His body was bound tight, chained and covered in wounds, trapped in the chest with no means to resist.
“How much are Lupus slaves worth these days?”
Luise Ideana’s voice was calm, almost detached, as she asked the head of the Vitel Trading Company.
“Well, as you know, the climate surrounding slavery has changed. Outside of the Ideana territory, the trade isn’t what it used to be.”
Though the remote lands of Ideana still clung to the institution of enslaving the Lupus, in the capital their treatment was slowly—if only slightly—improving. It wasn’t as though they were treated as equals, but slavery had become a sensitive issue.
The Lupus had won victories too significant to ignore in several wars, and their resistance had grown fierce. For that reason, even the Vitel Company had begun treading carefully with such trades.
“A paltry sum will do. Look at his condition.”
“…May I ask, my lady, why you wish to sell a slave so suddenly?”
“…He’s defiant. And an eyesore.”
Luise’s voice was steady, but her face—drawn tight as though she might burst into tears at any moment—told a different story.
It was strange, hearing such cruel words spoken with such an expression. Sensing that, neither Eclace nor his father pressed her further.
“Do you wish for us to take him immediately, my lady?”
Unable, perhaps, to trust her own voice, Luise only gave a faint nod.
“The most I can offer you on the spot is fifty Della.”
Even in that moment, the merchant did not abandon the principles of trade. It was a deliberate lowball, a price not even a quarter of the slave’s true worth. Fifty Della was the cost of a well-fed pig at best.
Given the Lupus’s poor condition, the figure was still laughably meager. Any noblewoman, no matter how sheltered, would recognize it as far too low.
And yet—
“…Fine.”
Without a word of bargaining, Luise agreed.
Willard Vitel’s lips pressed tight as he studied her.
“You truly… mean to sell him?”
As a merchant, he would never ordinarily ask twice once a deal was struck. Profit was profit; to force the other party to reconsider was folly.
But something in Luise’s eyes compelled him to confirm.
She closed her eyes, her small hand curling into a fist.
“Take him. Now.”
As if struggling to steady her wavering resolve, Willard asked nothing more.
“Very well, my lady.”
At his signal, the knights moved to close the lid of the chest once more.
“Mmph…! Ugh…!”
The bound Lupus let out ragged, muffled cries through the gag, but the knights only shoved him back inside with their boots and slammed the lid shut. The nails hammered down, sealing it tight, while the merchant counted out fifty Della.
With trembling hands, Luise Ideana received the payment. Fifty Della—so little that even her small hand could close over it entirely.
When the trade was done, porters heaved the massive chest onto the Vitel wagon.
“Then, we shall take our leave, my lady.”
Willard bowed politely before turning away.
Eclace followed his father, but hesitated. Something inside him told him that this was wrong. His eyes flicked back towards Luise Ideana.
That day, he learned that some people could weep without shedding a single tear, and that sorrow could deepen all the more when it could not be softened by tears.
He couldn’t look away from the young lady, who was standing with her head bowed in silence.
Was it right to leave her there? To pretend he hadn’t seen it? To accept a deal that should never have been made?
Then, as if sensing his gaze, Luise lifted her long lashes.
Eclace was startled, as though he had been caught looking where he shouldn’t have.
He hastily turned his head away, realising that he had been staring too boldly at a noblewoman. He quickly moved to follow his father.
But—
“Wait…”
The fragile voice held him still.
Eclace froze mid-step.
“You’re Willard Vitel’s son… aren’t you?”
She had come closer without him noticing, her clear green eyes quietly raised to his.
“…Yes, my lady.”
“I’ve heard… in the Duchy of Lester, the Lupus are treated well.”
Her voice trembled, thick with tears that had not fallen.
“…Compared to elsewhere in the Empire, that is true. It is the only domain where slavery has been formally abolished.”
Eclace answered her with utmost sincerity.
The Duchy of Lester, ruled by a progressive duke, had indeed improved the lot of the Lupus.
Luise’s small hand suddenly grasped the sleeve of his coat.
“Then… could you send him there?”
“What? But slavery is forbidden there. A Lupus cannot be sold…”
“I’ll cover the price.”
She pressed the fifty Della she had just received back into his hand—and added the emerald ring from her own finger.
Flustered, Eclace tried to refuse, but she firmly closed his fingers around them. Her plea was so earnest, so desperate, he found himself unable to turn her away.
“…May I ask why, my lady?”
A merchant would usually never dare to question a noble’s private request. To do so could mean becoming embroiled in dangerous secrets or incurring a noble’s wrath.
However, the woman looked so desperate that Eclace broke the unspoken rule and asked her what she wanted. It was the first mistake of his life.
As if to emphasise this, Luise lifted her gaze and met his eyes in silence.
“You don’t need to worry. It’s nothing criminal… I’m not a spy. I give you my word.”
It wasn’t the answer he was looking for. But it was the only answer she provided. And so, the lupus slave was brought into the Duchy of Lester under the name Vitel.
At the time, Eclace Vitel had no idea how much that decision would alter the course of history. On that day, the Vitel Trading House purchased the boy for fifty della and sent him to Lester to work as a servant.
The boy, who had clawed his way through life with sheer tenacity, soon distinguished himself. He progressed from servant to squire, then knight, finally saving the duke’s life. Ultimately, he was adopted as the duke’s son.
Thus, Shed Lester became the first Lupus ever to claim the title of duke.
And to the Vitel Trading House, who had set the course of his fate, he showed great favor.
After all—
‘He never knew it had been Luise Ideana’s request.’
Shed believed that it was the Vitel family’s mercy that had delivered him to a land without slavery. The Vitel family never revealed that Luise had begged for his freedom.
Within months, the Ideana family had been accused of treason and wiped out. Had Lester known the truth — that the boy had been deliberately sent from Ideana — Shed would have been cast out at once.
Luise, declared a traitor, seemed to have died with her family.
Perhaps because of the way she had looked that last day, Eclace could never bring himself to expose her.
‘Of course, that’s just the excuse I tell myself.’
The real reason was simpler. Keeping the truth hidden served the Vitel house far better. Shed Lester was now a man of wealth, power, and an army at his back. For him to believe he owed his life to the Vitels…it was an invaluable advantage.
Even when Eclace spoke with unsettling boldness, Shed let it slide because of that debt. But now, the past was irrelevant. It was her: Liana Serpens.
“…She looks so much like her.”
Eclace narrowed his eyes.
Yes, she was like the girl he had met years ago: Luise Ideana, who had been branded a traitor and killed. The Temple had declared it so; it could not be false.
And yet, Liana bore her features. Different hair, yes. But if Luise had lived, and grown into a woman instead of being buried in disgrace, she might have looked exactly like Liana.
‘No wonder the duke is so fixated on her.’
A maid who bore the face of the girl who had abandoned him.
“…Interesting.”
Eclace’s lips curved faintly as he stroked his jaw.
Whatever the truth, one thing was certain. That woman had the power to shake Shed Lester. Which meant, one day, she could prove to be a useful card, or a dangerous variable in future dealings.
After all, even the journey to Ideana had already been disrupted because of her.
Rising from his seat, Eclace opened the iron safe beside his bed. Inside lay several heavy purses of coin.
“Look into that woman.”
He tossed one of the purses onto the table before his attendant. Because in every deal, in every gamble—information was everything.
“Yes, young master.”
The attendant bowed, tucking the purse of coins safely into his robes.
“And, young master, the medicine you requested is prepared. It will be delivered directly to Ideana.”
At those words, a satisfied smile curved across Eclace’s lips.
“Excellent.”
He locked the safe and pocketed the key.
“Be sure to keep silent about the medicine.”
“Of course. The hawks will handle it personally.”
“You’ve done well, as always.”
Eclace’s smile deepened as he thought of his birds. He had sent them flying across the Empire and beyond to serve him.
The larks whispered the secrets they had gathered from taverns, inns, and brothels. Barefoot sparrows darted through filthy alleys, collecting every rumour scattered on the streets like grain.
Dark-hearted crows, greedy for anything that glittered, were not easily tamed but always earned their keep. The loyal hawks struck swiftly and unerringly, never missing a target with their keen eyes. The gulls carried precious tidings from across the sea.
If there was any information on Liana Serpens, the birds of Vitel would certainly deliver it.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
The attendant pressed a hand to his chest in a show of loyalty and slipped out.
Eclace settled back at the tea table and let his gaze wander lazily towards the window. In the distance, he could see Shed Lester returning, his knights at the forefront. He glanced at the clock. Morning was almost over.
“So much for our plans to leave for Ideana today.”
He lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug and sipped his tea. He disliked having plans disrupted, but he was not the sort of man to be shaken simply because things didn’t go as expected.
“Well, perhaps I’ll call it the price of watching something… entertaining.”
His eyes lingered on the figure in the distance—Shed Lester, leading a horse with a woman seated upon it.
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Shame on him for hiding it but in the long run it was for the better.
Liana is obviously the one who caused the downfall of her whole family, and was likely plotting it before she even brought Shed to Eclace.