Chapter 5.4

Something cold touched Ellie’s cheek.

“Ugh…”

It wasn’t just once—something kept falling on her cheek at regular intervals, so she finally opened her eyes.

What she saw were thick iron bars.

She stared blankly for a moment, then sat up with a start.

“Ow!”

A sharp pain shot through the back of her neck.

It seemed to have bruised.

All the events from before flashed through her mind.

She’d gone to the mansion to meet Diena, met Rozelia, and then was kidnapped by slave traders.

Ellie pulled herself together and looked around.

There were no windows, and the only light came from a faintly glowing lantern.

Water dripped from the ceiling, and she could hear rats squeaking and scurrying around.

Her wrists were tightly bound with rope, making it impossible to move.

“This is insane…”

With nothing sharp, there was no way to untie the rope.

Determined to escape somehow, Ellie got up and wandered around, but there was no exit.

She was alone in the cell, so there was no one to ask where she was.

She had no choice but to wait for someone to come check on her.

In the end, she slumped back down and let out a heavy sigh.

“Will Feroza realize what’s happened…?”

She hadn’t been in this world long, but she knew at least the kind of evil things slave traders did.

They were like cockroaches embedded deep in the empire, surviving every purge and resurfacing again and again.

On top of that, they were so good at covering their tracks that even investigations ran into trouble.

Even Feroza wouldn’t be an exception.

It would take him quite some time to get here.

‘Rozelia said my existence would be erased from this empire.’

That meant she’d be sold off to another country.

Would Feroza be able to find her before that happened?

She felt as if all the blood was draining from her body.

The communication stone was broken, so there was no way to contact him.

Staring blankly at the floor, Ellie heard faint footsteps near her ears.

She perked up and raised her head.

The heavy footsteps grew closer and closer.

With a tense expression, she stared ahead—and a huge man suddenly appeared.

Looking closely, it was the man who had knocked her out before she was brought here.

“Hey, you’re awake.”

Noticing she was up, he approached her.

Ellie frowned and glared at him.

“How’s your neck? I tried to avoid leaving any marks.”

“….”

She didn’t want to answer, so she pressed her lips together and turned her head away.

There was only one reason he’d try not to leave marks.

‘Because I’m top-quality.’

If a slave was injured, her value would drop.

That would be a loss for them.

The man pushed a tray under the iron bars.

Ellie glanced over and saw bread and juice.

But the cup for the juice was made of glass.

“Starved slaves don’t sell. Unless you want to rot here for the rest of your life, you’d better eat.”

With that, he left without another word.

‘Unnecessarily kind…’

But Ellie shook her head to dismiss the thought.

The very act of kidnapping people to sell as slaves was evil.

Her hands were tied in front, so it wasn’t hard to eat the bread.

She didn’t know when she’d be moved, but she couldn’t starve herself until then.

‘I need to eat, at least, to keep up my strength.’

She picked up the bread.

She thought it would be hard, but it was surprisingly soft, and her eyes widened.

One bite revealed it was soft white bread.

It tasted good, so she devoured it quickly and drank the juice.

After eating, she felt a bit more energized and let out a sigh.

“I should have asked that guy what time it was.”

Ellie began to guess what time it might be.

She’d left early in the morning to meet Diena, but after being knocked out for a long time, it was probably well past lunchtime.

‘Is Feroza figuring out where I am?’

Rozelia and Diena would surely feign ignorance.

Would he really be able to find me?

Tears welled up, and she sniffled.

Could I already be on another continent?

“No, if that were the case, they would have told me.”

They’d want to push her into even deeper despair.

Ellie stretched her neck to look past the iron bars.

No footsteps, no voices.

Now was her chance.

She picked up the glass that had held the juice and threw it at the wall.

The sound of shattering glass echoed, and shards scattered across the floor.

She held her breath for a few seconds, listening to see if anyone had heard, but no one approached.

Apparently, they felt safe leaving her alone since she didn’t seem capable of escaping.

“The biggest piece…”

Ellie picked up the largest shard of glass and gripped it in her hand.

Then she twisted her wrist and started cutting the rope.

Her palm stung from the glass, but she couldn’t stop.

“Just a little faster…”

She glanced nervously toward the front and hurried her hands.

After a long struggle, the rope finally snapped.

“Got it!”

She dropped the glass shard on the floor and checked her palm, which was covered in blood.

The sting hit her late, so she blew on the wound.

She pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the blood before putting it away again.

While she was checking for a way to escape, she heard footsteps.

Ellie quickly grabbed the cut rope and hid her hands behind her knees.

It was the same man as before.

He approached, glanced at her, and frowned.

“What happened to the cup? Why is it broken?”

“My hands were weak, so I dropped it by accident.”

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue and pulled out a set of keys.

“We’re moving you, so follow quietly.”

Click—the lock opened.

Her heart pounded at the unexpected opportunity.

The iron door opened, and as the man stepped aside for a moment, Ellie jumped up.

“Move!”

“Huh, wha—?”

She practically slammed into him with her whole body, and he fell backward with a thud.

He hadn’t expected her to act out, so he’d let down his guard.

It was lucky her dress wasn’t too cumbersome.

A man’s angry shout echoed from behind.

She didn’t dare look back.

Her shoes had fallen off, but she didn’t care.

‘I don’t know where this is, but I have to get out of here.’

She ran frantically down the dark hallway.

The stone floor stung her feet with every step.

Worse yet, the inside of this place felt like a maze.

She went left, then right, glancing around, but the exit was nowhere to be found.

“This is driving me crazy, seriously!”

Maybe I should have gone right back there?

The more she ran, the deeper she felt she was going.

She didn’t hear the man chasing her, but it felt as if he could grab her hair at any moment.

Her breath caught in her throat, and her legs trembled.

Then, far ahead, she saw stairs.

‘An exit…!’

That had to be the exit.

She sped up, rushing up the stairs.

She grabbed the handle to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

It seemed to be a very thick iron door.

“Ugh…!”

Please, just open! Please!

She struggled and whined, when suddenly footsteps echoed behind her.

Startled, she frantically searched for a place to hide, but there was nowhere.

The footsteps grew closer, and soon the man appeared.

“Found you.”

She pressed herself against the door.

“You managed to find the exit.”

She didn’t answer and glared at the man approaching her.

“I tried not to damage you since you’re top-quality… but making it so you can’t use your legs should be fine.”

“…What?”

“There are plenty of people in the world with unusual tastes.”

He grinned, sending chills down her spine.

“There are even those who prefer slaves who can’t use their legs. They can’t run away, so they become obedient quickly.”

“You’re insane…! Don’t come any closer!”

She had a strong feeling that if she got caught this time, it would really be over.

She glanced behind him.

Since the man was standing at the top of the stairs, she thought she might be able to push him over.

But it seemed harder than before.

He had been careless earlier, but now he was clearly on guard since she had escaped.

Suddenly, the iron door thudded and shook.

“Eek!”

She spun around in surprise.

But it didn’t open.

She turned back to the man—he looked surprised, too.

Regardless of the shaking door, this was her chance.

She ran straight at the man and shoved his chest as hard as she could.

“Wha—what are you—!”

His body teetered and fell backward.

She saw him flailing, reaching for her reflexively, but she quickly stepped back.

“Aaagh!!”

He screamed as he tumbled backward.

There were heavy thuds, then silence.

She swallowed hard.

She was curious what happened, but had no desire to go down the stairs and check.

Then, the door shook again.

She stumbled back, bracing herself against the wall.

If someone else came out, she would run again.

‘There can’t be only one exit here, right?’

At last, the thick iron door slammed open with a bang.

“Kyaa!”

She screamed reflexively and curled up.

But only for a moment—she realized she had to run and lifted her head.

A familiar voice called out.

“…Ellie?”

It was Feroza’s voice.

She froze for a moment, then slowly raised her head to look at the person standing at the door.

“…Feroza?”

It really was Feroza.

She couldn’t move hastily and just stared blankly as he strode over and hugged her tightly.

“Ellie.”

“Ah…”

His arms wrapped her tightly, his familiar scent filled her nose, and his gentle voice rang in her ears.

It really was Feroza.

“I’m sorry I was so late, Ellie.”

It truly was Feroza.

Tears welled up in her eyes at last.

“Feroza…”

Even her voice, calling his name, was thick with tears.

She reached out and hugged Feroza’s neck.

“Heuuu…”

At last, she burst into loud sobs.

As she cried, Feroza held her even tighter and whispered softly in her ear.

“I’m sorry, Ellie. I’m so sorry I was late. It’s my fault.”

She shook her head.

She wanted to speak, but if she opened her mouth, all that would come out was sobbing, so this was all she could do.

Feroza held her for a long time, and she soaked his shoulder with her tears, sobbing her heart out.