The woman wore a light blue off-shoulder dress, her long golden hair falling over her shoulders. It was as if she had no awareness of her current situation at all. A faint smile still rested on her face.
"Bring her out. I want a closer look."
Tenryū Yuto gave a small gesture. The shop owner who had already been kneeling at the door scrambled inside and soon returned with the blonde woman. The two of them knelt together in front of Yuto.
"What is your name?"
The woman kept her head lowered, not daring to look directly at him.
"Honored Celestial Dragon-sama, my name is Stella."
"Stella, huh."
Yuto quietly repeated the name under his breath, and the memory finally snapped into place.
Even though Stella had only appeared in a movie, and even then only in flashbacks, she had left a deep impression on him. No wonder that even after shifting from two dimensions into three, she still felt familiar to him at a glance.
In his previous life, Yuto remembered it clearly.
When he was young, Gild Tesoro had met Stella through music. Tesoro worked himself half to death trying to earn enough money to buy her from the slave traders. Just when he was about to succeed, a Celestial Dragon arrived, also intent on buying Stella.
Stella was purchased by the Celestial Dragon, treated as private property, and subjected to inhuman torment. In only three short years, she died.
Just before she died, Stella told Tesoro that she was happy because he had existed.
That experience had pushed Gild Tesoro down the path of darkness until he finally became the Golden Emperor, a man who controlled twenty percent of the world's wealth.
Of course, that was not the main reason Stella had stuck with Yuto.
What really burned her into his memory was the world-famous painting she left behind when she was taken away.
In that painting, Stella wore a soft blue gown. The hem of her dress rippled like water, lending her an air of cold melancholy that clashed fiercely with her pale face.
Her golden hair was lifted by the sea breeze, the ends catching a faint hint of warmth, as if the last afterglow of sunset had brushed them with amber light.
A collar encircled her neck, the leash held in the hand of a Celestial Dragon. The collar bit into her throat, yet the corners of her lips were still lifted.
It was almost a devout smile. Her eyes were half closed, as though silently reciting a prayer, or feeling the sensation of wind brushing past her ears.
There was no hatred on her face. Only a gentle, almost sacred smile, as if pain, humiliation, chains, all of it, simply did not matter.
When Yuto had first seen that image, the raw sense of brokenness had hit him hard. Even after so many years, the memory remained painfully vivid.
The Stella before him still had her head bowed, so he could not see her expression.
Yuto spoke slowly.
"This slave is not bad. I will take her."
As he spoke, he waved his hand. A maid immediately stepped forward from behind him and hurried off with the overjoyed shop owner to negotiate the final price.
For the owner, even the slightest connection to a Celestial Dragon was enough to bring endless benefits.
"Remove her collar."
Yuto gave a light command. One of the CP agents stepped up and flicked his hand. The collar clattered to the ground, cleanly cut open.
The CP may have looked like joke characters in the original story, but in reality, every single CP agent was a carefully selected combat genius. Many pirates with bounties over one hundred million would not necessarily beat them in a one-on-one fight.
It was just that the enemies they faced were usually monsters. That was the only reason the CP often ended up as background decorations and minor characters.
Being able to take Stella home today already left Yuto very satisfied. He planned to return to Mary Geoise before nightfall.
Yuto understood perfectly well how Celestial Dragons were viewed in this world. Until he reached at least the level of an elite Headquarters vice admiral, he had no intention of wandering around the sea for fun. That would make him feel very unsafe.
Once he had vice admiral-level strength, the only ones who could actually threaten him would be a handful of people like the Four Emperors or the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
And by the time a pirate reached that level, they usually were no longer hot-headed idiots. They knew very well that provoking a Celestial Dragon was all risk and no reward and would quietly avoid trouble.
…
Not long after the Sanctum left the Sabaody Archipelago.
In Area 16, Gild Tesoro stood blankly before the floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the spot where Stella had once stood, now occupied by a slave he did not recognize.
"Congratulations, Ralph. I did not expect your slave stock to be that good. You actually lured a Celestial Dragon-sama here in person."
"Oh, not at all, not at all. You flatter me."
Listening to Ralph's affected, modest laughter, Tesoro felt his heart sinking straight to the bottom of the sea.
He rushed at Ralph like a madman, grabbed the man by the collar, and shouted in his face.
"What did you just say? Where did Stella go?"
Ralph was startled. Seeing the bloodshot eyes glaring at him, his heart skipped a beat.
Then anger surged up inside him.
A lowly wretch dared to grab him, dared to shout at him, dared to embarrass him in front of his peers.
"Someone get over here. Take him down."
Slave merchants were all vicious and ruthless. Each of them kept a pack of slavers under their command.
The moment the words left Ralph's mouth, a group of burly enforcers rushed out from behind him. Without a word, they slammed Tesoro to the ground and pinned him there.
Ralph pressed his foot on Tesoro's head.
"You want to know where that female slave went? Fine, I will tell you. She was bought by a noble Celestial Dragon-sama. A lowly creature like you can never imagine the greatness of the Celestial Dragons. But you can experience what it feels like to be a slave. Take him away."
…
Even without crossing paths with a Celestial Dragon in person, Gild Tesoro had still returned to the fate that originally awaited him.
Some things about fate really were hard to put into words.
By this time, Yuto had already returned to Mary Geoise, completely unaware of what had happened afterward.
Even if he had known, he would not have cared.
Because of certain experiences from his previous life, Yuto had developed an almost extreme attachment to the saying, "Sweep the snow in front of your own door. Do not worry about the frost on someone else's roof."
He knew very clearly that his empathy was a bit weaker than that of most people. This was one of the main reasons he had been able to adapt so quickly to his identity as a Celestial Dragon.
Even after living two lives, the fundamental color of his personality had not changed.
In the same way, Yuto had only ever planned to show up after Nika and Imu fought their earth-shattering final battle and pick up the leftovers. He had never once seriously considered changing the world.
"There is not that much that needs changing in this world. As long as I replace the person sitting on the throne, it will be perfect."
…
When he returned to his estate, the maids took Stella away to have the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon branded onto her as a slave mark. Yuto watched the dancers perform and enjoyed his dinner of one hundred dishes at the same time.
He was indeed very interested in Stella.
To him, the people around him were all like nameless NPCs from the original story. Now, finally, there was someone with a proper name and backstory standing before him. Of course he would pay more attention.
But there was no need to rush.
No matter how calm Stella's smile looked, her heart had to be in turmoil. Better to let her settle down for a while first.
Yuto was not exactly the same as those brutal Celestial Dragons. At the very least, he had no intention of taking pleasure in torturing his slaves.
…
After finishing dinner, Yuto stretched his legs in the courtyard, told the guards to let the newly bought mermaid stay in the swimming pool for now, then instructed them to notify the craftsmen to build a giant aquarium.
He felt that there would be no shortage of mermaids in his manor in the future.
Only after giving all his orders did Yuto return to his room and lie down on his bed.
"System, activate."
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