The next day, I postponed the wedding preparations and headed to the Miel Art Museum.
Honestly, I wasn’t keen on it. But when Eldon laid out his reasons point by point—that I had deep knowledge of art and could identify counterfeits and stolen goods, that I could buy expensive paintings in bulk without raising suspicion, and that I was someone the Grand Duke wouldn’t suspect—I had no words to refute him.
Especially the part about Grand Duke Curtis not suspecting me made my throat tighten. It meant the Grand Duke also knew I was the Third Prince’s person. Tsk…. This is why past romances shouldn’t be discovered.
Anyway, since I’d already accepted the task, I should do it properly. I’d gotten a promise that he’d remove the chastity belt if I did this job properly, and I wanted to see the paintings of this world anyway, so this actually worked out well.
As soon as I entered the art museum, I quickly scanned for counterfeits and stolen goods. The painting style was completely different from what I expected, but they were easy to identify because the titles and descriptions matched what appeared in the novel.
Even if the emotional descriptions were unfriendly, it was a novel with detailed scene and background descriptions.
I purchased an appropriate mix of counterfeits, stolen goods, and authentic pieces.
The museum manager fawned over me, saying he’d serve me tea at the sudden appearance of a big spender, but I appropriately declined and returned to the carriage.
“How did it go?”
Eldon asked in a dry voice. Even though this was an opportunity to deal a blow to the Third Prince’s side, I felt no tension from him. It also seemed he had no worries that I might be a spy or betray him.
I opened the notebook I’d made myself for sketching and wrote down the names of the paintings.
“These paintings are all counterfeits. The ones written here are stolen goods. I’ve checked the ones I purchased.”
“You didn’t buy them all?”
“Then they would have noticed. Don’t worry, I only excluded the ones with lower value. And I also purchased authentic pieces to avoid detection.”
Eldon took the paper I handed him. There wasn’t even a word of thanks like ‘Good work.’ I already knew he was that kind of person so there was nothing to feel hurt about, but there was something I absolutely had to receive. I held out my hand toward him.
“What?”
“The key.”
“We’re not sure if what you said is correct yet, are we?”
Even though the wedding is right around the corner, the trust level is rock bottom. He didn’t discard his suspicion, he just didn’t express it. Even if it’s for political reasons, I couldn’t understand why he’d bother marrying someone he doesn’t trust this much.
“I need to relieve myself.”
“Number two?”
I desperately wanted to argue that I shouldn’t have to say even this, but I held back while looking at the red sword at his waist.
“Number one.”
“You don’t need a key for that.”
“I don’t like it. The hole is small.”
I bit my lip and protested. Eldon chuckled and gave me the golden chastity belt key.
“Thank you.”
“It’ll be hard to find a bathroom, so why don’t you take it off here? Should I help you take it off?”
“…It’s fine.”
I forced a smile and got out of the carriage.
But Eldon’s point was valid. Where would there be a bathroom? While public urination wasn’t punishable in this world, so it was fine to urinate anywhere, I needed to remove the chastity belt so I needed a bathroom of some scale.
The closest place from here was the Miel Art Museum, but going back now might raise unnecessary suspicion.
I gripped the key tightly in my hand, looked around while glancing about, and started walking. If I kept walking, there’d be at least one café.
Even though it was my first time on this road, I walked confidently, but somehow the path kept getting narrower. Should I go back? Let’s look around up to here, and if there’s nothing, I’ll find another place. As I was examining the buildings and turning a corner, someone came running and crashed hard into me.
Black hair, black eyes, a gentle and kind impression with slightly drooping eye corners. He was the first East Asian I’d seen in this world.
But wait, like Eldon, this person also had a scar on his ear. In the original work, Eldon and Seha would touch the wounds in the same location and have conversations about how they seemed bound by fate.
Then is this person Seha, the main uke?
As I was blankly admiring his face, Seha suddenly stood up and ran away. What, he bumps into me and doesn’t even say sorry? You call him an innocent uke, a cheerful uke? Why doesn’t he match the keywords at all! This is keyword fraud!
It’s mentioned that not learning etiquette is a charm point, but apologizing when you bump into someone first isn’t grand etiquette! It’s basic courtesy, and he doesn’t even have that!
I was grumbling when I snapped back to my senses. I can’t do this. The moment I start viewing Seha unfavorably, I’m boarding the express train to villainous sub-uke. Right, he can fail to greet someone. What’s the big deal?
Wait, I can catch Seha right now and make him meet Eldon! If they fall for each other at first sight, Eldon will cancel the wedding. I hurriedly stood up, but my hand felt empty.
Where did the key go? I searched my pockets and scoured the ground, searching again and again, but the chastity belt key was nowhere to be seen. Where on earth did it go! It’s not like the key has legs! I missed Seha too, this is completely twisted.
Wait, Seha…!
Only then did I remember Seha’s occupation. He’s from the Hyeon tribe, a minority, and is persecuted because of his exotic appearance, even abandoned by his mother. He survives alone doing pickpocketing in back alleys before being kidnapped by slave traders and meeting the Crown Prince and Third Prince.
Right, that guy acted like the pinnacle of purity throughout the novel, but he was actually a pickpocket. It was all described in passing while explaining his difficult past, so I’d forgotten for a moment.
Damn it, without that key, I…! The moment I became certain the key was stolen, anxiety welled up before anger.
Why are Eldon and Seha tormenting me like this! This is why Rosenthal went astray!
Just as I was about to go catch Seha, someone grabbed my nape.
“Ahhh!”
A muscular skinhead lifted me up and cheerfully shouted.
“Hyung! Come here!”
“Did you catch that Hyeon tribe bastard?”
“I found something even better.”
The skinhead shoved me at another identical-looking skinhead. The eyes of the skinhead twins looking at me sparkled.
They instantly tied my hands and feet, gagged me, put me in a large sack and dragged me away.
Inside the pitch-black sack, I belatedly grasped the situation.
They’re slave traders. Seha bumped into me while being chased by slave traders, and even in a crisis situation, displayed his professional spirit by stealing my key and running away. And they were taking me as a chicken instead of a pheasant.
Rosenthal in the novel lives well and enjoys luxury until right before being brutally killed, so why am I in this state? Is it because I tried to change the original? So I’m being punished? Is the best ending to just do nothing, enjoy what I can, and get chopped?
They loaded me onto a horse and rode for quite a while. My stomach churned and nausea rose, but then the horse stopped and they hoisted me up again. While humming a song, they went down stairs, and I heard the sound of a door opening.
“Boss, we caught a complete treasure!”
“Did you catch the Hyeon tribe?”
“No. There’s no comparison.”
“I told you to catch the Hyeon tribe this time!”
“Boss, just look once. You’ll be shocked when you see!”
The knot at the head was untied, then the sack was flipped over and I was thrown to the floor. Despite calling me a treasure, the treatment was rough. Dry heaving poured out, but still, escaping from the oxygen-deprived sack felt like I’d live.
As I twisted my body in pain, the skinhead grabbed my hair.
“Boss, how is it? Pretty, right? Like a fairy?”
“Pretty, but… isn’t this a noble?”
The man called ‘Boss’ frowned. At least this one has a working brain. Right, I’m a noble! You caught the wrong person!
I appealed to the Boss, but since my mouth was gagged, it didn’t come out as language. Then the skinhead proudly said to the Boss.
“Not a noble.”
Along with his words, his thick hand grabbed my pants.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
You guys don’t touch slaves! It said in the novel you don’t do things that damage the product value! Why are you suddenly doing this! I twisted my body in confusion, but the skinhead stripped off my pants as is.
“Look.”
When the skinhead tapped the leather chastity belt, the Boss raised the corner of his lips. Excited by his reaction, the skinhead spoke in a high-pitched voice that didn’t match his build.
“There’s no way a noble would do this. He’s a pet or a kept boy!”
“I see. If he were a noble, there’s no way a guy, not even a woman, would be wearing something like this.”
When the Boss nodded, the nervous-looking man standing next to him anxiously adjusted his glasses.
“He might be an omega.”
“Omega?”
“A man who can bear children. The Crown Princess this time is also an omega. They’re so rare that only royalty or dukes can keep them, so this one might be like that too. Even for a guy, he’s way too pretty. He doesn’t seem like an ordinary human.”
Despite his intellectual atmosphere, the logic was sloppy, but the conclusion was correct. As I hid my surprised expression, the Boss said casually.
“If he’s that rare, he’ll be expensive.”
“Yeah. If he’s really an omega, you can name your price.”
“What does it matter if he’s an omega or a fairy? Just sell him and that’s it.”
The skinhead smiled brightly, but the glasses guy worried again.
“…He might be His Highness the Third Prince’s pet. Who else but him would do such perverted things to that precious omega?”
The air froze in an instant. I also swallowed at the ambiguously astute analysis.
There is someone else besides him. Even if I said the noble and dignified war hero did this, no one would believe me.
By the way, Arleigh is known as a pervert even in the underworld. I heard he took the epithet of sage ruler, but is it okay to tarnish such a precious name? Well, it’s not my concern.
Anyway, the Third Prince has no idea about his maternal uncle Grand Duke Curtis’s activities. While he’s sexually promiscuous, his lofty and arrogant personality makes him dislike illegal or dirty business.
Even in the original, he only participated in the slave auction to suppress his irritation about Rosenthal’s wedding. He had no idea Grand Duke Curtis was running it and was furious when the truth was revealed.
But even so, since it’s a well-known fact that the Grand Duke supports the Third Prince, it seems to weigh on the minds of subordinates. And this was an opportunity.
I was about to scream immediately. If I make noise, they’ll remove the gag. Then I’ll tell them. I’m the Third Prince’s person that you fear, so let me go!
Then the Boss spoke quietly.
“If he’s the Third Prince’s pet, we should get rid of him.”
