Chapter 159

Chaeng-!

The ring was thrown away, rolling right into the darkness.

There was a 'squeak' coming from the wind faintly blowing through the front.

As she turned her head reflexively, her dark pink hair fluttered like falling petals. "Wait..."

Eclise reached out. It was to grab her. "Mas... master."

But before catching her, Penelope turned her back completely on him. Eclise's pupils began to shake uncontrollably.

He needs to find the ring and give it back to her, but his master has already gone far away without even looking back.

"Don't, don't go, Master, wait."

His master is still moving away while Ecklis calls her nervously. Unlike his burning heart, the voice that was dry and hard was resentful.

"Master."

But it was strange. At this point, his master would have already looked back... His master always did.

Even though she always acted as if she would send him back to the auction house with harsh words, she will eventually forgive him.

She listened to everything he wanted and always left room for him. Even if he crossed the line she always forgave him. So he can't give up his uncontrollable heart.

But my master herself, who had tamed me so much, did not look back, because she made the son of a bitch crawl up and down without knowing the subject.

The slender body showed no signs of stopping, but gradually moved away. Suddenly, he felt something was wrong.

"Master, Master! D-don't go, there's still something I have to say...!"

As if something hard was hitting his head, he suddenly came to his senses. His chaotic mind gradually cleared up.

'Why did the Master throw the ring?' "Penelope."

How did I look at that moment? "Penelope, don't go...!"

Eclise stretched his arm through a the narrow bars to catch the woman moving away. Bbudeudeuk-.

Maybe it was because he was trying so hard, a gruesome sound leaked out of his body, accompanied by dull pain.

Of course, he couldn't reach her. His arms stretched out into the dark pink hair, which had gone far away, fluttered in the air.

"Penelope!"

For the first time since being brought to the empire, he's overtaken by the fear. "Penelope-!"

Jabbuck, jabbuck-.

But the steps fade away, showing no sign of stopping. In the end, silence came.

That was the end.

His only Master left. In this cold, dark prison cell, ther ring was left as the only evidence of his close relationship with her.

Eclise, who clings to the bars and looked at the prison hallway with a vain look, suddenly rubbed his lips.

"...The ring."

He was suddenly desperate. And then ran to the corner where he heard the ring being thrown away.

The inside of the prison was so dark that he couldn't see a inch ahead. Without hesitation, Eclise fell down to the dirty floor.

And crawled like a dog and fumbled on the floor.

Fortunately, the ring was narrowly stuck between the cracks in the stone floor, just before it fell into the hole.

He clasped it in his hand and went back to the light. It was where his Master had just stood.

The red ruby in the light was fortunately intact. However, under the ruby, the gold ring was completely crushed.

He can't put his fingers in it anymore. And he could see how hard his Master had thrown it at the moment.

Eclise flinched slightly while he carefully turned the ring around to check it. "...Why?"

He shook his head and muttered to himself. He couldn't understand his previous master very well. The master just now.

Of course, he predicted that if he took Yvonne, she would be furious with him. However, it wasn't supposed to be like this. Like she's going to give up on him.

'My master wouldn't abandon me.' Eclise thought, because,

"... You have to keep using me, Penelope."

So even for that purpose, she couldn't abandon him. It should be...

- Now you're dead to me, Eclise.

The eyes that were throwing the ring, and the face that was turning away without even looking at him, seemed rather relieved. As if it were better.

"Why...why? Why, Penelope?"

The firm belief that the master would not let go of him while bringing Yvonne to mansion began to shake little by little.

"It can't be."

Eclise denied the reality with a confused face while holding the ring. This is only because his Master is angry right now, that's all.

Soon, she'll be back when her anger passes. And, as always, with a beautiful smile like a flower. "...Eclise."

It was then.

His name, which had been hovering in a hazy imagination, became a reality and sank into his ears. A soft skirt swirled around his feet.

Instead of joy, despair seeped in. Because his body noticed before his head that it wasn't the voice of the person who laughed happily in his imagination.

"Are you sick, Eclise?"

Hearing a sweet voice, Eclise slowly lifted his head, which was leaning against the bars.

Under the lamps, light pink hair fluttered. Blue eyes anxiously looking down at him. At her sudden appearance, an unexpected and unimaginable anger seethed through him.

Eclise sprang up from the floor. And he grabbed her neck, reaching out through the bars of the cell. "Hhuk- !"

The woman, suddenly caught her breath, struggled with her blue eyes wide open.

Eclise looked insensitively at the small body fluttering with embarrassment and amazement. "You said if I didn't kill you and I took you back to the duke, everything would work out." "Ec, Ec..lise!"

"I didn't reveal that I used my force because my master might be disappointed, and that's why I sold out all my fellow countrymen."

"Hhuk heuk..."

"I did what you said, Yvonne."

If the eyes could kill a person, she would have been torn to death many times already. though he's already strangled her neck so hard, Eclise gave off eerie chills.

"But my master said she'll never see me again. She thinks I'm dead." "Ecli, ec... hyuk."

"Why?"

Yvonne's face, which had been white, turned red as if it would burst soon. Like there was a hideous bloodshot in her clear eyes. Despite the slender figure of the woman, who was about to die, Eclise still held tightly her neck.

"Huh? What's wrong with Penelope?" "Heuk, keuk..."

"Answer me."

As her pupils were loosened, she kept falling backwards. Yvonne tapped desperately on the arm of the urging Eclise. She was asking to be released so she could answer.

While staring at her fiercely , Eclise grudgingly took off both hands that were covering her neck. ""Pheuk! Heok hak"

(Note: at least he's useful for strangle her neck)

Yvonne coughed wildly. After a long time, the cough finally died down. She touched her neck with clear finger marks, asked with wide eyes.

"What, what's the problem?" "What's the problem?" Eclise's eyes were ferocious.

"If you said you knew how to use it, you would have been given the cotton cloth right away. With my own strength, I have been formally knighted without having to do the dirty work of selling my countrymen..."

"Hnighted?"

Yvonne cut him off in the middle and answered.

"Even if you have a knighthood, you still can't stand beside the Princess."

Yvonne stared at him with a sad face, even though he was the man who almost strangled her to death.

"As a slave from an enemy country to who have been knighted, I'm sure it would be great. But a man without any wealth is no different than a commoner, Eclise. The Princess is still in a far higher place."

"..."

"Poor guy. You know we're in the same boat." "Why are you and I in the same boat?"

Eclise asked as if he chewed on a piece of shit. Yvonne only looked at him with sad eyes and did not answer.

It felt unpleasant, he had no other choice but to admit it. They were crawling at the same bottom, and they were scrambling to get out of it.

One day, he had a dream, too. He would formally learn the sword and prove his ability, and stand beside his Master as a knight, not a slave.

It was a naive and pure dream.

But when did it start? He was forced to realize. No matter how hard he tried, he didn't see any signs of getting closer to his Master.

No matter if he begged her to find him a teacher, to get a lesson, become an swordmaster, he was still a slave.

In order to rise above that, everyone needed credit.

It was Yvonne who encouraged him like that. On the day the monster appeared on the farm, slaves took care of her, who had been injured in the attack.

That was their first meeting. Eclise recognized at first sight that she was the Duke's real daughter. So he tried to get rid of her for Penelope.

However, Yvonne sympathized with his vain dream even at the moment when his hands strangled her

neck.

"The Princess,...is confused now."

Perhaps because of the aftereffects of a sore throat, Yvonne soothed the upset Eclise with a throbbing voice.

"You must be surprised and upset that I suddenly showed up, and things overlapped." "..."

"It's sad that there were those who were executed, but it was for the best, Eclise. It's true that they were trying to escape."

"..."

"The princess will soon know your sincerity. Huh? Because no one in this house cares about her as much as you do."

She comforted and added hope to the man who strangled her with an angelic face. Yvonne wanted a family and Eclise wanted Penelope.

It was in an instant that the deal was made.

She was able to get into the Dukedom through him, and he took Penelope to his side through Yvonne.

No, it was expected to happen soon.

But Eclise often wondered if this was really the right way. Maybe she noticed his hesitation. "Think about it, Eclise. If you hadn't done this, what would have happened to your master?"

Yvonne softly spoke to him as if she were singing a lullaby. Eclise was lost in thought as if possessed by her words.

That day, when Penelope returned alone from the Imperial Palace without a carriage was clear. He couldn't leave the girl, who had her face buried in her hands and sobbed. If he does that, she would have died in the contempt and despair of those duke and aristocratic cubs.

In front of Eclise's eyes, Penelope, who cried out with an unsuccessful goal, came to mind. 'Please help me. Hill me. No, help me. Hill me...'

He had to rescue her from here. He need to get her out of here so she can live...

Eclise's eyes, imagining the unfortunate vision of a his master, were gradually lost in thought. So he didn't notice. When Yvonne secretly took out something and mumbled.

"... di Assum."

A whisper of a spell.