I Am a Ruined Noble of a Ruined Kingdom

Chapter 18: Unforgettable Memories (Extra Chapter)

Unforgettable memories.

A dark and dirty one-room shack, as if hardened with mud. A wretched environment where explicit sounds from the next room could be heard. That was the entirety of my world.

The means of survival for an orphan with no name and no status are limited. There's only a difference between living as a slave for life and dying young, or selling your body to survive day by day and dying young from an STD.

I was a dirty rent boy.

That day, as always, the pimp's call came.

In order not to get beaten, I had to run with all my might, as if my legs would break. I tried to suppress my rough breathing, practicing a smiling face to please him.

What came into my sight was the pimp, bending over with his waist bent to his knees.

Through the gap between his knees, the pimp glanced at me. Then a nervous shout pierced my ears.

"Hey, you fucking rent boy! Why aren't you running over here! Do you even know who you're making wait?"

I answered as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry!"

It was a bright smile and a polite tone that made it impossible to think I had heard insulting abuse. The pimp snorted, pressed down hard on the back of my neck, and dragged me forward.

"Hehe, I think this is the item you're looking for, sir. What do you think?"

"Hmm..."

The man made a humming sound. A voice of an intermediate thickness that was going through puberty, like children of the same age. It was not the kind of voice one would hear as a customer of a brothel.

He stared intently at me and continued to hum in the same way. Like an appraiser evaluating an item.

The man remained silent for a long time. Not only me, but even the pimp pressing down on my neck looked nervous. The sound of swallowing saliva could be heard loudly.

The man finally opened his heavy mouth.

"Good."

"Then!"

It was the moment when the pimp's complexion brightened up.

"I'll hand this child over."

The man handed over a heavy pouch from his arms. The clinking sound didn't seem to be an ordinary content.

The pimp didn't even try to hide the overflowing joy, checked inside the pouch, and roughly pushed me towards the man.

"Hehe, a noble is grateful enough to buy you. You'll die if you act recklessly."

'That fucking bastard, I'll kill him.'

Even if I was a rent boy who rolled around in the dark, there was one thing that the pimp never ordered me to do.

That is to sell my body to a homosexual. Of course, it's not a consideration that comes from kindness. It's just a stubbornness close to an ideologue who hates homosexuality. However, the pimp's hate ideology seemed to have collapsed like a sandcastle in front of capital.

I tried not to distort my face and guided the man.

"Then I'll escort you. Please follow me."

It was none other than the pimp who grabbed me as I was about to enter the brothel.

"Where are you going, you dimwit?"

"Yes?"

Then a clearing of throat was heard from the man who bought me.

"Ahem, there seems to be a misunderstanding. I didn't buy a day with you."

"I don't know what you mean. I'm very stupid, haha."

The answer I heard to my groveling smile was beyond imagination.

"What I bought was your identity itself. So you are no longer the property of this place."

"That can't... be."

I felt so desperate that I wanted to hang myself. I knew from rumors how people in the brothel who were sold to precious people were treated.

The perception that it is a legitimate right of ownership bought with money makes us livestock that have shed the form of humans. I thought that the mud walls of the brothel were comfortable.

"Look here, you look like a scared person to me."

As the man glared fiercely at the pimp, the pimp's murderous intent naturally turned to me.

"Th, this fucking guy, why aren't you managing your expression?! Do you really want to die!"

"No! I'll serve you with all my heart. ... Master."

I was so frightened that I couldn't dare to look at the man and lowered my eyes.

"I don't need the title of master or service. I didn't pick you up for such trivial matters."

"What do you..."

Is that nonsense? I opened my eyes in surprise and slowly raised my head.

'Ah.'

An exclamation burst out in my heart.

That day, I saw an intense light that I would never forget until the end of the world.

Crimson hair that grew as majestic as a lion's mane and deep indigo eyes that seemed to have dawn's early sky engraved in them. And a confident smile as if there was nothing to fear in the world.

He was a human from another world that I couldn't even imagine to be the same age. I thought that if there was a seed of kings and nobles, it would be this man.

"Call me Astel. It's because my name is unnecessarily long. I'll guide you this time."

"Th, thank you. Astel-nim..."

"'Nim' should be removed too... Well, it's still going to be difficult, so that would be forced."

Astel grabbed and pulled my rough hands, which were dripping with grime, without hesitation. A soft hand like a slender jade seemed to prove Astel's identity.

The place I was led to was a luxurious carriage located in a downtown area. Many people sent pity or sneered as a dirty brothel's child was dragged into a noble's carriage.

As always, no one helped.

Astel sent a signal to the coachman to depart and stared at me with an interesting expression.

"Let me formally introduce myself once again. My name is Astelnerka Yuglinus. I'm fourteen years old. What's your name?"

"I don't... have a name. The pimp called me 'Cub.' I'm fourteen years old."

"You don't have a name. Then should I give you your name... No, I can't get used to the way you talk. I'll just speak comfortably. Can I give you your name?"

"Please do as Astel-nim wishes."

"Hmm! Okay."

Astel pondered seriously. Sometimes he would rest his chin on his hand, and sometimes he would make a spire with his hands. Wasn't a name just something that could be identified anyway?

I wouldn't feel anything even if I was called by the name of a weed I saw on the street.

"Okay!"

Finally, Astel, who had finished contemplating, carefully suggested.

"How about combining 'Netion,' which means hope in ancient language, and 'Pies,' which means happiness? Netionpies?"

Contrary to the name Astel had painstakingly created, I calmly accepted it.

"Netionpies..."

I recited the newly bestowed name so that I would not forget it even by mistake.

"I understand. My name is now Netionpies."

"Yeah, Netionpies. It's a good name!"

Astel asked many questions until the carriage arrived at the mansion. From what kind of life I had lived to what I liked and disliked, we shared various stories.

He sympathized as intensely as if it were his own business every time he heard about my trivial daily life. Sometimes he was angry, and sometimes he was sad. I found Astel's ever-changing reactions interesting, so I would share my life story.

I quickly grasped the subject and restrained myself...

In the end, all that increased was the question. Everything was a question, from the reason why the precious Young Master Yuglinus came to the brothel to the reason why he bought me.

I mustered up the courage and asked.

"Astel-nim. May I ask why you bought me? Also, what should I do in the future?"

"Ah, you must have been very worried. I would have been too. I'm sorry for only thinking about myself."

Contrary to expectations, Astel's answer was postponed a little.

"Oh, we're already here. I'll tell you properly, so let's go inside and continue talking."

It was only after getting out of the carriage that I realized that Astel was the Young Master of Yuglinus.

I had heard rumors that the Count Yuglinus family was wealthy, but the scene before my eyes proved that the rumors did not contain even half of the truth.

The fragrant scent of the beautiful garden, which had no end in sight, was carried by the wind. The palace-like white mansion looked like a majestic temple.

"Netionpies, you can follow these people. See you in a bit!"

"I understand. Astel-nim."

I followed two maids with neat attire. As people working in a large mansion, their behavior was different from a rent boy who scraped the bottom like me.

I assumed that everyone would have the same eyes when looking at a vulgar child with a dirty and shabby appearance, but at least these people were not.

"I'll bathe the child, so you bring clothes of a suitable size."

"Okay. The clothes of a suitable page will do."

As one person left to get clothes, I preemptively untied my worn-out clothes. It was when the maid who had soon entered the bathroom was about to touch me.

"You don't have to help me. I can wash myself."

It wasn't that I was embarrassed to show my naked body. In the first place, what a rent boy who sells his body does is to have his naked body fondled by strange women.

I just wanted to appeal that I was a child who didn't cause trouble.

"I appreciate the thought, but I can't help it because it's the young master's order."

"Ah..."

I had to follow Astel's orders.

She diligently scrubbed my dirt while sitting in the warm bathtub and washed my hair. After wiping the moisture remaining on my body, she cut my hair, which was too long and tangled.

The eyes of the maid who had brought the clothes widened and exclaimed.

"Wow, no way! Is that the same child we brought earlier? He was hiding this side of him?"

"Right? It's a reversal after trimming his hair a bit."

It was the first time in a long time that I had seen my own eyes.

'Yeah, it was this kind of red. I used to get beaten a lot for saying it was ominous, so I hid it.'

"This child's eyes are also amazing."

"I know. It's a rare color."

These people wouldn't be any different either. They probably think it's unpleasant. What I heard to my resigned self was a completely unexpected reaction.

"It's like a ruby."

"No, this is garnet!"

"But what's the difference between ruby and garnet?"

"I don't know either!"

'Heuh...!'

I thought I was actually going to burst out laughing at the maids' comedy-like conversation.

"The child is laughing!"

"That's why you shouldn't have shown off your ignorance."

I desperately endured it, but I couldn't hide the twitching of my cheekbones.

It was when I quickly collected myself and put on my clothes. A pounding sound rang out loudly from outside.

"Young Master Astelnerka! It's difficult if you run in the mansion."

"Then who told you to build such a wide house? Ah, maybe it's my great-grandfather's great-grandfather... It'll take a thousand years to walk, geez."

Bang!

Astel coolly opened the room I was in and exclaimed.

"Wow, if there's a peer as handsome as this, I'll feel a sense of crisis."

"Th, that's..."

I was at a loss for words and was stammering. Astel's swift hand snatched my wrist.

"I'm taking Netionpies!"

"Y, Young Master. There's still something you need to do...!"

Astel crossed the hallway back and forth without looking back. Only the maids' lamentations filled the empty hallway.

"Haa, he's not going to be the Grand Duke to inherit the family, but he needs to grow up a bit."

"I know, right."

◇

"Did everyone wait?"

Astel, who once again coolly opened the door, said refreshingly. In the spacious room with a clear view of the outside garden, there were three people besides me and Astel.

"Astel, is that the kid you were looking for?"

An intellectually handsome man asked bluntly. He was also a peer, at most one or two years older.

"That's right, Aselne. But where's Lusheon?"

The answer to Astel's question came from another side.

"Lusheon said he has something to do today!"

"Oh, Bartlante. My friend!"

"Hehehe."

Astel and Bartlante's fists lightly collided with each other. Bartlante was a mountain-like man. Perhaps because of his large physique, his fists looked bigger than those of most adults.

His cheerful personality was like watching the knights at the tavern.

... But a friend?

"Astel, it seems like you should introduce the guy you brought first."

Aselne's eyes scanned me as if observing. I lowered my eyes because I felt burdened, but that didn't mean my gaze was distracted.

"Astel-nim..."

Perhaps taking into account my restless attitude, my introduction eventually became Astel's responsibility.

"This kid is called Netionpies. As you can see, I brought him. Everyone, be friendly with him."

"Ah, Astel-nim? Be friendly... How dare someone like me!"

I quietly protested to Astel in a gentle voice so that only he could hear. There's no way that a vulgar rent boy who had been selling his body until today could be friendly with noble nobles.

Putting aside Astel's burdensome kindness, the current situation didn't make sense.

"Hmm, he seems to be a commoner!"

"Bartlante, I'd appreciate it if you took good care of him. And Netionpies, calm down. The kids gathered here don't particularly have prejudices against commoners."

"It's a bit different. We don't have prejudices against people that you, Astel, have recognized."

Aselne corrected Astel's explanation. But Bartlante immediately denied him.

"That's not true? I can get along well with commoners, too. Puahaha!"

"I forgot about the damn musclehead."

"Even if you say it in difficult words, it means you'll eventually get along well, right, Aselne?"

Astel's sparkling eyes turned to Aselne. It was difficult to reject the eyes containing the dawn light, so Aselne sighed and understood.

"... Yeah."

"Good! Ah... and Netionpies. That's Lorian. Lorian Fayta."

Astel pointed to a bookcase in the corner. On the sofa near the bookcase, there was a woman engrossed in reading, unconcerned by the commotion.

If Astel was a light-like existence, Lorian was darkness. She had the same jet-black hair as me, but the gloss of her hair, which reached her shoulders, sparkled like stars in the night sky.

Her tranquil, brooding obsidian eyes gave an impression of emptiness. It was an appearance that could have been frightening, but even that failed to deny her beautiful looks.

She finally turned her gaze this way.

"As Astel said, I don't particularly intend to discriminate against commoners. Because Astel recognized you. However..."

Lorian paused for a moment before continuing.

"It may depend on what you did before. Netionpies, was it? What did you do before Astel took you in?"

"I was..."

I was afraid to answer. It was difficult to reveal the fact that I was a rent boy in front of these seemingly great people.

Lorian seemed to have received a sufficient answer from my hesitation alone and quickly turned her head away. Rather, her silent actions returned to me as a wound.

'Ah...'

It would have been better if she had cursed like the pimp, or if she had scolded me with a loud voice like the other nobles.

On the other hand, Lorian's attitude was clean. Thanks to that, I was an insignificant human being who was not even worth questioning. I felt like I had been reaffirmed by Lorian that my position was just about that.

'Hoo. I almost forgot for a moment because Astel-nim and the maids treated me warmly.'

My value, which made me realize that there is a bottom even at the bottom.

"..."

Silence hovered around.

This was my worst first meeting with Lorian Fayta. A funny encounter that we would both laugh awkwardly about if we recalled it now.

That was the beginning of such a relationship.