Master and Slaves

[A/N: At the end of every month, I’ll be mentioning the Top 3 Golden Ticket donators and the Top 5 Power Stone donators in the Author’s Note! Thank you all for the support! ❤️]

"Prepared as a Te-Dule, you mean?"

"Yes. ...Come to think of it, Helma was a twin, wasn’t she? Is there... no one among them?"

Tzecilia suddenly changed the subject and looked at the women on our side.

"This girl is Helma’s twin sister, Ilma."

Muriel showed Ilma’s face, who was being held in her arms, to Tzecilia.

Tzecilia looked at Ilma being held by Muriel and showed a somewhat puzzled expression, but continued the conversation.

"You are one too, aren’t you? Nice to meet you."

"..."

When I turned around, Ilma looked at me with a troubled expression.

"Ilma, answer."

"Yes. I am also a Te-Dule."

"Are you prepared?"

"What does ’prepared’ mean? I am Master’s Te-Dule, so I will do anything for Master."

"Can you endure anything? Pain, shame, and so on."

"I can endure! I can take it!"

Ilma declared firmly.

"That is Ilma-chan’s resolve. And you are the mother of Helma and Ilma-chan, aren’t you?"

Muriel was asked this time.

"Yes. My name is Muriel."

"Are you a Dule?"

Tzecilia asked Muriel.

She was exposing her breasts, so it should have been obvious.

"Yes. I am Master’s A-Dule."

Muriel answered politely.

"You can treat Helma and Ilma-chan as Te-Dules, can’t you?"

"I intend to do so. I have prepared for it."

"I see. ...It must be hard. Having my own child become my Master’s Te-Dule."

"It is not hard at all. On the contrary, I am happy. As a mother and daughter, we can serve Master together."

"You are... I see. It’s fine then. But it is sad. Even if she is not your biological daughter, you have raised Hera and Helma yourself. It is sad that she became a Dule. A Te-Dule, at that."

Tzecilia looked down and tears welled up in her eyes.

Of course, it would be unforgivable if the child you raised with all your heart became a slave.

Whether Helma was raised with love was clear by looking at her.

But Muriel... was special.

Because the way she gave birth to Ilma and Helma was special.

And she had been Master’s Dule before giving birth.

"...But if you leave them here as Master’s Te-Dules without a Master, Helma would be happier if she were under Master’s rule."

"Grandmother...."

Tzecilia stroked Helma’s arm standing beside her.

Helma crouched down and put her hand over Tzecilia’s.

"...I will ask one more time. Helma, you are going to become a Te-Dule for this person, right."

"Yes. ...I am sorry, Grandmother."

"I see. I will say no more. ...Ah, one thing. I have a request for you, Muriel-san."

Tzecilia turned to Muriel and asked.

"You said you are preparing to make Helma and Ilma-chan Te-Dules. Can you do it here too? I would like to see it. As a mother who raised Helma, I want to bid her farewell."

"That’s...."

Tzecilia’s serious request made Muriel falter.

"Um, Master-sama...."

"I don’t know what to do... I will leave it to Muriel."

"That’s...."

Muriel thought for a while and answered.

"Tzecilia-sama, I understand. However, there is something I would like you to prepare."

"What is it?"

"Is there ’low’ in this mansion?"

Low?

Candle wax?

"Yes, there is. Well, is it all right as something to keep captured?"

"Yes, that’s right. As long as there are restraints attached to the floor and ceiling, it’s fine."

Low... could it be a prison?

...Um, the story is getting increasingly ominous.

"...Master, please confirm once more. I will leave everything to me, all right?"

As I turned and gave Muriel a puzzled look, she asked me again.

It seemed to have some meaning... but I trusted Muriel.

"Yeah, I trust you."

"Thank you very much."

I smiled and said that, and Muriel looked relieved and happy as she thanked me.

"Then...."

Muriel asked Tzecilia to prepare what was necessary.

...

"This person...."

"The lord of this mansion and my dear friend, Countess Gertrude-Caterilli. She said she wanted to see you if I told her, so she came along."

Tzecilia introduced a woman of the same age as Tzecilia, looking troubled.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Gertrude-Caterilli. I am the lord of this town. Nice to meet you."

The woman named Gertrude-Caterilli greeted me with a playful tone.

She was dressed more luxuriously than Tzecilia, an old noblewoman that looked like she had come out of a medieval European movie.

"Fuh. She also said she wanted to see her daughter. What do you think?"

Tzecilia sighed as if she was at her wit’s end and asked me.

"Muriel, what do you think?"

"Forgive me, but this is not a spectacle. ...I do not want to expose the girls’ shamelessness."

Shamelessness? Expose Ilma and Helma’s shamelessness?

"That’s right. I think the same, but...."

Tzecilia whispered to me and Muriel, who were talking with Helma, when Gertrude-Caterilli was done with her.

"You can’t disobey her. She is technically my employer."

"Why did you talk to her?"

"I didn’t intend to. When I was preparing to use the prison, she noticed...."

"Tzecilia, Tzecilia."

"Yes, what is it, Gertrude?"

Tzecilia was startled by Gertrude’s sudden call and quickly answered.

"It’s almost time for her to come back, so let’s prepare first. I’m looking forward to it. I had only heard rumors about Te-Dules. How did Helma hide the fact that she was a Te-Dule?"

Gertrude spoke to Tzecilia and Helma like a machine gun.

Tzecilia and Helma smiled while drawing their cheeks and listening.

Tzecilia and Helma were being toyed with by Gertrude.

Was this the daily life in this house?

"Then, shall we begin preparations?"

"Haa. Understood. Is it okay for you, Master?"

"Muriel will handle it."

"Then we’ll be off."

"E, excuse me."

"I’m leaving too."

Muriel left the room with Ilma and Helma.

Cathy and Tzecilia followed them.

And the people left in this room were me, Sara, Rina, Rine, and...?

"Heh heh, I’m looking forward to it."

Gertrude-Caterilli sat on the sofa Tzecilia had been sitting on.

...

"I must say, you have quite a few Dules. You are amazing."

Gertrude-Caterilli praised me.

...She was praising me, right?

"My daughter has recently obtained a Dule too. It’s a To-Dule. It’s enviable. I wanted one too, but it didn’t work out. It would have been fine with a beastman Vistal, but that’s no good. I hate them. How should I put it? They are like pets. As pets, they are fine. I would like to lend my daughter’s Dule. Oh dear, I shouldn’t be talking about that with someone I just met. Oho ho ho...."

"Hah. Ah, ahaha... hah."

No matter how you put it, talking to this person makes you naturally smile like Tzecilia and Helma.

"Come to think of it, while I was talking about Dules, my daughter is about to hold an auction soon. If you’re interested, I’ll arrange it. It’s also a connection because I got to know you here. After all, Helma is Master’s."

An auction?

Come to think of it, the guests around when I bought Sara and the others were talking about it too.

"What kind of goods are handled in that auction?"

"Anything. Antiques, gems, magic items, slaves, apparently. This time, there are a lot of relics from the Cardelia Kingdom."

"Eh!"

The moment Gertrude-Caterilli spoke, a surprised voice came from my feet.

"What is it, Tiria?"

"Ah, no, I’m sorry, Master. The Cardelia Kingdom is a neighboring country of Torrestia...."

Ah, I had heard that before.

But the relics of Cardelia...?

"Did the Cardelia Kingdom get destroyed?"

"Oh, you don’t know? Last month, it was invaded by Torrestia and destroyed. Among the nobles, they were saying that the next one would be this country."

Invaded by Torrestia?

"That means...."

At that moment, a knock sounded on the door.

Gertrude-Caterilli answered and Cathy opened the door and came in.

"Excuse me. Master, Gertrude-sama. Everything is ready."