I Was Hired by the Black-Minded Prince for My Life's Ransom - Chapter 20

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

Episode 20. That was truly impressive, a moment ago.
“I… what did you say?”
“I went to some trouble retrieving it.”
Trouble, his foot — the man wore the look of someone who’d been counting down the hours for this very day.
I found myself staring at the Second Prince, unable to suppress a mixture of admiration and shameless amusement.
Did he realize? That what he was eagerly excavating was his own weakness?
‘…Somehow I feel a bit sorry for him.’
Why did I have to touch this man, prod him like this?
Yurian rose from his seat with practiced nonchalance.
“Well then, shall we be going now?”
“…Pardon? Right now?”
“Yes.”
He donned his coat without the slightest concern.
“It is the duty of a younger brother to spare his elder from difficulty.”
“Ah yes, the duty of a younger brother….”
How could he be so shameless?
I muttered while averting my eyes from his.
I had no confidence I could hide the tremor at the corners of my mouth.
But evidently he’d already caught sight of my expression, for Yurian tilted his head slightly.
“Why that look? Surely this qualifies as humane treatment.”
“…This does?”
“It’s better than killing him, isn’t it?”
…Is that something a person should say?
Now that I thought of it, His Highness showed precious little reverence for life.
I’d known it all along, yet the moment I saw that face, I found myself deceived into believing he was incorruptible.
If that’s a talent, then it’s quite a talent indeed.
“Sigh….”
I brushed off my backside and followed Yurian.
Once I’d draped the umbrella I’d prepared beforehand over him, he strolled serenely through the Garden.
As always, his hatefully virtuous expression blocked the Second Prince’s path.
“Brother, I must ask you to stop.”
“Too late, Yurian.”
“Excavating my Palace’s Garden without permission is hardly a wise choice.”
Yurian’s eyebrows rose slightly.
He bore the expression of someone caught red-handed with a terrible secret that must not come to light.
At that, Kitten grew bolder still.
“Don’t resent your elder too much, Yurian. If you are truly a Saint, shouldn’t you lay to rest the resentment of the maid who died so wrongfully?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Haha, playing ignorant will only get you so far!”
Some matters only worsen the more you try to stop them.
Surely that prince wouldn’t be ignorant of such a thing….
‘No, he’s clearly come here to fan the flames.’
A demon….
I’ve sold my soul to a demon.
I’ll never see heaven now.
“Wouldn’t it be wise to stop here?”
“Nonsense! Keep digging!”
I hung my head low.
It was over.
Completely past the point of no return.
“…! Something’s come up!”
A shout rings out, perfectly timed.
What emerged from the soil was a box, sealed tight.
The Second Prince’s lips curved upward in triumph.
“Open it.”
“Brother.”
“Open it at once!”
Click.
The lock gave way.
The lid of the box swung open, and everyone held their breath.
And then.
“…What is this.”
“…….”
“What is this!”
Inside was not a skeleton, but a Ledger.
A thick, damning record of corruption.
The Imperial Investigation Unit descended on it at once.
“This is… the Second Prince’s, isn’t it.”
“But the flow of funds….”
“Wait, here seems a bit….”
Even through the rain, their whispers carried with crystalline clarity.
I lifted my eyes slightly to look at the Second Prince.
His face had twisted into something demonic.
“I was only trying to protect you,” someone said.
That was when Yurian opened his mouth, his smile ambiguous.
“I happened to acquire it by chance. I meant to bury it and make it disappear… but here we are.”
“…Shut up.”
Right, he really does have a foul temperament.
Yurian’s eyes narrowed in satisfaction, salt rubbed into the open wound.
Then he turned to address Lib Reta, who had been standing anxiously nearby.
“You came as well, young lady.”
She flinched.
In that instant, Kitten’s shoulders stiffened.
His bloodshot eyes fixed on the Marquis’s daughter.
“How did this happen, Lib Reta?”
“Your Highness, I… that is….”
Her eyes were full of incomprehension.
“Something has gone terribly wrong! I was certain…!”
“What’s gone wrong is your head.”
The Second Prince’s eyes flashed white.
“What is the meaning of this!”
“That is…!”
Her gaze turned toward the handmaids of the Third Prince’s household.
Her eyes sharpened in an instant.
“You did this, didn’t you! You said Amy seemed to be dead!”
“A, Amy…?”
The handmaids exchanged bewildered looks.
“Amy is just a cat we feed from time to time.”
“We were only worried that a wild animal might have gotten to her….”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Lib Reta’s face went deathly pale as she shrieked convulsively.
“You yourselves said the Third Prince would never allow such a thing to happen!”
“That was….”
“We only meant that His Highness cares for Amy so dearly, he would never let her come to harm.”
“And indeed, he helped her.”
As if to prove their words, a cat lay nestled in the handmaids’ arms.
The Marquis’s daughter shook her head.
“A lie! What are you trying to hide from me now…!”
“Enough.”
But the Second Prince’s voice fell cold and sharp.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
His gaze turned back to the Ledger.
“What matters is that you have humiliated me before all these people.”
“Your Highness….”
The Marquis Household will have to pay the price.”
He ground out the words between clenched teeth.
Then, without giving the young lady time to defend herself, he swept away the dirt roughly and turned to leave.
The Marquis Household could no longer function as the Second Prince’s instrument.
Yurian smiled faintly.
…It was a perfect victory.
* * *
Clink—
The glasses touched lightly.
Inside was a thirty-year-old White Wine.
“Am I really allowed to drink something like this?”
“Would you prefer I take it back?”
“No! I’ll gladly have it.”
I grabbed the glass and drank quickly, lest he change his mind.
The sweet fragrance bloomed across my tongue in a state of pure bliss.
“Wow…”
I opened my eyes wide.
The crisp fruit notes unfolding on my palate were impossibly delicate.
And the cheese that accompanied it—words hardly sufficed.
It was a symphony of flavors I had never experienced before.
“I’m so happy…”
“Take your time. You deserve it,” Yurian said, sliding the platter toward me, his eyes crescent with laughter.
He looked genuinely delighted.
“His Majesty mocked me for it,” he went on.
“Did he?”
“You should have seen his face—absolutely twisted out of shape. The expression was priceless.”
Yurian narrowed his eyes at the memory, and his lips curved upward with evident pleasure.
Quite the character flaw, really.
I took another sip of wine.
Mm, it really was delicious.
“As for closing this matter, we’ve agreed that I’ll receive one of your lands as payment.”
“Ah… which one?”
“Valenta Island.”
I’d never even heard of it.
Was that a good thing?
I must have blinked blankly because he laughed.
“It was quite a favorable transaction, actually.”
“…was it?”
“Far too fine a place to waste on a fool’s hands.”
I see.
I sipped the wine again.
That single phrase explained everything.
He had orchestrated this entire scheme for that land from the beginning.
Donning the mask of a Saint, feigning a tactical retreat—and all the while securing exactly what he desired.
It was transparent as glass.
“Hehe…”
I felt pleased.
Never once working with Dai had I felt this way—why was that?
My heart drifted light as a cloud, suffused with contentment and joy.
“Vanillin.”
“Yes…?”
“Are you quite well?”
Hmm?
“I’m… I’m not entirely sure. I feel fine, yet also not fine at all.”
Silly laughter kept bubbling up.
I drank more wine.
The clean, sweet taste flooded my mouth.
“Your Highness, this is a secret,” I said, gripping the glass tightly.
My fingertips were warm.
Hehe—laughter spilled out unbidden.
“That was… really impressive just now.”
“You’re drunk,” he said flatly.
“I was only trying to protect you.”
…
…
…
I laughed, repeating back the very words he’d spoken moments before.
“Protect you? How can you protect me when you’re the one who buried me in the first place?”
“…Vanillin.”
“How can you be so wicked? You’re really something.”
“Do you really want to die?”
“No, I meant it as a compliment….”
I forced my heavy eyes open and looked up at him.
My body swayed pleasantly in the darkness.
“If I had half your cunning, I’d have dealt with Dai long ago.”
“Who is Dai?”
“Someone. A dead person.”
But such subtlety, such practiced grace—that was never my strength.
So it was only natural that Yurian, who possessed it all, seemed magnificent to me.
“Your Highness is truly remarkable… so magnificent.”
“Say it one more time and I really will lose my temper.”
Hmph.
I meant it sincerely, truly.
My wavering body tilted sideways, sliding gently against him.
Sleep crashed over me, and my limbs grew heavy and warm.
I couldn’t hold on any longer.
“Vanillin.”
Soft thud.
Just as I was about to fall, an arm caught me.
I felt large hands encircle my waist.
“Your Highness.”
So warm….
Without thinking, I buried my face in his embrace.
And I asked him.
“Will you… sleep with me again tonight?”

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