I Only Raised Men for Revenge - Chapter 9

Rohan took out the Merchant Guild badge from his pocket. The investment had been so large, and it was, after all, derived from the Marquisate, so the Merchant Guild badge was quite flashy. As if to show that money could solve anything.

Seeing it, the man’s eyes gleamed.

“Ahem. It, it’s real. You even have the Guild badge I understand.”

In the end, the gatekeeper hesitated and stepped aside. It was a natural reaction.

The Merchant Guild and the slave traders had a tacit relationship. A kind of mutual convenience. Perhaps he thought that the Merchant Guild, which had even revealed its name, would not have a negative impact on them, so he was quite friendly.

“If you’re buying slaves, just walk straight ahead.”

‘Damn it.’

Just because he had a Merchant Guild badge, he was given way so easily. How much had they been colluding behind the scenes? He wanted to overturn everything.

But it wasn’t the time yet. He couldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past. He couldn’t make the mistake of letting them get away right in front of his eyes. After all, the slave traders would still be in this place, doing the same thing, even years later.

‘I’m not a crusader for justice.’

But there must be a reason why he had returned to this time, and he felt that this was one of those reasons.

The biggest reason she had returned to this time was the family curse, and she had learned about that curse thanks to this slave market.

“Aren’t you going?”

“I’m going. Thank you.”

With those words, the three entered the long corridor. A long, long corridor. A place with many rooms. But where there should have been doors, they had all been torn off and replaced with bars. People were imprisoned there.

A place where everyone was helplessly trapped. There were very young children, and there were old people who looked like they could barely move.

Sesenia’s heart sank heavily. It was a place she had only heard about. Whether she was working for the Marquisate or as an Empress, she couldn’t move easily, and she had only heard that such a place existed. She had only actually come once.

It was there that she had met ‘that person’ and heard about the Marquisate’s curse. And she had promised that person. That she would definitely get rid of this place. That even if she couldn’t save everyone, she would make sure that no one would have to go through this again.

For her, who had only sat at her desk and ordered them to be eliminated, this situation was not easy to adapt to. Seeing those who had made humans less than human, Sesenia bit her lip.

‘Hold on. Hold on. What good would it do to have sympathy for these people when I have nothing?’

Rather, seeing them only made Sesenia feel how insignificant she was.

Just then. A man from inside hurriedly approached her.

“It’s surprising to see someone so young come to a place like this. What are you looking for?”

Sesenia, who had been unable to control her expression while walking through this place, belatedly nodded. As if she had no feelings.

“A man to play with. I’d prefer someone around my age.”

“Men around your age are rare. ”

“Are you saying there really aren’t any?”

“Actually, there’s only one but he’s a bit defective, so I don’t know if I should offer him to you.”

The slave trader, who had somehow attached himself to her, hesitated and looked at Sesenia. He seemed to be a much higher-ranking person than the gatekeeper. Probably the owner of this place.

His eyes, scanning Sesenia up and down, clearly expressed his intentions. He seemed to be checking how much money she had, whether she could afford the item he was offering. Fortunately, she seemed to have passed the test, as the trader twitched his eyebrows.

“Defective?”

“Yes. He’s a bit disobedient. So, we’ve fitted him with magical restraints but that’s not a big problem.”

“I’ll take him.”

“Yes, yes.”

A broad smile spread across Sesenia’s face.

There was only one man of Sesenia’s age in this slave market. The man she was looking for.

Originally, men didn’t come to the slave market often.

Especially young men. Even if they wanted to use them for labor, it was cheaper to just use lower-class people. They were also difficult to manage, and because they were young and prone to acting recklessly, the slave traders didn’t like them.

Knowing this, she had mentioned her age, and as expected, her prediction was correct.

Fittingly for someone who was said to be defective, the prison where the man was confined was located deep inside.

“Miss, going in too deep is suspicious!”

Lizbeth, who had been trembling the whole time, grabbed Sesenia’s arm, frightened.

“It’s okay. Rohan is here.”

“…Do you trust that brother of yours?”

“Yeah. But he’s good with a sword. Let’s trust him.”

“…That brother of yours will definitely only save the Miss if something happens.”

“I’ll save Lizbeth if something happens, so don’t worry.”

Sesenia patted her hand and followed the trader. And finally, they stopped in front of a man with black hair and golden eyes.

‘Black hair…’

The man she had been thinking of should have had golden hair. But the man’s hair was the same black as hers.

‘Could it be someone else?’

But the golden eyes that shone alone even in the dark told her that this man was the one she was looking for. A man who was too out of place for this location. Even if he was covered in ashes, his nobility would not disappear.

Even if his body was filled with scars rather than dignity, he was definitely the man she was looking for. Hair color could be changed easily enough. She didn’t know who had changed his hair like that, but at this moment, she was certain.

In fact, Sesenia, who had seen him in the past, smiled.

‘I came to the right place.’

She had met him very briefly in the past. And Sesenia, who was then an Empress, had spoken to him. It wasn’t anything special, but she had been sincere when dealing with him.

Just then, the slave trader opened his mouth as if he had been waiting.

“This is the one.”

“I like him.”

Sesenia smiled as soon as she saw the man. He was the one she had been looking for. There was no reason to hesitate.

“How much?”

“Huh? Ah. Yes. The restraints are a bit expensive…”

“Talk about the price with Rohan. Rohan. You know what to do?”

“Yes, Miss.”

Rohan, with his shoulders straightened, took the trader and stepped back. In the meantime, Sesenia looked at the man behind the bars.

The man didn’t even glance at Sesenia. Sesenia tapped the bars with her hand as if calling a dog.

“You.”

“You won’t be able to tame me.”

As if to show why they said he was disobedient, the man glared at Sesenia, even though he was a slave. She nodded, not at all intimidated, and looked at the man.

“I really like rebellious attitudes.”

“…”

“Do you happen to be good at hanging laundry?”

“…Laundry…?”

The arrogant voice from just now suddenly disappeared.

“I was thinking of entrusting some laundry to you.”

What was she talking about? The man looked at Sesenia with a dumbfounded expression.

“Well. I’ll still take you even if you can’t hang laundry.”

“…Are you telling me to beat someone up?”

“No. I’m going to have you beat some cotton.”

“Is that person’s name Cotton? No. Cotton?”

Perhaps because he was a good-natured guy, the man was alternating between informal and formal speech. He instinctively used formal speech, then quickly pretended to be speaking informally. Sesenia chuckled, then hardened her expression.

Just like the original Sesenia, like the 20-year-old Sesenia, she was talking relatively brightly, but suddenly the things she had experienced came to mind.

So even she couldn’t control her expression. Her voice and tone were like a 20-year-old, and she was acting like a naive noble lady who didn’t have much social experience and didn’t know anything, but even that was an act.

Perhaps realizing this, the man’s complexion darkened as he made an expression of incomprehension. As if an animal instinctively distinguished between friend and foe. As if he had figured out in front of whom he should bow and wag his tail.

Or perhaps there was another reason that his instincts had recognized, he had changed.

“No. Cotton.”

But Sesenia was being sincere.

To beat cotton.

She was telling him to beat the cotton Sesenia had bought this time, Hepria cotton.

Hepria cotton was a type of cotton that had to be beaten regularly. That way, air would enter between the cotton fibers and it would swell, and only when it swelled would its commercial value increase.

In addition, it was an item that easily grew mold if left unattended in a warm place. That was why Hepria cotton had no commercial value in the Empire. It was difficult to manage, and there was no demand.

That’s why she was taking him along, but the man was still tilting his head.

‘It would be a valid reason because I know who this man is, but this man won’t be able to trust my existence.’

However, she couldn’t just take him away right now and reveal his identity. He had to know who he was on his own. So, she was planning to hire him as an employee of the Iar Merchant Guild.

He probably wouldn’t listen very well, but still, he was the only prince who wasn’t within Elzer’s reach.

‘Because you are the lost prince that even the current Emperor doesn’t know about. The prince whom his mother cursed so much. The existence that his mother had hidden because she hated the Emperor’s seed so much.’

Sesenia smiled as she stared at the man.

‘And you wanted to overturn all the damn royals.’

Sesenia vaguely remembered the past. He, who was then an Empress, had been ordered by her husband, the Emperor, to find this man. She had a headache just dealing with her own affairs, but she was sincere when dealing with this man.

‘I will grant you whatever you want. But get out of the Imperial Family. That will be good for you.’

She only wanted him not to become a puppet trapped in the Imperial Family like herself, and she was only doing what her husband had told her to do. But the man at that time had refused without the slightest hesitation.

Whether he had been instructed by someone or knew how he had grown up and why he had been abandoned, he, who was full of scars, had said that he had to become Emperor no matter what. That it was a dream he had been dreaming since he had learned of his existence.

‘In the end, you wanted to become Emperor, and I will grant it. I will grant the terrible feeling of hatred that is in those eyes. So that that hatred becomes a reality.’

In the meantime, Rohan, as if he had finished negotiating the price, approached Sesenia and Lizbeth with the expression of a victor.

“It’s all over. I prevented them from trying to rip us off and bought him at a fair price.”

“About the price I originally expected?”

“No. I cut it in half. He seemed to have a lot of problems. If he needs to wear magical restraints, there are a lot of risk factors, and looking at him, he’s skinny and malnourished, and looking at the scars all over his body. I don’t think he’s mentally sound.”

Rohan was wary of the man in the cage. He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t wary of him because he was dangerous, but it felt like he was wary of him in a different way.

“Huh? He has scars too.”

Sesenia only realized the fact that she hadn’t noticed because she was just looking at the man after hearing Rohan’s words. He really had scars all over his body. They were things that had already become scars as if they had been made a while ago, though.

“Yes.”

“Rohan did a good job. You worked hard.”

It was then. As if he had a strong regret about this deal, the merchant man hurriedly approached Sesenia and complained.

“Ah, this is really a losing business.”

“Huh?”

“How much money did it cost just to keep this slave…!”

Perhaps thinking that he couldn’t communicate with Rohan, he approached Sesenia’s side and began to grumble. She responded enthusiastically to the man’s words.

“Ah. It cost a lot of money? Why?”

“He’s an adult, so he eats a lot, so it costs a lot of money. He’s been here for a long time, so the money keeps going out and no one buys him. So, Miss. If you give me a little more.”

“I thought you would grumble about the price of the magical restraints on his neck, but you’re not even talking about that, so it probably didn’t cost much money. Or the magical restraints are fake, so it really costs more money to feed him.”

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