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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: 0014_68
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She became aware that her emotions were running too high.
This won't do. I need to pull myself together. I can't let him see me like this.
Even as she thought so, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
"It's my fault."
A hoarse voice settled over Ariana's head.
"It's my fault."
Ariana shook her head.
"No, it's not your fault, Father. It was my choice in the end, and my own foolishness."
"The child..."
Russell stepped forward and embraced Ariana. Ariana felt her father's trembling hand on her back.
"It's a parent's responsibility, Ariana. Whatever choice you made, it was ultimately because I wasn't there for you. It's my fault, Ariana. You did nothing wrong."
It was all my fault.
Being hurt, not doing things properly, Helena falling, Victoria's hat flying off—it was all Ariana's fault.
Rachel always said:
"You should have watched more carefully."
"You were right there!"
"Can't you do anything right? Why are you so useless?"
So I thought it was all my fault.
Even after returning in time, she couldn't break free from the shackles Rachel had placed around her neck.
It was the first time she had ever heard someone say it wasn't her fault.
An adult man, a king sitting high above a nation, her own flesh and blood, her father, carefully embraced her with trembling hands and said it was all his fault.
Even though it wasn't his fault at all.
Her broken, shattered heart slowly began to mend, severing the shackles Rachel had tightened around her neck. Her father's soft sobs and warm embrace gently covered wounds that seemed impossible to heal.
A heart torn to shreds over twenty-eight years wouldn't heal completely in a single moment. But Ariana knew.
That someday, she would be able to truly accept this man as her father. And that day wouldn't be far off.
+++
At the slave market, the first one she attended after returning to her cage, no one wanted to buy her. The Announcer tried hard, adding numerous flowery words to sell her, but everyone merely whispered that she was cursed.
She was moved back to the Slave Trader's warehouse, and the Slave Trader looked at her, seemingly embarrassed, and said:
"You won't even sell for a pittance. I wonder if anyone would take you even if I gave you away for free."
The Slave Trader's attendant said:
"Master, why don't we just sell her eyeballs? I hear golden eyeballs fetch a high price among collectors."
"It might be better than selling her for next to nothing. More distinguished people come to the midnight market, so I'll try selling her then. If not, I'll have to pluck out her eyeballs."
Because she could hear and feel, she knew her life wouldn't last much longer.
After the Slave Trader left, an old slave in the adjacent cage said:
"You're going to die now. Yes, it's better for someone like you to die. Didn't they say over twenty people died because of you? Your continued existence will only lead to more unfortunate victims."
Sitting motionless in the corner of her cage, she recalled words she had once heard from another slave.
"The weather looked really nice earlier. When I lived with my mother, we used to go on picnics on days like this."
Trapped in a cage since birth, never having seen the outside world for a single moment, she couldn't understand what 'good weather' meant, nor what a 'picnic' was.
However, she could sense that it was something very good.
So she thought:
'I wish I could see some truly nice weather before I die.'
+++
Dinner was a bit awkward.
Having gone to find Russell earlier and unexpectedly bursting into tears, Ariana couldn't bring herself to look up.
'Crying like a child.'
If she were a real child, perhaps it would be different, but inside the body of a sixteen-year-old girl was the soul of a woman who had died at twenty-eight. It was mortifying to have clung to her father and whined like that, at an age far past such behavior.
Unlike Ariana, Russell was beaming. Tiador, seeing his son smiling more than ever before, asked:
"Is there something good happening?"
"Yes."
"What's got you so happy?"
Russell, about to answer, met Ariana's eyes. When Ariana gave him a stern look, Russell said:
"It's a secret."
Ariana thought it was fortunate that the words 'My daughter called me Father and cried her eyes out in my arms' didn't escape his lips.
Caradine seemed to guess what had happened from Ariana's demeanor and Russell's smile, and she smiled contentedly. Seeing his own wife looking so pleased, Tiador grumbled:
"Why is everyone having fun without me?"
After dinner, Ariana rushed back to her room as if fleeing.
She had decided not to be too sharp-edged with the White Family members, but she still felt awkward in such an atmosphere.
Ariana sat on the sofa and checked the clock.
'It's already nine o'clock.'
The reason she had gone to see Russell earlier was to tell him that if time permitted before dinner, she would go explore the streets. However, she lost the opportunity due to their unexpected conversation.
'If there are no issues, it should still be open at midnight.'
Ariana and her party were currently in Conyvale City, the last city on the border between the Empire and the Eastern Territory. With its canals, it was a place frequented by many traders.
Because of this, the shopping district thrived until late hours, there were many gambling dens, big and small, and in secret locations, slave markets were also held.
The founding Emperor who established the Kameria Empire had forbidden slavery, but now, more than two hundred years later, it had become a world where slaves were bought and sold. While slave trading wasn't openly conducted, everyone knew about it and turned a blind eye.
'It's not that I approve of slavery, but...'
Ariana needed someone who was entirely 'her own'.
Someone who lived in a world where only Ariana existed. Someone who would handle anything Ariana ordered, yet never speak of it. Someone who would pretend not to notice the poison she harbored in her heart, even if they did.
Russell had assigned Lanster, a Knight, as her escort, and Caradine had sent Catherine as her personal Maid. But neither of them were entirely Ariana's people.
It wasn't because she didn't trust Russell and Caradine; rather, it was because she wanted to trust them now that she didn't want to show them her ugly side.
'Rachel, Victoria, and Third Prince Harold. My family won't understand my hatred for them. And a day when they do understand won't come.'
These were things that had happened in a time that hadn't yet flowed. Things that existed only in Ariana's memories and past.
No one would believe such a nightmarish truth.
'My family will think my problems ended with winning the Custody Trial. And that's true, in a way. I'm a sixteen-year-old abused girl who escaped a terrible mother, so now I should live as a girl slowly recovering in a safe place.'
Even the Emperor had stepped in to sever Ariana's ties with the Bronte Family. A sixteen-year-old girl burning with vengeance over an already severed relationship would undoubtedly seem strange.
Therefore, Ariana needed a close confidant who had no ties to the White Family.
'Preferably a sturdy man. A sturdy woman would be good too. A Gladiator slave would be ideal, but Gladiator slaves trade at high prices, so that's out of the question with the money I have now. They need to be educated enough to read and be intelligent. I don't have time to teach from scratch.'
She wasn't necessarily going to buy a slave this time. Even if she found a slave who fit the general description, she wouldn't be able to take them if the price wasn't right.
Even if she was lucky enough to find the perfect slave and bring them back, the reaction of the White Family members would be a problem.
Given that there wasn't a single slave in Chase Castle, the White Family clearly seemed reluctant to buy and sell slaves. If Ariana brought a slave, they would surely look at her disapprovingly.
'I can just say I brought them because I felt sorry for them and wanted to help. And I truly will treat them well.'
If she did bring a slave, she had no intention of treating them poorly. As 'her own person,' she would give them treatment they could never have dreamed of as a slave.
'That way, they won't think of leaving me.'
Ariana waited for time to pass.
Originally, she had planned to pretend to stumble upon the slave market while exploring the regular market, but since she had missed the 6 PM slave market, that method was no longer viable.
If she said she wanted to go out to the bustling district at this hour, everyone would surely object. So she would have to sneak out.
'The midnight slave market has more dangerous people than the evening one. First, once I'm in the bustling district, I need to get some shabbier clothes than what I'm wearing now. I'll also buy a hooded cloak. Oh, and I don't have any weapons right now. I'll have to buy a few daggers.'
When the time was right, Ariana quietly opened her door. Fortunately, there was no one in the inn corridor.
'Everyone must be tired from the journey and have gone to bed early. We have to leave early tomorrow too...'
Ariana, reassured, walked quickly. Just as she reached the end of the corridor, almost running, and was about to descend the stairs, a voice came from below.
"Princess, where are you going?"
Lanster stood in the middle of the stairs.
Ariana stopped short and looked down at Lanster.
"I thought you were asleep."
"I'm resting."
"You should rest in your room."
"This is my post. It's late; where are you going?"
Lanster didn't seem likely to let Ariana go out alone. Ariana hesitated, then decided to use the plan she had made for the 6 PM slave market.
"Grandmother said there are many interesting things in this city. But I was too tired to look around earlier. I heard the shops stay open late, so I was going to go see them."
"Were you planning to go alone?"
"No, I was planning to go with you."
Lanster didn't look convinced, but he soon straightened his posture.
"I will escort you."
Fortunately, he didn't prevent her from leaving.
Ariana left the inn with Lanster.
Lanster didn't ask where she was going. Following a step behind Ariana, he made so little sound that she almost forgot he was accompanying her. Only when she occasionally looked back and confirmed his presence did she realize he was still guarding her rear.
Under Lanster's silent escort, Ariana hurried along and arrived at the bustling district.
The night in Conyvale City's bustling district was more vibrant than the day.
Shops lit up everywhere, people coming and going, hawkers calling out.
With Lanster present, there was no need to buy daggers or a cloak. Ariana pretended to browse the shops while heading toward her destination.
'It was definitely somewhere around here.'
A small alley between a weapons shop and a butcher's.
According to Ariana's memory, the slave market was held in a large underground space beneath a shabby pub at the end of this alley.
As Ariana found the alley and tried to enter it, Lanster, who had been following behind, quickly blocked her path.
"This place is dangerous, Princess."
