You Were My Sl*ve - Chapter 90

This was a matter of life and death for Kazan. She could no longer afford to be selfish or indulge in rosy optimism. She had to think rationally—no matter what, she had to find a way to protect him.

‘…Ashatra.’

That was the only solution. Kazan’s homeland. The civil war there was still raging, but if he returned, no one would treat him as a slave. He would be free to live his own life.

Even if she was not with him… he could be happy.

It was late afternoon, the sky painted with hues of sunset. Elona waited for Kazan to return to the palace after finishing his daily tasks.

“Elona.”

Seeing her standing at the entrance, Kazan’s face lit up as he approached. His eyes always shimmered with happiness when he looked at her. Feeling a pang of guilt, she averted her gaze.

“Come with me for a moment. I need to talk to you.”

Noticing the darkness in her expression, Kazan’s smile faded. Elona led him to the western tower, a place no one visited. Only after they stopped in front of the abandoned structure did she finally speak.

“We… can’t do this anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. We have to stop. Meeting in secret, acting like lovers….”

“Acting like lovers?”

Kazan shook his head in disbelief. Not once had he ever thought of their love as mere pretense. He grabbed her hand, his voice urgent.

“Elona, why are you saying this all of a sudden? Did someone say something to you? Did we get caught?”

“It’s not that. I just… realized the truth.”

How ridiculous must her words sound to him? Unable to meet his eyes, Elona murmured helplessly.

“Kazan, I will set you free.”

He remained silent. Summoning her courage, she looked at him and commanded,

“Go back. Return to where you belong.”

“Elona, I will stay by your side.”

His grip on her hand was firm, yet there was no desperation in his touch—only unwavering sincerity. But Elona pulled away.

“Go back to Ashatra! There is no place for you in Parsion anymore.”

“That’s not true. You are my place. You are my master.”

Elona lowered her head, unable to meet his gaze. His voice, full of raw emotion, echoed in her ears.

“You love me.”

She couldn’t shake her head and say no.

In the end, Elona stepped away from him, raising her voice.

“My feelings don’t matter at all! What matters is that I can no longer keep you as a slave. I can’t… protect you anymore.”

The more she spoke, the more the weight of helplessness crushed her. The moment she met Kazan’s stunned gaze, she could no longer bear it and ran away.

Kazan did not chase after her.

She knew how pathetic she must have looked, but there was nothing else she could do. She wished—prayed—that he would grow tired of her, that he would come to hate her.

“This is the right choice.”

She tried to convince herself.

“If I can’t take responsibility for Kazan’s life, then letting him go is the right thing to do.”

Wiping away the endless stream of tears, Elona kept running. When she finally shut herself inside her bedroom, she pulled the blankets over her head and waited for this miserable day to end.

By evening, her engagement to King Bahalen would be officially announced. Kazan would hear of it.

He would know that there was no longer any way for them to be together.

But that night, Kazan came to her chamber.

She knew, with absolute certainty, that this would be their last night.

Determined to remember every moment of it for the rest of her life, she let him into her bed.

Facing her, he asked sorrowfully,

“Are you really going to marry him? The King of Bahalen… you?”

She nodded, and he refused. He fought against her decision. He begged her to run away with him, throwing out a desperate, impossible proposal.

Elona shook her head at every word.

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

She abandoned him. Pushed him away. Wounded him.

She severed him from her life and told him they would live separate, unrelated lives.

That night, Kazan held her tightly and wept for a long time.

“I… I would do anything for you….”

Elona had thought she understood everything about him.

He was a man who would give up his freedom for her. A man who would kill Prince Antonio without hesitation if she wished. A man who would endure any hardship if it meant being with her.

But she had gravely underestimated the depths of his devotion.

Kazan died three times because of her.

He did not stop at Antonio—he killed all six of his brothers as well.

From a slave to a king, he clawed his way up from the very bottom to the pinnacle of power. And even at the height of his reign, his eyes saw only her.

He wanted to bring her back into his life.

She had never understood just how desperate and all-consuming his love for her truly was.

*

When she opened her eyes, Elona found herself standing in the middle of a vast desert. A slow breeze brushed against the tattered edges of her dress, torn by Zahhak’s whip. Her long golden hair fluttered in the wind, tickling her back, but she felt no pain. The wounds inflicted by Zahhak’s whip had completely healed.

“This is…”

Elona looked down at her hands, which had been bound just moments ago, and hesitated. The ropes were gone. Instead, something familiar was resting in her grasp.

It was a white water jug—empty.

The moment she peered into the hollow vessel, she recalled the third promise she had made to Lu God.

“With all sincerity, I ask of you…”

As she remembered the mysterious voice of the god, something suddenly tapped her from behind.

“Ahh!”

Startled, she nearly dropped the jug. Clutching it tightly to her chest, she turned around.

A desert horse stood before her.

“Huh…? Why are you here all alone?”

Judging by the bridle on its head, it wasn’t a wild horse. It looked utterly exhausted, as if it had wandered the desert for a long time.

Had it abandoned its master, or had its master abandoned it?

As Elona curiously walked around to its side, her eyes caught something on its saddle—an engraved emblem, round and unmistakable.

It was the symbol of Lu God.

“No way… did you come from Lu’s temple?”

There was no definite proof that the horse had come from Ferma. But an intense feeling gripped her as she gazed in the direction it had traveled from. The deep hoofprints stretched beyond the towering sand dunes, tracing an unbroken path.

Then, a fierce wind began to rise.

“No…!”

Elona sprinted after the trail. The sand, which had lain still, trembled like tiny creatures and began to roll along with the wind.

The shifting dunes swallowed up the hoofprints.

Don’t disappear. Please, stay there.

Desperately, Elona climbed the dune, her eyes straining to follow the fading footprints. She didn’t stop, kicking up sand with each step.

And finally, when she reached the crest of the towering dune—

She saw him.

Below, half-buried in the sand, a man lay motionless. The shifting dunes were consuming him, grain by grain, as if dragging him into the depths of the desert.

Elona’s breath hitched when she caught sight of his right arm, partially visible through the sand.

The mark of Sindar, now completely crimson, had spread from his nape down past his jaw.

Without hesitation, she threw herself down the dune, sliding recklessly toward him.

“Kazan!”

Her desperate cry cut through the howling wind.

Even as she stumbled on the sinking sand, panting from the effort, she pushed forward with everything she had.

“Kazan, wake up! I’m here—open your eyes… please…!”

Elona set down the water jug and frantically dug through the sand covering him.

The curse mark blazed like fire, burning bright red, yet his body was ice cold.

Don’t disappear. Please, don’t fade away.

She cradled his head on her lap, pressing her ear close to his lips.

A faint breath.

He was still alive.

Elona, at a loss, gently stroked his cold cheek. His lips were parched, his eyelids firmly shut.

Just like she had been—when she had been dying from the poison of Kiraelli.

“No…!”

Elona finally broke down in tears, holding him tightly.

Even as she sobbed, the mark of Sindar spread further, consuming him like death itself had claimed him.

“I’m sorry, Kazan…”

She whispered as she embraced him.

The nightmare she had dreamt countless times since their parting at the western tower—had finally become reality.

The dream in which Kazan, tormented by her betrayal, ultimately died in her arms.

“I’m sorry… for hurting you so deeply….”

How much pain had he endured? How unbearable must it have been?

Elona shuddered as she recalled the memories of him that Lu God had shown her. Seven years. Seven long years spent in cold prisons, on towering cliffs, on blood-soaked battlefields. And through it all, Kazan’s heart had always beat for her.

He had shattered and been reborn time and time again, consumed by the agony of betrayal and an obsession that bordered on madness—all because of her.

“I… I have something I must tell you.”

If you, too, have met a god, then perhaps you glimpsed my memories.

Perhaps you saw through the thick veil of misunderstanding and beheld my truth.

But Sindar has cursed you—he would never have revealed it.

So please, just once—give me one last chance.

A chance to tell you my true heart.