I Was Hired by the Black-Minded Prince for My Life's Ransom - Chapter 18

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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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Chapter 18. How about we try something like this…?
The moment I opened my eyes, I felt a warmth beside me.
“Mmm….”
An unfamiliar sensation.
Last night, I’d ended up falling asleep in the same bed as Yulian.
And somehow, I’d slept deeper than I ever thought possible….
Until I lay down, my entire body had been rigid with tension.
I’d been certain I’d stay awake all night, but I was wrong.
“I open my eyes and it’s already morning.”
Had I really grown accustomed to this so quickly…?
I yawned long and blinked blearily at nothing in particular.
When I turned to look beside me, Yulian was slowly stretching.
“Good morning, Vanillin.”
“Yes… good morning.”
His neck stretched lazily, his hair tousled softly, his face devastatingly refreshed.
He’d clearly slept well.
“Did you sleep well?”
“I feel quite refreshed.”
He answered briefly and plainly, then stretched further.
“So I have some use after all.”
At his smile—clearly very pleased with himself—I blinked.
Use.
Come to think of it, my goal had been to become useful to him so that even if the secret of the Sacred Contract was exposed, I wouldn’t be discarded.
I leaned toward him slightly and asked.
“So you’ve come to love me a little, then?”
“…Pardon?”
“Even if you found a way to kill me now, you won’t—because I’m useful?”
The drowsy eyelids that had been heavy a moment ago snapped open, and his eyes gleamed.
I’m useful?
So you don’t want to kill me now?
That must mean you adore me?
Those questions must have shown on my face, because Yulian gave my shoulder a sharp push.
“You need to reexamine your definition of love, Vanillin.”
“Not denying it means….”
“I’m denying it. Quite firmly.”
“This, this right here?”
“And it seems you need to study how nobility speaks as well.”
Sigh.
He added that and shook his head.
“Love is not a feeling determined by whether you can abandon something or not.”
“Then… what is it?”
“I’m not certain.”
Yulian tilted his head slightly, then looked at me and smiled.
“Perhaps it’s the kind of feeling where you can’t harbor resentment, even if you’re abandoned.”
“Resentment…?”
“In short, it’s far deeper than what you’re imagining.”
Mmm… I didn’t quite understand what he meant.
Since I couldn’t grasp his words, I tilted my head in confusion.
My brother, the books.
The things I’d loved seemed only to have brought me happiness, without containing any deeper meaning like that.
“Never mind, though. What’s more important is―”
He smiled broadly, eyes crinkling.
“Why are you asking such things?”
“…What?”
“Did you find a loophole in the contract?”
“…Hic.”
Terrifying… terrifying!
I must have been out of my mind.
To think I’d mistaken myself for being loved by him, even for a moment.
I swallowed down the hiccup threatening to escape and shook my head frantically.
“No, no… I don’t have any such thoughts. I was just speaking off the cuff.”
“You know I can see into Vanillin’s mind, don’t you?”
“…Do you have to read it?”
There really is nothing there.
I don’t know anything like that….
I let my shoulders slump and tried to clear my thoughts.
‘This is unfair. Being able to read minds is just too much!’
“Pft….”
“……?”
I thought I heard laughter from above my head, but Yulian merely wore his usual smile.
Had I imagined it?
He regarded me for a moment, then unexpectedly changed the subject with surprising grace.
“At any rate, it seems the fiancée will be arriving today.”
“Ah.”
Thank goodness….
I nodded eagerly, grateful the conversation had shifted so smoothly.
“Is she coming already?”
“My older brother has a hasty temperament.”
Yulian rose from the bed and stretched lightly.
The mattress rippled softly as his weight lifted away.
I too got up and poured myself a glass of water.
“Do you have a guess as to who she might be?”
“Likely the young lady of House of Baron Reta.”
“But… how did you know?”
“She’s the lowest ranking among my brother’s retainers.”
Thank you.
He took the glass I offered with a nod of acknowledgment.
I smiled awkwardly in return.
I was a little taken aback.
The lowest ranking—assigned to Yulian like this.
Truly, it was a simple and yet cruel reason.
It felt as if I could plainly sense the will to keep her firmly under his heel.
“There’s little need for concern. Being betrothed to my brother’s retainer does mean being monitored, but—”
He looked at me and smiled with disarming clarity.
“Conversely, it means placing one of my brother’s vulnerabilities directly in our hands.”
“Ah….”
So it wasn’t for nothing that I’d accepted this mad engagement after all.
I nodded as if entranced.
Come to think of it, that man had always been this way.
He never retreated, no matter the circumstance.
…If anything, he turned things to his advantage.
His gentle, serene face caught my attention.
Was it always that composure of his?
When I was with Dai, I could think of nothing and merely followed orders, but now I felt almost at ease.
“Those people will be watching eagerly for His Highness’s weaknesses, won’t they?”
“Undoubtedly. They’re people placed there for exactly that purpose.”
Then…
“What if we tried it this way?”
Cautiously, yet with clear intent.
I laid out the strategy I’d been turning over in my mind all this time.
Quietly, softly.
My explanation continued in hushed tones.
When Yulian had heard me through to the end, he slowly closed his eyes.
“I’ve thought so for some time now, but Vanillin, you’re quite malicious, aren’t you?”
“Ah, malicious…?”
That’s praise, isn’t it…?
I looked up with an ambiguous expression, and he let out a small smile.
“I find it excellent.”
It was brief—just a few words—yet it carried a certainty no other praise could match.
* * *
Lib Reta had recently developed a habit of gnawing at the inside of her lip.
The eldest daughter of House of Baron Reta.
Betrothed to the 3rd Prince, who bore the distinguished title of Saint.
A name alone should have been enough to shine with elegance—
“…Sigh.”
Yet her breath carried an anxiety that seemed entirely out of place.
Her objective was singular.
To uncover a weakness in Yulian Ozwald.
She would hand it over to the 2nd Prince, and in exchange, her father would gain a countship.
And she herself would become a countess.
“…A countess.”
A sweet smile bloomed at the corner of her mouth.
The thought alone made her feel as though sugar were melting on her tongue.
Winning Yulian’s heart and becoming a princess wouldn’t be entirely unpleasant, but she found virtuous men distasteful.
Far more appealing was the prospect of becoming a countess, marrying into a suitable house, and maintaining several lovers.
She had been given precisely one month.
Within that time, she was determined to accomplish everything flawlessly.
“…Why can’t I find anything?”
Lib Reta’s brow furrowed.
The 3rd Prince was excessively perfect.
Gentle, affectionate, tender.
A man sculpted from the very word “Saint” itself.
His flawlessness was enough to shake even her resolve.
‘This is… completely absurd.’
How could a person be like this?
A week was short if you counted it as nothing, long if you counted it as everything.
And in that week, she had found nothing.
That fact was slowly beginning to curdle into anxiety.
…But today.
“……?”
The air in the Prince’s Palace felt subtly different from usual.
Unlike its usual brightness and clarity, it hung damp and heavy, as though something had settled and sunk.
Lib Reta’s steps slowed.
“Again today?”
Her ears caught fragments of low voices.
“Yeah… Amy hasn’t been seen in days now.”
“The last time was when she saw the Prince, wasn’t it?”
“You don’t think she’s… dead?”
“Shh! Keep your voice down. What if someone hears?”
Lib Reta’s gaze turned toward the maids huddled in small clusters.
Their faces bore unmistakable traces of unease and concern.
Reta’s eyes narrowed.
‘…A maid is dead?’
In the Saint’s palace?
The combination seemed impossibly mismatched.
And yet—her interest was piqued.
“You there. Is that true?”
Click.
She approached the maids, tilting her chin up as she spoke.
The maids startled, their heads immediately bowing low.
“Oh! L-Lib Reta, we greet you!”
“Who said someone died?”
“Ah, w-well, that is…”
The maids bit their lips tightly, exchanging furtive glances.
They seemed to be deliberating whether they should speak.
“N-No, my lady. It’s only a baseless rumor.”
“Yes. The 3rd Prince is such a person, after all.”
“Surely nothing of the sort could happen.”
The denials came swift and formulaic.
With that, they hurried away, muttering something about needing to attend to their cleaning.
The corner of Lib Reta’s mouth tilted upward.
‘Something’s off.’
There was a smell to it. A very strong one.
For the first time, what had been hidden now seemed within reach—a thread she could finally grasp.
She quickened her pace.
Down the corridor, up the stairs—
At last, before the 3rd Prince’s office.
The moment she lifted her hand to knock, a voice came from inside.
“That child—you haven’t disposed of them yet?”
It was a voice entirely unlike those she’d heard before, neither soft nor warm, yet she recognized its owner at once.
‘The 3rd Prince.’
It was unmistakably the 3rd Prince.
Her heart began to hammer against her ribs.

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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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