I Became a Slave to the Man I Abandoned Novel (Completed) - Chapter 8

The stone walls were cold and damp. Moss covered the floor in a slippery green film, and the heavy stench of the underground clung to the air. Nox sat on the floor, facing the iron bars. He had lost track of how many days had passed since he was dragged into this underground prison.

His arms were chained behind his back, the numbness long replacing any pain. His shoulders ached, and the chill of the stone beneath him made him shiver uncontrollably.

**Creak **

Just as he twisted his shoulders to shake off the dull sensation, the prison door groaned open, and knights entered. In their hands were ropes and cloth.

“Stay still.”

The command came with a tone Nox had only ever heard from his mother. He let out a dry chuckle, the absurdity of his situation not lost on him. The knights frowned in open irritation.

**Thwack!**

One of them slapped him hard across the face. His head snapped to the side, and blood filled his mouth. He spat the mixture of blood and saliva onto the floor, expression blank.

Without a word, the knights blindfolded him with the cloth and unshackled his chains.

“Still thinks he’s a noble, does he?”

They began to tie his wrists again, this time with rough, thick rope tight enough to bite into the skin. Nox didn’t resist. He thought, just briefly, about fighting back and dying right there. But no if they were going to kill him, they would have already.

So he let them lead him. With the blindfold on, he couldn’t tell where they were going. But it didn’t matter. He already knew to whom he belonged now.

They ascended stairs. A breeze brushed his skin when he was outside. Then he was thrown into a carriage. Lying crumpled on the floor, Nox’s thoughts turned.

*Why did he ask for me?*

It felt too persistent for a childhood grudge. Did he want to torment him? If it were just revenge, he should’ve cut off his head on the spot.

Nox thought of his father, the pathetic, foolish man who clung to the crown prince’s severed head even as his own was taken. He blinked slowly under the blindfold.

*And my mother?*

She had outlived his father, even with her illness. Who could have predicted things would turn out like this? The title was stripped, the estate surely confiscated. Where had she gone?

*She must’ve met her end by now.*

In truth, it was a miracle Nox was even alive. Only because Khalid the boy from back then had claimed ownership over him.

The carriage rolled on. Time passed, unknowable.

**Clunk.**

The wheels stopped. The doors opened, and the knights dragged him out. He stumbled, blindfolded, but they didn’t pause. It felt like a long walk. Stairs. A hallway. Then a stop.

A door creaked open. They pushed him a few more steps.

Suddenly, a sharp kick struck the back of his knees.

**Thud.**
Nox dropped, forced into a kneel. Pain pulsed through his legs.

Then a hand gripped his chin, jerking his face upward.

“…Who did this to him?”

A voice familiar yet changed. Deeper. Stronger. It was Khalid.

Nox stiffened instinctively.

“One of the knights,” someone answered.

**Crack !**

The sound was louder than the blow Nox had received. He flinched. The hand under his chin gripped harder.

“Get out.”

“Yes, sir.”

Two voices responded in unison. The knights left. Their armor clanked, fading away. The door shut behind them.

Silence.

Nox knew he was alone in the room with Khalid now.

The blindfold was ripped off. Light pierced his eyes. He squinted, unable to adjust right away after days in darkness.

“……”

Slowly, his vision cleared. And there he was.

Not the boy from his memory, but a man now.

Golden hair tinged with grey, not the wide, round eyes he remembered but sharp, burning blue. A man who looked like he might tear him apart.

Khalid.

The first to ever love him. Now a stranger.

“Nox Rainerio.”

His name came from Khalid’s mouth, unfamiliar, yet familiar.

“No, not anymore. Just Nox now. A slave.”

His voice was low and rough, laced with scorn. Nox stared up, jaw still held firm. He wanted to look away, and couldn’t bear to see the resentment in Khalid’s eyes.

But when he tried to turn his head, Khalid’s grip tightened cruelly.

“Look at me.”

“……”

“I’m your master now.”

Nox slowly lifted his gaze. Cold, unyielding eyes stared back. Khalid clicked his tongue in disgust.

“You look awful.”

Then, to someone outside, he barked a command:

“Wash him.”

The door opened. Handmaids entered and hoisted Nox up. He didn’t resist. What could he do? Even if he escaped their hands where would he go?

As if reading his mind, Khalid began trailing after them, slowly, deliberately. Like a warden.

*Think I’ll run?*

He was a knight once. Even now, he could overpower a few maids. But that didn’t matter.

The handmaids untied his arms. Nox shuddered as blood returned to his limbs in a painful rush.

They guided him into a bathing chamber adjoining Khalid’s room. The space, pristine and white, gleamed with new marble. The edge of the sunken tub shimmered with a pearlescent sheen. One maid touched a carved bird’s beak, and hot water began to pour.

Then, Khalid’s voice was unhesitant, firm.

“Take it off.”

Nox froze.

Of course he had to undress. But he hadn’t expected Khalid to watch.

And he couldn’t disobey.

With numb fingers, he undid the buttons of his shirt. He was no longer a noble. He was in Khalid’s possession.

Nox understood he should be grateful he was still alive.

From the moment he was forced to kneel before Prince no, now Emperor Peltion, he had given up. Or maybe… when Khalid stood beside the throne.

He had surrendered everything.

He would live now, as the slave of the man whose life he had ruined.

The truth stabbed at his chest like a honed blade.

**Drip. Drip.**

Each article of clothing he removed made him feel Khalid’s gaze on his shoulders, his back, his thighs. His stare burned like fire. Unfit for those icy eyes.

Nox stood, naked. Khalid’s eyes traveled from bottom to top, slowly.

Nox turned his back. He could feel that gaze creeping up his skin like something alive.

And then Khalid’s eyes stopped somewhere. On the muscles of his back, perhaps. Nox smiled bitterly. He pretended not to notice the hesitation.

It wasn’t anything Khalid needed to know. Or understand.

“This way,” a maid said.

Nox stepped into the hot bath. A luxury for a slave. Slaves were usually stripped and splashed with water by a well.

And yet, Khalid stood there the whole time, arms crossed, watching him be washed.

His gaze pierced like blades. And somehow, tickled like a phantom touch.

After the bath, dressed in a robe, Nox felt utterly drained. Khalid’s relentless stare had worn him down more than the bath.

The maids escorted him back into Khalid’s room. Nox still couldn’t tell what Khalid wanted.

The room was larger than his mother’s old chambers. More windows. Especially the terrace door, it was wider than most.

Nox stood there, unable to sit, unable to move. And stared silently at the door that led outside.