“The one willing to pay for that shameless thing you spoke of.”

The man said this as he stepped closer to where Madam Aba and Breti were. From the slight gap in his pouch, the glint of gold coins shone through.

“One hundred thousand gold.”

Just as he claimed, it seemed that very sum was inside the bag. One hundred thousand gold—far surpassing Aurora’s profits for two whole years. Considering Madam Aba’s reputation for her greed, it would have been stranger if her eyes hadn’t lit up at the sight of that money.

As expected, Madam Aba’s eyes sparkled as she glanced at the pouch that landed at her feet.

“And who might you be?”

Feigning indifference to the money bag, Madam Aba sized the man up from head to toe. In response, the man pulled back the hood he’d been wearing.

Breti, still dazed from Aba’s punishment, suddenly found his face filling her view.

He had dark hair with a hint of blue and piercing green eyes that seemed tinged with blue. His gaze caught and held hers. The man, with his somewhat cold demeanour, gave Breti a bored glance.

“I’ll buy the girl.”

While assessing the stranger, Madam Aba’s gaze flicked to the hilt of the sword at his waist. Sensing at once that he was not an ordinary man, her confidence seemed to falter a little.

Even so, her desire for money didn’t waver.

“Her father owes me a debt, you know.”

Madam Aba said, crossing her arms arrogantly and eyeing him up and down.

“You’ll need to pay that off as well…”

“Double.”

Before Aba could finish her haughty demand, the man tossed another heavy pouch at her feet. Through the slightly parted opening, the glint of gold coins could be seen.

Aba’s eyes grew wide with astonishment.

While she was blinded by greed, the man seized Breti’s wrist and pulled her to her feet. With a rough hand, he grasped her delicate jaw, turning her face this way and that, as if inspecting a product for flaws.

After a long inspection, he shifted his gaze to Madam Aba.

“Surely you’re not about to say this still isn’t enough?”

“N-no, it’s more than enough. Of course, of course.”

Turning over the money bag in her hands, Madam Aba began to bow obsequiously.

‘What a windfall.’

Silently rejoicing, she bent even lower.

“From this moment, the girl belongs to you.”

The man regarded Madam Aba with a cold, unblinking stare. Then, as if tossing aside something unimportant, he handed Breti—now in his grasp—over to the large man standing behind him.

“Benon, take her to that place.”

“Yes, Master.”

Madam Aba didn’t even glance at Breti as she was led away by the burly man. Instead, her greedy smile deepened as she reached for the money bags.

But before her hands could close around the gold, the man stepped in her way.

“First, let me see the promissory note for the debt you say her father owed.”

💙💙💙 💙💙💙

A short while later, Madam Aba approached the man, holding a sheet of paper. Bowing as obsequiously as before, she handed him the document.

“This is the loan certificate the girl’s father left behind.”

It set out in detail how Breti had been reduced to slavery through the exploitation of a legal loophole. Madam Aba handed it over without any shame.

‘Judging by his appearance, he’s probably just a knight who wandered in and was seduced by that wretched girl.’

She had sized up the man’s shabby appearance and immediately dismissed him as unremarkable.

Flush with excitement from the huge sum she’d just received, Madam Aba couldn’t stop talking.

“The girl’s pretty enough that you’ll enjoy having her around.”

Plenty of men had coveted Breti before, but whenever Madam Aba named an outrageous price, they’d all shake their heads and try to haggle. Every time, Aba would snort and brush them off.

‘I always knew she’d fetch a high price one day.’

The older Breti grew, the more beautiful she became, and Aba had pinned her hopes on selling her for a fortune. She had no intention of letting her go for anything less. Knowing Breti’s value would only increase once she came of age, Aba counted the days, waiting for her to grow up.

‘This is the best deal I’ll ever make. That girl was a goose that laid golden eggs.’

Madam Aba, nearly bursting with glee, added,

“She gets her good looks from her mother. People used to whisper that her mother might’ve been an illegitimate daughter of some noble family, you know?”

The man’s expression didn’t change as he listened to Aba speak.

The man simply examined the promissory note in silence.

“How long has she been working here?”

“Ever since her mother died, she’s been working here—so it must be close to ten years now.”

His eyes lingered on the final section of the document. Among the standard loan terms was an unusual clause: If the debtor had a child and died without repaying the debt, the creditor would become the child’s guardian.

‘By becoming her guardian, you could keep the child here and make a mockery of the law that is supposed to protect children from inheriting their parents’ debts.’

When Madam Aba had lent money to Breti’s father, she’d already suspected he wouldn’t be able to pay it back. That’s why she included that very clause, ensuring the debt could be forced onto his daughter.
It was a loophole—a quiet abuse of a law meant to prevent debts from being inherited. Madam Aba had taken full advantage of it.

“The girl’s father owed us a fortune from his gambling. He died without paying it off, and all that’s left behind is that child. What else could I do?”

“…”

“So she had to work off the debt with her own hands.”

Thinking back, Madam Aba nodded in satisfaction. ‘It was the right choice.’

“Still, the girl’s father was a decent man—at least while his wife was alive. He only fell apart after his wife died…”

“You seem to know her parents quite well.”

“Of course. Her mother worked here until she was heavily pregnant with her. I’ve known the girl since she was a newborn, so I know her very well. And…”

Leaning closer, Madam Aba lowered her voice to a whisper.

“With that pretty face of hers, she knows how to entice men. For all I know, she’d make herself useful as a night attendant, too.”

The man slowly rose to his feet and replied,

“I’ll decide that.”

“Oh, of course. Whatever you wish.”

“But…”

“Eek!”

As he stood, he pressed a cold blade to Madam Aba’s throat. She began to tremble, frozen in terror with the knife at her neck.

“W-why are you—why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“Not only did you charge illegal interest, but you also altered the promissory note.”

The tip of the man’s sword pressed even closer to Madam Aba’s throat.

“A-altered? What are you talking about…!”

“And you did all of this in my territory.”

“…!”

The moment he finished speaking, a memory flashed through Madam Aba’s mind. She recalled whispers about the Duke of White’s appearance—a man who’d become lord of the duchy two years ago, said to have mysterious green eyes tinged with blue, eyes so intense they could make your knees buckle.

“N-no, it can’t be…”

A chill ran down Madam Aba’s spine. She’d always dismissed those rumors, but now she realized they were true.

The man’s name was Karsten L. White—the master of the White Duchy, the most fertile land in the entire Pensia Empire.

“It seems you’re not afraid to die.”

The tip of Karsten’s blade gleamed, ready to strike at any moment. Just then, the burly man who had left with Breti returned to his side.

“Master.”

Karsten sheathed his sword, handing the promissory note to Benon as he walked past.

“Turn that woman over to the guards.”

💙💙💙 💙💙💙

Led by the giant man, Breti soon arrived at a mansion far more luxurious than the inn where she’d worked. The dazzling furniture could have drawn anyone’s eye, but Breti only trembled with anxiety.

‘Who is he?’

Who could possibly hand over a fortune—two hundred thousand gold—for someone like her?

‘He must have the same intentions as everyone else.’

Worry clouded the deep green of Breti’s eyes.

The pattern with the men who pursued her was always the same. They had many uses for her in mind, but their intention was always the same.

Some wanted her to be their concubine. Others openly harassed her in the hope of spending just one night with her.

Breti was certain that the man who had bought her wanted no different.

Lost in anxious thoughts, she flinched when the heavy door swung open with a loud bang.