Extra S*ave Saves the Crown Prince

“Are you all right?”

The slaves’ quarters were tucked away in a corner of the palace, as inconspicuous as possible. There were up to four people in every room, but right now there are a lot of empty rooms, so they assigned two people per room instead. Eva, who had been part of the crown prince’s palace for five years, had been assigned to share a room with me.

“You should eat something.”

I gestured for her to go ahead and eat, because I didn’t even feel like talking.

I heard Eva close the door and leave. I buried my face in my pillow. My whole body felt hot. What’s the point of reading the original novel? I didn’t even remember that it was part of the setting, to engrave markings to slaves.

‘No wonder they asked me to take two days off. Damn it.’

‘Do I have to come this far into the crown prince’s palace?’

I asked myself. Wouldn’t it have been more comfortable to settle in with the priest and Mrs. Noah at Port Pichedore?

‘I’ll come get you.’

He said he’d come and get me, but I ended up where he was instead. It was a complete opposite. He probably didn’t even care that I was alive. What was I supposed to do, coming all the way here and suffer like this?

‘To prevent a bad ending?’

‘Yeah. You’re a hero, definitely a hero.’ I cursed at myself.

‘Seth.’

The voice never left my ears, and never left my heart. I couldn’t get him out of my head completely after all. The man nodded at me as if he was okay even though he was dripping with blood. I still felt sorry for him. I was sympathizing with the crown prince on the subject of slavery, and I wanted to prevent him from meeting the same fate as in the original novel.

“Plus, there’s the ending where the empire was overrun by demons.

I don’t know how, but I’m the only one in this world who knows what happens next. If I can play it, I should be able to do something about it as much as possible. Now that I’m a slave in the crown prince’s palace, I’m as close to the stage as I can get.

If I can prevent that kind of ending, I’ll have a better chance of survival. It’s a shame that I’ve been enslaved, but I want to avoid the ending where I’m killed by a demon.

I’m not sure how far I can go yet, but I have to try everything I can.

“Haa….”

My head hurts just thinking about it.

⚘

The next day.

My fever finally subsided and I felt thinner. I washed myself, while being as careful as possible with my wound.

“How do you feel??”

“Uh, better.”

“I see.”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, no. Let’s go eat. You must be hungry.”

I was still weak, but my fever was finally gone so I felt lighter. As we walked to the dining hall, the slaves kept glancing at me. I don’t smell anymore, but I wonder if all those years of applying herbs to my body have worn off its smell.

“Eva, do I smell?”

“Smell? Like what?”

“Oh, nothing nevermind me.”

I think they were looking at me because I was new. The cafeteria was a dine-in, bring-your-own-plate kind of place. I ate my meal, pretending not to notice the stares. My appetite was whetted by the sight of food in front of me.

“Seth. Wasn’t it?”

I was deep into my meal when a shadow fell. I looked up to see Slavemaster Solgar standing over me.

“Ah, yes.”

“Good, come to my room with Eva when you’re done eating.”

“Yes.”

He turned away again, so I turned my attention to my food.

“Phew.”

“What are you laughing at?”

Eva chuckled as Solgar disappeared completely.

“Oh, no. I was just thinking that the slavemaster is a person, too.”

“Huh?”

“You’re making me say it now, in front of everyone?”

“Huh? Why is that?”

I ask, looking at her like I really don’t know anything. When I gave her a confused look, she shook her head.

“Can’t you feel the stares? You’re pretty dull, too.”

I look around and see more people staring at me. Why are they looking at me like this? Is it because I’m the new kid on the block?

“Just eat.”

Eva continued to shake her head in disbelief. I’ll ask her more questions later, I thought, and turned my attention back to the honey-flavored rice.

⚘

Eva summoned me to receive an education about the crown prince’s palace. She took me around and showed me the terrain.

We have to walk around off-peak hours as much as possible. If I encountered someone, I should crouch low and never look up.

I listened to the stories like nails in my ears. It was definitely the worst I’ve ever gotten.

“Is the crown prince at the palace now?”

“No!”

Eva looked around wildly to see if anyone was listening.

“This is one of the few times of the year he’s going to the palace.”

“Really?”

“Because he’s in Einfork for more days than not.”

“I see.”

“Yeah. So we’ll just have to get through those few times.”

Eva whispered, almost as low as the sound of a mosquito flying by.

“Get by?”

“Yeah. Why are you looking so clueless again?”

Eva looked me up and down.

“Do you really not know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“This place is called the Blood Palace for a reason.”

“The Blood Palace?”

“You may be an islander, but haven’t you heard the rumors of your highness?”

“Rumors? Isn’t he the hero of the Empire?”

“A hero, yes, but a fearsome one, at that.”

“Fearsome?”

“How many people have died in this palace so far?”

‘I thought back to the original story of Blood-Soaked Moon. It was said that the Male Lead was born with a burst of power that can kill people. He was considered a monster by his family and abandoned because of it, even though he didn’t mean to. As a child, he couldn’t control his power properly and lived only within the boundaries set by the priests. It had nothing to do with his will, but perhaps the very idea of having that kind of power was frightening.’

“It’s scary, isn’t it? That’s why we have to keep our heads down and hide as much as possible while he’s around, and we can’t be seen.”

The Palace of Blood was a fitting nickname for the original novel. It occurred to me that this palace, where everyone feared him, might be a place that he didn’t want to come to the most. It bothered me that he was not welcome in what was supposed to be his home.

“This, Seth, is your new home.”

“Wow.”

Goosebumps rose on my arms, and I realized this was a palace.

The soothing sound of the water was the crown prince’s hot spring facility. I was impressed by the spaciousness and opulence of the changing rooms, but the white marble baths were even more impressive.

The walls were lined with marble statues, each taller than a man, carved into different shapes. The hexagonal bath in the center of the courtyard was big enough for ten people.

“It’s really cool.”

“Yeah? There’s an open-air bath through that door.”

Eva gave me a meaningful look and opened the door.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but be impressed. Surrounded by bamboo groves, it was another world. The round moon bobbed gently over the hot spring, and a gentle breeze swept the bamboo. Sitting in this bath and looking up at the stars, I felt like I had the whole world.

“You’re out of your mind, aren’t you?”

“It’s so good. Here.”

“You said it was good?”

“Huh?”

“Good, because this is where you’ll be looking every day from now on.”

Eva smiled and patted me on the shoulder. I felt a bit strange about the fact that she kept smiling the whole time and was showing me the cleaning tools and how to use them.

⚘

“I’m such an idiot.”

Less than a day later, I realized why Eva was smiling like that. I was indeed an idiot. I’m not here to enjoy the hot springs, I’m here to clean them.

‘Ahhhhhh.’

I splashed water on one of the stone statues in the bath house. It was carved as a woman gracefully playing a stringed instrument that looked like a harp.

Beautiful to look at, but tricky to clean in between. The wrinkles in the fabric of her robe were so vibrant that I had to use all my fingertips.

Tap. Tap. Chuk.

The chemicals in the hot springs may have been good for the body, but they quickly made the white marble look dirty. I scrubbed continuously, and there was never a day that went by that I didn’t do it. To top it off, I had to finish it with a dry cloth, which left me with muscles straining all over my body.

“Oh, I’m tired.”

The good thing was that there was no one right next to me to supervise me, and no one minded the cleaning process because they hadn’t washed them in a while. When I was scrubbing, I complained about why they made so many statues, but when I was done, I’d be proud of myself.

Knock. Knock.

I was taking a break from my labor when Eva knocked on the door with her mouth.

“Are you done cleaning?”

“Uh, sort of.”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Eva was followed in by three other slaves, who had already finished with their section of the room. Come to think of it, I’m always the last one back to my quarters, but I guess that’s just me.

“Wow. No kidding.”

“The gargoyles are glowing.”

“Oh my God, look at this, look at the immaculate outdoor floor.”

They walked around in circles, and were exclaiming in admiration.

“Seth. This is amazing.”

“As expected from someone from the salt island.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place shine like this before.”

“What? That sounds like you’re cursing me.“

Eva, who was supposed to be in charge, snapped. But she didn’t mean it, so she gave a small smile.

“I just polished it hard.”

Their eyes glowed even brighter at my words. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I hastily pretended to organize my cleaning tools.

From then on, people came to see the hot springs every day. It wasn’t until later, when Solgar yelled at them for leaving their territory without permission, that the visitors stopped.

And so the day went on at the crown prince’s palace. Each day was spent in the hot springs, cuddling with the stone men and women.

“His Highness is expected to arrive sometime tomorrow.”

It was quiry time. Solgar broke the news blandly. I could feel the air around me stiffen instantly.

“I want you to watch your areas more closely. Help each other out if they need anything. When you are done for the day, you are not to leave until otherwise instructed.”

Even if the crown prince came, the slave could not go out to greet him. It would be nice to see his face, even from a distance, but it would not be easy. It had been three years since they had last seen each other. How much had he changed, and did he even remember the slave he had met on the salt island?

“Don’t be heartbroken. It’s a mountain that needs to be crossed anyway. So be strong.”

Eva seemed to think that I was frightened by the news of the crown prince’s arrival, and she herself had a hollow look on her face. Even the people who usually smile were stiff with fear.

I think I’m the only one who isn’t scared. The entire atmosphere of the crown prince’s palace was bustling and stiff. It was like the night before a storm.