions.

I couldn’t have been the only one who thought that was the case, as the Emperor also widened his eyes and asked Damian.

“I can’t understand why you are involving yourself in this matter.”

“……”

“Is it that you truly favor Lady Serkia?”

To the Emperor’s question, Damian’s mouth began to open slowly. His green eyes that had been directed at Cassadin turned to me. As they did so, Damian’s eyes curved into a gentle arch.

“I do like her.”

“……”

“Not as a friend, but as a lover.”

That statement caused an uproar throughout the entire banquet hall.

‘Lover? Has he actually gone crazy?’

When I stared at him with a stunned expression, he curled up his lips and added,

“We’ve only just begun to converse, so my lover is still a bit shy.”

Who were you saying was your lover?

We hadn’t even conversed in the first place.

‘As if he would help. This is a threat.’

This was clearly a threat that Damian was sending to me.

Whether he would reveal my and Cassadin’s relationship in front of all of these people, or be framed as his lover and escape this situation.

If I selected the former, then many people, including the Emperor, would attempt to block me and Cassadin from progressing.

Even if Cassadin could protect me at that moment, escaping the public’s criticism would prove difficult, and more than anything, my father would likely collapse and fall ill upon hearing the news.

Not to mention, this could cause Cassadin’s plan to become Emperor to fail miserably.

If I chose the latter, then rumors about me and Cassadin would cease, but I would be permanently chained to Damian. He would undoubtedly use the title of lover as an excuse to extract everything he wanted from me.

‘Perhaps this is his plan to turn me into his healing tool like in my past life.’

From these two choices, my decision was already made.

I chose neither, as choosing either would inevitably expose a weakness.

“Your Majesty.”

I slowly opened my mouth. In response to the voice calling him, the Emperor stared at me with a displeased expression that far surpassed any he had shown before.

Seeing his expression, I smiled brightly and spoke up.

“I have not been conversing with the Grand Duke. We are not only not lovers, but we haven’t met for the past two months.”

“……Then are you saying that the Duke is lying right now? What reason would the Grand Duke have to tell such lies?”

“There are many listeners here, so I wish to tell Your Majesty separately.”

I walked towards the Emperor.

Having received permission from the Emperor, I leaned in so that no others could hear, then whispered quietly into the Emperor’s ear.

“It is because, unfortunately, the Grand Duke learned of my healing abilities.”