I Was Hired by the Black-Minded Prince for My Life's Ransom - Chapter 22

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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 22. The Langslot Ducal Family?
“Wow….”
I sank into the sofa and spread the documents across my lap.
They smelled of paper.
Fine ink too.
‘If I keep at it today, I should be able to finish the whole stack.’
I’d been reading them in fragments whenever I had spare time, so there wasn’t much left now.
‘Please let it show up today….’
My brother’s trace seemed to slip through my fingers just as I was about to grasp it.
If it’s not here, I’ll have to request the unauthorized incident records and go through those.
…But what if it’s not there either.
Rustle—
I swallowed my worry and examined the pages one by one.
A noblewoman poisoned.
A peasant uprising in the Southern Territory.
High society scandal.
Smuggling.
A string of serial killings targeting commoners….
Not this, not that either.
“Sigh.”
The breath left me on its own.
It’s all just unrelated cases….
There were countless incidents from that time, yet not a single clue about my brother.
“Ugh.”
I rubbed my eyes.
I’d been staring at cramped handwriting for four hours now.
Fatigue blurred my vision.
‘Is it really not here.’
I was just wondering whether to give up when it happened.
“…Huh?”
My fingers stopped abruptly.
There, embedded among the rest, was a single document stamped with an unfamiliar crimson seal.
“State Secret…?”
Surely I was seeing things wrong.
I rubbed my eyes again.
But the characters didn’t change.
The document in my hands was genuinely a State Secret file.
“Good heavens.”
I never expected a State Secret to be mixed in with all the incident records from Imperial Year 430.
Aren’t things like this usually locked away somewhere deep underground…?
I glanced around the room on a whim.
‘…True to form. Our Highness’s power is fearsome.’
A strange sense of gratitude washed over me, and I sat up straighter.
Because it was classified, curiosity suddenly seized me—unlike the other materials I’d skimmed by keywords, I decided to read this one carefully.
Flip—
The page turned.
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[STATE SECRET DOCUMENT]
Access Classification: Level 1 Classified
Imperial Year 430 Treason Incident Report
Incident Title: Langslot Ducal Family Treason Incident
Investigating Agency: Imperial Direct Investigation Unit
Storage Classification: Level 1 Classified
<Incident Summary>
The Langslot Ducal Family cultivated private forces and attempted to overthrow imperial authority.
Furthermore, they spread vicious rumors claiming the existence of “demons wearing human masks” within the imperial household, thereby tarnishing the imperial dignity.
By imperial decree, the Langslot Ducal Family was designated for Family Extermination, which was carried out accordingly.
<Disposition Details>
– All Langslot bloodline members executed
– Direct, collateral, and affinal relatives tracked down and purged
– Confiscation of all related assets and territories
– Partial sealing of family records

Confirmed the existence of a son and daughter secretly raised in hiding by the Langslot Ducal Family.
Both targets eliminated upon completion of tracking.
(Elimination site: Clark Street)
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For some reason, something felt strange.
“…Clark Street?”
A flutter in my chest, as if my heart had skipped.
Dai’s office had been on Clark Street.
And it was also the last place I’d seen my brother alive.
“Vanillin, put this on. You can’t wear those clothes anymore.”
It had been raining that day.
He dressed the corpse of a girl abandoned in the slums in my clothes, and put hers on me.
Then he hid me among towering mountains of garbage.
“Let’s play hide-and-seek. Count to a hundred, then come find me, all right?”
Why had he asked me to count to a hundred?
He knew I could only count to ten.
“…Stupid brother.”
I was too young to understand that he was making himself the bait.
He took the corpse on his back, lured the knights away, and was eventually found cold and still.
……
Don’t dwell on this.
I shook my head quickly.
It was simply a coincidence—siblings and a death on Clark Street overlapping.
‘Me, a child of a noble house? A duke’s child? That’s ridiculous.’
Yes, what an absurd notion that was.
I’d lived only with my brother all my life.
I’d never even seen my mother or father.
So this must be nothing but chance.
And yet my heart kept fluttering.
I bit my lip hard and rifled through the remaining documents again.
Searching for any similar incident that might exist.
……
But no matter how thoroughly I searched, there was nothing.
This was the only incident that contained elements overlapping with my own experience.
* * *
‘…First, I should ask for the unauthorized incident records.’
They might contain clues to unraveling my brother’s death.
And.
‘I’ll just look into the Langslot Ducal Family a little.’
Just slightly.
It was bound to be nothing anyway—I only wanted to settle the nagging questions.
Thinking this way, I gripped the edge of the blanket tightly.
In that moment.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Soft.
One side of the bed dipped slightly beneath added weight.
It was Yurian.
His hair was still damp at the ends, as if he’d just finished bathing.
A faint scent of water and soap drifted toward me.
“Ah…”
Now that I think about it, I’d naturally come to his bed again without even thinking.
I really have gotten used to this…
Is this all right?
I quickly reached out my hand.
“Give me the towel.”
He handed it over without a word and settled onto the bed beside me.
I naturally positioned myself behind him and began drying his hair with gentle, tapping motions.
Doing this several times over, it had become routine.
Soft strands of hair slipping through the spaces between her fingers.
The sensation of well-textured hair drying slowly felt oddly pleasant.
“So.”
“Yes?”
“What were you thinking about?”
…Oh.
I clamped my mouth shut, eyes darting away.
‘The Langslot Ducal Family….’
Could I possibly be descended from that traitorous house? Should I tell this man about it?
No. Absolutely not.
He’d kill me if he got the chance—I had no doubt about that.
If he found out I might be descended from a Treason Incident family, he might really have me purged.
I forced my face into a carefree smile.
“I was wondering if I could see the records about the Treason Incident.”
“Hmm.”
Yurian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Is there nothing else on your mind?”
“Eh? No?”
“The Langslot Ducal Family, perhaps.”
“…Gulp!”
My breath caught in my throat—I hiccupped.
Again, he’d read my thoughts again…!
Ugh. Really. There’s nothing I can do about it.
I let out a long sigh.
“It’s nothing serious. I was just curious what they did….”
“I see. Come to think of it, the Langslot Ducal Family was purged four hundred and thirty years ago.”
Yurian nodded as if understanding.
Then, surprisingly, he didn’t mock me—he simply opened his mouth with measured calm.
“The Langslot Ducal Family was a Founding Merit Family.”
“A Founding Merit Family….”
“And they were descendants of a Celestial.”
Celestial.
I blinked.
It was a familiar word—one I’d thought I would never hear again.
“The same Celestial who gave the Celestial’s Vessel?”
“Yes, you remember that.”
Yurian’s smile deepened as the memory seemed to surface.
…Oh no.
“I-I’m sorry….”
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
When I glanced away, Yurian chuckled softly and continued his explanation.
“To be precise, the first Langslot Duke was a Celestial.”
“A Celestial?”
“He married a human as a blessing for the founding of the empire, and left descendants, or so the tale goes.”
Ah.
I finished drying his hair while listening as if to an old fairy tale.
By now, nearly all the moisture had evaporated.
Then.
Yurian suddenly picked up a single strand of my hair between his fingertips.
“What?”
A pink strand of hair loosely wound between his fingers.
He looked up at me with a gentle smile.
“Now that I think about it.”
His voice was drowsy, yet tender.
“The Langslot Ducal Family was known for their pink hair.”
…….
Huh.
A chill ran down my spine.
W-w-wait, is he testing me right now…?
Surely you don’t actually suspect me?
A purge.
Treason.
Beheading.
Execution….
Terrifying words tumbled through my mind like an avalanche.
“I—I take it all back…!”
“Haha!”
The moment I jerked my hand away, Yurian burst into laughter.
Those dimples that deepened when he smiled, that wide, easy grin.
…Never mind that his face was devastatingly handsome no matter when I looked at it.
Only then did I realize I’d been played, and my lips pouted despite myself.
“Please don’t tease me like that….”
“I’ll do my best.”
Yurian shrugged and tapped the space beside him on the bed with a casual hand.
An invitation to come closer.
I padded over and burrowed under the covers, and he draped the blanket over me with practiced ease.
Then, almost in passing, he spoke.
“I’m thinking we might travel tomorrow.”
“…Travel?”
“Yes, travel.”
Yurian closed his eyes slowly, smiling.
“Somewhere Vanillin would absolutely love.”

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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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