I Became a Slave to the Man I Abandoned Novel (Completed) - Chapter 143

Nox Rainerio admitted his mistake. He felt his heart plummet when he saw the pitch-black, open maw of the underground dungeon.

He briefly covered his mouth with his hand. It felt as if he might vomit. One of the knights, noticing Nox’s change, asked, “Is something wrong, Your Grace?”

Nox gritted his teeth. The underground to him, the underground room was a pit of despair. The darkness that enveloped him was both the darkness that swallowed him whole and the tomb where he had begged and pleaded for his mother.

Nox Rainerio thought, If someone orchestrated this, then I’ve truly lost this time. If it’s just my own oversight, then I’m truly out of luck.

Well, it’s not like I’ve ever been lucky, Nox swallowed a breath, gritting his teeth, and descended into the dungeon.

Thump, thump.

The footsteps of Nox and the two knights guiding him into the dungeon echoed against the stone walls. Nox felt his breathing grow increasingly rapid. More accurately, he felt his body rejecting the underground air.

His lungs wouldn’t fill completely. He couldn’t breathe properly, as if someone were strangling him.

Like being submerged in water, like being submerged in darkness. Nox Rainerio knew he shouldn’t reveal his weakness. Especially here, in the heart of enemy territory.

Revealing his weakness would only lead to him being torn apart; no one would step forward to help. Feltion and Khalid were utterly untrustworthy.

Creak clang.

Nox stood facing the wall for a moment. Naturally, he recalled being trapped in Khalid’s basement room. Nox tried not to remember it, but the fear deeply rooted in his heart wouldn’t obey his will.

He took a deep breath. He wouldn’t be here long anyway. Even if someone had deliberately thrown him in here, it was merely a matter of pride.

Nox tried to think that way. He continued to strive not to lose his composure. But his breathing grew increasingly ragged, as if someone were squeezing him. Finally, he bent over, covering his mouth.

The knights watching him murmured softly, as if noticing a problem. They seemed to be asking something, but the problem was that Nox couldn’t hear them clearly.

“Your Grace, what is the matter?”

Gasp, gasp. Only his desperate gasps were heard. Unable to open the prison door without permission, they exchanged glances.

His breathing grew more and more frantic.

No answer was heard.

Only his huddled shadow was visible.

One knight went upstairs to report the situation, while the other remained to observe.

Nox staggered and leaned against the wall. Whether his eyes were closed or open, there was only darkness. Nox found himself caught by a fear he hadn’t known he possessed. A wound he would have noticed if he had taken even a little care of himself was now being ripped open.

“Huh…”

Nox dug his nails into the stone wall. Scratch, scratch, just like when he scratched the wooden wall, he dug his nails in until his fingertips were raw. Nox suddenly felt as if he had been abruptly abandoned in the past.

Yes, it felt as though he had returned to that time in the basement room, unable to do anything. Nox finally stopped breathing, unable to even pant.

Gulp, his knees buckled. His resolve to endure, to make it a battle of pride, had long vanished from his mind. Nox covered his mouth with both hands.

Everything he had felt then rushed back in an instant. Save me, get me out of here, it’s cold. It’s too dark here.

What he had once felt now pricked Nox’s brain like an awl. Nox thought, or rather instinctively fumbled for something.

Back then, who got me out then?

Nox’s eyes were consumed by the darkness of the underground dungeon. Urgent footsteps buzzed and echoed in his head. His head ached.

“Nox!”

“Open the door!”

Khalid’s and Feltion’s voices were heard. At the Emperor’s command, a knight belatedly picked up a bunch of keys. Even the time spent fumbling for the right key felt long to them. Nox sat on the dungeon floor, eyes wide, gasping.

That scene pierced Khalid like a blade.

The fear he had etched into Nox had ultimately trapped him. Because of this, he dared not step forward.

Clang, creak.

As soon as the door opened, Feltion rushed in first. Khalid stood isolated in his spot. The scar he had burned into Nox was too vivid. Even in that endlessly dark place, that one image was dreadfully clear.

Nox’s hair, as he sat hunched on the floor, was now soaked with cold sweat. Feltion urgently approached him and reached out a hand. Only the thought of getting him out of there filled his mind. But then.

Slap!

As Feltion’s hand touched him, Nox abruptly snapped his head up and sharply slapped the hand away. He pressed his body tightly against the wall, as if trying to merge with it, and looked up at Feltion with those black eyes. The revulsion in those eyes was so profound it could stop even his own involuntary breaths. Nox, his eyes consumed by darkness, whispered something, unable to blink.

He couldn’t breathe properly, so his voice wasn’t clear, but he definitely uttered something. Feltion stood there, holding his breath just like Nox, trying to read the shape of his lips.

What was slowly articulated from his lips was…

Feltion’s eyes widened.

He bit his lip, overwhelmed by a surge of injustice.

Why here, of all places? After so cruelly slapping my hand away, how could you utter that?

“Ha, Khalid…”

The barely squeezed-out breath was a call for him. Khalid Via. Khalid lifted his head. His pupils trembled faintly.

Nox remembered. Who had first given him the darkness that strangled him. And who, in the end, had saved him again. It was Khalid Via, contradictory as it was. The one who pushed him into hell, and the one who pulled him out.

Feeling that despair, Nox Rainerio shrieked his name like a scream.

“Khalid Via!”

He covered his ears and slammed his head to the floor. As if in response to his scream, Khalid rushed into the dungeon. Khalid pulled him up from the floor. He cradled Nox’s body, feeling his inaudible breaths, and searched for light.

Khalid Via was truly foolish. Yes, whether he was worthy or not was not for him to decide. If he had devoted himself to Nox Rainerio, then he should have protected him no matter what. Khalid gasped as he stepped onto the stairs leading to the ground floor.

Nox Rainerio wrapped his arms around Khalid’s neck, just like that night. The only difference was that then, Khalid was the demon dragging Nox into the abyss, and now he was the knight moving to pull him into the light. Khalid burst out of the dungeon. As light touched Nox, his widely dilated pupils constricted.

Hmph, his breath finally escaped. His hands and feet tingled from lack of oxygen. Nox, trembling, clung to Khalid tighter, desperately trying to draw in more air. Khalid stood there for a moment, holding him, gazing into the air.

“Young master…”

Khalid’s voice was deeply hoarse. He began to walk aimlessly, clutching Nox’s trembling body. Anywhere would do; he needed a place to calm Nox. A place where the sun shone. Anywhere with light.

And…

Left alone in the underground dungeon was Feltion.

His infinitely sunken eyes stared at the dungeon exit. The place where Nox Rainerio had vanished, after striking away his hand and calling Khalid’s name like a scream.

The sight of him, finally burrowing into Khalid’s embrace as if choosing him over Feltion…

“…Nox Rainerio.”

It set his eyes ablaze.

His voice simmered low. As the Emperor’s demeanor turned grim, the imperial knights quietly fell silent and bowed their heads. Feltion curved a fierce smile onto his lips.

“So that’s how it is, in the end.”

No matter what Khalid Via did to you. In the end, you couldn’t forget the affection shared in childhood, so you reject me and embrace him.

Feltion had never felt such an emotion before. Jealousy? It wasn’t something as petty as jealousy. It was a kind of hatred. Towards Khalid, and also towards Nox.

Feltion exhaled with a hah, and briefly covered his eyes with one hand. Then he slowly swept his hand down his face and lifted his gaze. His eyes were now fixed on the ceiling.

“…First.”

Feltion seemed to know what he needed to do now. It was as if he had received a revelation.

“Let’s examine Duke Rainerio’s condition.”

“…Understood.”

“Go find Duke Via and Duke Rainerio. They need to see a healer first.”

He spoke with uncanny rationality. The knights quickly ascended to the ground floor, eager not to upset him further. Feltion stood alone in the underground dungeon for a long time.

He repeatedly looked at the spot where Nox Rainerio had been huddled, and then, with great difficulty, swallowed the ugly hatred he felt for Khalid Via, who had left Nox Rainerio with wounds he could never overcome.

He slowly walked. Towards the surface. When Feltion emerged from the dungeon, the Emperor’s faction nobles, who had followed belatedly, asked, “What happened?”

“…Nothing much. Just a little problem.”

“Where has Duke Khalid Via gone?”

“He’s calming Duke Rainerio for a moment.”

His strangely calm voice silenced them momentarily. The Emperor’s tone was gentle, yet…

“Now I know what I must do.”

The pupils within his round eyes were sharply glinting.