Chapter 170: |
Chapter 170
*Shiver*
Otto was instantly struck with goosebumps as he listened to Sheerazad’s words.
No wonder it was so disgusting.
The wine she was drinking when he was first thrown into the bedroom was actually made up of human blood.
“Uweeek, Ptui, Ptui, Ugghhh!”
Otto couldn’t contain his nausea and was in distress.
Fortunately, there was water nearby, so he could gargle and wipe the corners of his mouth.
“Are you surprised?”
“Are you saying you weren’t surprised?”
“I’ve heard the rumors.”
Otto said, his expression pale and sick.
“They say that no man who has ever proposed to the Sultan has ever survived.”
It was no secret that Sheerazad was a rare breed of psychopath.
Sheerazad made no secret about this.
The nature of the Sahara meant that there was no threat of invasion from other countries, and there was no chance that the people would revolt.
Why?
Because her ability to stay in power was extraordinary.
Sheerazad was very generous and merciful to those loyal to her.
A master of the quid pro quo, she ensured that those loyal to her were well rewarded.
The kingdom of Sahara is a source of high quality magic stones, so there was plenty of money in the country and the people were well provided for.
In addition, Sheerazad was an incredibly powerful necromancer, and therefore had great force.
In other words, she was a great ruler, except for one minor shortcoming in that she brutally murdered about 300 men a year.
“And yet you are not afraid of me?”
Sheerazad asked Otto with a hint of disbelief.
Few of the men who had proposed to her so far were aware of the rumors.
Nevertheless, they had proposed to her because they were confident.
They believed that their looks and charms would be enough to seduce Sheerazad.
There were also fools who thought they could satisfy Sheerazad with their sexual prowess and then conquer her.
Ultimately, none of them survived.
“I’m afraid.”
Otto said honestly.
“I’m afraid I’ll be like them, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to satisfy the Sultan.”
“Then why did you come to me of your own accord?”
“Because of the money.”
“Money?”
A momentary puzzlement flashed across Sheerazad’s face.
Of all the men who had proposed to her, not a single one had said it was for money.
They’d all said it was love at first sight because she was so beautiful.
“My family’s shop is in financial trouble, and at this rate, our shop will be bankrupt in a few months.”
“You’ve come to me to save your family’s business from crisis?”
“Yes.”
“You are an honest man.”
The way Sheerazad looked at Otto changed slightly.
It was different to see a decent man like Otto after all these years of seeing fools, swindlers, paraphiliacs, psychopaths, and others who trusted only in their looks and sex drive.
“The Sultan has promised a place as her vassal to whomever she pleases for a week.”
“That’s right.”
Sheerazad nodded her head.
“If there is a man who pleases me for seven nights, I will not kill him, but take him as my husband.”
“That is why I have come. To risk my life.”
“Risking your life to defend your family’s interests. That is certainly a noble and courageous act. But.”
Sheerazad’s voice turned cold again.
“It is only noble and courageous for your family. You must have hurt and broken countless women. Such is the nature of the animal called man.”
“I will not refute it. The Sultan’s opinion is the Sultan’s own.”
Otto moved slowly toward Sheerazad.
‘Careful, I should be careful.’
Otto lay down at an angle beside Sheerazad, tense as ever.
“May I offer you an arm pillow?”
“Permission granted.”
And so Otto lay down, bare chest to bare chest with Sheerazad.
“What do you plan to do now, kiss me?”
Sheerazad asked Otto.
‘Then I will die first at the hands of someone other than you.’
A horrible image flashed before his eyes.
‘Disappointing.’
Elise with her sword in hand was slowly approaching.
*Shudder*
He was so scared, it sent a rush of goosebumps all over his body.
Thanks to this, Otto was able to remain unperturbed, even though he was bare chest to bare chest with Sheerazad.
[That thing], which tends to react against its will, was also very calm.
Thinking of an enraged Elise, even [That thing] was like a very calm young lass.
“Before you start asking about it.”
Otto carefully cleared his throat.
“I’d like to tell you about my sister for a moment.”
“Why are you bringing up your sister?”
“Because I was wondering if, even if you were to kill me, you would at least give my poor sister a helping hand….”
“Your concern for your sister is fanciful, well, go ahead and try.”
“In fact, the merchant run by my family has already fallen once. So our family went through difficult times. I have a sister who is much older than me… .”
It was a lie, of course.
Otto was an only child.
Not only the real Otto de Scuderia, but also the gamer Kim Dojin.
Otto was just unpacking a story that would interest Sheerazad.
“My sister had a friend named Erica, who she grew up with, and she had a fiancé, Robert.”
The words began to flow from Otto’s mouth like the makjang¹ dramas that once dominated South Korean domestic television.
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“Look, all of you, here is a man who dared to defy the Sultan, even though he was a crown prince!”
Saladin was indeed punished in the center of the Capital.
Abdul II’s words to make an example of him in front of all the subjects of the capital, Al-Salam, were not empty words.
“He is no longer a crown prince! I have stripped him of his title of crown prince, and I have charged him with treason for daring to defy the Sultan! Look, all of you, and see what happens to those who defy the Sultan!”
*Smack*
The executioner swung his whip across the prone back of Saladin.
“Kaaaak!”
Saladin let out a scream.
The whip, in addition to the tremendous impact, ripped through Saladin’s flesh, tearing into his muscles.
Blood gushed from the widening wound.
Yet the executioner did not stop.
*Smack* *Thwack*
At Abdul II’s command, the executioner struck Saladin fifty times with the whip.
If the executioner hadn’t been skilled and controlled his force, Saladin would have been dead before the 50th stroke.
It was such a horrific and brutal sight that even the people of Al-Salam, who were watching, held their breath.
Nevertheless, Saladin was not discouraged.
“…O Anan, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.”
The words of scripture flowed from Saladin’s battered, half unconscious form.
“All praise and thanks be to you… Please… have mercy on the wretched and pitiful ones of this land.”
“Forgive… the sins… of all… and lead them… to heaven.”
“I pray that…the people of the land…may not fight…against each other…no long….”
Instead of asking his father, Sultan Abdul II, for forgiveness or mercy, Saladin only recited verses from the holy book to reiterate his beliefs and faith.
He was unconcerned that his back was tattered and ragged from the brutal whipping and that the blood covered his entire body.
He could have fainted, but somehow he managed to recall the scriptures and pray.
“… O Crown Prince.”
The executioner, listening to Saladin’s prayer from the sidelines, stole a glance at him, unable to bring himself to lash him further.
Al-Salam’s subjects, unable to bear to watch any longer, either turned away or clenched their mouths tightly shut.
“What did he say, begging for forgiveness and mercy from the Sultan?”
Meanwhile, Abdul II, watching from the palace in the distance, asked his servant.
“That, That.”
The servant could not answer.
“Did he ask for forgiveness and mercy from me? The Sultan?”
“O, O Sultan.”
“Why can’t you answer quickly!”
“The crown prince. No. Saladin did not ask the Sultan for forgiveness and mercy.”
“What?”
“They say he is praying, reciting verses from the scriptures.”
“What!!!”
Sultan Abdul II blurted out.
Praying to God is an act that even the Sultan can’t condemn.
So Abdul II couldn’t show his anger at Saladin’s prayer.
But treason was a different story.
“Praying to God is one thing, but how dare you disobey the orders of the Sultan and not ask for forgiveness and mercy!”
“Hold on! Oh, Sultan!”
“That scoundrel!”
Abdul II snapped.
“Leave him where he is, and lock him in a large cage.”
“Su-Sultan!”
For once, the vassal was taken aback.
Saladin, who had been flogged fifty times, was going to be left helpless in a cage.
It was an order that could not be given without the intention of killing Saladin.
“O Sultan! Please reverse your order, Your Highness, nay, Saladin may indeed die!”
“Shut up!”
“……!”
“Keep him confined until that wretch begs to go to the battlefield as the king ordered! I don’t care if he dies! What does it matter to me whether that ingrate lives or dies, having committed treason against the king and his father! Carry it out immediately! Now!”
The vassal tried to talk him out of it, but Abdul II’s decision remained unchanged.
The father-son conflict had already reached a boiling point, and Abdul II, as the holder of absolute power, was determined to kill Saladin.
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“So? So what happened?”
Sheerazad was mesmerized by Otto’s story.
At first, she thought she would just listen to what he had to say.
Why?
After all, if she didn’t find it interesting, she could simply jump on him, eat him, kill him, and turn him into a ghoul.
But Otto’s stories were so entertaining that the thought never crossed her mind.
‘It works.’
Otto realized he was right when his eyes lit up as he watched Sheerazad’s eyes glow with the story.
‘It doesn’t matter what the story is, as long as it’s entertaining.’
It wasn’t his good looks or his virility that won her over.
It was a good story.
Originally, it was up to Saladin to charm Sheerazad.
Having chosen the path of Sainthood, Saladin wanders through the Caliphate Kingdom and its surroundings, experiencing hardships and adversity, and acquiring various information about the Holy Relic.
Eventually, he met Sheerazad, and the most important thing he brought with him was a book called [The Lives of the Seven Women].
[The Lives of the Seven Women] is a seven-volume novel that tells the difficult life stories of seven women.
According to the original scenario, Saladin was supposed to spend seven nights in safety and obtain the Book of Revelation by telling Sheerazad the stories of the seven women’s lives, which he had collected through hardship and adversity.
However, the conflict between Abdul II and Saladin escalated faster than the original scenario, prompting Otto to take matters into his own hands.
The problem was that Otto didn’t have time to find [The Lives of the Seven Women], and he didn’t know the contents of the novel.
So, Otto, feeling like he had nothing to lose, recounted the plot of a soap opera he knew, adapting it as if it were his own story, to Sheerazad.
The result was a huge success.
The Korean-style drama, told from the female protagonist’s point of view, was enough to captivate Sheerazad.
“So what happened?”
Sheerazad asked Otto.
“Do you mean to tell me that your sister was able to disguise herself as another woman with a mole on her face and reenter the duchy?”
“Yes.”
“To get revenge on her husband, who wouldn’t mind tearing her apart, but that scumbag is already married to a bitch named Erica, who was a friend of your sister’s!”
“That’s why….”
Otto continued to tell the story, and before he knew it, the day had dawned.
And Sheerazad… fell asleep in Otto’s arms.
** ** **
TL/N:
1. makjang – a sylistic, tonal, or narrative element in dramas that chooses to play up outrageous storylines to keep viewers hooked despite how ridiculous the stories become (adultery, revenge, rape, birth secrets, fatal illnesses, and flirting with incest possibilities are some makjang favorites).
