I Became a Slave to the Man I Abandoned Novel (Completed) - Chapter 112

As soon as the paper was fastened to its leg, the bird flapped its wings and vanished into the dark night sky.

Andy closed the window and then extinguished the candle illuminating his room. The recipient of that letter was likely unable to sleep, waiting with bated breath for his reply.

At that very moment, Nox, in his own room, watched the bird disappear across the sky. Following its flight with his gaze from his darkened room, with the candles extinguished, he soon scoffed and abruptly drew the curtains across the window. With a rough sound, the curtains swayed then stilled. He hadn’t, from the beginning, harbored any expectation that they might not have planted someone to spy on him. But seeing it with his own eyes still left a foul taste.

“What’s the point of putting me back in my original place,” Nox muttered, “if they’re just going to try and control me anyway?”

And so, the dark bird flew through the sky, heading somewhere. It soared high to avoid detection, then slowly descended, eventually landing at a certain mansion.

It was the Via Ducal Estate.

A New Dawn at Rainerio Mansion

When morning broke, the first person to arrive at the mansion was, naturally, Esterion Launder, carrying his ailing younger sister on his back. The butler had him wait briefly in the reception room before ascending to Nox’s room to report. It was still early morning, so there was a chance Nox hadn’t woken yet.

Knock, knock.

“Come in,” a clear voice, Nox’s, replied when he knocked on the door. Nox was standing by the window, still dressed in his sleeping gown. Andy silently observed him for a moment before bowing deeply and delivering his message.

“Sir Esterion Launder has arrived with his sister. Shall I prepare a room in the annex for them?”

“Ah.” Nox shook his head. “No, in the main building.”

“Pardon? The main building?”

“Give them a proper room. And send Esterion Launder up to me.”

“…Understood.”

“I’ll see him in 20 minutes.”

“Yes, sir.”

With that, Nox rang the bell on his table. The waiting servants entered the room at the sound. The butler bowed and exited. The servants drew the curtains and began to help Nox dress. Nox, still with a hint of sleepiness on his face, thought as the servants attended to him:

‘How much affection do I need to show before everyone else’s eyes start turning…?’

Nox slowly blinked, assessing something. The servants continued dressing him as if they heard nothing, but Nox knew. Every single one of them would report his every move to the butler.

Once he was dressed, Nox adjusted his cuffs and headed out of the room. A servant elegantly opened the door. Nox exited and went straight to his study.

As Nox arrived at his study and sat down, a knock immediately sounded. Exactly 20 minutes had passed. The butler’s voice was heard.

“Sir Esterion Launder has arrived.”

“Come in.”

As soon as the command to enter was given, the butler and Esterion stepped into the study. Esterion’s face was still impassive. Or rather, overly honest.

He had trusted Nox’s words and brought his sister, but the slight anxiety etched on his face was, to Nox, far too transparent. He shouldn’t be so open in the future.

‘No, perhaps it doesn’t matter?’

Nox spoke to the butler, “You may leave.”

“Understood.”

After the butler left Esterion behind, Nox continued looking at the documents from the previous day and asked him, “Do you like the room?”

“…It’s excessively large.”

“Children grow quickly. It won’t be that big a room for long.”

Nox spoke calmly, even after giving them a rather good room in the main building—a room fit for a direct descendant of the ducal family. Esterion seemed to know what kind of room his sister would be staying in. A slight burden showed on his face. Ah, again, too much showing on his face. Nox briefly set his documents aside and said,

“I can do more for you, or rather, for your sister.”

“If you mean ‘anything,’ then…”

“It means I could even raise her as my own daughter.”

“…If I am loyal?”

“Yes.” Nox looked him directly in the eyes. “If you become my person, you will envy nothing.”

“…”

“When she’s fully recovered, I’ll host the grandest debutante party possible. Your sister could become a lady envied throughout the Empire.”

Esterion remained silent, gazing intently at Nox. Nox met his gaze, then indifferently returned his attention to the documents. Esterion pondered what to say, and eventually offered only a humble response.

“…I will not disappoint you.”

At his words, Nox’s lips curved. “Naturally, you won’t.”

Nox again summoned the butler and instructed him to guide Launder to where the aides would work. As the butler led Esterion to the aides’ office on the same floor, he subtly spoke.

“What did you discuss inside?”

Hmm, I didn’t expect him to ask so quickly. The butler had some sense. He was probably getting a rough idea of what difficulties the newly reinstated Nox was facing.

“Ah, well…” Esterion began lightly. “We didn’t discuss anything special.”

“…I see.” The butler fell silent. It was hard to interrogate him. And even trickier to win him over. This was a man the Duke had openly declared he would treat specially. If he tried to recruit him clumsily, everything would reach the Duke’s ears.

“This is it.” The brief tour ended, and the butler opened the office door, saying, “You can come in at 9 AM and leave at 6 PM.”

“Understood.”

“If you have any specific questions, please call me.”

“Understood.”

Esterion entered the office and looked around. Inside the aide’s office, three desks were neatly arranged, and stacks of documents already awaited on them.

And so, Esterion Launder’s life as an aide began. Time passed, and it was now early morning. The first thing he did was greet the two other aides who had been guided into the office by the butler. After that, they simply sat at their respective desks and began processing documents without much conversation.

After receiving reports that all his aides had arrived, Nox, waiting for the documents to come his way, told the butler, “Don’t schedule any outside engagements for a while.”

“Understood.”

“I need to see if the aides are performing their roles adequately.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, and one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Find out what rumors are circulating outside.”

“…Rumors?”

“Since I’ve hired aides, there will likely be talk of some kind. I need to gauge the public opinion among the nobles.”

“Understood.”

Nox gazed out the window. Winter was now passing, and spring was arriving. This meant it was time for the socialites to emerge, invigorated by the warm spring air, and begin their incessant chattering.

“Will it be within the expected range?” Nox murmured softly. Time passed, and the butler eventually returned with the circulating rumors. He stood before Nox, his face indicating the difficulty of his report.

“There has been talk regarding the aides, but…”

“Yes, go on.”

“It’s just that…”

“Why? Is it that Duke Rainerio is supposedly ‘playing around’ with his aides?”

The butler abruptly stopped speaking, and Nox found it less than amusing that his guess was accurate.

“To be precise, the reason you’ve chosen three young men to keep by your side is…”

“To bring them into my bedchamber?”

“…That’s correct.”

“High society never disappoints me. Utterly vulgar.”

“What should we do?”

“Firstly.”

“Yes.”

“I have no intention of ‘playing around’ with three people.”

This statement was unexpected enough to make the butler fall silent for a moment.

“One is enough.”

“…You mean?”

Nox observed the butler’s face, then smiled, tilting his head slightly as he spoke. “It’s a joke.”

Nox set down his teacup and rose from his seat. As he passed the butler, he said, “Find out who is actively spreading these rumors.”

“Understood.”

“Ah, no. You don’t need to report back to me. Just issue a duel challenge immediately.”

“Pardon?”

“This is not a joke.”

“…Yes, sir.”

“Then I’ll go stretch my legs for a bit.”

“Understood.”

Nox continued past him and headed to the training grounds. The Rainerio family’s training grounds, which should have been bustling with knights in training, were now empty since the family’s fall scattered them all. And they probably wouldn’t return. Nox knew he had to shoulder the burden of restoring all of it. He took off his outer coat and drew his sword—the very one the Emperor had bestowed upon him, now meant only for striking down people.

Nox began to move slowly in the center of the training ground. The trajectory of his blade and his feet following that trajectory were slow but executed with precise movements, almost like a textbook example of swordsmanship. Nox felt the need to regain his former physical strength. The toll taken on his stamina from being tormented by the Emperor and Khalid was greater than he had anticipated.

“Hmph…”

Performing precise movements, as it turned out, consumed a surprising amount of energy. It was no different now. Each movement, which he would have executed effortlessly in the past, felt like a jab to his muscles. Nox decided to train his body slowly, without rushing. He wielded his sword for over three hours.

Sweat poured from his entire body, and his muscles swelled taut. Nox slowly exhaled, wiping away the drops of sweat running down his chin with the back of his hand.

As he finished his exercise and entered the mansion, the butler received a letter. It was from the Imperial Family. The letter was more luxurious than any paper, and bore the Imperial seal, meaning the butler couldn’t open it. Thus, he immediately took the letter to find Nox. Spotting Nox entering the mansion from the training grounds, the butler ran to him and presented the letter.

“Your Grace.”

“…Hmph.”

A letter from the Imperial Palace already? How impatient they were. Nox took the letter. He immediately tore open the envelope and began to read its contents, his face progressively hardening.

“…They’re resorting to childish threats.”