The party at the Count’s mansion proceeded with considerable splendor.

Khalid, having graduated from school, had become an exceptionally beautiful young man, and the invited noble ladies were busy stealing glances at him. However, Khalid’s eyes remained fixed on Alice, who was carrying food.

Alice’s body was perfectly proportioned like an hourglass. Her waist was slim, and her hips curved alluringly. With ordinary brown hair and dark eyes of unfathomable depth, Khalid quietly held his breath whenever he looked at her body, more beautiful than a woman’s.

‘Even though I can never have you…’

He had entered the private school his mother recommended to forget Noel. That prestigious institution, attended only by nobles, enjoyed wild parties on weekends in rented villas. 

They would invite prostitutes and engage in orgies, but Khalid, reluctant to participate, always made excuses to leave.

However, strange rumors spread throughout the school that Khalid liked men because he didn’t participate in these orgies, and he suffered from this gossip until graduation.

Denying these rumors, Khalid realized something upon his rare visit home: the person who aroused him wasn’t men in general but Noel specifically.

Despite deliberately not seeing her for six years, far from forgetting her, his heart raced uncontrollably at the sight of Alice, who had grown even more beautiful.

“Sigh…”

Alice was getting along well with her friends Mariam and Tom, laughing together.

‘You’re fine without me…’

He felt incredibly wronged, somehow getting the sense he’d been digging a hole alone. He felt angry that he seemed to be the only one harboring unrequited love all this time while Noel thought nothing of him. 

If he had at least confessed, he might not feel so wronged, but he wanted to avoid that. Nothing would hurt his pride more than being rejected by Noel, a slave.

‘And even if rejected, I have no intention of giving up.’

“Master Khalid. You’ve come after so long, aren’t you tired?”

His father’s concubine had changed in the meantime. Leah, a woman with blonde hair and green eyes, boldly appeared at the ball despite being a concubine. She blushed when looking at Khalid and hid her face behind a fan. She wore a more splendid dress than his mother.

‘A mere slave.’

A contemptuous light swirled in Khalid’s eyes.

“…This is the first time I’ve seen my father’s concubine out in public like this. Weren’t you a slave?”

Leah was somewhat taken aback by Khalid’s condescending tone. Men had always been kind to her, so she had never experienced such open hostility.

“Ah… Even though I’m a slave, I’m the Count’s wife. Naturally, I should attend parties as his wife and greet guests.”

“Wife? Since when did a concubine become my father’s wife? And it doesn’t suit a slave to wear such an extravagant dress.”

At Khalid’s words, Leah’s face turned completely red. It was so intensely red that even her heavy makeup couldn’t conceal it.

The maids behind Leah fidgeted nervously. The fan in Leah’s hand trembled.

Khalid lightly pushed Leah’s forehead with his index finger.

“…You should know your place. Just because you command servants, you think you’re not a slave? I wonder what mother is doing, allowing a slave to wander around here so brazenly.”

“…!”

“Father tires of slaves easily… You’d be wise to watch yourself.”

“Ugh.”

Amidst the snickering nobles, an angry Leah turned and went up to a second-floor room. Watching her stomp up the stairs, other nobles were busy gossiping, saying, “That’s what happens when you’re a slave…”

Khalid looked back to where Alice was and their eyes met. Alice avoided his gaze with dark eyes and went out to the garden.

“No…!”

As Khalid tried to follow, calling Alice’s name, Bianca, the daughter of Duke Evans, curtseyed before him, holding her dress.

“Master Khalid. May I request a dance?”

Khalid hadn’t asked any lady to dance. So the ladies were just watching carefully, but Bianca, who stood at the highest rank among them, requested a dance from him.

Khalid bit his lip, looking at where Alice had disappeared.

Ignoring Bianca’s request would be rude, contrary to the courage she had shown. He reluctantly took Bianca’s hand.

“The honor is mine.”

Bianca smiled gracefully, seeming to have expected this. The two began dancing in the center of the hall.

* * *

Alice went outside and took a deep breath. The bandages compressing her chest were so tight that even breathing was difficult.

She had been secretly glancing at Khalid, but when their eyes met, she was startled and fled.

[“…You should know your place. Just because you command servants, you think you’re not a slave? I wonder what mother is doing, allowing a slave to wander around here so brazenly.”]

Alice also wandered openly around the party venue. Although it was to serve food, nobles might lose their appetite at the sight of her. If Khalid noticed her, she would be scolded just like Leah.

Khalid indeed despised slaves. She could feel it in his voice.

‘If I weren’t a slave…’

Would things be different then? No. Even if she were a commoner, she couldn’t expect love from him. The noble ladies gazing at him. She couldn’t ask him to look at her instead of them.

‘Me, a mere slave…’

Alice sighed deeply. Then, in a secluded corner of the garden, she witnessed Tom meeting with another woman.

Surprisingly, the woman was a noblewoman. She appeared to be in her thirties and wore a heavy dress. Her eyes couldn’t leave Tom’s firm arms and thighs.

“…I’ve been watching you for a while and thought your body is really good. Won’t you come to our mansion? I can pay you ten times what you earn here.”

“…I’m sorry, Lady Aliza.”

Tom politely declined. Alice hid behind a large tree.

‘Aliza? …Aliza Nicholson, the Baroness?’

Hearing the name, she vaguely recalled that she was a widow in her mid-thirties.

Aliza lifted Tom’s chin with her fan.

“How proud. …Don’t reject me outright, think about it a bit. I’m valuing you highly. Understand?”

Her eyes secretly looked between Tom’s legs. Her tongue darted out and back in as she saw his thick manhood, impossible to conceal even under his pants.

“If you show me the goods, the price could double.”

Despite her expl*cit words, Tom didn’t react. He smiled slightly and continued chopping firewood. When the wood splinters flew, Aliza startled and moved away.

“Then, goodbye.”

“…I’ll be waiting for you anytime!”

“Yes, of course.”

Aliza backed away and returned to the hall. Then Tom spoke in a low voice.

“Noel. How long are you going to hide? I know you saw everything.”

Alice hesitantly came out. Tom wiped his sweat with a towel and looked at her.

“…Did you stop serving food?”

“She said the salary would be ten times higher, why did you refuse?”

Alice couldn’t understand Tom. Commoners already earned more than slaves, and ten times that… If it were Alice, she would have immediately agreed and moved to the mansion.

Tom stuck his axe into the ground and said,

“…Are you asking because you don’t know? What that woman wants isn’t a servant but a male pr*stitute.”

“…You’re not even a virgin, what’s so precious?”

Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to serve just one woman than to visit brothels? That’s what Alice thought.

“Hah…”

Tom made a complicated expression at Alice’s words. As he approached her, a large shadow fell over her. Alice suddenly found herself looking up at Tom, who had grown much taller than her.

“I won’t take a specific lover for the sake of someone I like. I won’t sell my body either.”

“…You have someone you like?”

“…”

Tom silently looked down at Alice. As he raised his hand to touch her face, a familiar voice was heard.

“Noel.”

“Ah…”

Turning around, she saw Khalid standing there, glaring at Tom.

Tom’s hand froze in midair. Khalid’s eyes lingered on Tom’s hand before he firmly grasped Alice’s wrist.

“…You need to clean my room.”

“What? So suddenly?”

“…We’ve met after a long time, and I have things I want to ask you.”

“…”

With Khalid’s smiling face before her, Alice dazedly followed him. Tom watched the two of them with his arms resting on his waist.