I Thought I Was Married, But I Was Left Alone, So I'll Live as I Please. So Please Don't Mind Me Anymore, My Lord of the Border - Chapter 24

There is an attempted assault scene. Please be cautious if this is difficult for you.

My head has been hurting all along.

I don’t know how long I’ve been kept unconscious.

My head hurts. My arms and legs feel like they don’t belong to me.

My vision is dark, and with every breath, the smell of medicine stings my throat.

Occasionally, a liquid is poured into my mouth. I can’t tell if it’s food or medicine.

But each time I drink it, the noise in my head grows louder, and my sense of self becomes vague.

The same voice has been echoing deep in my mind all this time.

—Make the medicine.

—Obey your uncle.

The commands are repeated like curses, over and over.

I’ve been desperately resisting them.

Even if I die.

Even if I rot here.

I won’t surrender my pride as an alchemist.

Medicine is meant to save people.

I will never let it become a tool to harm others and generate wealth.

So, I endure.

Help will come. It must come.

Quinn, Slay.

My fellow alchemists should be heading to Kreuz too.

Everyone is coming for me. I can’t give up before they arrive.

—So, until then.

Until then, I absolutely won’t break.

“Stubborn, aren’t you?”

“Still holding on?”

A voice different from the one echoing in my head reaches me. When I force my eyes open, all I see in my blurred vision are shoes.

It seems I’m lying on the floor.

My hands and feet are no longer bound and are free, but they still won’t move as I want them to.

“Though it’s adjusted to the limit. The master is growing impatient. We’ll have to strengthen the medicine soon.”

“What happens if you do?”

“If you survive, you’ll be a wreck. If not, you die.”

The matter-of-fact delivery of that outcome sends a chill down my spine.

“What a waste. With that face and body, you’d fetch a high price at a brothel.”

“Fool. This is why I despise the uneducated. The medicine this man produces rivals jewels.”

“That’s incredible.”

Even though my thoughts are sluggish, the lecherous gaze scrapes unpleasantly at my nerves.

“Hah… hah…”

My throat is dry.

I want to curse at them, but all that escapes my lips is a ragged breath.

Even words are too much of a luxury for me now.

“If you’re going to die anyway, once wouldn’t hurt…”

“Disgusting taste.”

A bad premonition makes my headache worse.

“Hey, c’mon, it’s fine, right? He’s just so damn sexy. Haha, I’m getting excited.”

“Well, a little humiliation might make him break easier. Just don’t ruin him.”

“Got it! Yes!”

The conversation makes my entire body bristle.

Footsteps approach me.

The alchemist’s presence moves away, outside the room.

“Aren’t you gonna watch?”

“Truly tasteless. I have no interest in such things. Call me if he breaks.”

“Hehehe, roger that.”

“If he falls, all the recipes in that man’s head will be mine.”

A strained laugh fades with the receding footsteps.

The sound of the door closing echoes unnaturally loud.

Inside the room, it’s just me and a man whose voice I don’t even know.

“Don’t take it badly, pretty boy. It’s your fault for being too damn hot.”

The joking tone is nauseating in the worst way.

My head hurts, and even with my eyes open, my vision is blurred. I can’t see anything clearly.

I want to get away, even a little, but my body still won’t move.

The man’s hands force me onto my back.

Rough hands tear my clothes away, and my skin meets the cold air.

A vulgar gaze crawls over my body, and fear runs through me.

“Whoa, you’ve got nice skin.”

Coarse hands roam over my body without restraint.

Goosebumps rise, and nausea wells up.

Stop.

Stop, stop, stop, stop…!

Even though I should be completely dry, my eyes grow hot.

“…St… stop!”

I manage to squeeze the words from the depths of my throat.

“Hey, nice. That gets me going.”

Even though I mustered all my will to glare and resist.

Realizing it only pleased him sends a chill down my spine.

I hear the sound of the man unbuckling my belt.

Then the rustle of fabric.

I don’t want this guy touching my body.

I don’t want to give him anything.

What surged from the depths of my heart was fear and intense disgust.

“Lord… Oliver…”

I called the name unconsciously.

Somewhere far off, there was a sound like something crashing violently.

The commotion outside reaches my ears for just a moment.

But the terror of the man closing in is stronger, and it’s immediately pushed out of my awareness.

I don’t want anyone but Lord Oliver.

I wished for it fiercely.

Then.

The sound of the door being kicked open.

“Ashe!!”

A tearing scream shakes the air.

Even as I thought such convenient hallucinations couldn’t exist, I clung to that voice.

A roaring sound like a mass of wind hitting something.

The next moment, the man slammed against the wall crumbled.

“Ashe!!”

That voice brought me back to reality.

“Thank goodness… Ashe! Ashe…!”

I was pulled into an embrace.

A familiar scent and warmth.

With a ragged voice, I called the name of the person I’d been longing to see.

“It’s hard to say you’re unharmed… but still, I’m glad you’re alive.”

A voice descending with a trembling breath.

A large hand gently touching my cheek.

Even though we hadn’t been apart that long, the warmth and scent felt nostalgic.

Held in strong arms, it felt as if blood was flowing back into my frozen body.

Sunlight-like golden hair.

Beautiful green eyes reflecting herb fields.

The person I’d wished to see so many times was right before me.

“Lord… Oliver?”

“You’re safe now. You did well.”

Hearing that whisper by my ear, something tightly wound inside me seemed to snap.

A cloak is wrapped around my entire body.

Enveloped in the warmth of that fabric, I sense multiple footsteps entering the room.

Quinn’s frantic cries. Slay’s worried, low voice.

Even though I can’t see their faces clearly, I know they’re worried about me.

They came to save me.

…It’s going to be okay now.

The moment I thought that, my consciousness began to fade rapidly.

“Ashe? Ash…!”

Lord Oliver’s voice grows distant.

I want to hear more.

I want to be wrapped in this voice forever.

But there was no strength left in my outstretched fingertips.

As if falling into a black sea, my consciousness begins to drift away.

I wanted to call his name just one more time.

I wanted to save it until the rescue…