In The Basement Of Duke Ivanstein's Mansion - Chapter 5

“She’ll be quite a useful item.”

The manager said this and turned around. Mel felt her legs about to give way but forced herself to stand firm.

‘It’s done. It’s done……’

That night, Mel and her mother were able to go on the auction stage side by side, without being separated.

“You absolutely won’t regret it. Their former master was so reluctant to let them go. I barely managed to get them.”

“I’ll convey that.”

The manager grinned from ear to ear, rubbing his hands together. Several pouches hung from his waist, filled with gold coins given to him in addition to the slave price.

“My lord will be pleased.”

The knight, who was the manager’s client, said this and turned around. Behind him, the manager kept bowing deeply to see him off.

The knight walked for quite a while before arriving in front of a carriage parked somewhere in an alley on the outskirts of the city. He knocked on the window three times, and a small window in the carriage opened slightly. Through that gap, the knight whispered softly.

“This place needs to be cleaned up.”

“Tsk.”

The small clicking of the tongue was a sign of approval. As the knight gave a hand signal, figures dressed in black emerged from the darkness.

“Don’t leave even a single rat alive, erase everything.”

“Yes.”

Those who received the order disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

Tonight, the largest slave auction house in the Kingdom of Raon will disappear without a trace. Before Duke Lionel Ivanstein, slaves and slave traders were equal. They were lives not even worth a mere insect.

“Are the slaves we brought today suitable for use in the testing ground?”

“Yes. They were perfect for clearing out the hidden passages. It’s rare to find young ones, we were lucky.”

“You said there’s a sick mother?”

“Yes, she seems quite clever, trying to be sold together. She probably won’t do anything rash, if only for her mother’s sake.”

“Good.”

As the knight’s lord, Duke Lionel Ivanstein, closed the window, the carriage started moving. Behind it, a luggage cart carrying Mel and her mother followed. Their destination was Duke Ivanstein’s mansion.

In the deep darkness, Genoa gazed down at the entire Ivanstein ducal mansion with cold, shining eyes. No matter how silently they moved, they couldn’t escape Genoa’s uniquely keen senses.

Far away, the main gate opened, and shortly after, figures could be seen entering on foot, having abandoned their carriage. Due to the distance and their efforts to conceal themselves as much as possible, their identities were unknown. However, the very fact that they could enter Duke Ivanstein’s mansion like this at dawn was proof of their status.

“Can you see?”

“I can’t see anything, young master.”

Genoa’s servant, Bane, shook his head with a pale face. His gaze, anxiously scanning the surroundings, was trembling aimlessly. He probably couldn’t even tell if what Genoa was pointing at was a person or an object.

There were places in Ivanstein’s ducal mansion where human footsteps were not allowed.

First, the tower where the imprisoned duchess was said to have gone mad.

Second, the incinerator where the bloodlines of the deceased members of the ducal family were said to have been burned.

Lastly, the testing ground where the heir to the duke’s family was born.

All the servants in the mansion feared these three places. They didn’t even want to pass by them. Yet now, Genoa and Bane were inside the first one, the tower of the mad duchess.

“The duke moved in person this time too.”

“…Young master, it’s dangerous to get involved in matters the duke handles personally. Besides, now that you’ve entered the mansion, he will surely track your location.”

“I’m curious about what he brought with him.”

“Young master!”

Bane remonstrated more strongly. He didn’t know what would happen if they escaped from the Duke of Ivanstein’s pathological control. Genoa was one of the duke’s countless children. So his life would be spared until ‘that time’ came.

But the duke would surely return any offense to his mood with certain disadvantage. That’s what Bane was worried about.

“If I’m too cautious, I’ll die a boring death.”

Genoa brushed off Bane’s concerns as if he was used to it. If one only enjoyed what was permitted, they couldn’t survive in the Duke of Ivanstein’s household.

“There are no branched family lines in the Ivanstein ducal family. Only one heir exists, and officially, no one else is born.”

“Young master.”

“But how many of my siblings are left?”

“…Twelve.”

“Ha.”

Genoa touched his lips, which were about to twist, and looked down at the base of the tower again. There was a dark figure, presumed to be the duke, who had disappeared into the mansion, and another group that had split into two. They were heading somewhere in the garden, not the mansion, with ropes tied to their hands and their eyes covered.

“Didn’t they say the youngest is about to turn ten?”

“Yes.”

“We really don’t have much time left.”

This year, the heir to Ivanstein will be decided. The number of people who have to take the test is twelve, and not all the children are the same age. If the youngest is ten, then the oldest is fifteen. Genoa is thirteen, in the middle. Among them, only one can be recognized as Ivanstein’s only child.

Only one. The rest will become pitiful blood clots that were never born. Genoa’s poor blood relatives who must struggle to become that one.

The strong boys learned swordsmanship or martial arts, while the relatively weaker girls crammed all sorts of knowledge into their heads. They each tried hard to find a way to survive in their own way, but none of them knew about the ‘test’. Only the current Duke of Ivanstein, who had survived there and become the duke, knew what happened in that place.

Only one. Only one survives to become the true Ivanstein.

“The duke can’t prepare the entire test alone. He needs helpers.”

Genoa was finally certain that there were people who would become the duke’s hands and feet to prepare for the test. If he hadn’t wasted time overcoming the traps and devices set in this cursed tower, he might have known earlier. But he decided not to regret it.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Before descending from the tower, Genoa took off the hat he had been wearing uncomfortably. As he did so, the silver hair that could be called the symbol of the Ivanstein ducal family sparkled in the moonlight. The amethyst-like eyes under his lowered lids were beautiful, and every time he moved gently, an undisguisable noble grace flowed.

They say the devil came down in this form and bewitched people. Genoa was the most Ivanstein-like child among the twelve still living children of Ivanstein.

There was a time when siblings who were scheduled to take the test were eliminated one by one. They were all older than Genoa.

When, where, and how did they die? Mysterious accidents that even the Duke of Ivanstein couldn’t uncover. While numerous circumstances pointed to someone else, all suspicions were directed at Genoa. But when Genoa smiled harmlessly, curling the corners of his eyes, even those who suspected him had to withdraw their suspicions.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, young master.”

Bane, who had been momentarily stunned by Genoa’s beauty that he couldn’t get used to every time he saw it, hurriedly followed his master.

Bane had no doubt that his master would become the only Ivanstein. With the ability that had made this tower completely his own, he would surely swallow up the testing ground as well. After all, there had never been a time when Genoa failed to get what he wanted.

A chilly silence once again settled over the forbidden tower.

* * *

Mel spent a night somewhere in the Ivanstein ducal mansion.

The lodging was a cabin made of sturdy wood, which only Mel and her mother could use. There was a small but soft bed in the cabin, and in the narrow makeshift kitchen, they could boil water to drink. No place had ever given such treatment to slaves before. Mel found this fact very unsettling.

‘For now, adapting quickly is the priority.’

The exhausted Mel gratefully enjoyed the given environment to the best of her ability. The best thing about the lodging was that sunlight poured in through the window in the morning. There was a small window at the top of the cabin, at a height Mel couldn’t reach.

It was the first time she had a room with a window. Her mother, watching Mel staring intently out the window, laughed softly.

“Hehe.”

For Mel, who was pretending not to be but was secretly curious, her mother lifted her body to show her the outside. Close to the window, there was a thick tree shooting up towards the sky, its thickness as wide as three or four people combined.

“Mother, there’s a hole in this tree.”

“Hehe. There are birds that make holes in trees and nest inside them. I guess this big tree was also home to such birds.”

“Birds can live inside trees too?”

“Well. Those little ones dig deep holes, so we probably can’t see them with our eyes.”