“I won’t be able to touch your face because I have to sell you as a slave instead, but I’ll feel better if I cut off one of your limbs.”

The older pig, who wanted to avenge his younger brother, grabbed my hair and tore them off.

“If you do well, I’ll get paid more than that slave.”

He grinned disgustingly, his blue eyes shining wickedly.

“Shall we check if there’s a place where this asshole can be sold?”

His gruesome smile sent a chill down the back of my neck. I held my breath so as not to show that I was frightened, and then I bent back his wrists that were holding my head.

“Oh, my! You crazy bitch!”

I kicked the slave trader’s groin as hard as I could and didn’t hold back. With a gagging sound, he collapsed in front of me.

“It’s not time to return him yet. Don’t touch me,” I hissed at him as he was about to jump at me.

“You said you sent that slave on an errand.”

As if not taking my words seriously, the fallen slave trader snorted and raised his head.

“Are you saying that the slave you sent on an errand took off the tracker and left?”

“No matter what, if the return date is today, I just have to return it by midnight, right?”

The slave trader recoiled from the pain in his groin as he saw the look in my sharp eyes.

“Well, that’s true…”

“Brother, why do you keep going back?”

“Sh-shut up, you punk! Alright. I’ll wait until midnight tonight.”

He glared at me, licking his lips.

“If you don’t return him by midnight, you’ll have to be prepared.”

* * *

That’s it.

My body bent automatically at the sound of the clock’s hand echoing in the basement, as quiet as a dead mouse. The basement, which seemed to be a space where slaves were temporarily locked up, smelled damp and fishy with a lot of moss.

‘There’s only an hour left.’

Checking the time, I chewed my lips nervously.

I didn’t bargain for time because I thought the runaway slave would return by midnight, that there’d even be a slim chance he’d come back.

The one I believed was Adrian.

Adrian’s insinuation rate dropped to 3% in the morning. However, based on the speed at which it has fallen so far, it should’ve been lifted earlier.

‘But why isn’t he looking for me yet?’

As soon as the insinuation was lifted, Adrian could immediately call the crown prince’s escort from anywhere. It wouldn’t matter much whether it was an empire or a kingdom. The game setting was like that.

‘Could it be that it hasn’t fallen yet?’

Since he was locked and left alone in a closet, Adrian’s insinuation in an uneasy situation may have slowed down.

If not…

A sudden thought made me feel like bursting into tears, so I buried my face between my knees.

‘I guess he left me alone.’

If my calculations were correct, his insinuation should’ve been lifted by the afternoon, and it was possible Adrian left me in this kingdom and went back by himself.

I took care of him for a few days, but that was Adrian, not the Crown Prince Adrian.

‘No, let’s not think negatively. My adorable puppy, I’m sure he’s not such an ungrateful child.’

I raised my head, catching up on thoughts that just kept spiraling in the wrong direction. At that moment, I could hear someone stepping into the basement floor, where puddles of water were here and there.

“Rian, Rian?”

I got up from my seat with joy and soon realized there was no choice but despair.

“Rian? Is that your lover’s name?”

It wasn’t Rian who smiled and approached the bars. I glared furiously at the grinning slave trader with a pig’s throat.

“It’s not midnight yet.”

“Oh, it’s a pity. I’m here to wait with you in case you’re bored.”

If I died of boredom, then so be it, but I didn’t want to be with a pig-like slave trader.

However, regardless of what I wanted, the man squeezed into the narrow basement and suddenly wrapped his hands around my waist.

“What, what?! Don’t touch me!”

I struggled, pushing him away as he groped me with toad-like fingers. However, unlike before, he smiled and began to openly rub my chest.

“Oh, you have more chest than it looks. Silver hair usually is a premium, but it can be sold at a very high price,” he greedily thought out loud.

“Go away, you pervert!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “What do you mean? If you want to sell this pretty body intact, wouldn’t it be better to listen to me?”

The grinning slave trader grabbed me by the back of my neck and pushed me to lie on the floor. His grip on my hair felt five times stronger than before.

“You are quite strong despite being thin, so I gave you a bit of medicine.”

It was a moment when I really wanted to go home.

I opened my mouth to scream.

“Ahhh!”