In the Nest of the Fallen Serpent - Chapter 40
Chapter 40
‘I didn’t think I had a penchant for making others cry.’
It wasn’t so bad. Her flushed eyes, her soft sobs, her delicate trembling form. Benedict cupped her cheeks in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. They must taste sweet, like the sweet flesh of a fruit. He asked impulsively, “If I spare him?”
A flicker of confusion crossed her clear, gentle eyes. Her long, wet, silver lashes blinked like a cow’s. Rabbit, deer, cow. All herbivores. Benedict dismissed the fleeting thought and asked again, “What will you give me in return for granting your request? There’s a price for every transaction, isn’t there?”
The woman’s eyes widened in surprise at his proposal. Her thoughts were completely transparent. How could she be so incapable of hiding her true feelings? Benedict was as cunning as he was skilled at manipulating people. To him, the being before him was absurdly naive. She was like a rabbit walking right into a snake’s den.
Having finally stopped crying and regained some composure, the woman parted her lips with difficulty.
“Anything. I will do whatever you ask….”
“That doesn’t entice me.”
Benedict shrugged with a bored smile.
“It’s only natural for a slave to obey their master.”
“Then….”
The flustered woman asked with a glimmer of hope in her eyes,
“Would you tell me what you want… or… another way?”
What to do. If he wished, he could crush her hopes, replace them with despair, and inflict pain upon her. It would be easier for Benedict than snapping a flower’s stem. But he wasn’t inclined to break her so completely.
It was perhaps similar to willingly using a precious gem and shaping it to his will, but not wanting to scratch it and diminish its value. Having rationalized his discomfort, Benedict felt satisfied. This woman was a trophy. Quite beautiful and moderately useful, but not of absolute or unique value. Feigning a benevolent smile, he spoke.
“Give me your necklace, and I’ll consider it.”
“M-My necklace?”
As expected, the woman’s face paled. Her hand flew to her chest, trembling as if someone were trying to steal it. Indeed. His smile deepened. Benedict had first noticed the necklace when he tore her clothes to treat a wound on her shoulder. It was a simple pendant, a flat, round piece of wood strung on a cord, worn smooth from handling.
In his eyes, it was practically trash, a dirty, pathetic trinket he wouldn’t normally give a second glance. But he had left it. After treating her wound, he ordered all her torn and tattered clothes to be discarded, but even as he dressed her in new garments, he hadn’t removed the necklace.
There was no particular reason. He simply hadn’t bothered to remove it himself. It was a trivial matter he would have quickly forgotten under normal circumstances. However, during the journey to his estate, Benedict had witnessed his slave habitually touching the necklace several times. Each time, her expression was filled with tenderness. Had she had a lover?
He didn’t know the details of their connection, but the necklace did resemble a token of affection. At the very least, it was something she cherished in memory of someone. He’d suspected its importance to her early on, but it was from then on that the fact began to displease him.
His slave would never set foot on her former, ruined land again. She would live out her days here, buried in this land. Therefore, it was only right that she erase such unnecessary attachments to the past. Nothing was more foolish than clinging to memories and failing to adapt to reality. So, Benedict decided to seize this opportunity to personally and forcibly sever the woman’s lingering attachment.
“W-Why the necklace…?”
Her soft voice trembled pathetically. It was a voice on the verge of tears. She fumbled at her neck with slender fingers, pulling the cord to reveal the pendant. A desperate gesture to protect something precious.
“It’s just, just as you see, a simple piece of wood. It’s of no use to you….”
“Then you should have no problem giving it to me, should you?”
But Benedict cut her plaintive attempt short.
“Why? Is his life not worth that necklace?”
“…!”
Her pink eyes shook violently, and he sensed his victory.
“I have no intention of taking it by force.”
However, it was clear that the consequence of her choice would be the servant’s death, and the woman had only one option left.
