The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed

Arpia and Asies sat facing each other.

Asies sat primly, gazing blankly ahead, while Arpia leaned back, arms crossed and legs casually folded in a cocky stance.

She still remembered her first meeting with Narsha—how she had stuttered and stumbled over her words.

Of course, back then, her opponent had been a young noblewoman, heir to a major merchant guild, and someone who had survived the treacherous noble society purely through her eloquence. Meanwhile, Arpia had been nothing more than a naive forest bumpkin.

Defeating Narsha in a battle of words had been near impossible.

But that was the past.

She had honed her skills by staying with Narsha.

“My name is Arpia. As you can see, I’m an elf.”

“Tinkerbell...”

“Stop calling me Tinkerbell. I don’t even know what that is. I’m just a regular elf.”

Asies lowered her head, looking sullen.

“What’s your name?”

“Asies.”

“Alright, Asies. Nice to meet you.”

Establishing dominance in the first meeting was crucial.

Arpia had learned that truth well.

Especially when dealing with another woman—another slave.

Technically, she had been a slave longer than Asies. That meant she was her senior. And as her senior, she had to assert her authority.

“You’re his slave too, right?”

“...Lami?”

“...Lami?”

“Lami.”

If she was calling him Lami, that could only mean Karami.

A nickname that only lovers would use.

Meanwhile, Arpia addressed him with hey, you, or Master.

...

Compared to Asies, there was zero affection in the way she referred to him.

“Alright. You win this round. I’ll admit it.”

A complete and utter loss.

‘She’s tougher than I thought.’

Even more unreadable than Narsha.

She had no idea what Asies was thinking.

For someone to maintain such an impassive expression—it was unnatural.

But Arpia refused to back down.

Without warning, she pulled off her top, exposing her back.

“See this? This brand? It’s proof that I belong to him. It’ll never fade, no matter what. You don’t have something like this, do you?”

Her ultimate trump card.

The brand Karami had given her.

To some, it might be an unbearable scar—something they’d cut out their own flesh to erase.

But to Arpia, it was the most precious thing in the world.

Even Narsha had been speechless before this mark.

It wasn’t that she was an exhibitionist.

...Or maybe she was.

Regardless, Arpia was certain she had won.

That was when Asies quietly pulled something out.

“What’s that?”

“A gift from Lami.”

A storybook.

Snow White.

“That’s it? Just a book?”

At those words, Asies’ expression twitched slightly.

This wasn’t just any book.

It was a storybook Karami had made just for her.

No amount of gold or jewels could replace it.

A treasure more valuable than all the riches in the castle.

She wouldn’t forgive anyone who dismissed it.

“This book... isn’t ordinary.”

“It looks fancy, sure. But you can mass-produce that in a printing shop. Even an ugly goblin could own one.”

“...No.”

“Denying it won’t change anything. Meanwhile, my brand is one-of-a-kind. No mass production. That’s what a real treasure is.”

It was a one-sided attack.

Asies’ eloquence was about as strong as Karami’s physical combat ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) skills.

In other words, completely nonexistent.

“A children’s storybook doesn’t even com—”

SLAM!

Asies abruptly shot to her feet.

Arpia flinched.

“W-Why did you get up so suddenly? Are we fighting? Just so you know, I’m pretty good at that too.”

Had she gone too far?

Maybe she had pushed too hard.

Asies, her gaze burning laser-like intensity, strode toward Arpia.

Then, she plopped down right next to her.

“...?”

Click. Click-click.

She wound the key of a music box on the table, letting it play.

Then, placing the storybook between them, she began flipping through the pages.

"Once upon a time... in a winter kingdom, there lived a beautiful princess named Snow White."

Asies was well aware that her words were weak.

So she chose another method—

Reading.

She wanted Arpia to understand.

How precious this book was.

How much it meant to her.

This was the best way she could convey her feelings.

Her voice, usually slow and lethargic, was now steady, firm, and filled with conviction.

And Arpia, unable to interrupt, had no choice but to sit there and listen.

****

“...And so, the prince and Snow White lived happily ever after.”

Thud.

Asies closed the book.

“Huu...”

She let out a long sigh.

I did well.

I didn’t make any mistakes. I read it perfectly.

She must have understood my feelings.

It was a sigh of relief filled with that very meaning.

“How... was it?”

She turned her head and stared at Arpia with a gaze full of nervous anticipation. There was even a hint of hope peeking through.

Her eyes were so pure—too pure—making it impossible to criticize her.

Feeling overwhelmed by that gaze, Arpia finally looked away, her lips twitching as she reluctantly responded.

“Well... It’s a nice story.”

At that, Asies’ face lit up. Like a layer of frost melting away in an instant.

“Mm! Mm!”

She nodded over and over again, brimming with joy.

Arpia completely lost the will to argue.

Unlike with Narsha, guilt crept in.

It felt like she was bullying a small puppy.

Like she was the only bad guy in the situation.

“...Sigh.”

She decided to let the fight end there.

It didn’t seem like words would get through to this girl anyway.

“Alright, I get it. I get how important he is to you, and I get how much that storybook means. But where did he go, leaving you behind?”

She had already figured it out.

In this castle—no, in this entire kingdom—Asies was the only person here.

Karami wasn’t here.

“He left. Somewhere else.”

“Where?”

“The Holy Kingdom.”

“You’re not going after him?”

“He said he’d be back soon.”

Of course.

He had told Arpia the same thing before leaving.

No, he hadn’t even told her—he had simply left a letter and disappeared. At least Asies had gotten a proper farewell.

‘So he’s a repeat offender?’

For all she knew, "I’ll be back soon" was just another one of his lies.

Her decision to chase after him was definitely the right one.

“Then what have you been doing here all this time?”

“Lami said... he wanted to see it. A kingdom full of people.”

“So you were making ice sculptures?”

“Yes.”

“All of them? By yourself?”

Asies nodded.

To Arpia, who had no idea what meaning lay behind these frozen figures, it seemed nothing short of bizarre.

Almost deranged.

“I’m traveling to find him. Since he’s in the Holy Kingdom, that’s my next destination. What about you? Want to come?”

To Arpia, Asies was a rival. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

But at the same time, she felt sorry for her.

She was just another slave who had been left behind by Karami.

Alone in this massive kingdom, with no one to talk to, spending her days carving ice statues.

But Asies shook her head.

“I’ll... wait here.”

“You don’t even know when he’ll be back.”

“Lami said he’d return soon.”

That unwavering trust in Karami...

Arpia saw her past self reflected in it.

She had been just like this once.

But no matter how long she had waited, Karami never came back.

Even though she was an elf, used to waiting—even she couldn’t endure it.

Meanwhile, Karami had been off in some distant land, playing around with other pretty slaves.

“I had people by my side, at least. Aren’t you lonely? He said ‘soon,’ but it could be years before he returns.”

“It’s okay. I’ll just... sleep.”

“Sleep?”

If it had been the old Asies, she wouldn’t have cared about loneliness or boredom.

She had probably believed she could be just fine, even if Karami left.

But she had been terribly mistaken.

The moment he was gone, an unbearable loneliness consumed her.

For the first time, Asies felt cold.

Not the curse of a dragon’s frost, but the bitter chill of solitude.

For the first time, she regretted it.

She should have followed him.

She should have taken his hand.

But it was too late now.

Asies stood up, walked over to the bed, and lay down, pulling the blankets over herself.

She had fulfilled all of Karami’s requests.

She had filled the kingdom with people.

There was nothing left for her to do.

Now, she would simply wait for the day Karami returned.

She placed the storybook on the bedside table, clasped her hands together, and closed her eyes.

Then, she began to freeze herself from within.

Her heartbeat, once strong, slowed to a faint rhythm—

Then, it stopped entirely.

Her breathing, still shallow, gradually ceased.

With that, all life activity came to a halt.

Like a cursed princess, asleep until the day her prince came to wake her with a kiss.

Forever.

Arpia had watched the entire process in stunned silence.

Then, before she could stop herself—

“Pfft... Hahaha... HAHAHA!”

She let out a dry, incredulous laugh.

“Wow. You’re a whole different breed of crazy.”

Not that she had much room to talk.

But to think that Asies chose to become a frozen corpse just because she hated waiting...

It was a revolutionary idea.

With that, it wouldn’t matter how long it took.

For her, it would just be like taking a short nap before waking up.

...Of course, if Karami never returned, she’d be trapped in this frozen sleep forever.

“Well, I hope your story has the ending you want.”

Arpia rose to her feet.

There was nothing more to see in Prissian Kingdom.

Now that she had confirmed that Karami had gone to the Holy Kingdom, she set off toward her next destination.