Chapter 20 Magic Slave’s Throbbing Heart
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
My name is Kai.
Born poor, I had been hungry for as long as I could remember.
My parents could only vent their anger by beating me and my sister. We couldn’t survive in that house, so I was sold to a slave trader along with my younger sister, Mina. Honestly, life in the slave hut—where no one beat me for no reason—was comfortable. Compared to my parents’ violence, the cold floor felt better.
It turned out I had Mana.
Because of that, a noble bought me for a higher price than usual. The buyer was a noble named Lizel Blanchett, a count’s daughter with bright, pink hair.
Her hair was so vivid, as if the morning sky had been cut and placed on her head; every time I saw it, I couldn’t look away. That color seemed to repaint the gray world I knew.
On the day of the contract, my new Master poured a huge amount of Mana into me, and my mind slowly sank away.
I didn’t have to think anymore.
I didn’t have to feel anymore.
――That thought brought me deep relief.
It felt like freedom, as if heavy chains had fallen off me.
But I had one regret.
It was about my sister, Mina, who was sold with me and then sent away. I prayed she would get a kind master. Wishing for my sister’s small happiness, my mind went dark.
＊＊＊
How much time passed?
After that, I lived as a simple Magic Slave (a slave used for magic), my inner life completely still. Like a doll with no feelings, I spent my days waiting for orders. It was like being in a deep fog; the world had lost its shape and its color.
My Mana was Fire-attribute.
If I mixed it with the Wind Mana my Master gave me, I could create a powerful, burning storm. I couldn’t use that whirlwind of fire—which could turn the black sky red—on my own, but I could feel its power on my skin.
One calm holiday afternoon, it was decided I would go monster hunting with my Master.
She said that during the Academy holiday, we would go outside the Royal Capital to practice magic in a real place. My Master headed toward the forest in the suburbs, with several classmates and servants.
The smell of the trees. The feel of the dirt.
All of it stirred my long-still senses, just a little.
The wind shaking the branches, the birds singing.
They sounded like distant memories.
Our enemies were goblins hiding in the forest.
They were not strong enemies.
Maybe that’s why we let our guard down.
No one noticed the single goblin hiding in the shadows.
The smell of rotting meat rode the wind, tickling my nose.
Along with disgust, a strange, deep feeling rushed through my body.
During a break, when that goblin attacked my Master, I jumped in front of her without thinking. A rusted goblin knife cut into my back.
A sharp, burning pain flared, and warm blood ran down my spine.
But I had protected my Master.
I didn’t know why I, a Magic Slave, had moved without orders.
My body just moved on its own.
My Master begged a friend who could use healing magic to treat me.
She stayed by my side and took care of me until my wounds healed. The touch of her warm hand seemed to melt my frozen heart.
For the first time, her serious gaze made me feel like she was looking at me as a “human.”
From that day on, my stopped mind slowly began to move again.
The relationship between my Master and me changed, and before I knew it, we had become like friends. It was as if a door that had been shut for a long time was slowly opening.
＊＊＊
She even found my sister and said she would make it possible for us to live together.
So we searched for her, and I found out Mina was living happily in the mansion of a noble named Xenos Grimlock. When I saw Mina’s carefree smile, warmth spread through my chest. It was a feeling I had almost forgotten.
But not long after that, my Master’s behavior changed.
It seemed she had fallen in love with Xenos-sama, Mina’s master.
My Master started finding reasons to visit Xenos-sama’s mansion, saying it was “to thank him for his help.”
I was happy because I could see Mina.
But whenever I saw my Master looking so happy before going to see Xenos-sama, I felt a strange cloudiness in my chest, and I didn’t know why. A strange feeling stirred deep inside me. It was like feeling the arrival of spring, but with a vague worry mixed in.
A few days later, when I visited Xenos-sama’s mansion as my Master’s attendant as usual, Xenos-sama made a strange request.
He wanted me to do a body search on my Master.
Me, search my Master…?
It was true my Master had a short temper, but she certainly wouldn’t be hiding any weapons.
But the man asking was the Head of the Grimlock family.
He was also Mina’s helper.
I couldn’t say no.
”…Yes, I understand.”
I accepted the strange job.
A weird feeling of unease stuck in my throat. It was as if a strange sensation, like being pulled by invisible strings, followed me.
＊＊＊
A room in the Grimlock mansion.
Surrounded by expensive furniture, I was now going to search my Master.
The walls were decorated with old paintings, and there was a faint smell of old paper and wood. In my hand, I held the magic stick she always used, feeling its smooth wood.
”Hmph. Well? Hurry up, commoner.”
My Master crossed her arms and said, looking annoyed.
Her cheeks were a little red. Behind her usual bossy attitude, I could see a faint tension. She said this body search was needed for her to enter Xenos-sama’s bedroom.
Without a word, I held the wooden magic wand over her body.
I checked along her body to see if she was hiding any weapons.
From her shoulders to her arms, then to her waist. Every time the tip of the wand touched her body through her clothes, I felt a sensation like a small electric shock.
It must have been humiliating for her to have her body checked by a commoner like me.
Her face was bright red as she glared at me. Her sharp gaze was like a bird of prey watching its target, but I could see a hint of confusion deep inside.
I continued the check anyway, and finally, I tapped her cheek lightly with the wand tip. It was a signal for her to open her mouth.
”…Y-you commoner… how rude.”
Even as she cursed me, my Master opened her mouth a little, looking frustrated.
I gently held her tongue down with the wand and looked inside her mouth.
There was nothing unusual.
She wasn’t hiding any weapons.
Her warm breath in her mouth touched my fingers.
When the check was done, my Master spat out, “You’re done!” and hurried toward her destination—Xenos-sama’s bedroom.
Her footsteps seemed a little lighter than usual.
What was the point of this inspection?
I stayed alone in the room, sitting in a chair, just killing time. Silence filled the room, and only the sound of the clock echoed emptily. Time itself seemed to flow heavily and slowly.
How much time passed?
Suddenly, a large mirror in the corner of the room began to glow with a pale silver light. That light lit up the room like moonlight, creating a magical feeling.
”Wh-what is…?”
When I looked into the mirror, shaking with fear, I saw something unbelievable.
Xenos-sama’s bedroom was shown on the mirror’s surface. I never imagined it had such a trick.
And what was there was not the Master I knew.
She was wearing fluffy cat ears, a soft tail, and a very revealing outfit, fawning over Xenos-sama.
The sight of her bare stomach was far too sexy… and on her belly, a strange magic crest (a glowing symbol) I had never seen before floated faintly. The crest, which gave off a thin light, pulsed as if it were alive.
’Goshujin-sama~, I couldn’t talk to you at school, so Lizel was lonely, nyan♡’
My Master was snuggling up to Xenos-sama’s arm, using a strange way of speaking with “nyan” at the end of her sentences. Her voice had a sickly sweet tone, completely different from her usual sharp voice. It felt like honey, sticking to my ears.
’If it’s for Goshujin-sama, Lizel will do anything, nyan! So, please dote on me more and more, nyan~♡’
’Good grief. You really are such a spoiled girl, Lizel.’
’Because, I love Goshujin-sama so, so much, nyan! Hey, I want you to hug me tight, nyan!’
Xenos-sama smiled gently and hugged her.
My Master buried her face in his chest with a look of melting happiness I had never seen before. That expression was so innocent and satisfied that it was beyond what I could imagine from her usual self.
I couldn’t look away from the scene.
The scene in the mirror seemed like something from another world, but my gaze was locked on it because of how strange it was.
＊＊＊
Eventually, it seemed time to leave.
Lizel-sama changed back into the same Magic Academy uniform she had worn when she arrived and came to this room to get me. Her face had returned to that of my usual, grumpy, bossy Master.
Not a trace of the spoiled expression in the mirror remained.
As if nothing had happened at all.
”Hey, what are you doing? We’re going home. Hurry up and get ready, commoner.”
As I was walking down the hallway following Lizel-sama, Xenos-sama came toward us from the front.
”Lizel, you forgot something.”
”Eh? What…”
When Xenos-sama said that, he gently kissed Lizel-sama on the forehead.
A dry smack echoed through the quiet hallway. That sound reached my ears directly and sent a shock that felt like my heart had been grabbed and squeezed.
In that instant, my heart ached just a little.
It was a feeling like being stabbed deep in the chest with a sharp needle. A strange pain, which I had never felt before, began to spread slowly.
”Wh-what the! Suddenly!”
Lizel-sama was furious, her face bright red.
Even though she was so spoiled when they were alone….
She hurried toward the outside of the mansion.
I, left behind, hurried to chase after her.
”Kai-kun.”
Xenos-sama called out to stop me.
His voice was calm, as if he could see through everything. I felt like his gaze could see into the depths of my heart.
”Did you enjoy yourself today?”
…Which one was he talking about?
The body search, or watching through the mirror?
Or maybe both?
Xenos-sama’s words spun in my head like a riddle.
As I stayed silent, unable to reply, Xenos-sama continued.
”Lizel has a sharp tongue, but she’s a cute girl. Please, keep protecting her from now on.”
”A-ah…, y-yes!”
That was all I could manage to say.
As I hurried to chase after my Master, I still didn’t know what the pain in my chest a moment ago really was. But that ache was certainly carved into my heart.
It was as if it were announcing the birth of a new feeling inside me.
—
Summary:
Kai experiences a complex awakening as his previously suppressed emotions begin to resurface through his interactions with Lizel. After witnessing Lizel’s secret, submissive persona through a magical mirror in Xenos’s mansion, Kai is left grappling with new, confusing feelings of jealousy and attachment. As they depart, Xenos’s cryptic remark and kiss on Lizel’s forehead trigger a sharp, unexplained pain in Kai’s chest, signaling the birth of his independent self.
—
Trivia:
- The Magic Slave condition acts as a complete suppression of the subject’s internal emotional life, turning them into a hollow shell.
- Lizel’s pink hair is explicitly linked to Kai’s initial transition from a gray world to one with color, symbolizing his emotional awakening.
- The magic mirror incident is intentionally orchestrated by Xenos as part of a deeper, ongoing experiment or manipulation involving Kai and Lizel.
- The “pain” in Kai’s chest is fundamentally tied to his dawning realization of romantic jealousy, which contrasts with his previous, purely subservient status.
Notes:
• Kai – A pale-faced young male commoner with Fire-attribute Mana who lives as Lizel’s Magic Slave, serving him like a shadow. Sold into slavery in the past, he has recently begun to regain his lost consciousness and emotions, displaying complex expressions. He is currently searching for his long-lost younger sister.
• Mina – Kai’s younger sister is an innocent, childlike maid serving Xenos in the Grimlock household alongside Lilia. Separated from Kai after being sold to a slave trader, she is deeply loyal and affectionate to her master—even wearing a dancer’s outfit at his request due to her lack of adult subtext. Fearful of strangers, she has soft brown hair, anxious eyes, and an adorable white rabbit kigurumi.
• Blanchett – The noble Blanchett family name is carried by Lizel, defining their highborn identity and structuring their societal relationships and obligations with others.
• Blanchet – A noble family line carried by Lizel.
• Lizel – A doll-like, graceful count’s daughter of the Blanchet family, this magic academy student has vivid pink hair, overwhelming wind magic, and a high-handed, volatile temper. Fiancée to Luca Dalton and Master to the purchased slave Kai, she acts as a bullying victim to be shielded from assault. Despite her tantrums and poor negotiation skills, she harbors hidden romantic feelings for Xenos.
• Grimlock – Xenos bears the Grimlock name, an influential noble martial house entrusted with guarding the national border. Reflecting their high-status identity, the succession of this prominent household carries significant weight. As bearers of this lineage, Xenos and his father, Gaius, share a strong familial bond dedicated to upholding their family’s prestigious military legacy.
• Xenos – A reincarnated nobleman, hated villain protagonist, and calm head of the Grimlock family, he masks his immense power and Magic Seal behind a “Zero Mana” facade of incompetence. Using calculated manipulation and game-script knowledge, he dominates targets, controls the underworld, relaxes only around servants, acts as Mina’s benefactor, and is currently forcing an annulment with his fiancée.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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