Chapter 1

The first owner of the territory Raham encountered was a boy with a rigid impression.

He couldn’t have been more than 170 rems tall. His not-yet-shed baby fat and round nose tip revealed his youth.

Yet his expression was cold and arrogant, creating a contrasting impression with the throne-like chair he sat in and the heavy whip placed within easy reach. His dark red robe and black garments contributed to this effect.

If Raham could just charge at him, the kid wouldn’t last a second. However, what separated them wasn’t merely physical distance. It wasn’t the elevated platform, the whip in hand, or the burly knights standing in formation behind him.

Between those blue-gray eyes looking down at him and the sandy ground where Raham knelt lay a wall of class deeper and darker than any physical distance.

One of the five lords ruling the world, the master of Albanas. Lu Deva Carlisle Albanas, known as the cold demon and merciless ruler, seemed to be contemplating Raham’s fate with a chilly deliberation.

A slave who killed eight upper-class people would need to be made an example of at the clan level. However, he was too busy to spend much time on a single slave.

“Well……”

A single word escaped like a short breath. Raham realized his fate had been decided and tensed his body.

He was a large man who could handle two or three strong men on his own. But the class magic engraved on his body from birth was something his strength alone couldn’t overcome.

The territory’s lord, the master, held dominion over all lower classes within his territory, and disobedience against a ruler brought pain unbearable by mere endurance.

Those merciless eyes that could inflict such pain swept over the kneeling slave.

“I should contact my sister. Carlie is perfect for taming disobedient beasts.”

Raham had heard plenty of rumors about the lord, but not many about this sister.

He knew such a person existed, but even commoners typically passed down their households to the firstborn. If a younger brother had taken her position, she must have been quite something.

However, the lord’s assessment was unexpectedly fierce. Though this had been his foreseeable future from the moment he beat his master and superiors to death in uncontrollable rage, Raham’s jaw tightened as the terrible outcome approached.

Soldiers came from behind and lifted Raham. Though mostly smaller than him, their businesslike hands that raised him despite their iron armor were remarkably strong. Of course, with the lord holding dominion over him, Raham had no desire to resist anyway.

He waited in the stone prison for several days without resistance. Around the fourth morning, he learned through the guards’ murmurs that the lord had received a reply from his sister.

Indeed, as the sun rose, Raham was released from prison, washed, changed clothes, and placed in a carriage. His hair was even neatly groomed, but no one offered him a drop of water to drink. Fortunately, he had moistened his throat with the washing water, anticipating this.

⁕⁕⁕

The carriage left the central area surrounded by high castle walls and traveled for about two weeks through various regions before entering a small village. It was a place Raham had never been, despite being sold as a slave and moving around the territory.

At the end of the journey, the knight leading the group knocked on the door of a surprisingly modest house.

Unlike the magnificent castle of the Albanas clan that would make one’s spirit falter just by looking at it, this was a humble farmhouse with rounded roofs and a few hens and chicks wandering around the yard.

“Lady Carlie.”

There was no response, but the knight leading the group waited silently.

After a brief silence, the sound of footsteps approached. Soon, the wooden door that would split in half with one punch from Raham opened from inside.

A voice acknowledging the escort came from the figure standing inside the doorway.

“Sir Pail.”

The man who bowed respectfully in response exchanged a few brief greetings with her. Eventually, he pulled Raham forward.

He would have gone by himself if told. Raham unconsciously frowned as he faced the woman who had received dominion over him.

And he paused momentarily.

A great beauty. ……No, no, that wasn’t important. The Albanas clan’s distinctive ash-white hair, blue-gray eyes, and snow-white skin. Even without these characteristic features or striking beauty, she was a woman who reminded him of the lord from head to toe.

But what made him pause wasn’t that the siblings resembled each other like twins or that she was breathtakingly beautiful. It was the fact that despite such similar faces, they gave completely different impressions.

A sleepy expression as if she’d just woken up, long hair loosely braided and hanging to one side, round-rimmed glasses that suited her slender face, and a plain gray shawl draped over her rounded shoulders formed the layers that made up this woman.

While her brother could kill someone with just a glancing look. This woman looked like she would faint without even knowing who hit her if struck once.

‘What was the lord thinking when he sent me here? This woman is “perfect for taming disobedient beasts”?’

Whether she knew he was sizing her up or not, the woman let out an incomprehensible exclamation as she looked at him.

“Ahh……”

After that, she nodded to the knight to dismiss him.

“Thank you for your hard work, Sir Pail. You may go now.”

“Yes. Then, I bid you farewell.”

They left Raham with a woman who looked like she might faint if he hit her once, and departed.

Even though this woman had dominion over him…… Raham was, after all, a notorious murderer who had beaten eight upper-class people to death.

He began to suspect that the lord might have sent him to eliminate his sister as a competitor. Though he couldn’t know for sure……

During this brief time, Raham took in his surroundings.

A small village with unremarkable security, neither too far from nor too close to the central area. A small detached house at its edge.

With no nearby neighbors, he could kill the woman, dump her in the well, and flee without being discovered for about three days. Of course, even if he escaped, the magical aura emanating from him would make observers look around for his owner.

While various stray thoughts quickly flashed through Raham’s mind, the woman was staring at him. With an inscrutable, mysterious expression.

Soon she turned around and went inside. Her hand beckoned him to follow.

“Come in.”

For now, Raham silently stepped inside.

It was a small but complete…… somewhat disorganized house. Even as a polite lie, it would be hard to call it well-ordered.

A fairly good quality thick carpet was laid in the living room, and while not exactly filthy, it didn’t look neat due to various items scattered about.

On the dining table, visible at an angle from the living room, food ingredients were strewn about, their intended use unclear.

The slightly open door to what seemed to be the room she had just been in was absolute chaos. Amid the clutter of parchments of various sizes and lengths, unknown materials were scattered everywhere. On the wooden frame atop the desk, numerous slender glass bottles filled with reagents of all colors were inserted.

After closing the entrance door, the woman also pulled the door to the room Raham had been looking at shut, saying somewhat sheepishly:

“I’ve been busy researching…… Mrs. Men comes once in a while to take care of the house, but now that you’re here, I won’t need to call her anymore.”

Is this woman seriously planning to use him as a housekeeper? It was absurd, but Raham gazed at her assessingly. He deliberately didn’t kneel.

The woman, that is, the lord’s sister named La Denen Carlie Albanas according to what he’d heard, showed no concern for the new slave’s notorious reputation.

Rather, she leaned casually against a pillar and even wore a loose smile as she looked Raham up and down.

Starting from his pitch-black hair like the night sky, to his stubbornly shining reddish-brown eyes, thick neck, broad shoulders and robust chest, firm abs and thighs, down to his shins and feet—his body was hard as a weapon.

“……”

“……”

While she was obviously looking him over, Raham also observed her.

Her height, quite tall for a woman, and her abundant ash-white hair that sparkled in the sunlight. Her prominent forehead led to a straight nose bridge that curved down to a pretty nose tip, and her long eyelashes cast shadows over blue-gray eyes that shone like the Milky Way. Even her flushed cheeks and red lips drew attention.

All these features came together harmoniously in her small face, followed by a white neck and slender limbs—a beautiful woman whose entire body formed flowing, gentle curves.

Though her impression suggested she couldn’t even cut a chicken’s neck with a kitchen knife, her shoulders visible through the diagonally draped shawl were firm, and her posture was straight. The loose shirt and pants likely concealed a more trained body than appeared at first glance.