Chapter 2

The slave trader was an expert at reading his customer's expression. The moment he saw how satisfied Evelina was, he immediately raised the price and asked for 20 thousand gold astras.

Still, the price was acceptable to Evelina. She'd found 100 thousand gold astras in the original Evelina's bank account.

She calmly handed over the debit card, and the slave trader accepted it with a wide grin. He opened the cage and gave it two rough kicks. "Come out and meet your new master!"

The silver-haired Jasper crawled out of the cage with much difficulty before adopting a kneeling position without saying a word. He'd heard every word of the sales pitch. This female had bought him to use as a punching bag. All he wanted was for her to be as heavy-handed as possible. The quicker his death freed him from this hellish life, the better.

When the slave trader saw him kneeling motionless, he raised a foot to kick him again.

Evelina immediately planted her hands on her hips and glared at the slave trader.

"How dare you try to lay your hands on him?" she questioned, her tone imperious. "Who gave you permission to touch my things?"

The slave trader instantly realized his mistake and bowed deeply. "Forgive me, Your Highness!"

He respectfully held out the chain fastened around Jasper's neck, along with a bunch of keys.

"Here you go, Your Highness."

Evelina accepted the chain, excitement bubbling inside her. She did it! Eyeing the keys, she hesitated for a moment before clutching them tightly.

She couldn't release him from his restraints just yet. What if he ran away? She would've thrown 20 thousand gold astras down the drain.

Holding the chain, she turned around and said, "Let's go."

All Jasper could see were slender ankles and the hem of a swaying dress. Biting down on the gag in his mouth, he forced his stiff limbs to follow.

But after only a few steps, she suddenly stopped, and his entire body stiffened. What was going on? Had she lost her patience and decided to torture him right here, right now?

Instinctively, he braced himself.

Evelina looked at Jasper, who was crawling on his knees behind her, and sighed helplessly. She tossed the keys back to the slave trader.

"Take off all the chains on him."

"Huh? All of them?" the slave trader repeated.

"That's right. Just leave the one around his neck."

The heavy chains clattered to the ground.

Evelina looked down at Jasper and asked, "Can you stand?"

Jasper vaguely caught the question. He nodded and struggled upright, swaying as a stabbing pain shot up from the soles of his feet.

Evelina let out a relieved breath and started leading him toward the exit once more.

The moment they stepped out of the slave market, a crisp female voice called out, "Your Highness!"

Evelina looked over on instinct and saw a female with a high ponytail hurrying toward her with a look of surprise.

It was Willa Gorman, the original Evelina's friend.

Just as Evelina indifferently withdrew her gaze, a muffled groan came from behind her. Seeing that Jasper was wobbling on his feet, she hastily reached out to steady him.

Jasper had only stumbled because the pain had become too much for him. By the time he realized what was going on, he had already fallen into his new master's arms.

Eyes widened in alarm, he tried to stand upright, but he was too frail to do so. All he managed to do was smear even more blood on Evelina's dress.

Cursing inwardly, he froze, too scared to move again.

The males were naturally larger in frame. Supporting Jasper took more effort than Evelina expected, so she waved for her guards to bring the hovercar over. She could feel the way he was trembling, so she assumed he was having a hard time with his severe injuries.

Meanwhile, Willa had already run up to her.

"There you are, Your Highness! I've been looking everywhere for you! Why on earth did you come to a place like this?" she asked in a friendly tone, though her expression was disapproving.

Her gaze became even more disdainful when she saw Jasper. "This place is beneath you! And you're actually touching a slave like him? Ivan will scorn you even more if he finds out about this!"

Evelina cast a frosty glance in Willa's direction, but that only served to egg the latter on. "You know, you really should work on mastering the royal etiquette. Be more graceful and gentle. Ivan might actually like you then!"

Suddenly, Willa noticed the side of Jasper's face. The dark tattoo marking him as a penal slave stood out clearly.

Covering her mouth in exaggerated shock, she exclaimed, "Goodness me! He's even a penal slave? How can you be so close to someone like him, Your Highness? Once Ivan finds out about this, he'll think even less of you!"

Evelina's patience finally snapped. "Shut up!"

Willa froze, completely caught off guard, but Evelina didn't bother paying any further attention to her.

This so-called friend of the original Evelina came from an average family with no pedigree to speak of. Since the two had similarly weak mind forces, the original Evelina felt an affinity to her and treated her like a genuine friend, cherishing their friendship greatly.

However, Willa abused her status as the original Evelina's friend to benefit herself in every way she could. She would frequently use the original Evelina's feelings for a male, Ivan Baird, to gaslight her, too.

And after the real princess returned, Willa had been the first to turn on the original Evelina, eagerly pledging her loyalty to the new princess.

Evelina had no interest in maintaining this fake friendship with Willa. Her attention was entirely on the male leaning against her. The guards arrived, their expressions neutral as they helped the half-conscious Jasper into the hovercar.

She was about to climb in after him when Willa stopped her.

"What's gotten into you today, Your Highness? I'm only saying this for your own good, you know! If you don't listen to me, Ivan really won't have anything to do with you anymore!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Evelina replied with an impatient wave of her hand. "Now move. You're in my way."

Willa was even more gobsmacked. The Evelina she knew would panic the moment she heard Ivan might ignore her and proceed to obey her every instruction. What was going on today?

"Your Highness! It's Ivan's birthday party today, and we're already running late! Shouldn't you be throwing that slave away and coming with me?"

Evelina didn't even bother looking up. "You can go by yourself. Now get out of the way!"

Willa couldn't believe her ears. Her eyes flashed with humiliation. She wasn't qualified to attend Ivan's party if she didn't have a member of the royal family with her. Was Evelina deliberately messing with her?

Grinding her teeth, she played her final card. "I-If you don't listen to me… I'm never speaking to you again!"

Evelina finally looked Willa in the eye. Pointing at herself, she asked, "Who am I?"

"Princess Evelina, Your Highness…" Willa replied cluelessly.

"That's right," Evelina said with a dazzlingly beautiful smile. "And do you think you have the authority to tell a princess what to do?"

Willa's face instantly flushed crimson. Evelina walked around her and climbed into the hovercar.

Furious, Willa rushed to the window. "Evelina Vellmore! What do you think you're doing? I'm your only friend!"

The window slowly came down.

Willa's eyes lit up, convinced Evelina was about to give in, but instead, Evelina simply stuck half her head out of the window and said, "Oh, right. I've decided you're not qualified to be my friend, so our friendship is over. Remember to return all the clothes, handbags, jewelry, and money you've borrowed from me over the years."

"W-What did you just say?"

Evelina's smile only widened. "If you don't return everything to me, I'll just have to get my oldest brother to deal with the Gormans for me."

The window came back up, and the hovercar shot away in the blink of an eye.

Willa stood frozen, completely in shock. Had Evelina lost her mind?

…

Jasper thought he must've died and moved on to the afterlife. Why else would someone be touching him so gently? He felt a warm, soothing force brush over the wounds that had long since gone numb with pain. Even though it was faint, it was unbearably tempting to him…

Meanwhile, Evelina withdrew her hand with a speechless look on her face.

After returning to her villa, she'd tried channeling her mind force, hoping she could at least ease some of Jasper's suffering, but it seemed to have had little effect on him. He didn't even open his eyes.

With a resigned sigh, she dug out a first-aid kit and began tending to his wounds herself.