That Exceptional Slave’s Circumstances

Rihana thought his appearance personally wiping a woman’s body somehow didn’t suit him at all. Once, she had gathered courage to ask him to wash her in an attempt to seduce him, and she had felt something similar then too.

It was different from not suiting him due to clumsiness—more like the feeling of wearing ill-fitting clothes. As Rihana felt Raiden’s touch carefully wiping her body, which was a mess of bodily fluids, saliva, and s*men from their long session of s*x, she thought this really didn’t suit him.

Raiden slowly wiped every corner of Rihana’s body. Though his movements were clumsy, the careful and thorough touch that took time and effort made Rihana feel her mind, which had been hazy just moments before, gradually becoming clearer.

“It’ll be hard for you to get up, so should I have Mary bring the meal inside?”

Mary…

‘Calling her by name…?’

She didn’t have the strength to tense her stomach muscles, so it seemed no voice would come out. She struggled to move only her lips. Why was he calling her by name?

Seeing her like this, Raiden bent his upper body and brought his ear close to her face.

“Hm?”

Rihana stared at Raiden’s ear. The ear with its wide earlobe and refreshingly curved outer rim made her think about how even this man’s ears were handsome. Without realizing it, Rihana stuck out her tongue and licked his ear that was right in front of her nose.

Raiden’s shoulders flinched as he pulled away from her, his eyes widening. Rihana stared directly at Raiden, who was looking at her with bewildered eyes.

Why was he calling Mary by name? She had never given him permission to call her by name. She had never given him permission to casually call other women by their names.

But she couldn’t openly express these feelings to Raiden. It was perfectly natural for servants to call each other by name, and although he was living as her guard slave, Raiden’s position wasn’t different from the other servants in this mansion.

“Why, aren’t you hungry?”

‘I’m hungry.’

Unable to make a sound, she spoke with lip movements, and Raiden skillfully pulled the cord attached to the bedside to call Mary. Then he pulled the blanket up to cover Rihana to her neck.

Even though Mary was a woman, Raiden seemed determined not to let Mary see any of Rihana’s bare skin.

“Did you call for me, my lady?”

“My lady would like to have her meal in her room.”

When Raiden answered instead of Rihana, Mary made eye contact with Raiden. Mary’s face quickly turned bright red.

“Yes. Rai, should I prepare a portion for you too?”

“I’m fine.”

Mary nodded to Raiden and bowed to Rihana, who was looking at her while covered with the blanket up to her neck.

Since when have you two been speaking informally? Why does Mary call you Rai? No, when did you have time to talk enough to speak informally?

Along with the accumulating curiosities, an inexplicable jealousy burned in her chest.

“Let’s put on a robe first. Mary is more skilled at serving meals than I am, so let’s leave it to her.”

Raiden gently lifted Rihana up and put the robe that was placed on the chair next to the nightstand on her.

Indeed, hearing Mary’s name flow from his lips wasn’t very pleasant. Without realizing it, Rihana tensed her lower abdomen and spoke to Raiden.

“Don’t call her.”

Her voice was cracked and hoarse, not producing a pretty sound. But she didn’t care and tensed her stomach again.

“Don’t call other women by their names.”

At her words, Raiden looked at her with a surprised expression.

“Don’t call Mary by her name.”

Raiden stared at Rihana for a long time as she stubbornly told him not to call Mary by name in her cracked voice, then slowly closed his eyes, opened them, and said:

“Alright.”

His low voice was unusually sweet.

* * *

The news that Casian was coming to the County arrived in the late evening. Rihana, who had been sitting on the sofa leisurely drinking tea while admiring Raiden sitting on the opposite sofa reading a book, frowned at the butler’s words that Casian would arrive soon.

Entering and leaving other people’s homes without notice must be a family trait—both mother and son really had no manners.

Hah. A long sigh naturally flowed from Rihana’s lips. Thinking she should at least dress up somewhat out of courtesy, she got up, and Raiden also closed the book he was reading and got up.

“Why? Keep reading.”

Rihana liked watching Raiden read. The Kadelai Empire provided learning opportunities regardless of social status.

While it was reality that those who had been slaves from a very young age or poor commoners couldn’t learn even if they had opportunities, Raiden could read and write, read books, and had knowledge as broad as any noble.

Here too, whenever he had free time, before bed, or when he had leisure, he would always become absorbed in books like this. This sight was attractive enough to make not only Rihana but most of the mansion’s servants swoon, watching for a moment.

That’s why she had deliberately made him sit on the bedroom sofa so only she could see him, but now that an unwelcome guest was barging in, she felt bad about having her pleasant time interrupted.

“It’s fine, my lady.”

Since the butler was still there, Raiden spoke formally to Rihana. For some reason, that respectful tone felt cold and distant, making her heart anxiously flutter.

“Don’t come out. Stay in this room.”

She didn’t want Casian and Raiden to encounter each other. Thinking that Casian might spout more b*llshit about having Raiden serve the Princess or his mother again upon seeing Raiden, she planned to hide him.

For Rihana, this was the best consideration she could offer Raiden. But at Rihana’s words, Raiden made a very cold expression. Her heart sank at Raiden’s chilly expression looking at her.

“I will do so.”

Raiden bowed his waist and lowered his head, then sat back on the sofa and opened his book. Seeing that he no longer gave her any attention, it seemed her words had put him in a bad mood. It was understandable that he would misunderstand.

Rihana hoped Raiden would understand her reasons for telling him not to come out of the room as she headed to the dressing room.

As soon as Rihana left and the bedroom door closed, Raiden slammed the book he had been reading shut.

“Hah…”

He hadn’t intended to be this emotional. He had been in a good mood the whole time, finding her jealousy over him merely calling a servant by name endearing. Under Rihana’s glances as she kept stealing looks at him while he drank tea and read, his body had heated up and he wanted to quickly lay her down on the bed.

Since she would still be swollen below, he had planned not to penetrate her today but to thoroughly lick and taste her body.

He had been filled with that anticipation when suddenly the butler appeared and said her fiancé would arrive soon. At those words, his heart suddenly grew cold.

He had never forgotten the fact that Rihana had a fiancé. He also hadn’t forgotten what he’d heard from the servants—that she had liked that fiancé for a long time, and that the engagement itself was something she had wanted and personally requested from the Emperor.

He had just momentarily mistaken things, finding her lovely when she cried over being slightly touched by another woman, acting like she had been sexually harassed. He had briefly misunderstood due to her sharp jealousy toward a servant, something he had never expected.

Even though he had never possessed the foolishness of confusing possessiveness with love.

It seemed Rihana, not content with being an utterly loose and promiscuous person, was planning to marry that piece of trash who had been fooling around with the Princess right in front of his fiancée. He understood.

She had loved him for a long time, and since the engagement was something she had wanted, she would naturally plan to marry him. No, since it was an engagement directly arranged by the Emperor, it was obvious that she, the Emperor’s Sword no less, wouldn’t dare think of breaking the engagement.

Knowing all this, he had momentarily mistaken her interest and affection toward him. Even though he knew well that such mistakes were pointless.

He had already received a messenger bird saying they had discovered the location of the brother the Emperor Kadelai had ordered him to kill, so finding him would probably be a matter of time. So the time he would remain here wouldn’t be very long either.

‘Further mistakes would be troublesome for both of us…’

He had already lost his heart to her, but he was someone who couldn’t stay by her side forever. Having used the word “forever” to her with his own mouth, there would be quite a few troublesome matters when he returned to his country, but he had no intention of breaking the promise of forever he had made with her.

But regardless of his circumstances, she was a woman who would become the Marchioness of Lewandes. Even if he wanted to take her to his country, he had no confidence anywhere that she would abandon the profession and family she took pride in to follow him, so he wouldn’t be greedy at all.

So whatever she did, locked alone in this room while meeting her fiancé alone late at night, he had no right to show his feelings.

Raiden leaned his head against the sofa headrest and pressed his tired eyes with his thumb and index finger, letting out a short sigh.

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