You Were My Sl*ve - Chapter 83

“Why didn’t you stop her? Why didn’t you stop this! You said the god would save us!”

Aslan had no words for the boy who would be left behind. Kazan collapsed onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Why did you lie?! Why?!”

Aslan clenched his eyes shut and opened them slowly. From this moment on, Kazan would hate and resent him for the rest of his life. There was no turning back. Aslan had lied in the name of the god—for Rité’s sake, he had deceived Kazan.

But even if it meant being hated, Kazan had to survive. He steeled himself and spoke with unwavering calm.

“Your Highness, I saw both you and Lady Rité in my dream today. Both of you were destined to die. But just now, Rité changed that fate with her choice. She will die… but you will live. That is the result of the god’s will.”

“I don’t care! I never wanted this!”

“Stop whining! You can no longer afford to act like a child! Your life is your responsibility now. No one will protect you anymore!”

Aslan’s voice echoed harshly through the sanctuary, leaving Kazan wide-eyed and trembling. After a moment, Aslan gestured urgently.

“Come. We must leave Ferma immediately. While Rité is still alive, we must escape!”

His mother wasn’t gone yet. Kazan wiped his tears and ran toward Aslan. Without another word, Aslan led them out through the underground passage.

“Hurry, this way!”

They reached the stables behind the temple. Aslan lifted Kazan onto a horse and gently helped Rité onto the saddle behind him. Her breathing was shallow, and her body leaned heavily against her son’s back. How much longer could she hold on?

Both Kazan and Aslan shared the same grim thought.

“No matter what happens, you must keep running,” Aslan said firmly as he gripped Kazan’s shoulders.

“Whatever happens, even if it’s just you left—run. Don’t let Rité’s sacrifice be in vain.”

For the first time, Kazan saw a flicker of sadness and regret in Aslan’s eyes. They were mirrors of his own grief and blame.

Kazan felt the weight of his mother pressing down on his small frame. He turned his head, his voice barely a whisper.

“I’ll survive.”

The horse carrying Kazan and Rité galloped away from the Temple of Lu. Aslan watched them grow smaller in the distance, his heart heavier with every step the horse took.

When they were finally out of sight, Aslan fell to his knees. He thought he should pray for them, beg the god to watch over them.

But not a single prayer came to mind.

So he wept aloud instead.

He couldn’t curse the god—he didn’t dare. There was no one to call upon. He simply sat there, sobbing like a lost child, broken and helpless.

*

“And so, that boy gained three hearts at the cost of his mother’s life,” the god of Lu said calmly.

Elona felt her chest tighten, unable to process anything for a moment. Tears welled in her eyes, dissolving into the water around her. She spoke to the god in a trembling voice.

‘So in the end… did Lady Rité die because of your curse?’

“Yes. She breathed her last before they could escape Ferma.”

‘But… she was still riding with Kazan on the horse back then…’

“Kazan wouldn’t have known. He believed his mother was killed by his older brother, Shattiv Mileshatra’s arrow.”

‘An arrow?’

“Not long after leaving my temple, Kazan was pursued by Shattiv. An arrow loosed by Shattiv struck Rité—though she was already dead—and her body fell from the horse. Shattiv was thrown from his own horse when it stumbled over her corpse, halting the pursuit. Rité’s body was burned along with the others in the plaza of Ferma. Aslan’s prophetic dreams never fail.”

It was truly a story Elona could never ask Kazan about. She swallowed her grief, trying to suppress the sadness that gripped her heart. Just then, the god of Lu murmured as if lost in thought.

“Rité must have believed her son would live a long life. Like King Ashad of Lu. But, Elona, Kazan shattered all three hearts he took from me. Every single one. Not one remains.”

‘What? What do you mean?’

The three hearts had been three lives. The meaning of the god’s words was clear.

‘Does that mean… Kazan has already died in the past?’

“Yes. Kazan has died three times.”

‘Th-three times?!’

Of course, she knew he had lived a difficult life. But to hear that he had truly died three times? At just twenty-seven, that seemed unbearably cruel.

The god must have read her thoughts, for his voice grew softer, almost amused.

“The day the first heart shattered, you should remember it well. It was the day you first met him. At the slave market, when he threw himself in harm’s way to save you. That day, his heart was pierced by the falling wreckage. He died for the first time.”

Elona’s breath caught in her throat. She vividly recalled the moment. Beneath the collapsed tent, they had exchanged only a few words before he lost consciousness. At that very instant, he had died to save her.

‘Then… what about the other two hearts? When did they break?’

“Let me see,” the god mused gently before continuing the tale.

*

In the dead of night, Kazan sprinted through the northern forest of the Parsion royal castle, his breath ragged and uneven. His legs and arms constantly caught on low-hanging branches—he wasn’t familiar with this part of the woods. Still, he pushed on, cutting through the dense darkness at full speed.

If he turned west at the edge of the northern cliff, he could avoid the western hunting grounds and escape the castle unnoticed. But the path was treacherous, and once he got out, it would be a long time before he reached any village or shelter.

It doesn’t matter. As long as I escape without being seen.

He had to get as far away from the castle as possible before sunrise, before anyone noticed he had broken out. Zerox was clever; he would cover his tracks and ensure no one found out he had helped him escape. Samira had fled earlier and was likely already far away from the castle. And Elona…

Elona…

The thought of her drained every ounce of strength from his body. Kazan came to a halt, gasping for air. He was fully aware of what he was doing. He was running—running far away from Elona.

I can’t stay with her anymore. I can never go back. Returning means death.

He trudged forward, his boots crunching over thick piles of leaves. He repeated the same words in his head like a mantra, trying to convince himself that what he was doing was the only choice he had left. He needed to leave Parsion and return to Ashatra. After all…

“When asked for the truth, Princess Elona testified! She said the slave Kazan had forgotten his place and—”

“No!” Kazan slammed his fist into the nearest tree, his rage boiling over.

No matter how many times he replayed it in his head, it didn’t make sense. It couldn’t be true. Elona wouldn’t do that. No matter if she was engaged to Prince Bahalen—she wouldn’t betray him overnight like that. Not her. Not Elona, with her gentle voice and kind eyes.

“She wouldn’t…”

Kazan leaned his forehead against the tree, covering his face with trembling hands. He felt like he was going mad. All he wanted was to rush back and demand the truth from her, just like he had done the night before, the moment he heard about her engagement.

“Kazan, you knew this day would come eventually.”

No. He hadn’t known. He hadn’t dared to imagine it. The day she would choose another man—a day when he would no longer be by her side.

“Antonio will become king and torment me for the rest of my life. Is that what you want?”

Of course not! He wanted to free her, to give her happiness. He would do anything for that. Anything.

“How can I trust you? You’re just a slave!”

“…A slave.”

Kazan’s voice cracked, sounding broken and hoarse. A slave. He had heard the word countless times before, and it had never affected him. His body may have been bound in chains, but his soul had always been free. He had always believed he could escape to Ashatra once the civil war was over.

But in Elona’s eyes, he wasn’t just a slave in body—he was a slave in spirit. A man unworthy of her love. That was why she had cast him aside and chosen someone else. Someone powerful enough to protect her from Antonio. Someone like Bahalen, the foreign prince who could give her everything Kazan never could.

A man Kazan could never compete with. Not as a slave. Not even as a prince.

“Hah… so that’s how it is.”

Kazan laughed hollowly, his voice echoing in the empty forest. The sound quickly died in his throat, leaving him staring into the darkness with vacant red eyes. After laughing like a madman, his head felt clearer.

Xerox and Samira hadn’t betrayed him. No. Elona had. Everything she said at the trial had been real. She had pushed all the blame onto him—deliberately, sincerely. Because he was a burden to her happiness.

Because she no longer needed him.

Because she no longer loved him.

Kazan straightened up and looked north again. He had come far enough that the cliff should be just ahead. Once he reached it, he could run west as fast as he could. If he kept heading west, he would eventually reach Ashatra—a land of endless deserts and blazing sun, a country of people with his skin, his gods, his roots.

A place that might finally feel like home.

Kazan Mileshatra. This is where he would begin again—the life of a prince.