“Get rid of him? That’s a waste.”
“If the Third Prince goes ballistic, who’s gonna deal with that? We’ll all be dead. Do you really think the Third Prince will forgive us even if we return him nicely now?”
“What if we secretly put him back?”
“What good would that do? That bastard saw all our faces. When you get tangled up with someone too high up, it’s better to just get rid of them.”
Get rid of me? I was so shocked my breath caught in my throat, and then the boss walked over with heavy steps and removed my gag.
“Hey, who are you?”
“…I’m a painter passing by.”
The lie slipped out in the moment. If I told the truth, I’d end up dead.
“A painter? An artist?”
“Yes….”
“Are you famous?”
“N-not yet, I’m still aspiring….”
“Hmm, so you’re a commoner with perverted hobbies.”
The boss came to a neat conclusion and smiled. Does he actually believe such a flimsy story? Just looking at my clothes, there’s no way anyone would think I’m a commoner….
Perhaps that person deliberately created the atmosphere to make me give that answer. So he could avoid responsibility later when my master shows up to question him.
Then the boss’s gaze moved to my leather chastity belt.
“Are you really an omega?”
I hurriedly shook my head. If they found out I was the Crown Prince’s fiancé, I’d be killed immediately. Somehow it feels like I’m taking on not only Rosenthal’s death flags but all of Seha’s crises too?
“Omegas leak fluid from their back hole.”
The bespectacled man who seemed negative about selling me suddenly spouted this useless information. Then the boss wore a lewd smile and reached his hand toward my lower body.
“W-wait a moment! I’m really just an ordinary person. I don’t even know what an omega is!”
I shook my head vigorously in denial, but the boss flipped my body over without hesitation and grabbed the chastity belt. When his fingers touched my buttocks, I got goosebumps as if bugs were crawling on me.
I twisted my body and struggled, and then his hand withdrew along with a scream.
“Agh! Fuck! Wh-what is this! Aaaaagh!!”
I calmed my trembling body and turned my head. The boss’s hand turned bright red and his fingertips started melting.
***
They called a healer for treatment, but in the end, the boss lost all his right fingers. I thought Eldon was lying when he said he’d cast fire magic on it since he kept touching it and checking the size, but it was true. And it was much more terrifying than I expected.
The twin skinheads tried to break my leg in revenge for the boss, but thanks to the bespectacled man stopping them, saying I was expensive merchandise, it ended with just a twisted ankle. It seemed like my ligament was probably stretched, but instead of treating it, they put thick iron shackles on my arms and legs so I couldn’t move and didn’t even give me food.
Well, I wouldn’t have eaten it even if they gave it to me because of the chastity belt anyway.
The entire time I lay in the underground dungeon where no sunlight came in, my head was complicated.
I knew Eldon despised me, but did he really make me do such dangerous work without attaching a guard? No, wouldn’t it be stranger to attach one? He wouldn’t care whether I died or not. Still, since a person disappeared, he must be looking for me, right?
I shook my head side to side. Yeah right. I’d be lucky if he wasn’t cursing me out, saying I ran away as soon as he gave me the key.
Anyway, what’s happening with Eldon and Seha? They said there would be an auction soon. From the slavers’ conversation, it seems Seha wasn’t caught. They said there were no Hyeon Tribe members.
According to the original work, Eldon and Rosenthal should have gotten married today, but I’m trapped here and Seha ran off with my key.
With the beginning this messed up, will things be okay?
But even without the slave auction episode, it seems like those two will meet eventually. Since they’re the main top and main bottom. Otherwise the story can’t progress.
The problem is me. Since the story got twisted, there’s no guarantee that Eldon will participate in the slave auction as in the original. He might be lovey-dovey with Seha right now. Plus, since the wedding fell through, there’s a high probability that Arleigh won’t appear at the slave auction either.
What if I get sold to some random person? It’s not that I particularly want Eldon, but I need to unlock this chastity belt. He said there’s only one key, but surely there must be at least one spare key?
I felt the urge to bite my nails in anxiety when the bespectacled man came inside. He stuffed a round cloth into my mouth, then unbuttoned my shirt and placed his palm above my collarbone. Then a pain like being branded with heated iron struck me. I bit down on the cloth in my mouth.
After removing his hand, the bespectacled man smiled slightly.
“You’re surprisingly bold. Not even surprised at being branded, not even a single scream.”
I’ve seen it in the novel, so what’s there to be surprised about? It’s just magically branding a slave mark. Besides, it’s not a scar that lasts forever. In the original, Eldon has Silang erase Seha’s brand too. It bothers me a bit that I don’t think he’ll erase mine, and there’s no guarantee the Crown Prince will rescue me, but anyway, it’s not like there’s no method.
The bespectacled man confirmed the slave brand was properly imprinted, then combed my hair and straightened my clothes. And without removing the cloth, he gagged my mouth with luxurious red silk. Probably to prevent me from spouting useless words on stage.
Looking at me, he nodded satisfactorily, then called the skinhead. Then the twins dragged in a small mobile cage. And threw me straight into it.
I got on the luggage wagon while inside the small cage where I could only crouch.
After traveling for quite a while, we got off in front of the Miel Art Museum.
The skinhead dragged the wheeled iron cage through a dark secret passage and went down to the basement. Then, just as described in the novel, the end of the passage was connected to the auction stage.
The skinhead placed me in the center of the stage, then went down off the stage. Powerful lights made of magic stones illuminated me.
“The next slave is an omega.”
The moment the host shouted in a thick voice, the auction hall stirred.
Only then did I escape from my tension and came to my senses a bit. It’s natural, but the host’s script had changed.
‘Next is a Hyeon Tribe member with mysterious beauty. The jet-black eyes and black hair are incredibly beautiful. Look. Don’t those sparkling eyes look like black pearls were embedded in them?’
In the original, the host praises Seha’s appearance with all kinds of flowery language. But this time there was no need for that. The game ended the moment he threw out those three words, ‘omega.’
But even though it’s illegal, they have no business ethics. Declaring it’s an omega without even checking. What if I’m not actually an omega? But this wasn’t the time to worry about slave traders.
I erased the host’s script from my mind and looked at the auction participants. People wearing expensive clothes and fancy masks were all staring at me.
Is the Crown Prince or Third Prince among them? If not, I hope a kind and caring magician who can unlock this chastity belt buys me.
But there’s no way such a good person would come to an illegal auction to buy a slave! Ah, no. This life is ruined too.
As the atmosphere heated up, the host glanced at me with a pleased face and shouted in a resonant voice.
“Let the auction begin!”
As soon as the host shouted, the masked people raised their hands and yelled.
“1,000 gold!”
“2,000 gold.”
“5,000 gold!!”
Perhaps because omega is much rarer than Hyeon Tribe, the numbers climbed much more steeply than described in the original and the fervor was much hotter. Have I ever been this popular in my life?
‘The author’s drawings are pretty but boring.’
‘You’re handsome but something’s lacking. You have no charm.’
‘Minchan is kind but seems hard to approach.’
I’d heard similar things my whole life. From fans, friends, and even from the first and last lover I ever dated. But if this is the kind of attention, I’d rather live unpopular forever.
“10,000!”
“12,000.”
“20,000!”
“25,000!”
Now they weren’t even attaching the currency unit ‘gold,’ and everyone was shouting numbers with crazed eyes. But the person who just called out a number had distinctive hair color. I definitely saw them at the party….
Come to think of it, aren’t most of the people here now nobles? There might be merchants or people from other countries too, but if they’re throwing money around at an illegal auction, they’re most likely nobles of the empire with tremendous wealth. Then they’d know my face too. There’s no way they wouldn’t recognize Rosenthal Chendewden, who dominates high society. But why is it so overheated? Are they thinking of rescuing me and returning me to the ducal family?
I looked at the people shouting. Though I couldn’t see their detailed expressions hidden by masks, their eyes were seething with disgustingly lewd lust. I couldn’t find any loyalty to rescue the future Crown Princess.
They’re thinking of taking me. They have no intention of returning me. Rather, they’re probably planning to hide the fact that they won the bid for me.
Belated reality and fear rushed in, and my body turned cold starting from my fingertips.
The entire time I was trapped in prison, while I was anxious, in the deep recesses of my unconsciousness I was thinking optimistically. I was taking it easy, holding onto baseless threads of hope like, ‘Still, Eldon or Arleigh will rescue me, since I’m an important character even if I’m a villain.’
But I’m not the protagonist. Anyone can replace a villain who torments the main bottom. If I’m sold like this, it’s over. I might spend my whole life trapped somewhere living as a sex slave.
“50,000!”
A middle-aged man shouted vigorously and licked his lips. In that moment, the barely remaining thread of hope was cut off and tears fell.
In the original, the price Seha is sold for was 50,000 gold. But even though the auction price reached 50,000, I didn’t hear Eldon’s or Arleigh’s voices.
In the end, they didn’t come. I don’t see any kind magicians either, and am I really going to be sold as a sex slave like this?
I shook the iron cage with all my might. But it didn’t budge, and unable to overcome the weight of the iron shackles, my hands dropped to the floor. In that moment, along with despair, anger surged up.
Eldon, that bastard! No matter how much you hate me, I got dragged here while doing work you ordered, so you should at least try to search the slave auction and look for me! Dog-like bastard! Worse than Fushi! Get Seha stolen by Arleigh and cry tears of blood in regret, you bad bastard! I’m cursing you for life!
As I was cursing endlessly in my mind, I heard a familiar voice.
“100,000 gold.”
