"Wait a minute!"
Richard struggled violently, twisting the wrist trapped in the man's grip with all his strength.
As his torn shirt fell open and exposed his skin, cold air brushed against his flesh.
"What are you doing... Mmph!"
"You'd better stay still."
A cold, indifferent palm firmly covered Richard's mouth.
A gaze that crushed him as though he were insignificant. An air both indifferent and icy.
"Mmph, mmmph!"
Under the mercilessly invasive touch, his already half-torn shirt slipped helplessly from his shoulders.
You crazy bastard!
A shudder ran all the way to the tips of his hair.
A man was pinning him down.
A man!
An instinctive alarm blared inside him. If this continued, he would be violated.
Desperate, Richard wrenched his head aside and broke free from the man's hand.
"Stop!"
"Why should I?"
"I told you not to—"
"What a pity."
The man snickered.
As though Richard's will meant nothing whatsoever, the arm gripping his wrist tightened further.
"Don't do this!"
Richard thrashed, but he was like prey caught in a net.
He could not win.
He knew it instinctively.
It was as though he were facing a natural predator.
It was strange. Richard, as the second male lead, was not someone who could be pushed around just anywhere. But this...
This felt like...
He reminds me of someone...
No. In any case.
This could not happen.
Richard would rather die than be taken like this by a man.
Yes, if it were for Lady Daphne, he might be able to close his eyes and endure it.
But this was not for Lady Daphne or anything else!
Richard did not like men, nor did he have any desire to be taken by one.
"Stop... Don't do it, you madman!"
Crunch!
Richard bit the man's hand with all his strength, like a dog.
"!"
The man sharply yanked his bitten hand away.
Richard did not miss the momentary opening. He wrenched his body out from beneath the man.
Pulling himself back, he pressed tightly against the headboard, never lowering his guard.
"What kind of behavior is this?"
The man's gaze turned icy as he pressed down on the blood dripping from his left hand.
As though asking how a mere slave dared behave so insolently.
"..."
Richard parted his lips.
He had managed to break free once, but even so, he was still trapped.
The exit was far away, behind the man's back, and the guard knight stood in front of it.
Cold sweat trickled down the nape of his neck.
Yes, there's no way to escape...
But why did he have to endure this?
Richard suddenly felt aggrieved.
What had he done so wrong that he had to suffer this at the hands of a man he did not even know?
I...
The one I like is Lady Daphne!
If it were Lady Daphne, that might be different, but he could not simply give himself to some stranger.
You crazy bastard!
Richard decided to make one last desperate struggle.
"I!"
Even a lamb placed before a predator was difficult to catch if it thrashed wildly enough.
"I hate men!"
He hurled the pillow at the man with all his strength.
Although the pillow missed, he saw the hand reaching for him hesitate for an instant.
Richard did not miss the opening and screamed himself hoarse.
"What? Just because you're a high-ranking noble? Just because you bought a slave?!"
"..."
"You perverted bastard! You might lose your mind at the sight of a man, but I feel like vomiting just from brushing against one!"
Richard was, quite frankly, straight.
It was troublesome enough that he had to seduce Cailus, and now some man he did not even know was trying to take him.
"I like women! You son of a bitch, you piece of trash! A bastard just like Cailus!"
The words flew out before passing through his brain.
"Get lost, you madman!"
Richard roared desperately.
Even if he looked like a ridiculous rabbit defying a tiger, it did not matter.
Richard absolutely did not want to be taken by some dark-skinned, rugged man.
"..."
Had his desperate struggle worked?
The man no longer tried to pin Richard down.
He merely stared at him with an unreadable gaze.
"..."
"..."
An eerie silence swept through the bedroom.
"Ha."
After a long while, the man's sigh broke the silence.
"Too feisty to bother with."
He ran a hand irritably through his hair and rose from the bed as though giving up.
"Let's stop."
That was the end of it.
As though releasing him, the man unlocked Richard's shackles and disappeared with the guard knight.
"Whew..."
The moment the man was gone, Richard dashed out of the inn.
He did not know when the other man might change his mind.
That was close... I almost got pinned down...
His heart was still pounding. To repeat, he was someone who felt like vomiting merely from brushing against a man. He absolutely could not be taken by one.
Richard leaned against a roadside tree and caught his breath.
Damn it...
What an utterly ridiculous situation. In the end, he had not even managed to return to the Slave Market...
All of this...
It was because of that damned other second male lead.
Whether it was the male lead or the other second male lead, none of them were ever any help whatsoever.
Now that the crisis had passed, delayed irritation suddenly surged through him.
Why should he fail to accomplish his original goal and waste time on something so pointless?
Just...
Richard slowly raised his head. His patience had reached its limit.
Should I just destroy everything?
His cool blue eyes gleamed sharply with murderous intent.
A dark alley late at night. The night air was cold enough to freeze, but the Slave Market alley seethed like flames.
"A slave with his tongue cut out, three hundred gold coins!"
"I'll take him!"
"Hey, look at this one. Doesn't his skin look nice and firm?"
Crude jokes and laughter poured over the slaves.
"I'll take this one!"
"You chose well!"
The Slave Market bustled with noisy cheers.
"..."
A man in a black robe appeared at one end of the alley.
His face was hidden deep beneath his hood.
Creak, scrape—
With every step, the scabbard in his hand dragged across the ground, producing a low, drawn-out metallic sound.
The man stopped in front of the Slave Market.
The robed figure raised his head and looked at the slave cage in the center of the alley.
"Oh, have you come to buy a slave too?"
The slave trader grinned, baring his gums.
"..."
The robed man remained silent.
"We have plenty of fine slaves. Why don't you take a look?"
"..."
The man still said nothing.
"Hey. I said, take a look."
"..."
"Are you deaf?"
"..."
"If you're not buying, stop blocking the way and get lost."
"..."
When the man remained silent, the irritated slave trader snapped at him.
Amid the noisy street, filled with clanking chains and boisterous voices, the man muttered very softly.
"Fuck."
"What did you say?"
The moment the slave trader knitted his brows and asked again—
"Fuck!"
The man drew his sword.
Crash!
With a single strike, the iron bars imprisoning the slaves were sliced in half.
Fragments of shattered steel flew like sparks.
"Wh-What?!"
The slave trader's legs gave out, and he collapsed clumsily.
"Seize him!"
The guards belatedly drew their swords and rushed forward, but it was useless.
Craaaash!
"All of you, get lost, you sons of bitches!"
Blue Sword Aura erupted from the tip of the man's blade as he swept it in a wide arc.
"Aaaagh!"
The guards struck by the Sword Aura were literally cut in half, just like the iron bars moments before.
"Why do I—"
Crash!
The thick iron gate crumpled like paper.
"—have to endure—"
Thud!
The shattered remains of the iron cage flew into the air.
The man's voice was heavy with suppressed resentment.
"—that kind of bullshit, damn it!"
Craaaash!
The heads of the slave traders who tried to stop him also went flying.
"From a man!"
Craaaash!
The blue Sword Aura swept through the area like a storm.
Everything collapsed.
Amid the thickly swirling dust, the scattered debris of iron bars, the corpses of fallen slave traders, and the stench of blood stinging the nostrils, the only things left intact were the slaves trembling violently.
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