Translator: Nox
(5) The Princess Who Wants to Die and the Cursed Grand Duke (5)
She was called Lotty, but her real name was probably Roxana.
Roxana Evelyn Franche.
Once I recalled her name, I also remembered my last meeting with her.
It was an exceptionally cloudy and rainy day. The fire that broke out in the small palace where Floyd was staying was extinguished thanks to the pouring rain, without spreading to other palaces.
Victian IV said it was okay for him to stay longer, but Floyd knew it was time for him to leave.
He had no luggage to pack, no family to take care of. He could leave alone and empty-handed, just as he had when he entered Ider Palace. As he trudged along in the rain, he noticed the princes gathered together with a princess.
"Eek! I don't like it!"
"Really? This frog seems to like you, though?"
It seemed they had caught a frog and were teasing the young princess with it. Floyd had many siblings, but he had never been as close to them as these princes and princess were, so the scene was very fresh and enviable to him.
At that moment, he made eye contact with one of the princes. The prince said something to the princess, and she turned sharply, stared intently at Floyd, and then ran towards him.
"Are you going home?"
The young princess stopped in front of Floyd, tilted her head back, looked up at him, and asked. Only then did Floyd realize that the princess's eyes were green, and their edges shone with gold.
"Yes, I am leaving."
He didn't have a home to return to, but it wasn't something a young child would understand, so he answered that way. The princess blinked her eyes and said,
"It's raining a lot."
"Even so, I am leaving."
At his blunt reply, the princess tilted her head slightly to the side and then offered him the umbrella she was holding. She probably intended to hold it over him, but because the princess was short, the tip of the umbrella poked Floyd's forehead.
Floyd was more concerned about the raindrops that were starting to dampen the princess's hair than his own forehead, but the princess didn't seem to mind and said,
"Take this with you."
"It's alright."
"Take it. You'll catch a cold if you get rained on."
At the words 'catch a cold,' Floyd felt as if he had been struck in the back of the head. No one had ever worried about Floyd catching a cold before.
Overwhelmed by the unexpected kindness, Floyd dazedly took the handle of the umbrella. The princess, soaked in the rain, smiled brightly at Floyd.
"Don't be sick."
Floyd couldn't say anything to the princess as she left those words and ran back to her brothers.
"My lord."
At the call, the scene from the past shattered. Kirshan was standing next to Floyd, having arrived unnoticed.
"Oh, Kirshan. Why don't you have a drink too?"
Kirshan gently pushed away the offered glass and said,
"My lord, a report has come in from the harbor. There's a merchant trying to board a ship heading to the Hovan Islands, and it seems he's a slave trader..."
Upon hearing the word 'slave,' Floyd's face twisted in anger.
"Those crazy bastards!"
Floyd threw the glass down, but Adrian skillfully caught it and placed it on the table. Floyd jumped up and strode towards the gate of the castle tower.
The monsters of the sea had gathered near the land, making it difficult to use the sea routes, but the waters around Torkan were relatively safe, so many merchants gathered there.
Floyd accepted most merchants, but he forbade slave traders. Nevertheless, slave traders used various methods to sneak in and board ships to other countries.
"What's the scale?"
"It's not large, but I heard there's a big deal involved."
"A big deal? That's fantastic."
Women from fallen noble families were traded for good prices. Those with talents, such as wizards or knights who could use sword energy, were also referred to as 'big deals' when traded.
Floyd mounted the horse Kirshan had prepared and galloped towards the harbor.
Reaching the harbor, Floyd jumped off the running horse and ran to the soldier who was waiting. The soldier tried to bow in greeting, but Floyd waved his hand dismissively, as if annoyed, and said,
"Where is he?"
"He's already on the ship."
The soldier pointed to one of the huge merchant ships docked at the harbor. Sailors were moving busily on the deck.
"Why didn't you stop him?"
"We checked the boxes, but they only contained ordinary herbs."
"Did you check all the goods?"
"We couldn't, because each box had the emblem of the Hovan Islands royal family stamped on it, and they were protected by magic..."
"What was the reason for suspecting him of being a slave trader?"
"Jack from the fish store said he had seen him when he was a slave. He said he had taken slaves in and out of the Count's mansion, who was Jack's owner."
The merchant ship that the suspected slave trader was trying to use was already preparing to set sail. Adrian said to Floyd, who was glaring at the merchant ship,
"If it's stamped with the emblem of the Hovan Islands royal family, we shouldn't touch it rashly. If it's not slaves but royal family goods, it could turn into an international issue."
Floyd frowned.
As Adrian said, if the goods inside were truly harmless, it could become an international issue, and depending on the importance of the goods, it could even lead to war. But the Hovan Islands was a place where the slave trade was very active.
Floyd was convinced that the boxes contained slaves.
"Tear them all open."
"My lord, if the Hovan Islands take issue with this..."
Floyd grinned. His reddish-brown hair scattered like flames in the wind that was blowing.
"It's just a matter of going and apologizing in person. Tear them open!"
+++
Roxana was crouched in a narrow box.
She had been confined in a movable iron cage before, but she was placed in a box before entering the Grand Duchy of Torkan.
The slave trader, fearing that Roxana might bite off her tongue, stuffed a wad of cloth into Roxana's mouth and said,
-"The King of Hovan has agreed to buy you for a very high price. You'd rather live as the King's slave, wouldn't you? The King of Hovan is crazy about pretty women, so try to seduce him. Who knows? He might make you his lover."
The slave trader was a man who felt joy in the fact that Roxana, who was once a princess of a country, had become an item he would sell. He often took Roxana out of the cage, made her kneel in front of a chair, and enjoyed placing his legs on her back.
-"It's a very interesting life. Once, you were in my position, but now look. You can't even lift your head without my permission. Try to look good to me. Then I'll sell you to a good place."
Whether she was sold to a good place, whether she could lift her head or not, it didn't matter. Being reduced from a princess to a slave and having to kneel before someone whose origins were unclear didn't particularly make her feel humiliated.
No, it wasn't that she didn't feel it, but that she couldn't feel anything at all.
From the moment she heard that her family's bodies had been thrown into a well, Roxana's mind had been wandering elsewhere.
The days she spent with her family. The days she was happy and carefree in Ider Palace. Unable to escape from the past that was so good, she was lost in a daze.
Because of that, the present, where she had been put in a box in a hunched position for several days without eating, had no effect on Roxana. Hunger, the pain felt in her joints, the difficulty breathing due to the thin air, were all the same as if they hadn't happened to Roxana.
-"Now we're going to board the merchant ship. Be quiet. Well, it doesn't matter if you struggle. The box is protected by magic, so no sound will leak out, no matter what you do inside."
She couldn't even tell if the slave trader's ranting outside the box was today or yesterday. What kind of situation she was in at this time, when her family members could not rest in peace and were thrown into a well, was not an important issue.
Even though she had spent a lot of time alone, she didn't think about Lucas or Elise. Rather than thinking about why they had done such a thing, the absence of her precious family was gnawing at her bones and severing her blood vessels.
Every time she thought of her family, her heart was torn, but tears didn't flow. Thus, Roxana was just crouching down, quietly breathing like a doll crumpled into a box.
"What, what are you doing!"
"We have permission!"
Suddenly, noisy sounds were heard from outside. The sound of something breaking was also heard, and the slave trader's desperate pleas and curses were heard.
Could it be that they had encountered a monster while on the ship?
If so, Roxana thought she would like to die at the hands of a monster and be thrown into the sea. Then her soul might float in a place that was neither here nor there, and she might be lucky enough to meet her family.
Elise said that she might meet a good owner and be placed in Adelia's coffin, but Roxana didn't want that. Her family members had not returned to the embrace of God, so she had no intention of entering a peaceful land of rest alone.
"There are slaves here."
A languid voice came closer.
"My lord, there are slaves in this box too."
"In this box too!"
"Catch those bastards!"
A rough and heavy voice also came closer. It didn't seem like they had encountered a monster.
'Torkan was the only place on this continent where the slave trade was prohibited.'
Because of the commotion, Roxana briefly left the past and returned to the present.
Women of high status were more enthusiastic about cultivating the arts, such as dancing, embroidery, and painting, than grasping international affairs, but Roxana learned and mastered various things with her brothers.
'And the master of Torkan is...'
Floyd Carlotte Latean.
The Crimson Tiger who exterminates monsters.
The thought made a glimmer of hope appear in Roxana's eyes for the first time. A very small and subtle light sparkled deep in her green eyes.
The next moment.
Crack-!
Someone tore open the box without hesitation.
Roxana lifted her head, which had been bent over, and stared at the person. A man with ashen eyes like dark clouds. Holding the torn pieces of the box, he was truly exuding the aura of a tiger. The energy emanating from his broad shoulders heated up the surroundings, causing heat haze to rise.
His eyes met Roxana's. His furrowed brow smoothed out, and his narrow eyes widened. He looked at Roxana closely and said, as if dumbfounded,
"What is this? Why is the princess of Kanta Palace here?"
