Six days later.

Moldy bread and spoiled milk appeared for breakfast again today. By this point, Alice wondered what the Countess was thinking. She understood the desire to drive her away, but found it strange that the Countess wouldn’t just say it directly.

Thunder rumbled in her stomach, but she felt too weak and simply lay down.

Occasionally, when the elderly maid was asleep, Alice would sneak into the kitchen and eat baked potatoes to stave off hunger. However, she still felt hungry.

“No appetite again today? Typical slave.”

“…Excuse me.”

“What?”

“…Nothing.”

“Hmph.”

Eventually, without eating breakfast, Alice decided to walk by the lake. Her parents and younger brother should be free by now. The thought that her family would be at home brought her some comfort.

“Ugh….”

She vomited again despite having eaten nothing. She didn’t show this to the elderly maid. If she found out, the Countess would know too. Alice had learned well through the Countess what happens to concubines.

‘Could I be missing my period because I haven’t eaten enough? How wonderful if that were the only reason.’

But unpleasant thoughts kept coming to her. What if she was carrying Khalid’s child? Not only was it difficult for a slave to give birth, but the child would also become a slave.

[Let’s make many children, Noel…. Children of you and me.]

‘Lord Khalid. Even if I give birth, who would acknowledge them as your children? Your wife? Or you? Eventually, when I grow older, the children and I will be discarded.’

Khalid cherished her now because she was young, but being abandoned when she aged was the fate of a concubine. Their children couldn’t escape the fate of slaves either.

‘I need to meet the Countess.’

Alice decided to meet the Countess again. Surviving on potatoes alone was too precarious, especially if she might be pregnant.

Meeting the Countess was easy. The elderly maid was clearly the Countess’s minion, so Alice told her:

“I want to meet the Countess.”

“…What?”

“…I want to leave this place. Please tell her that.”

“Very well.”

The maid answered seemingly having been waiting for this.

Alice didn’t know how the maid conveyed the message to the Countess, but the Countess’s carriage arrived at the villa that evening. She was dressed in an elegant gown, perhaps having come during a party.

Countess Vanessa sat on the sofa.

The elderly maid brewed tea and handed it to the Countess. The Countess moistened her lips. Alice sat across from her.

“…I heard you want to leave?”

“Yes. Since my parents and brother have been freed, I also want to leave this place.”

Vanessa was somewhat puzzled. Today at the party, her son had outshone all other men and gained the most popularity.

A letter had also arrived from Daphne apologizing for her rudeness that day. It stated that her intentions differed from her mother’s, and that she would gladly accept an engagement if Khalid changed his mind.

‘Perhaps removing this girl would be better if Khalid is to change his mind. How wonderful that she wants to leave on her own.’

However, seeing someone who disliked her son gave her mixed feelings.

‘Was it one-sided love from Khalid? Is that why he got lovesickness?’

Vanessa contemplated. But she didn’t have much time to think. Having Alice by Khalid’s side for long wouldn’t help her son’s future at all.

“Alright. Have you decided where to go? As you know, your hometown won’t work since Khalid knows it.”

Alice had never been to any other territory. She might never see her parents in her hometown again.

“I’ll go to the capital.”

“The capital…? There are many jobs there, but the cost of living is high…. Do you have a place to stay right away?”

She didn’t have a penny. Vanessa put down her tea and said:

“…Since Khalid currently holds your ownership, I can’t do much for you. You’re escaping on your own accord as a slave. Understand? You’ll need money to live in hiding, so I’ll give you this much.”

At the Countess’s signal, the elderly maid handed over money she had prepared. Alice bowed her head as she received the money pouch. The pouch was quite heavy.

“Thank you, Countess.”

“…I hope we never meet again.”

The Countess’s words were somewhat ironic. Initially, it was the Countess who sought out Alice when her son was ill. But since the Countess had also saved Alice from thugs, she couldn’t complain.

“Yes. I won’t show myself….”

The Countess had Alice board a carriage again. Though she wanted to kill her, concern for her son’s health made her instruct the coachman:

“Take her to the capital without harming a single hair on her head. Understand?”

“Yes, my lady.”

After the carriage left, Vanessa sighed. Now she needed to meet Daphne to proceed with the engagement again. Daughters from other families were fine too, but it was hard to give up on a Marquis family. She wanted to proceed with Khalid’s engagement somehow.

The week-long party had ended. Khalid hadn’t kept any noble lady by his side, and since his mother hadn’t said much about it, the party passed quietly.

The next day, Khalid took a carriage early in the morning to the villa. He was eager to see Alice. He wanted to relieve his fatigue by feeling her warmth.

‘I miss you.’

Thinking of Alice, Khalid hardened below. How much would he tease her this time? He was desperate to bury himself inside her. The female body he had experienced once tormented him even in his dreams.

“Haah….”

His heart was impatient, but the carriage seemed unusually slow today.

He received news that Alice’s family had been freed from Helgrip, a place known as the land of death, on the second day of the party. Noel would want to go to her hometown too.

‘She’ll probably ask me to let her meet her parents… I should allow that.’

Had he kept Noel at the villa too much? He wanted to let her meet her family, take her outside, go on dates. He wanted to share everything with Noel.

‘I want to hear your real name too, Noel.’

Noel was clearly a male name, so she must have a different birth name. He could find out by requesting the guild, but he wanted to hear it directly from her.

‘Noel.’

His pants hurt from his hardness. His mind was flailing with the desire to enter Alice immediately. No other woman could fill that void.

When the carriage passed through Bonagar Forest and arrived at the villa, Khalid got out.

With the forest scent, birds chirping, and refreshing breeze, having a meal outside with Alice didn’t seem bad. Sitting on a cloth spread on the grass, eating sandwiches and drinking juice while lounging around sounded nice too. And if the mood became right…

[Mmm…! Lord Khalid! Ah, you shouldn’t…!]

Only Khalid could remove the dress that covered her body so frustratingly. She would surely be embarrassed to show her n*ked body outdoors. Khalid imagined Alice’s disheveled appearance. His manhood had now hardened to the point of bursting.

His steps toward the villa quickened. Passing through the hall, he instructed the chef to prepare sandwiches and juice. Khalid ran up to his room on the second floor and flung open the double doors.

“Noel…! I’m back…!”

The room was neatly arranged. Only the elderly maid was there looking at him, with an unpleasant expression.

“…Where’s Noel?”

“…Ah. About that slave, young master. We’ve searched the entire villa but can’t find her. It seems she has run away.”

Khalid’s eyes widened at those words.

“…What did you say?”

Khalid’s voice trembled faintly. The elderly maid couldn’t understand why Khalid was shocked about a slave disappearing. Sure, he might feel empty after mixing bodies with her every day, but she thought that someone who would lead the Count’s family shouldn’t be so attached to women.

“Impossible! She abandoned me again…!”

Khalid couldn’t believe it and personally searched the other rooms. He opened all the few doors in the villa and instructed the servants living outside to search the forest.

Several hours passed, but Alice was still nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, a servant who had been attacked by a beast returned bleeding.

‘She escaped from here alone without a carriage?’

Bonagar Forest was the Walsh family’s hunting ground. Even in the morning, beasts would be lurking everywhere, so it was hard to believe she had escaped the forest without a carriage. Even the servant had received a light wound from a beast.

‘Could it be my mother again…?’

Without his mother’s help, she couldn’t have taken a carriage since she had no money.

Khalid immediately contacted the guild.

‘I can’t trust my mother anymore.’

Khalid’s face darkened. He wanted to escape from his mother’s grasp. To do that, he needed to become a Count. First, he would request the guild to find Noel and then pull his father down from the Count position.

The moment he officially became Count, his mother wouldn’t be able to touch him.