Slavery in Omino had existed more than a hundred years ago. King Edward, the previous king, had ordered the former Grand Duke Rhovan to abolish the practice of slavery. After that, no one really cared about the existence of that village.
Adrien had only heard of the village as a forbidden place. When he went out to visit the three regions, no one dared to take him there. In addition to being surrounded by dense forests, the village was also known as a den of bandits. All forms of crime existed there.
And rumors about a village of slaves never really stood out. Most people believed it was just a rumor. Although a small number of people knew about the slave village as an open secret, no one really talked about it.
Slave agents were scattered throughout the big cities. They came to the slave market, took the slaves to the city, and gave them to masters who needed them. Everything happened quietly.
It was as if they knew exactly where to find slaves, and whoever brought them would deliver them as requested. When people heard the word "slave," they thought only of Omino. And no one had ever actually gone to that village.
When Adrien heard Kai’s quiet explanation, he was speechless. The young man said that since childhood he had been trained to be a slave and was often tortured for being slow and because of his crippled legs.
"So you were born there?" asked Adrien, trying to clarify.
"Do you know your parents?"
Kai was silent and shook his head. He never knew what parents were. But he had seen how Obi called his mother, or how Virouse referred to himself as Sylas’ uncle. Then the king himself as Sylas’ father. From that, he understood a little about the outside world.
He didn’t even know how he came into the world. Since childhood, he had thought that babies suddenly appeared and were taken to the training center. Because he often saw babies being taken to a special room in Omino.
Adrien stared at Kai. At first, he had underestimated the young man for being stupid and uneducated, but now he felt moved. His gaze softened. He understood a little why Sylas protected him so much.
"So, did they take good care of you?"
Kai nodded. He explained that they were given healthy food there, although the portions were fixed and could not be increased. He often still felt hungry, but asking for more food meant being punished with a whip. So they preferred to hold back.
"We get porridge twice a day sometimes three times. They said it was healthy food to maintain our nutrition," said Kai.
Adrien took a breath. His mind was racing. How could he not have heard about the slavery? Or had he ignored it? The village was on the border of Rhovan, so why had Virouse never mentioned it? Did the man know? Or was he deliberately hiding it?
"Why did you stay there? Couldn’t you escape?" asked Adrien. With so many slaves, why didn’t anyone try to escape and report it?
Kai recounted several incidents he knew of, including a slave who had gone to the border guards after reporting and asking for help. He clenched his fists, remembering what they did to that slave. His chest pounded with trauma just from seeing it. But the trainer forced all the slaves to watch and made it a lesson.
After being tortured, Kai remembered seeing the slave burned in the middle of the field. No one dared to escape after that. He also heard stories of slaves who had escaped decades ago. And each story made his legs tremble. How could he dare to try? He couldn’t even run fast.
But there were some slaves who ended up committing suicide. The trainer just burned them. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelꜰire.net
Since childhood, Kai had been told that his duty as a slave was to find a master in order to stay alive. So he never thought about anything else except trying hard to be a good slave so that a master would accept him.
"I was almost taken to the zero room, because no master wanted to buy me. And at that time, Master Sylas came and bought me," Kai said softly, looking at Sylas with grateful eyes.
Sylas still didn’t understand what really happened there. At that time, he felt something pulling him to meet that slave. Something that made him unable to wait.
He didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if he had been late. Maybe that adorable and innocent Kai wouldn’t be standing in front of him right now.
Elias had been holding his breath, but this time he couldn’t hold back his tears. Adrien looked at him when he wiped his tears.
"Does that happen often? Slaves being taken to room zero?" asked Adrien.
Kai shook his head. "No. Only if the slaves were not sold."
Kai looked down. He had heard that slaves who were taken to Room Zero never came out and no one knew what was inside. But he had been there, and he had seen a large furnace.
He had heard that useless slaves were taken there to be injected, then their organs were removed before they were burned. Perhaps if Sylas hadn’t come, he would have ended up in the incinerator.
Adrien took another deep breath. "I don’t know how people can be so cruel as to create slave villages and treat them like animals. Mr. Kai, what you experienced, what you endured, should not have happened. Because you are in the Kingdom of Valigria, a free and prosperous kingdom."
Kai stared at the impassioned Adrien, the old man’s face reddening as he tried to hold back his anger.
"Now you don’t have to be afraid of anything. You are free and you are no longer a slave. And..." Adrien looked at Sylas. "I’m sure Sylas will take good care of you."
Sylas looked at Kai. Hearing his father’s words, he immediately turned his head.
Adrien cleared his throat. "You don’t need to hide it from me. I’m not a stupid old man. If you really like him, take care of him. When I forbade you from being with the previous servant, it was because I knew he would only drag you into disgrace. That servant was cunning and dangerous."
Sylas immediately snorted. "Father, I already told you that I can take care of myself. You don’t have to do anything," he said, still unable to accept how Adrien had killed the servant.
"I know. But Mr. Kai is very kind. You won’t cause Sylas any trouble, right?" said Adrien, looking at Kai.