Chapter 1561: Esstia
The former flames talked at the side, in a large hallway near the palace.
The palace halls were wide, fortunately, and there were a few alcoves where they could talk without attracting the attention of everyone who passed by.
"It’s really you..." she mumbled, eyes glazed in tears.
He nodded, but he was careful to keep a safe distance. After all, it had been so long, and he did not know if she was already married.
While the thought made him heavy, being seen too close together would be much worse for her than for him.
However, Esstia saw his keeping distance as a sign of his dislike or maybe... disgust. Although due to her appearance, she was still ’clean’ even after all these years, most men would assume otherwise.
It hurt, but she couldn’t blame him.
"I... I didn’t want to leave," she said without him asking. She just blurted it out and felt embarrassed as soon as she said it.
She shook and lifted her head, but instead of disgust, he was just staring deeply at her.
"How have you been?"
At the simple question, but it made her eyes burst into tears.
How long has it been since she was asked this question?
It seemed it had been more than half her life already.
She covered her mouth and tried to be quiet. Silva wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t dare get closer.
"My father fell into a deep debt in the casino. It was so big that it would take him a lifetime to pay, considering his skill set. He sold me to be a slave—which I still am."
"What?"
Powerful cities had a way of turning people into formal System Slaves even without going through a war themselves.
What they would do was to get a ’sacrificial village’ where the people would be forced to buy residencies in. The Lord there—usually an employee—would wage war against another village, possibly an ally or a partner or another ’sacrificial village’.
One village would lose on purpose by letting the 28 hours pass by. Since the ’Lord’ of the losing village didn’t have money, they wouldn’t lose much during the war at all.
This would always happen in batches of thousands. After all, it was a costly endeavor (buying/kidnapping) on top of the fact that in each loss, only half would become slaves.
Silva’s jaw tightened and his fist clenched.
"I... I was passed around—fortunately as an assistant and maid only, because I am hideous—among rich ladies," she said, raising her hand to stop him when he tried to correct her. To her, this was what she thought.
In their youth, Silva never made her feel less, but the past few decades made her understand she was unsightly. She didn’t know what Silva saw in her, but she was definitely not beautiful.
"I worked very hard, and did my job extremely well and gathered the attention of noble ladies.
"Eventually, about ten years ago, Lady Octavia found me. I had been living fairly well since then but as a slave, I couldn’t contact you.
"I... I know you worked for the Golds."
Silva’s eyes flickered a bit, heart dropping.
"When I found out the Golds were gone—"
"Esstia... if possible, please don’t tell anyone I once worked for the Golds," he said. "It would not look good for me."
She paused, looking down. "Then don’t tell me anything because I will be compelled to say everything to my master."
"Thank you."
Silence passed between them for a while, though they had to part sooner rather than later. Knowing that they had their own jobs and tasks, they had to eventually head back to their masters.
Before leaving, however, Esstia bit her lips and turned, staring at him. She was using years’ worth of courage at this time. "I... I just want you to know I’ve never been with another man—if you—"
Silva nodded, eyes softer than before. He raised his calloused hands and patted her cheek, making her want to cry again.
"I haven’t been with anyone else either."
Esstia’s heart poured and she ran to his embrace, sobbing her heart out.
...
Esstia headed back to her master’s palace at the opposite side of the complex. She wiped her face off the tears, heaving deep breaths to normalize her face, hopefully removing the reddening of her eyes by the time she entered.
It took a while though, so she ended up going around and not entering for a while. Until, that was, a command appeared in her head.
[Get in here]
The order made her flinch and she had no choice but to follow. Her heart beat loudly and she paled, nervous.
Would she get Silva into trouble?
She should not have approached him—
Even so... The Lady wouldn’t punish him just because of his previous associations?
At the same time, she was also very worried. Her master could be fickle and a bit scary, and she had always been bitter with the Golds. Perhaps that would extend to anyone who had been associated with them, regardless of the connection.
Silva was so good and so kind. He might not show it much, nor did he ever say sweet words to her, but she always felt it through his actions. She would rather die than cause him so much trouble.
Esstia was ordered to sit on a chair and she looked at the redhead who was gently rubbing her stomach.
Her master didn’t say anything for several moments, though it did not give Esstia any respite due to her nervousness.
Then, Octavia lifted her head. Esstia’s blood turned cold when Octavia looked coldly at her.
"Where have you been?"
...
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A/N: After finishing side project #2, Masterchef’s B&B, around January next year, the next story I’m planning on publishing is a Child MMC Base-building story hhahha. The Planet-building one will be posted middle of 2026 in Ro yal_Ro ad, primarily because FMC + Interstellar is still too niche in the current WN market. xD