Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: Dark Elf Arc

Chapter 53

Caspian eventually managed to pry the clingy Ameralda off him and left the room. As he stepped outside and closed the door, a sigh of relief escaped his lips before he could stop it.

"I see you are finished giving her ladyship a bath," a voice said.

For all of one second, Caspian froze like a block of ice as he felt his heart stop, but that second didn't last before his heart quickly sped up. Trying to contain his shock, he turned around. Sebas was standing next to him with a placid look.

"Have you... been here this whole time?" asked Caspian.

"Of course." Sebas bowed in acknowledgement. "I have to escort you back to your room, after all."

"Ah... well, lead on then."

"Yes."

Sebas turned around and began moving down the hallway. Caspian was about to leave, but he paused look enough to look back at the door that led to Ameralda's room. He shook his head and trotted to catch up with the butler.

Their footsteps sounded out within the hallway as the two turned a corner. Neither of them said a word. Sebas seemed content to let the silence continue, but Caspian was actually thinking about something.

He was shocked that Ameralda had not tried to have sex with him, and while that might have sounded arrogant, Caspian understood that people who were sold as slaves were usually only used for two things: hard manual labor and sex. It didn't look like Ameralda planned to use him for hard labor. Therefore he could only conclude she wanted him because the idea of having sex with a half-elf sounded exotic.

"Are you wondering why her ladyship didn't sleep with you?" asked Sebas.

"Huh?" Caspian looked at Sebas, startled, but then he blushed and looked away when he saw the man's knowing look. "Well... yes, a little."

Sebas nodded as though his thoughts were natural. "Her ladyship is not the kind of woman who forces men into having sex with her... even if those men are nothing but slaves. She does not want a relationship with a man that is purely sexual." A smile lit up Sebas' face as he continued speaking. "She is a very kind mistress who treats all of us as though we were precious. I myself was very nervous when I first came here, but I've come to love her ladyship for her kindness and compassion."

They turned another corner. As they did, Sebas told him a story.

"I did not come from what you'd call a good family. My father was a thief who was caught one day and killed, and my mother was a wench who slept with other men for money. She had a huge alcohol problem, especially after my father died. I would always wake up in the middle of the night when she came home, smelling of booze. She would often... force herself on me." Sebas paused for a moment, his expression lost as though thinking about the past. "At some point, my mother died as well, and I was forced onto the street, where I eventually got picked up by a slave trader. He was not what I would call a kind master, though I suppose having a roof over my head and one meal a day was better than before."

Caspian said nothing as the man continued speaking, and not just because it wasn't his place to speak. What Sebas was talking about wasn't a rare occurrence by any means. While slavery and poverty had been reduced by about 60% under the Sorceress Council's rule, it could not stop slavery and poverty entirely.

"It was during this time that the slave trader came here and I caught her ladyship's eyes. At first, I thought she was going to be just like everyone else, but she wasn't." Sebas looked at his hand. "You might not be able to guess from looking at me, but I have an aversion to being touched by women. Whenever a woman touches me, I break out in hives. However, her ladyship was patient with me. She never touched me and never pushed me into anything. I eventually overcame my inability to touch her. I still break out into hives when I touch other women, but not her."