“A slave?” D’Élysée repeated the female hero’s question, his voice dangerously low. “Are you asking that based solely on the fact that he is a demon?”
A bitter, incredulous laugh escaped his lips. Unfiltered rage began to simmer inside him. If he hadn’t been here, his naive brother would have been completely at this woman’s mercy. The thought of how hurt he would have been, unable to even utter a word in his own defense…
“How utterly nauseating. To think I shared a table with a filthy bigot.” A severe, judgmental light hardened his verdant eyes. “Is the title of ‘Hero’ not wasted on one who knows no shame?”
“My apologies. It seems my words have unintentionally caused a misunderstanding,” the female hero said, slowly shaking her head. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Tutu, of the Hero Union.”
The hero, Tutu, had a large, angular frame. A long scar cut across the bridge of her nose. Her limbs were corded with coppery muscle, and the scent of tobacco clung to her green robes. A thick, massive sword was strapped to her back, a weapon befitting her formidable physique.
“If the child accompanying you were a demon slave, I would have…”
“It was just a joke, but you’re no fun at all, are you?” the male hero interrupted, stepping in front of Tutu before she could finish. “I’m Jade.”
Hero Jade introduced himself with a slick grin, his narrowed eyes fixed solely on Egru. He was a man with a sharp, nimble look. Though his hair was neatly slicked back with expensive oil, he somehow failed to appear well-groomed.
“Hmph.” Tutu looked as though she had more to say but seemed to reluctantly withdraw from the conversation, taking a step back as if to observe how things would unfold.
“Well, isn’t this my lucky day! To think I’d run into an elf in this backwater corner of the West Continent!” Jade was now openly leering at Egru, who, drowsy from the alcohol, was blinking his eyes one at a time. “Top quality. A gentle disposition, and a pureblood, no less. You can tell by the shape of his ears.”
Jade spoke of Egru as if he were an item to be appraised. D’Élysée’s expression grew colder by the second.
“Their price is so high it’s a rare thing to see one even once in a lifetime. Even their corpses are highly valued as rare medicinal ingredients. And throughout history, elven ears have been a famous symbol of good luck…”
Before Egru could react, Jade’s hand shot out toward his pointed ear. But before the rude touch could land, D’Élysée’s hand snaked out and seized his wrist. The merciless grip made Jade’s confident smirk falter.
“Let go, will you? There are people watching.”
D’Élysée didn’t even flinch. He couldn’t care less if the guards at the banquet hall entrance, the servants lining the corridor, or anyone else was staring at him. This moron had crossed a line. Crack. A sound like knuckles being crushed echoed from within his powerful hand. A scream of pure agony tore from Jade’s throat.
“Kraaagh!”
“?”
The loud noise startled Egru from his doze.
“Stay out of my sight from now on.” D’Élysée flung Jade’s hand away before his brother could notice what had happened. “Let’s go, hyung.”
D’Élysée turned his back on the seething Jade. He intended to lead Egru down the corridor without a second thought, but he hadn’t taken a single step before his path was blocked again. Jade stood there, rubbing his throbbing wrist, a scowl twisting his features.
“Showing off just because there’s an Omega around.”
D’Élysée felt a violent urge to simply shove the man, who was a head shorter than him, out of the way. It was a shame. If his brother weren’t watching, he would have used a much more efficient method. A smashed nose, perhaps. Or maybe shoving his head into the dirt. Repeating either a dozen times or so would surely teach him his place.
“Move.”
“Isn’t it tiring, getting hung up on every little thing? He’s not bothered, so why are you overreacting?”
Despite D’Élysée’s short, sharp warning, Jade didn’t back down. He gave a malicious laugh and turned to Egru. “You answer me. Did I offend you?”
“Don’t answer, hyung.”
“You said he’s not a slave, right? If you’re not his master, why are you controlling who he talks to? Ah, don’t tell me demons don’t have the freedom to speak for themselves?” Jade stared directly down at Egru. “How pitiful. It seems he has to get permission for every little thing he says.” He let his eyebrows droop, feigning sincere concern.
Egru flinched slightly. Taking this as a positive sign, Jade seized on the momentary hesitation. “Such a cruel fate for such a lovely child. If you came to me, you wouldn’t have to worry about such things.”
“A-Are you, right now…” Egru began, startled. “Are you calling me pretty?”
“Of course. I thought so the moment I saw you at the banquet. Don’t tell me no one’s ever told you you’re pretty before?”
Egru slowly nodded, a pleased look on his face despite his drunken haze. “I-I’ve always been… small and shabby…”
“Why don’t you come to my room? I’ll show you that’s not true.” Seizing his chance, Jade grinned and lowered his voice. “I’ll warm the bed for you. I can be much more fun than that stuffy prude next to you.”
The innuendo flew right over Egru’s head. He simply blushed at the idea of someone wanting him.
N-No one ever expects anything from me…
After a full day of rejection, he was easily swayed by the slightest pull of interest. Just as D’Élysée was about to intervene, unable to restrain himself any longer, Egru beat him to it.
“Wh-What kind of fun thing?”
His mind, unbidden, conjured an image of the amusement park. The glittering rides he had only ever seen from a distance. The dancing clowns and the man on stilts handing out yellow balloons, all sights he’d secretly peeked at from over a wall. But the clearest memory of all was of the soap bubbles Levian had given him, likely because it was the first time he’d ever been inside such a magical thing himself.
“Don’t play coy. You know what I mean,” Jade whispered with a chuckle. “Let’s have sex.”
“Sex? Wow…!” Egru exclaimed, his face lighting up with the delight of recognizing a familiar word. His innocent amber eyes went wide. Lady Mayfield had definitely taught him this in their lessons. Sex was the word for all sexual relations between Alphas, Betas, and Omegas.
“I know what sex is! Sex!”
At the shout that echoed down the corridor, Jade’s face went slack with shock.
“Okay, I get it, just lower your voice…!”
“Why do you want to have sex with me? Is sex that good? Hey! This person just said he wants to have sex with me!” Drunk, Egru grinned foolishly as he grabbed a passing servant to share the news. “We just met, you know! He said we should do something fun together!”
A single glass of 21-year-old whiskey had transformed Egru into the world’s most audacious chatterbox.
The servant shot Jade a very strange look. Mortified, Jade finally shouted, “Th-This! What is this crazy bastard talking about? I don’t know him!”
His face fluctuating between red and purple, Jade scrambled away down the corridor. D’Élysée, unable to hold it in any longer, covered his mouth and turned his head away. Heh, khh… He laughed until tears pricked his eyes. Wiping them away, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Egru’s cheek.
“You really are my hero, hyung.”
The rage that had been boiling inside him at the scoundrel’s advances had completely melted away. Of course, he had no intention of letting Jade’s transgressions slide entirely.
“I guess he doesn’t want to have sex with me anymore…” Egru mumbled, watching Jade disappear around a corner. D’Élysée soothed him as he lifted him into his arms.
“Hyung. You promised you were doing that with me tonight. Have you already forgotten?”
“W-We’re having sex, too?”
“That’s what lovers do, hyung. You almost got into big trouble just now.” D’Élysée’s smile vanished, his voice turning a little stern.
“S-Sorry…”
“I’ll forgive you, since you took care of him.” Mwah, mwah. D’Élysée placed a series of tiny kisses near his ear. “And really, you don’t need to smile for trash like that.”
“Okay…”
“Angry face.”
At D’Élysée’s command, Egru scrunched up his face into a fierce growl. D’Élysée beamed, finding it utterly adorable.
“Okay, you can stop now.”
“Okay…”
His expression immediately returning to normal, Egru yawned and smacked his lips. Cradling the drowsy elf, D’Élysée slowly began to walk.