He lowered his head, shifting slightly away to the side of the bathtub. "I-I can do it myself."
"Don’t make this difficult for me. I don’t like serving slaves like you. It’s really troublesome," said one of them, grabbing a washcloth.
Meanwhile, the younger servant prepared a towel and stood waiting. His face was calmer, and he only stared at Kai, who was scared alongside his senior.
Kai held his breath as the servant began to roughly rub his arm and grumble. "You’re really dirty. I’ve never seen a dog this dirty before. What did you actually do?"
Kai winced as his skin stung from being rubbed too hard. But he held back.
He groaned in pain as the servant wiped his chest, where the cuts were still raw and bleeding.
"P-please, it hurts..." Kai tried to stop the servant’s hand, but his movement only made the servant angrier.
"You won’t die just because your wounds are cleaned," the servant snapped, ignoring him as he continued to wipe every part of Kai’s body.
Kai clenched his fists from the pain in his body, exacerbated by the wounds that grew more intense. But the servant seemed unconcerned, focused on cleaning the dirty parts of his body.
"What are you crying about?! Crybaby!" the servant snapped, seeing Kai crying. He noticed the water in the bathtub beginning to turn red. But he chose to finish his task quickly and wiped Kai’s legs.
Kai wiped away his tears, holding back his sobs, while touching his aching chest.
Kai couldn’t bear the pain when the servant began wiping his ear near the stitched wound.
"P-please, master. It hurts..." Kai groaned, covering his ear to protect it from the washcloth in the servant’s hand. His body trembled, trying to move away.
"You really are!" snapped the servant.
Sylas heard Kai’s scream and went to see what was happening. He saw the slave crying while the servant was yelling at him.
"What are you doing?" he asked, walking into the bathroom and approaching them.
The servant kneeling beside the bathtub immediately bowed respectfully. "He’s very difficult, Your Highness. Truly wild. He wouldn’t let me clean his body."
Kai was still sitting in the corner of the bathtub, holding his ears, staring fearfully at him.
Sylas looked at the servant. "What is your name?"
The servant looked confused by Sylas’ sudden question. He quickly answered, "Marcus, Your Highness."
"Go, tell Sir James you don’t need to come to the palace anymore. Take your belongings and leave tomorrow morning," Sylas said calmly. But the glint in his eyes betrayed his anger.
Marcus was utterly shocked. He... was fired?
"Pardon? But what did I do wrong, Your Highness?"
"Don’t you know what you did to that boy?"
Marcus fell silent, looking at Kai. "But he was truly very difficult, Your Highness. I’ve never seen a slave as filthy and wild as him."
"Oh well, you treated him harshly because you felt you could and he was too weak to fight back. That is very inappropriate behavior. I will not allow you to do that in my palace, Mr. Marcus. So, please leave now and take him with you," Sylas said, pointing to the servant who had been standing there in fear.
The young servant immediately knelt down. "Are you firing me too, Your Highness?" His eyes were teary with disbelief. He had only just entered the palace.
"You heard what I said. If you can’t respect others, you can leave too."
The servant shook his head immediately. "I’m still new here, Your Highness. Please give me a chance. I-I didn’t do anything to him. I will never do it, I will remember what you are saying."
"I will see it. Now, both of you, get out!" Sylas ordered. They both quickly left.
Marcus was very shocked because he had been fired suddenly. The other servant was relieved to have escaped death.
Sylas then turned to Kai, who was staring at him in fear.
"I-I’m sorry, Master..." He knew he shouldn’t complain. That he should endure the pain and stay silent. He knew Sylas would scold him. Google seaʀᴄh NoveI-Fire.ɴet
But Sylas instead knelt beside the bathtub, gently pulling his hands away from his ears.
"You don’t need to apologize. You shouldn’t have been treated , in my room." Sylas seemed to regret that it had happened. In his palace.
Sylas fell silent as he looked at the wound on Kai’s chest, which was open and bleeding again. He shouted at the guards to call a doctor.
He hadn’t expected the servant to not only insult Kai but also hurt him. He would make sure the servant was punished before leaving the palace.
Sylas rolled up his sleeve, took a washcloth, and gently wiped the slave’s face. He cleaned his hair and tried not to touch the stitches on Kai’s ear. Carefully, he wiped Kai’s entire body, avoiding his wounds.
Kai could feel the difference in the servant’s treatment compared to Sylas. The man kept asking if he was in pain or uncomfortable, making his face flush.
"Okay, now you’re clean," Sylas said, standing up to grab a towel from the table, helping Kai stand up and step out of the bathtub. This was the first time he had ever bathed someone else. He had never even touched his own body while in the palace.
But Sylas could only smile at Kai, who stood there innocently and obediently accepted whatever he did.
"Put this on, it might be a little big for you. But I’ll prepare special clothes for you tomorrow," Sylas said, helping Kai put on his clothes. His pants were a little loose.
Kai looked at the clothes he was wearing. They were very comfortable, again adorned with beautiful embroidery. He looked at Sylas, who was wearing almost the same outfit. Only the clothes on his body looked so loose.
Sylas had to make sure the wound on Kai’s chest wasn’t bleeding anymore before giving him the clothes.
And just then, the guard announced the arrival of the palace doctor.
Kai sat on the sofa while the doctor tended to his wounds again.
Meanwhile, the food was already there. The kitchen staff served it on the table as Sylas had requested.
Kai held a fork with a piece of potato in his hand, as Sylas had asked him to eat. So he endured the pain with his mouth full of food.
Sylas looked at Kai, who now appeared clean. The slave occasionally glanced at him every time he opened his mouth to eat. He found it very cute and adorable.
Sylas brought the plate with chicken pieces and brown sauce closer. Occasionally, he helped Kai scoop the food into his mouth.
The servants looked confused, as they had never seen a member of the royal family pick up a plate from the table for someone else. They stood nervously, unsure whether they should offer to help.
But Sylas clearly didn’t need any help. The man seemed to enjoy doing it. He just made sure Kai ate all his food. He didn’t think about royal protocol at all.
"You’re so skinny, you need to eat more," Sylas said.
The young doctor gave Kai a potion to drink. Then he left.
Kai had also finished all his food. Not a single crumb remained. He didn’t know what else to feel besides happiness. He kept glancing at Sylas, making sure the man wouldn’t leave again.
But, of course, their meeting was only brief. Sylas couldn’t keep Kai in the room.