The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!-Chapter 108: The Secret of Slave (II)

Slaves were expensive. Only the rich or elite could afford them. The only ones who sold cheap were usually injured or dying.

Well, there was another way to get a slave without paying much, kidnapping children from their families and training them from a young age.

But that was considered even more cruel than buying slaves through official markets.

To Primrose, there was no "better" option. A slave was still a slave. And anyone who kept one didn’t deserve forgiveness.

Still ... if Hazelle had truly been sold by her parents, then her price wouldn’t have been cheap.

Could it be that her former master had simply given her to Silas as a gift?

"I really need to go now, Your Majesty," Hazelle said, her voice trembling slightly. All the calm she had shown earlier vanished the moment Salem brought up the word slave.

Primrose took a step forward. "You can stay here for a little while longer. I could tell Dr. Silas that I—"

"Let her go, Your Majesty," Salem suddenly cut her off. He still wasn’t looking at Hazelle, but the seriousness in his voice was enough to stop Primrose mid-sentence.

Without asking any more questions, Primrose gave Hazelle a nod. "You may go now," she said gently. "I’ll pretend tonight never happened, so you don’t need to worry about Dr. Silas will punish you."

Hazelle bowed her head deeply. "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty," she whispered before quickly leaving the kitchen.

As soon as Hazelle left the kitchen, Primrose asked Callen to wait outside. Since Callen had known Salem for quite some time, he followed her request without any objections.

"She is the doctor’s slave," Salem repeated. He had just finished sampling the food and pushed the meat pie toward the queen. "You can eat now, Your Majesty."

Primrose sighed heavily. Salem had been testing her patience from the start. Still, she didn’t complain. Instead, she picked up the meat pie and took a bite.

After swallowing, she said, "I can come up with a reason so Silas won’t punish Hazelle."

She could say she urgently needed a doctor and had asked a maid to call Hazelle to her room because she only wanted to meet a woman.

If Hazelle was scared to return, she could even let her stay in the queen’s chambers for the night.

"You don’t understand," Salem said, looking her straight in the eye. "A slave like her can’t stay away from her master for too long. The amount of time varies, but most can’t be gone for more than an hour."

He leaned forward slightly. "If they are, the punishment kicks in. It could be a terrible headache, or worse, something that causes pain all over their body."

Primrose’s hand froze over her spoon. "How ... how is that even possible?"

She always thought slaves were only punished through things like whippings or physical labor.

But sudden, unbearable headaches?

This was the first time she had ever heard of it.

"Have you ever heard of a slave seal?" Salem asked quietly.

Primrose furrowed her brows. "You mean a brand? Like the ones burned into the skin?"

Salem shook his head. "No, not a brand. A seal. A magical one," he clarified. "The skin isn’t burned with hot iron, but it’s marked with magic. The placement varies, but most female slaves are marked on the back of the neck."

Primrose paused, trying to remember if she’d ever seen a mark on Hazelle’s neck. But then she realized Hazelle always wore her hair down, hiding the area. She had no way of knowing if the mark was there or not.

"I saw it once," Salem muttered, averting his eyes. "She only ties her hair up when she thinks no one is around."

Primrose narrowed her eyes. "Then how did you see it?"

"I saw it by accident!" Salem quickly raised his hands in defense, sensing her rising suspicion. "I didn’t do anything perverted! I don’t even like women!"

Primrose gasped. "You don’t like women?"

Primrose had already suspected it from the beginning, but still ... hearing it directly from Salem’s mouth left her stunned.

"Is that really an important question?" he asked.

She bit her inner lip and mumbled, "No ... not really."

Unless, of course, he liked her husband, then that would be a different matter entirely.

Salem let out a deep sigh. "I once saw her walking in the palace garden from my window. That’s when I noticed the seal on the back of her neck. Are you telling me you’ve never heard of a slave seal before?"

Primrose shook her head. "No ... my father never owned any slaves, so I never learned anything about that words."

And thankfully, Edmund had never filled his palace with them either. From what she knew, the Lycan King had never shown the slightest interest in visiting slave markets or attending slave auctions.

Salem clicked his tongue. "Your Majesty, you really need to broaden your understanding of the world."

Primrose frowned. "That’s not my fault! I’ve never even seen that term in a book."

"Of course not." Salem crossed his arms. "No one writes about things like that in books."

"Once someone’s marked with a slave seal, they lose everything. And I don’t mean just their freedom to go wherever they want." freewebnøvel.com

He leaned forward, his voice dropping into something heavier. "That seal makes it so their freedom can’t even be bought. Not with gold, not with diamond. Once it’s on them, their life and death belong to their master. They can’t even end their own life, even if they want to."

Primrose held her breath, her chest tightening. The idea of a slave seal sounded terrifying. How could something so cruel even exist?

"Are there a lot of people out there with slave seals?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Salem nodded solemnly. "More than I can count. Honestly, I don’t want to know the real number."

[That kind of knowledge would only leave a bitter taste in my mouth.]

In other words, Hazelle truly did belong to Silas completely.

But why would he need Hazelle as his slave? Hazelle didn’t even seem to be doing much work for him.

Primrose clenched her hands tightly on her lap. "Isn’t there anything I can do? Anything at all to break a slave seal and set someone free?"