The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed

"It was just as you predicted, Master. The Dawn Trading Company has caused a massive incident."

Once again, Narsha was reporting to me.

The topic was related to her family, the Brian Household.

"The jewelry offered to the Queen was cursed. After wearing the necklace, the Queen is now in a comatose state."

This was nothing short of treason.

Fearing they would be implicated and punished alongside the Dawn Trading Company, all of its business partners severed ties.

The company was no longer functioning as a trading firm, and the head of the Brian family had been imprisoned in the royal palace’s dungeons.

Whether the Queen recovered or not would be the key issue, but either way, there was no chance they’d escape unscathed.

The family’s downfall was certain.

If they weren’t executed, it would be a miracle.

"An innocent person shouldn’t die. Have the kids work to wake the Queen. You take care of the Count and his wife, Narsha. And seize all the business left behind by the Dawn Trading Company."

"Everything is already prepared."

Other trading companies were surely eyeing the opportunity, but Narsha had been working behind the scenes ever since the matter was first mentioned.

There would be nothing left for those scavengers to pick up.

"And regarding the city construction I spoke of before, I’ve already contacted Doomheim. The dwarven representative should be arriving soon."

"I’ll handle things once they arrive."

Narsha bowed her head.

With that, today’s business report was over.

Yet, I continued staring at Narsha. No, to be precise, my gaze drifted above her head.

"Master, what are you staring at so intently?"

"I’m looking at the number above your head."

"Ah, you mean this?"

Narsha waved her hand above her head.

[17]

Narsha

"I noticed it this morning. The same thing appeared for the other slaves as well."

These numbers had only appeared on my slaves.

The hired maids had no such markings.

And it wasn’t just me who could see them. The individuals themselves could see them too if they looked up or checked a mirror.

"Master, do you have any idea what this could mean?"

"...No, I have no clue."

To say I had no guesses at all would be a lie.

I naturally considered things like ["the number of times they’ve had sex"] or ["the number of partners they’ve had"].

But neither seemed right.

There was no way my slaves had done anything like that, and more importantly, Narady’s number was 0.

She wasn’t the Virgin Mary, and she definitely hadn’t immaculately conceived Mirabel.

Which meant it wasn’t a sex count.

'Then what is it?'

I had no idea.

*****

To investigate this number phenomenon further, I went to find the other slaves.

The Great Forest.

Towering ancient trees.

Soft sunlight filtering through the leaves in scattered fragments.

That’s where I found Arpia.

Not only was she helping my enslaved elves, but she was also assisting the other elves of the forest in taming spirits.

"Sweetie? What brings you to the forest? Did you come just to see me?"

"You could say that."

I checked Arpia’s number.

[100]

Arpia

Mirabel’s number was a single digit.

Narsha’s was two digits.

Arpia, on the other hand, had hit triple digits.

Her number was significantly higher.

"You came because of this number, right?"

"Yes. They suddenly appeared for everyone."

"I saw mine in the mirror too and wondered what it was. It’s a bit annoying, but nothing happens, so I’ve been ignoring it."

"Does the Queen have one as well?"

Arpia nodded.

"It was 2."

"I see."

I had assumed Ivrelia would also be at 0.

Narady was 0, and so were the enslaved elves from the trading company.

I had thought it was the difference between completely freed slaves and those who weren’t.

But if Ivrelia wasn’t at 0, then that theory was wrong.

And even if that was part of it, it didn’t explain why the numbers were so different in size.

"Alright, I understand."

Next, I went to find Elise.

[85]

Elise

She had a number too. Higher than Mirabel and Narsha, but slightly lower than Arpia.

"You mean this number? It was there when I woke up this morning. I thought Master did something, but I suppose not?"

"I’m still investigating."

Elise didn’t seem to have any idea either.

"By the way, Master. What do you think about what I mentioned last night?"

"What are you referring to?"

Elise grinned slyly. Taking a step forward, she leaned in and looked up at me.

"Drinking my blood, of course. If you’d like, I can give you fresh, warm blood right this moment. What do you say? Don’t you want to taste my bodily fluids?"

"I’ll pass."

"Hmmm~"

Elise let out a low, meaningful hum.

"Did you know? Bats use echolocation. They emit high-frequency sound waves that bounce off objects, allowing them to perceive their surroundings."

"And?"

"That means when I look at you like this, it’s not so different from touching you with my hands."

After saying that, Elise fell silent.

However, her gaze sharpened, and she started scanning my body with her eyes.

Blatantly.

As if daring me to watch where her eyes wandered.

She was just looking as usual, yet because of what she had just said, it felt as if her gaze was physically touching me.

Like an invisible caress, sending goosebumps across my skin.

And Elise, clearly enjoying my reaction, smirked playfully.

[85] → [86]

Elise

At that moment, the number floating above Elise’s head increased.

"...Elise. Your number just went up. Do you have any idea why?"

"Oh my, it really did? Hmm... Ah~"

She let out a small exclamation as if she had realized something.

"Do you know what it means?"

"I think I do...."

She trailed off, curling her lips into a mischievous smile.

"But I don’t think I can ever tell Master."

****

In the end, Elise refused to explain.

As if it was some grand secret.

Based on her reaction, I could only guess...

Was it the number of times she had played pranks on me?

That seemed like the most plausible explanation.

But I still wasn’t certain.

After lunchtime, the slaves gathered.

Arpia, who had been in the Great Forest.

Mirabel, still deep in her maid training.

Lin, followed closely by Ashes, who was trailing her, clearly fascinated by Lin’s tails.

I checked their numbers.

[2344]

Lin

[0]

Ashes

'What the hell? This huge discrepancy.'

Arpia’s 100 was already high compared to the others.

Yet Lin had 20 times that, sitting comfortably in first place with a whopping 2344.

Meanwhile, Ashes was at 0, lower than even Ivrelia.

I had been convinced it was the number of pranks played on me.

But then—

[2347]

Lin

Even though she wasn’t doing anything, Lin’s number kept climbing.

This only pushed the mystery deeper into complete uncertainty.

"Lin, do you know what this means?"

"Of course I do~"

"What is it?"

Lin beamed.

"It’s Master’s affection for us. That’s why my number is the highest."

"Because Master loves me the most in the whole world~!"

"...!"

Shocked by Lin’s baseless "affection score" theory, Ashes [0] looked at me with wavering eyes.

Now look what you did. You traumatized her.

"It’s absolutely not an affection score. I swear on my position as Master."

I immediately refuted the claim, but Ashes’ unsettled state did not improve so easily.

"Mirabel, could you check your books for any information about these numbers?"

I did not like being plagued by this all day.

If there was any book that could unravel this sudden mystery, it would be the one Mirabel had used to dig into my secrets before.

Nodding, Mirabel summoned a thick tome and began flipping through its pages, searching for answers.

Then, she stopped turning the pages.

"What does it say?"

"......."

Had she become too engrossed in reading?

She gave no response.

Curious about what was written, I leaned in to take a look.

"Mirabel?"

"Ugh...!"

As I approached, Mirabel let out a suppressed gasp, twisting her body abruptly. She tumbled onto the sofa, then rolled off and hit the carpet with a thud.

Thump.

"Guh!"

Even then, she refused to let go of the book.

"Are you okay?"

"I-I’m fine! Totally fine! Completely fine!"

"What on earth does it say?"

Thud!

The moment I showed interest, Mirabel slammed the book shut with an audible snap.

Her face had turned bright red, flushed like a ripe strawberry.

She glanced at her own number.

Then at Narsha’s and Arpia’s numbers.

Then at Ashes’.

The moment her eyes landed on Lin’s number, they nearly popped out of her skull.

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion at Mirabel’s inexplicable reaction—except Elise, who giggled.

"Mirabel, how lewd of you."

"W-Wait! Elise, that’s not—!"

"Why? What exactly is this number?"

"Miss Mirabel, please share it with us as well."

Panicked by the growing number of questioning eyes, Mirabel frantically darted her gaze around the room. Then, suddenly, she bolted upright.

"I-I’m so sorry!"

Her body leaned forward so much that she looked like she was about to trip as she fled from the room.

Thud!

A loud crashing noise echoed from the hallway, followed by hurried footsteps resuming their escape.

Since none of us had any clue why she was acting that way, we could only glance at each other and shrug.

"Elise, what the hell is this?"

"It’s better if you don’t know. For the sake of everyone’s ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) peace."

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

"It just is. More importantly..."

Elise glanced between Lin and Ashes.

"One of them is a walking time bomb, and the other... well, she’s something else entirely."

She muttered something cryptic under her breath.

****

That night, Ashes was on watch duty.

As usual, she brought the Snow White storybook and asked me to read it to her.

By now, I had read it so many times that I could recite it word for word with my eyes closed.

As always, the story ended with the prince and princess living happily ever after.

Ashes would normally nod in approval, as if acknowledging the greatness of the tale—but not today.

"What’s wrong?"

"I’m the only one... without a number."

The numbers still hadn’t disappeared.

When I pressed Mirabel for answers, she had refused to say anything.

All she offered was, "They’ll be gone by tomorrow, so don’t worry about it."

But that didn’t ease Ashes’ mind.

Lin’s words still lingered in her thoughts.

"Like I said, these numbers have nothing to do with how much I care about any of you. And you’re not the only one with a 0, you know?"

"......."

That didn’t comfort her at all.

Ashes’ expression remained troubled.

"Hmm."

How should I handle this?

The simplest solution would be making her number go up—but unfortunately, Mirabel and Elise refused to reveal what these numbers actually meant.

Since I had no idea how they worked, I couldn’t help her increase it.

I had to find another way.

"Is there anything else you want? I’ll do anything."

"A ring..."

"That’s not happening anytime soon. Try again."

"......."

Something she wanted from me.

Something she wished for.

She fell silent, lost in deep thought.

She was so quiet that I had to check if she had fallen asleep.

Then, finally, she mumbled in a small voice.

"Hug me...."

"You want a hug?"

"Mm-hmm...."

Mirabel and Lin often took advantage of their smaller forms to cling to me freely.

Ashes had always felt envious watching them but had never dared to ask for it herself.

She wasn’t the type to demand things.

Unlike the other slaves, who were full of personality, Ashes was quiet and reserved.

Her gentle nature had led her to suffer more than most.

"That’s an easy request."

I spread my arms, and Ashes slowly squirmed her way into my embrace.

She pressed herself against me, snug and firm.

Warm.

The heat from my body spread to her, seeping into her frozen core.

It reminded her of that time Mirabel’s magic had trapped her in ice.

And now, she finally understood why Lin always tried to catch my scent.

Ashes gripped my arms tightly.

Holding hands was nice, but being held like this felt even better.

****

How much time had passed?

Not long, surely.

I had dozed off comfortably, cooled by Ashes’ natural cold aura.

Meanwhile, Ashes—bathed in my warmth—couldn’t sleep at all.

She was too hot.

Sweat dampened her clothes.

She wanted to pull away, but... if she did, she might wake me up.

And so, she endured.

She was sleepy, but unable to sleep.

What a cruel fate.

Ashes sighed quietly and gazed at me.

She had never seen me sleep before.

I always woke her up.

And then, a thought struck her.

When a princess falls asleep, the prince wakes her with a kiss.

But if the prince is asleep... doesn’t that mean she can kiss him as much as she wants?

Her eyes widened as if she had just unlocked some great universal truth.

That meant, while I was sleeping...

Ding.

[1]

Ashes

The number above Ashes’ head increased.