The Slave Is Too Handsome!
002.
The slave who had been acting threateningly until just moments ago looked over Eloise’s face, now revealed after her mask had fallen off, with surprisingly gentle eyes.
Eloise did not avoid his gaze either. She stared straight back at him.
“Are you not going to lower your eyes?”
Only after the slave trader smacked the back of the slave’s head did their strange exchange of gazes finally come to an end. Eloise dusted off the mask she had received from the knight and put it back on before speaking.
“I’ll take this one.”
“A splendid choice, miss.”
Unlike the slave trader, who wore a bright smile across his face, the man’s expression became even more distorted.
Is this woman insane?
Even after he threatened her, she did not so much as blink. Instead, she smiled as if she liked it. Whoever’s daughter she was, there was clearly something wrong with her. Or perhaps she had some strange taste. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to willingly come crawling into a place like this.
“One more thing.”
“Yes, please tell me anything you need.”
“Prepare about three more men who look similar to him as well.”
Eloise spoke as if she were choosing another hat she liked.
Frederick’s expression slowly hardened.
“Similar ones? Yes. Understood!”
The slave trader answered excitedly.
Eloise looked at the man and smiled faintly.
“See you soon.”
The man answered by glaring at her.
Dragged away by the collar, the man disappeared into the darkness with the slave trader.
“Hurry up! Bring me A-rank—no, S-rank ones!”
The slave trader clapped his hands as he spoke.
Soon, several men who were in fairly good condition and had decent appearances lined up in front of him.
“Hmm.”
This one has an ugly jaw. This one’s eyes are dull. This one’s condition is not very good.
The slave trader judged them silently before selecting the three men who looked the most acceptable.
The platinum-blond man, who was chosen first, put his arm around the shoulder of the blond-haired man beside him and whispered.
“I heard you’re being sold to a noble lady? You really hit the jackpot!”
Unlike the platinum-blond man, who grinned widely, the blond-haired man’s expression remained stiff.
“Why do you look like that?”
“……”
“Hey, it’s way better than being sold to some old woman or a man with strange tastes, right? Huh? Your luck just changed.”
The man turned his head away as if he did not want to listen.
The slave trader shouted at the four slaves.
“What are you doing? Follow me!”
Two carriages raced through the filthy streets.
After cutting through the darkness for quite some time, the carriages finally stopped at the back entrance of the ducal residence.
“Lady, you’re already back?”
“Everyone says they fell for you again today, don’t they?”
Upon hearing that Eloise had arrived, all the maids came out to the entrance and began chattering excitedly.
Some of them tilted their heads in confusion.
It was still the middle of the ball, so they wondered why she had returned so early.
“I’m tired. Prepare my bath.”
Eloise handed her mask to the closest maid as she spoke.
The moment the maid received it, she dropped the mask she was holding.
“Eek! What in the world happened?”
Behind Eloise, Frederick had entered with four large men.
Everyone was startled and stepped back.
“Lady, what is the meaning of this?!”
“Ah. Give all of them rooms in the knights’ quarters. Have them bathed first, then give them some food. You all know, right? This stays a secret from Father.”
“Wait, Lady. Didn’t you go to the ball?”
Mary, Eloise’s personal maid, approached her and asked.
Sensing Mary’s inevitable lecture, Eloise quickly headed toward the second-floor bedroom, saying she was tired.
Ah, I can finally live.
Eloise immediately collapsed onto the soft bed.
Her eyes slowly closed.
The tension disappeared now that she felt she had completed an important mission.
Just when she thought she could fall asleep like this, Mary’s scolding voice flew toward her.
“Lady! Wake up and explain yourself!”
“I’m tired. Later.”
“You didn’t go to the ball, so where exactly did you go!? Huh? What if Master finds out…”
“I told you to keep it a secret from Father.”
Eloise barely turned her head to look at Mary and complained irritably.
But Mary had no intention of closing her mouth.
“I don’t know what you’re planning again, but you should have gone to the ball today! You’ve rejected every invitation to tea parties and evening gatherings these past few days.”
“Why waste time on useless places like that?”
“Waste time? Do you know what kind of rumors are going around lately?”
Mary grabbed at her white apron in frustration.
Here we go again.
Whenever Mary tried to oppose her, this was something she often did.
In the end, Eloise got up from the bed with a frown.
“What rumors are going around?”
Truthfully, Eloise had no interest in whatever rumors were spreading.
Rumors created by foolish people were not worth caring about.
However, right now, she needed to humor Mary a little.
“Well, listen! There’s a rumor that you’re going to marry Baron Graham! Isn’t that completely ridiculous?”
Unlike Mary, who was making a huge fuss, Eloise showed no reaction.
Not realizing that only irritated Mary even more.
“You know too, right? That baron! He’s extremely old, has a huge belly, barely has any hair, and he’s stupid!”
“I know.”
Eloise had seen Baron Graham at a party before.
He was an old man whose face was always red from drinking.
There were rumors that he enjoyed gambling in back alleys, and apparently those rumors were not entirely false because he did not even possess much wealth.
So it was only natural that the baron, despite being well past forty, had never married.
“Lady, aren’t you angry? A ridiculous rumor like this is spreading!”
“It isn’t true, is it? There’s no reason to get worked up over a false rumor.”
“Lady! Are you really going to be like this?”
Mary scolded Eloise.
I should have just agreed a little.
Why did I bother arguing?
Seeing Eloise’s tired expression, Mary spoke again.
“If you knew who started the rumor, you wouldn’t be making that face.”
“Who was it?”
“Don’t be shocked.”
Mary glanced around the room where only she and Eloise were present, then dragged over a chair and sat down in front of her.
Even though there was no one else around to hear, she lowered her voice.
Mary’s expression became unusually serious.
“It was Young Master Georges.”
Eloise’s eyes wavered for a moment.
Mary noticed immediately and finally looked triumphant.
Georges?
Georges La Croix.
Eloise’s stepbrother.
He was the illegitimate son born from the commoner woman Duke La Croix had been seeing before his marriage.
And that was not all.
Even after marrying Eloise’s mother through a political arrangement, Duke La Croix openly continued meeting that woman—his mistress.
Eloise’s mother had said that she saw the mistress’s face from the very first day of her marriage.
The two women gave birth to children in the same year.
Because he had been born several months earlier, Georges became the older brother.
But even now, Eloise refused to acknowledge that illegitimate child as her sibling.
Eloise. You must never lose your place.
After Eloise’s physically weak mother passed away when she was four years old, her father openly brought his mistress and her son into the ducal residence.
Perhaps because he pitied the label of illegitimate child attached to Georges, the duke showed no interest in his own daughter and instead cherished Georges.
Anyone looking at the situation would have thought Eloise—not Georges—was the illegitimate child.
From the day that unwelcome mother and son entered the ducal household, Eloise and Georges had, in truth, been competing for the position of heir.
Unlike the beautiful, elegant, and intelligent Eloise, Georges lacked everything.
He was short, unattractive, and most importantly, unintelligent.
Nor was he particularly skilled in martial arts.
It was a competition that made no sense from the beginning.
Yet because he received all of their father’s affection, everyone seemed to think Georges would become the next duke.
As if that was not enough, Georges went around calling himself the young duke.
I will never allow that.
Georges seemed to be trying to damage her reputation and remove her from the position.
Eloise suddenly stood up.
“Lady?”
“I need to go to the ball, even if it’s late.”
Mary’s face brightened.
Finally, she’s making the right decision.
Excited, Mary walked toward the vanity.
“Wait a moment. I’ll redo your makeup.”
“No need.”
“What?”
Eloise was already opening the bedroom door.
Mary’s expression darkened.
“You’re really going like that?”
“It’s fine. Even if I’m a little messy, I’m still beautiful.”
She was not wrong.
But still, if she was going anyway, wouldn’t it be better to at least put some effort into her appearance?
Mary had already used up her entire daily allowance of nagging and could not add anything more, so she only puffed out her cheeks.
Eloise had already left the entrance.
Meanwhile, the ball at Count Miller’s residence was in full swing.
The interior was crowded with countless nobles.
“Lady La Croix is not here again today.”
A young nobleman glanced at the Second Prince Camilo sitting beside him as he spoke.
Camilo already had his chin resting on his hand, wearing a bored expression.
Despite his extravagant outfit, his eyes looked filled with boredom.
Having arrived early, he had not danced with anyone even once.
What on earth has she been doing?
Prince Camilo had already chosen Lady Eloise of the La Croix Duchy as his partner.
He had never intentionally announced it, but everyone knew that Camilo was interested in Lady Eloise.
So the prince casually ignored the rumors spreading these past few days.
Near the balcony stood Baron Graham holding a wine glass.
Pathetic.
The long piece of music finally ended.
The noble ladies gathered around the tables, saying they would take a short break.
Their topic of interest was, of course, Lady Eloise.
“Then that rumor must be true?”
“The rumor that she’s marrying Baron Graham?”
Despite their sympathetic tones, smiles spread across the ladies’ faces.
They wanted nothing more than to remove Eloise, who had gained the admiration of every man.
That was when it happened.
The servant guarding the entrance loudly announced.
“Lady Eloise La Croix of the La Croix Ducal Family has arrived!”
As if they had planned it beforehand, everyone’s heads turned toward the entrance at once.
