“Yes. But I don’t want to die.”
At the very least, I didn’t.
“In this country, slave trading is illegal.”
Regardless of type, slavery had been completely abolished. On top of that, punishments had been strengthened. The person responsible would at minimum have their wrists cut off and be exiled—or even executed, I’d heard.
In other words, if I wanted to properly take down Xavier, I’d have to dismantle the entire slave network.
Of course, I couldn’t do that alone.
“Need… help?”
“Yes, exactly.”
The reason I brought him here was clear. So I answered honestly, without adding a single lie.
“The slave market—no, the place you were kept. I need to know everything about it. Not a single detail left out.”
“….”
“If you help me, I’ll provide food, shelter, everything I said earlier. Even compensation.”
After listening quietly, Matthias asked cautiously,
“Anything… else?”
“You don’t have to do anything else.”
Worried he might misunderstand, I clarified firmly.
“Just tell me what you know. How many people are there, where it is, things like that.”
What else was there…?
I thought for a moment, then decided I’d organize it later.
“So think about it comfortably. You can stay here until then. Ah, you can refuse too, but… I’d prefer if you helped.”
“If I…”
He murmured timidly.
I instinctively leaned in.
“If I stay here…”
Matthias looked at the bread he had been eating.
“Together…”
He gripped the bread tightly.
“…can I eat it?”
“Huh?”
That completely unexpected question made my eyes dart around.
I didn’t even think about that.
“U-um… well.”
Eating together? That wasn’t a difficult request. It would be fine to eat together sometimes.
“Sure. While you’re here.”
“I’ll do it.”
The moment I finished speaking, Matthias dropped the bread.
“I’ll stay. Here.”
“G-good… okay…”
Did that… just work? Did it actually work?
I didn’t expect him to agree so quickly.
You can’t just follow someone because they give you food!
I wanted to say that—but I was the one who brought up food first, so I couldn’t exactly talk.
Still.
This is way too easy!
How was he supposed to survive like this?
But unlike my worries, Matthias himself had no such concerns.
“Then rest.”
After the maid left, Matthias was alone in the room.
He quietly looked around.
According to Aria, this place was now his space. A place where he could sleep, eat, and rest freely.
Had he ever had something like this before?
No.
Never.
His life had always been the worst.
Not a single hopeful day had ever existed.
He had been abandoned on the streets at birth, kidnapped without even knowing his parents, and raised in an organization.
After that, his life had been nothing but suffering.
He was beaten constantly, and often survived by eating rats from the sewer out of hunger.
Even that had become impossible eventually. Fresh vegetables, meat—those were things only the people who tortured him ever had.
They were things a slave could never even dream of.
But he had never resented it.
Because this was all he had ever known.
He didn’t even understand what a normal life meant.
So he had no expectations.
All he knew was his name and age.
Even those were only known because they were needed to manage him as a slave. Without that, he would have lived and died without knowing them.
But one month ago, something had changed.
He overheard something.
—“W-what?! Frombell?! You mean that bastard is from the Grand Ducal family?! Are we all going to die?!”
—“Shut up and don’t spread that around.”
—“Do you think they’ll leave us alone if they find out? They’ll kill us all!”
—“Idiot. Think about it. If he really were from the Grand Duchy, why haven’t they found him? It’s not that they couldn’t… they just didn’t. He’s a bastard child. He was abandoned.”
Grand Duchy. Abandoned child. Illegitimate son.
For the first time, Matthias felt something called anger.
And that anger was directed at everything except himself.
Abandoned, used, discarded—none of it had ever been his choice. He had always been dragged along by others, never in control.
Until an hour ago, he had no sense of self. He simply obeyed everything.
But once he became aware of the truth, something unbearable surged inside him.
Should I kill them?
But in the end, Matthias did not kill the slave traders.
No—more accurately, he could not.
Even if he was strong, they were a group. Escaping alone had already been difficult. Taking them all down was impossible.
So he decided to wait.
He could never forgive the Frombell Grand Duchy that had thrown him into hell.
And so, at the edge of the world—
He met Aria.
—“Would you like to come with me?”
—“I’m not suspicious. I just… hate the person who brought you here. He’s my uncle.”
—“Please help me deal with him. I’ll provide food, shelter, everything. Even compensation!”
A strange woman.
That was his first thought.
A woman who so openly insisted she meant no harm—someone he had never encountered before.
—“I’ll… go.”
If everyone else had only tried to use or hurt him, Aria was different.
They had just met, yet she was kind.
But after a short conversation—after realizing she might not harm him—Matthias felt something unfamiliar.
Confusion.
What is this woman?
Why is she being so kind?
—“Should we… go to your home first?”
But Matthias was not foolish.
The moment he sensed she meant no harm, he understood that pushing her away would be the stupidest decision.
And there were still enemies nearby.
Even if he escaped, he might starve.
Acting out here would only draw attention.
But more than that—
—“…I want to go.”
The warmth that led him away from the cold darkness felt too intense.
So Matthias decided to follow her.
And that was the correct choice.
—“Matthias.”
—“S-sir… what does that mean?”
—“Ah, it’s just a polite suffix! I felt weird just calling your name directly.”
—“T-take it off. Just name.”
—“Just call you by your name?”
—“Keep speech… simple.”
—“Then you should also speak casually.”
—“….”
She gave him food.
Not just that—clothes, a room, clean blankets, even gentle care.
Everything he had never experienced came from Aria.
Sitting on the soft bed, Matthias bit his lip until he tasted blood.
It wasn’t a dream—he could feel pain.
But touching the soft fabric made him afraid.
What if this was all a dream?
No.
He shook his head firmly.
He opened his hand.
The warmth from earlier—when they touched at dinner—was still there.
It could not be a dream.
Warm.
He clenched his fist.
Even if he went outside, there was nowhere to go.
The Frombell Grand Duchy?
It crossed his mind briefly—but would they even take him back after abandoning him?
Matthias narrowed his eyes.
“No.”
He was certain.
This place, where someone chose him, was far safer than the family that discarded him.
So he would behave.
At least until he understood how he would be used.
“Aria Renesti…”
The fact that he, too, had teeth to bite back with—was a secret known only to her.