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Chapter 6
“‘Don’t think you can buy people with money!’”
Originally, this was the line Canis was supposed to shout in outrage at the prince’s attitude of treating her friends—yes, Canis possessed such incredible friendliness that she considered anyone she had exchanged names with to be a friend—as if they were mere objects.
It was a fitting line to cry out righteously while standing protectively in front of a trembling friend after hearing the prince’s words.
But…
It definitely wasn’t something Eugene—who had been barking like a dog only moments ago, as though she had already thrown away all sense of human dignity—should be saying.
After her string of bizarre actions, everyone’s attention inside the tent shifted toward her.
But Eugene paid no mind to the bewildered stares surrounding her. What mattered was delivering the exact line from the event.
‘This is the first dialogue option.’
She puffed out her chest with a triumphant smile.
Right. This was the correct answer for the event.
After hearing those words, Crown Prince Michael…
“…Perhaps raising a stray dog wouldn’t be so bad.”
Just as expected!
It was the correct choice.
This was a mandatory event. Seeing that she could trigger it herself, Eugene became certain after witnessing the prince’s reaction.
‘It worked.’
Choosing the event options in place of the protagonist.
If that was possible, then everything else would be easy.
Eugene remembered every mandatory event needed to reach the game’s ending. Most of them happened to lead to imprisonment endings, but that wasn’t much of a drawback for her.
Unlike the protagonist, who repeatedly tried to escape while yearning for freedom, Eugene was completely confident she could enjoy a life of captivity.
‘Freedom? Who needs it?’
To hell with being a free Socrates. She’d much rather be a well-fed pig that never had to work.
Even in the modern world, she’d been nothing more than her boss’s slave.
If someone would just keep her warm, fed, and comfortable, who cared about social status?
‘Back where I came from, people fought over becoming servants in richer households!’
Thinking that, Eugene didn’t bother hiding her satisfaction and beamed brightly.
Completely unaware that Michael was watching her with a strange expression as she radiated cheerful energy that was utterly at odds with the filthy cage she was in.
Still smiling happily, she was loaded onto the baggage wagon alongside the other “goods” the prince had purchased and brought into the palace.
The road to the palace as the crown prince’s slave.
For someone who had just thrown away her freedom and become someone’s pet, the weather was surprisingly beautiful.
Beneath a cloudless blue sky, with fierce sunlight pouring down from above, Eugene peered through the rough wooden bars of the wagon as the imperial palace gradually drew nearer.
‘Wow…’
Even from this distance, the massive structure seemed endless.
Its rooftops gleamed as though they had been entirely plated in pure gold.
Worthy of the imperial family that ruled the Empire, every inch of the outer walls was densely decorated with elaborate reliefs and statues.
‘Are all those real?’
Swallowing hard as she stared at the glittering gemstones embedded throughout the palace, Eugene was reminded of the mansion owned by the rich dog from an advertisement she had once seen.
‘Back then, I thought that was the most luxurious mansion imaginable…’
Compared to this place, it had been nothing more than a doghouse.
Having never even traveled overseas before, Eugene looked around in fascination, wondering if the European palaces she’d only seen in textbooks looked anything like this.
“Y-Your Highness!”
The imperial guards stationed before the enormous golden gates immediately straightened their posture, tightening their grip on their spears as they saluted.
The prince, dressed in unusually shabby clothes and unexpectedly returning with a baggage wagon in tow, left the soldiers momentarily bewildered.
Ignoring them completely, Michael calmly rode through the gates they hurriedly opened for him.
Meanwhile, the laborer who had driven the wagon from the slave market was not permitted to enter any farther. He climbed down from the driver’s seat and helped the palace servants who had come to unload the cargo.
As the items gradually disappeared from the wagon, Eugene climbed down under her own power.
Apparently, no one believed a frail white-haired girl could escape alone from a locked wagon, so she hadn’t even been restrained.
Still barefoot, having never been given shoes, Eugene stepped onto the ground and hurried after Michael, whose horse clicked steadily ahead of her.
“You there!”
The soldiers had expected trouble from the large men nearby, not from a tiny girl.
After freezing for a moment in surprise, they quickly ran after her and blocked her path.
“Do you have any idea where you think you’re running?!”
“……”
Eugene rolled her eyes toward the soldiers standing in front of her before shouting toward Michael’s retreating figure.
“Master!”
The prince’s horse came to an abrupt stop.
“Master! Mast—mmph!”
“W-What are you doing?! You dare address His Highness like—!”
The surrounding soldiers panicked and immediately clamped a hand over Eugene’s mouth.
Afraid that the ignorant slave girl’s disrespect would offend the crown prince and bring punishment upon themselves, they desperately tried to remove her from his sight.
Glancing back over his shoulder, Michael saw the soldiers roughly covering Eugene’s face.
One eyebrow slowly rose.
“Leave her.”
The soldiers instantly pulled their hands away in shock at the prince’s command.
“Pwah!”
Eugene took a deep breath after finally being able to breathe again.
“Move.”
She brushed aside the hands that were still awkwardly trying to restrain her and scampered after Michael once more.
“……”
Michael made no attempt to stop her.
He simply turned his horse around again and continued onward, riding at a slower pace than before.
By the time they reached the Crown Prince’s Palace, the servants had already gathered outside to welcome their master home.
“Welcome back, Your Highness. I hope your outing was enjoyable.”
The head butler stepped forward first to receive Michael’s cloak.
The head maid, who had approached to attend to him next, noticed Eugene following behind the prince and asked,
“Your Highness… this child is…?”
Michael glanced briefly behind him at Eugene before giving a short command.
“Wash her.”
Leaving only those two words behind, he strode inside the palace.
Eugene stared blankly after his retreating figure.
The head maid stepped in front of her, blocking her view, and carefully examined her appearance.
“My goodness…”
Taking in Eugene’s ragged clothing, the dirt covering her body, and the muddy barefoot footprints she was leaving across the marble floor, the head maid let out a troubled sigh.
“She definitely needs a bath first. Maya!”
Calling over one of the waiting maids and issuing several instructions, the head maid continued speaking while Eugene quietly turned her head to look around the magnificent interior of the Crown Prince’s Palace.
‘Wow.’
For a brief moment, she admired the scene before her with completely genuine awe.
The ceiling supporting the enormous chandelier was divided into intricate sections outlined with golden trim.
Massive marble pillars held up the building, and every space between the pillars, walls, and ceiling was filled with elaborate ornaments crafted from pure gold.
Perhaps to soften the cold impression of all the marble, reddish-brown wood paneling had been installed throughout.
Even though Eugene knew little about wood, the deep, beautiful sheen of the rosewood looked incredibly expensive.
No…
Everything here seemed priceless.
Even the heating fixture tucked away behind one of the pillars had been exquisitely decorated.
Eugene’s eyes widened.
“Ahem!”
Lost in admiration of the palace, she snapped back to reality at the head maid’s deliberate cough.
“Take her.”
At the head maid’s order, three or four maids approached.
Eugene obediently followed them down the hallway.
The room the maids brought Eugene to contained a large bathtub filled with warm water.
Before placing her inside, they stripped away every piece of the dirty, dust-covered clothing she had been wearing.
Without giving her even a moment to feel embarrassed, they dunked her into the soapy water and scrubbed her as enthusiastically as if they were washing a blanket that had been hidden away in a closet for years.
Sitting quietly while allowing them to do whatever they wanted, Eugene absentmindedly drifted into thought.
‘I wonder if Canis has been rescued by now.’
Canis’s childhood friend, a character who originally appeared around the middle of the story, had secretly infiltrated the slave market while they were children in an attempt to save Canis.
The problem was that it happened on the very night Michael had visited the market.
By then, Canis had already been taken to the palace.
Missing his chance by only a hair, he blamed himself deeply.
After reaching adulthood, he later infiltrated the palace in another attempt to escape together with Canis.
‘Then they both got caught, and he ended up triggering Michael’s jealousy.’
He was a fresh face introduced midway through the game to keep the story interesting, while also serving as the jealousy-inducing rival who intensified Michael’s already alarming obsession.
Now that Eugene herself had come to the palace instead of Canis, there was no reason Canis’s childhood friend would fail to rescue Canis this time.
‘Come to think of it… he won’t have any reason to come to the palace anymore.’
Since Canis had never been brought here, there would be no one for him to rescue by sneaking into the palace.
Then… what happens to the jealousy event that was supposed to occur later?
