“Is that not enough?” Madam Ella tossed over another silver ring from across the table. My outward appearance must seem unswayed by the money for her to hand out ruby coin rings like they were goody bags at a welcome party.

I caught it with ease and looked at her. This money could be used to buy a whole slew of slaves and then some. We now had the space to accommodate more, especially after losing so many to the monster attack.

“This amount of money has no use to me. I’m not willing to let go of Jade, however, if she wishes to be free I’ll consider her feelings.” I thought about Jade’s worth and weighed it with those possibilities in mind but still came to a quick decision. The things I really needed were capable allies, not slaves that would end up leaving once their term was over.

“If you can still decline Jade’s freedom by tomorrow then I will forget about the matter entirely.” There was a tinge of haughtiness and what looked like momentary anger flash in her eyes. Her words made it sound like a test that I was going to fail.

I squinted at Jade to my side for some kind of answer for the way Ella was acting. “I’m sorry for placing you in this situation, master. She is our best bet for expanding our connections down here and I don’t think she means any harm.” Jade spoke up but it didn’t help with how things turned out so far.

“Is she really our only option, it doesn’t seem like we get along, plus there is nothing forcing us to stay here.” As far as I knew Madam Ella would have me stabbed in my sleep tonight and all I had for assurance was a chance that she wouldn’t harm us. People keeping vital information from me was starting to turn into an irritating trend.

“Please forgive me, master.” Jade lowered her head, apologizing as an answer.

“We’re going to have a long talk about your past later. Don’t hide anything like this from me ever again…” It seemed like everyone was going to get one free strike on withholding important info from me.

“That’s fine, I’ll go along with your terms.” I finally returned a reply. Ella didn’t mind the side conversation and patiently waited for my decision.

“Then after this meal allow me to introduce you to my lovely flower garden. A private tour while your companions enjoy our wide selection of amenities. I recommend the hot springs.” I turned to the others as soon as a private tour was mentioned. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Eris anymore, given her previous couple of reactions. She continued to binge on food like this conversation had nothing to do with her.

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“Looking forward to it...” No point in stressing over it. I am pretty sure the slave seal on Jade prevented her from placing me into a life-threatening situation. At least that was how I hoped it worked at this very moment.

On that thought, I took my first bite into a roasted chicken leg. It was the closest plate and tasted amazing, easily enough to say that it beat Claire’s homemade cooking. An early dinner ended up into a buffet-style feast as I joined Eris in picking away at each dish in front of us.

“Here you go. Don’t eat too fast.” I hiccupped almost on queue with an attendant offering a drink to help settle the food.

I quickly accepted it, taking large gulps thinking it was water, only to be surprised by a tangy sweetness like juice. “Thank you, this is so tasty. What is it?”

“Honey plum wine, our specialty drink here.” All of the women in this place were stunning beauties in their own way and it looked like one of the requirements to work here.

My glass was refilled on the spot from the attendant standing nearby with a bottle in hand. The wine may as well have been flavored water at this point with the way I was making it disappear.

“Master, go easy on that stuff. It’s really strong alcohol, specially made here. I’ve seen one glass cause people to fall over blackout drunk.” Jade said this as I was already sipping on my third refill.

“I feel fine though. This is the first time I’ve had any type of alcohol and I don’t know how it's supposed to feel but it just tastes like juice to me.” I’m not going to lie that her words stunned me and had me looking over at Eris drinking the same thing without any issues. It was like we were the only anomalies that weren’t sipping on it slowly.

Now that she mentioned it, my face started to heat up and I figured this was a so-called buzz. Taking a closer look at Eris, her face was also starting to flush slightly red. If it was such a potent drink, then there had to be a reason both of us could drink it without any issues. I immediately understood Eris’s reason. Her blood prevented any altering side effects from the alcohol and like that, I realized my reason for having the same level of tolerance.

Eris’s blood that she gave me to heal my pain from the seal placed during the government’s I.D. checkup. It hasn’t been too long since then and must still be coursing through my veins. That would be insane if it was a permanent addition to my body. I’d never be able to experience drinking alcohol like an average person if that were the case.

“He’s quite the drinker. I still won’t accept you becoming a slave for him. Why did you decide to leave Marcus?” Ella caught up with Jade, interrupting the derailing train of thought that was going on in my mind.

“Seems that way and it’s not just me, but a lot of the others have become his willing slaves.” Jade offered a worried gaze from the amount of alcohol consumption I was consuming and I decided to lay off once I finished my fourth glass to avoid any further concerns.

“You’re kidding, Alexa too?” Jade merely nodded at her as a confirmation. That caused Ella to rest back in her chair and it was the first time since meeting her that she seemed to place some kind of interest in me.

That was when I started to tune out their side conversation and turned my attention to the babying-like service from the attendants and the constant stream of dishes replacing the many emptied ones.