I Became a Slave to the Man I Abandoned Novel (Completed) - Chapter 13

“Cough!”

“You think we’re gonna go easy on you just ’cause you’re a kid?”

They began kicking Khalid, who was now slumped against the wall and crumpled on the ground. Thud, smack, *crack!* Loud, dull impacts echoed through the alley.

“*Guhk… haah!*”

Khalid curled up into a ball, taking the brunt of their kicks. But even in the midst of the beating, his eyes were fixed on the torn recommendation letter held in one of the thugs’ hands. *I need to get that back. I have to… for the young master… somehow…*

“This little bastard’s stubborn as hell.”

“Cheeky brat.”

“He’s got a decent face. Think he’d sell well to the slavers?”

“Forget it. Nobles’ve been cracking down on slavers lately.”

“Tch.”

One of the thugs gave Khalid one last vicious kick. He let out a choking cough as the men turned to leave the alley. But Khalid, gritting his teeth, pushed himself up against the wall and called out to them.

“That paper… give it back.”

His round, blue eyes were half-open, gleaming with defiance. The thugs scoffed.

“Is that important to you?”

“Give it back!”

“Don’t think so.”

They were rotten to the core born in the gutters, bred on stealing and preying on others. They were far too used to seeing desperation and had no intention of ever showing mercy. One of them took the already-torn letter and ripped it into pieces.

“No… no!”

Khalid staggered forward, limping badly and his ankle seemed injured. The thugs laughed as they scattered the shredded paper on the ground. Khalid dropped to his knees and began gathering the fragments with trembling hands. Without that letter, he could never return to the young master’s side.

His breath came in shallow gasps. The thugs clicked their tongues, watching the boy desperately piece together his last hope, before spitting on the ground and disappearing into the shadows.

Khalid kept fumbling at the torn scraps, trying to fit them back together. But it was hopeless.

“Huff… huff…”

His vision blurred. Losing the money didn’t matter, not really. It had been a lot, far too much for someone like him, but it wasn’t important. What mattered was that the path back to the noble household had vanished.

Plop. *Plop.* Tears fell onto the dusty alley floor. *Ah… ahhh…* Khalid curled in on himself and began to cry out loud.

People bustled outside the alley. But even though someone was wailing in the shadows, no one turned to look.

Not long after, Khalid was kicked out of the inn. His clothes grew filthier by the day, until he looked no different from the other street urchins.

Back when he’d still been somewhat clean, he’d run himself ragged trying to find work as a servant in any noble house. But without a recommendation, no one would hire him.

Khalid’s patience wore thinner each day. He had no money, no place to stay, nowhere to wash. No matter how beautiful he once was, his appearance grew more and more pitiful.

Whenever the longing became unbearable, whenever something churned and boiled deep in his gut, Khalid would sneak over to Nox’s estate. He would hide near the iron fence close to the garden and steal glances at the young master.

Nox had not changed. His dark lashes, his green eyes sparkling in the sun, his straight posture, the way he smiled gently at the young servants none of it had changed. Not like Khalid, who had become something else entirely.

“Young master…”

Every time he saw him, something inside Khalid felt like it was scraping his stomach raw. As if a skewer had pierced through his gut. He wanted to scream while clinging to the fence. *Young master, I’m here. Khalid, the one you once cherished is standing right here, like this.*

So disheveled, so far from the pretty boy he used to be. And when that thought hit him, Khalid would flee the fence as if running from shame. He didn’t want to be seen like this. But still, a part of him wished *hoped* that Nox would come for him, that he’d extend a hand to his miserable self.

Khalid clutched his empty stomach and sank to the ground. The hunger gnawed at his insides. Maybe it was because he hadn’t eaten for days… or maybe it was because he’d seen Nox again.

His mind had been worn down to the brink, and now there was nothing left to lose. He didn’t want to die in a place like this. If he was going to die, he wanted to kneel before Nox and begged him to kill him.

*If I died in a way you’d never forget, at least it would mean something. I don’t want to vanish into nothing in this alley where no one will ever remember me.*

“Young master… save me…”

But the words that spilled from his lips were not accusations, they were pleas. *Save me. Nox.* His voice was parched, cracked. Khalid looked up at the sky, speaking as if praying.

“Please help me…”

His voice trembled.

“Please… come find me…”

Tears fell once again he thought he’d cried them all, but there they were. Khalid collapsed on the ground and begged the empty air. *Please save me. Help me. Please… let me be by your side again.* But, of course, there was no answer. His young master had abandoned him. And for the first time, that truth struck him like ice cold and sharp.

*How dare I…*

And in that moment of pathetic, desperate begging, the voice he’d last heard from Nox echoed back to him.

*“The fact that you love me that’s the problem.”*

“Ah… aha… ahahaha…”

Tears rolled down Khalid’s upturned face as his eyes stared blankly. But the hand that once held him, the eyes that once gazed at him with warmth none of it remained. Clasping his hands together, kneeling on the ground, Khalid begged and begged until the realization set in: that voice would never return.

“…Why me?”

Why was *I* cursed with this misery? Did you hate me that much?

He staggered to his feet, then reached down and grabbed a large stone from the ground. *I have to survive.* Only by surviving could he do anything. But returning to Nox Rainerio was no longer possible. He had been discarded. And now, the snake that had coiled deep in his belly began to lift its head.

“…I hate you.”

Khalid whispered.

“I hope you end up more miserable than me.”

I hope your pain dwarfs mine. With that thought, he gripped the stone tighter.

Just then, someone entered the alley. Driven by the single thought that he must survive so that he could one day drag Nox into the same wretchedness, Khalid threw himself forward and blocked the two strangers’ path.

“What the hell?”

“Some street rat?”

First things first he needed food. In a low, cracked voice, Khalid said,

“If you’ve got anything valuable… or something to eat… leave it and go.”

“…Huh?”

The men in leather armor let out a snort of laughter. But Khalid’s eyes were intense. Though his face was gaunt and hollow, his piercing blue eyes stared straight at them, unflinching.

“…He’s not kidding.”

“Never thought I’d see someone this bold.”

Deciding there was nothing more to say, Khalid lunged forward with the stone. The men dodged to the sides.

“Huh?”

But as if he’d anticipated it, Khalid swung the stone hard to the right. *Crack!* It slammed into one man’s shoulder with a sickening sound.

“Argh!”

Luckily, the leather armor had absorbed some of the blow, but not all. The other man tried to kick Khalid’s side, but Khalid dropped to one knee and dodged, then kicked the man’s supporting ankle. He staggered.

“Damn, this kid’s tougher than he looks!”

Realizing this wasn’t going to be easy, the men each drew short daggers from their belts. Khalid’s brow furrowed. The blades were really sharp and deadly.

“Mercenaries?”

“Quick to catch on. And you didn’t even check before attacking us?”

The two mercenaries squared off, readying to strike.

“He’s just a kid, but still…”

“We give our best, even against brats.”

“Not exactly something to brag about. But if we get mugged by some scrawny kid, the captain’s gonna rip us apart.”

They charged. Khalid gritted his teeth and tried to dodge, escape anything. But the sudden exertion was too much.

“Ah…”

His vision turned yellow, then black.

*Thud.*

He collapsed.

The two mercenaries stood awkwardly over his unconscious body, scratching their heads in embarrassment.

“…Well, that ended weirdly.”

“Let’s get out of here. No way we’re telling anyone we went all out on some starving kid.”