I Was Hired by the Black-Minded Prince for My Life's Ransom - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 12. Do you think you might come to love me…?
The laughter was so naked and raw it felt obscene.
Before the Second Prince’s prolonged mirth, the intruder bowed his head in panic.
‘Why is he laughing?’
Unease bloomed in his chest, creeping like frost.
“Ah… how amusing.”
The Second Prince wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, twisting his lips into something that was not quite a smile.
His head tilted slowly to one side.
“What do you think I called you here for?”
“I… that is…”
To give you another chance, surely?
There had to be a reason he’d summoned him to the Reception Room, of all places.
As the intruder fumbled for words, laughter erupted once more.
A shrill, grating laugh—like metal on metal—filled the room.
“Another chance?”
The Second Prince swept back his murky blonde hair with one hand.
“Me?”
His eyes were dark as a lightless sea.
Only then did the intruder understand that something was terribly wrong.
The world’s assessment of the Second Prince was, in truth, catastrophic.
A monster so cruel that even demons would recoil.
A madman who gnashed his teeth because he couldn’t murder his own family.
The rumors he’d dismissed, the ones he’d chosen to ignore for profit, now materialized before his eyes as concrete reality.
“To a fool who not only failed, but came back having done Yurian a favor—would you grant him another chance?”
“That is to say…”
“How is it you can’t read the room?”
Ha ha ha!
The laughter rang out again, loud and uncontrolled.
‘This man is insane.’
A chill traced down his spine.
The intruder trembled, his face drained of all color as he looked up at the Second Prince.
And in that moment, he understood.
This Office was not a place of business.
It was a hell, designed solely to remind him without ceasing: who stands above, and who kneels below.
“Kyle.”
Slide—
At the Second Prince’s low summons, a figure emerged from behind the door.
When had he been standing there?
The intruder hadn’t sensed a thing.
He was trapped between them now, unable to move forward or back.
The Second Prince ahead. The guard behind.
He felt caught in a snare.
“Your Highness, please… just once more…”
“Dispose of him.”
Those three words were all that was needed.
Slash—!
“Ugh…!”
The intruder crumpled, a long gash opened across his back.
Thud!
The man’s body fell limp with a dull, heavy sound.
The Second Prince clicked his tongue, watching the corpse.
“Clean it up.”
“At once.”
His eyes were empty now, interest already spent.
The guard bowed deeply to the Second Prince, then dragged the body away.
Creak—
Click.
The door closed. Silence returned to the Office.
The Second Prince reclined loosely in his chair, gaze drifting toward the window.
In his field of vision, a man with warm cream-colored hair made his way across the street below.
“Yurian….”
Watching him bow his head courteously to everyone he met, offering warm greetings, filled me with such contempt that my brow furrowed of its own accord.
Where on earth had such a lukewarm creature come from?
“There’s no way someone like that could be born of Oswald’s blood….”
It was truly bizarre.
“His luck, too, is remarkable.”
The Second Prince’s lips twisted into a sneer.
Until now, he had made countless moves against the brothers he held so dear, yet with Yurian alone, his schemes had an uncanny way of failing—or rather, yielding even better results than intended.
Just as they had this very time.
Precisely like this.
“Is he truly blessed by the gods themselves?”
It made no sense.
How could a mere mortal possess such extraordinary fortune?
It was far more believable that he wore the mask of a saint while concealing some sinister scheme beneath.
Yet after investigating from every angle, there was not a trace of this clever third brother’s interference to be found anywhere.
He had truly evaded it all by pure chance.
“…It grates on me.”
Tsk.
The Second Prince clicked his tongue.
He had received reports that the Lower City Streets were abuzz with praise for Yurian these days.
Some were even staging plays claiming that the Third Prince would be chosen as the next emperor.
He had purged every last voice spreading such nonsense, yet a vile taste lingered in his mouth.
It wouldn’t do.
“I alone am fit to become emperor.”
The Second Prince’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“I shall have to deal with him properly before long.”
This time, I will not miss.
* * *
The afternoon was drawing to a close, the sun sinking low in the sky.
“What am I to do….”
Sigh.
I lay sprawled helplessly across the bed, exhaling a deep breath.
The moment I returned from the Hunting Ground, the first thing I did was unfold the Contract again.
“Ugh….”
There are so many words.
I stared at the paper in my hand, rubbing my eyes.
Was this written to be read, or to play a trick on people?
“It feels like it might be both….”
One line at a time.
I managed to push through the dizziness and read the words carefully.
And finally found a single sentence of note.
“So I can only read thoughts within a five-meter radius.”
And even then, only partially.
It seems I cannot read His Highness’s thoughts at all from my end.
As for Mental Transmission, it’s only possible if Yurian permits it….
‘It’s completely one-sided.’
My brow creased slightly.
I cannot read His Highness’s thoughts, nor can I initiate Mental Transmission first.
How could there be such an inequitable clause?
“I’m truly, truly grateful….”
Phew.
I released a long, relieved sigh.
A demon lurking beneath an angel’s face—an inner malice that could make even a master schemer pale.
Just imagining what might dwell in that abyss sends shivers down my spine; to glimpse it directly?
“That’s… no thank you.”
I shook my head softly.
No, absolutely not….
After shaking my head several times, I tucked the Contract safely beneath the bed.
Then I collapsed back onto the mattress with a soft thud.
I had extinguished one urgent fire, but another remained.
“A Sacred Contract….”
That beautiful piece of garbage.
I exhaled slowly, stretching both hands out before me.
Thin scratches scattered across my palms.
Even after basic treatment at the Medical Office, they still stung faintly.
“I threw myself in without a moment to think.”
My body moved before my will could catch up with it.
How could that even happen?
That terrifying sensation remained vividly etched in my mind, so I clenched my hands slightly.
“At least Yurian doesn’t know yet….”
Though that reprieve wouldn’t last long.
Huff.
I hadn’t known him long, but that man was far from oblivious.
So someday, he’d catch on….
“That’s good news, then.”
Or rather,
“Ah. I was getting tired of dragging you around anyway.”
He’d definitely say something like that….
“Ugh.”
I hunched my shoulders and shuddered.
Would it kill him to refrain from saying such things in that gentle voice of his?
But he’d never change, so there was only one conclusion.
“I have to become someone he can’t afford to discard before he catches on.”
The problem was figuring out how….
Ugh.
I grabbed the blanket and rolled around restlessly.
“Think, Vanillin….”
What would Dai have said if he were here?
What would he say? Probably just tell me to figure it out myself….
Ah, useless even in death, that one.
As I was agonizing over it, a memory suddenly flickered through my mind.
“Oh.”
When was it?
I’d been cleaning the Office once and threw out some half-full wine from a glass.
I’d done it without thinking, since I always had before.
“…He got furious.”
When Dai returned after finishing his work and saw the empty glass, he flew into a rage.
Why had I thrown it out?
He’d demanded if I had to throw something away, why not throw out something useless like me instead of the wine he cherished so dearly.
I slowly sat up in bed.
And thought carefully.
Why had he been so angry over wine that was barely worth saving—wine that was probably already covered in dust anyway and undrinkable?
…….
Oh.
Oh!
I bolted upright in bed.
My eyes flew wide open.
“Because he loved it!”
That’s exactly what he’d said.
The wine he cherished.
He couldn’t throw it away because he treasured it so.
So then….
“If Yurian loved me….”
I clenched both fists hard.
“He wouldn’t be able to throw me away…!”
My heart pounded wildly.
That was it.
I just had to make the Prince fall for me!
Good. So what should I try first?
Just as I was about to sink back into deep thought….
[Vanillin.]
A low voice burrowing into my mind.
“H-hic…!”
Startled half to death…!
I leapt from my seat, clutching my racing chest.
“D-did you hear all of that…?”
[Come to my room.]
The Mental Transmission cuts off before I can finish speaking, leaving only his words behind.
Right—I’d forgotten that thoughts only carry within a five-meter radius.
I nearly gave myself heart failure.
I pressed a hand to my still-thundering heart, forcing myself to breathe.
In a strange way, this was perfect timing.
“All right.”
I clenched my fists tight.
The moment was ideal.
My heart hammered in my chest.
I quickly smoothed my appearance and made my way to Yurian’s room.
And then.
“Your Highness.”
I took hold of his sleeve, my voice trembling with desperate appeal.
“Would you ever consider…loving me…?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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