I Was Hired by the Black-Minded Prince for My Life's Ransom - Chapter 29

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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 29. My clothes…
The soft voice, the perfectly composed expression, the neat appearance that made it impossible to believe she’d been in the secret warehouse just moments before.
But her eyes weren’t smiling at all.
Her gaze moved slowly, as if she were taking our measure.
“What did you think of Rueern?”
“Fascinating, I must say.”
Yurian smiled languidly.
“Especially all the alleyways scattered throughout.”
In that instant, Olivia’s eyes flickered.
She approached us holding the beverage glass the merchant had given her.
“Alleyways, you say?”
“Yes.”
Yurian answered without a flicker of concern crossing his face.
“I thought they were closed off, but I found several still in use.”
Gulp.
I swallowed hard without meaning to.
‘Um, Your Highness? Is it alright to mention that?’
But Yurian remained unruffled.
“I have no intention of informing the marquis.”
“…Why not?”
“Well, you see.”
Yurian smiled softly.
“Someone might find themselves in an awkward position, wouldn’t you agree?”
……
Olivia fell silent.
She could have asked who would be in an awkward position, what he meant—but she didn’t.
She simply stood there with the wine glass in her hand, her eyes wavering slowly.
Ugh.
Without thinking, I hugged myself and shivered.
Even though neither of them said a word, the air felt taut, stretched to the breaking point.
It was clear that Olivia was taking our measure.
Gauging how much we had seen.
And how much we had pieced together.
I could barely breathe properly, my eyes darting nervously about.
Yurian, by contrast, remained unhurried.
“You needn’t worry.”
He smiled gently.
“I myself have little taste for unnecessary trouble.”
“…Is that so.”
“In particular.”
Yurian’s pale amber eyes curved slowly.
The elegant arc of his smile bent as if with genuine pleasure.
“Shouldn’t one show understanding toward those who have circumstances they wish to keep hidden?”
On the surface, he was nothing short of a saint.
Olivia’s fingertips trembled ever so slightly.
It was only an instant, but I saw it clearly.
In her eyes, confusion receded and relief rose up.
That’s when I understood.
‘She wasn’t taking our measure after all.’
She was checking something else.
Whether we were on the marquis’s side or not.
I stared at her blankly.
Olivia studied Yurian as if weighing something, then slowly turned her gaze toward me.
……
Had her eyes grown softer, or was that just my imagination?
She examined me carefully from head to foot.
The light blue one-piece dress I’d put on for the first time today, the ribbon I’d chosen in such excitement, and my face, which hadn’t managed a shred of composure since earlier.
‘…Why is she looking at me like that.’
I hunched my shoulders without meaning to.
Then Olivia took a step closer.
“You’re Vanillin, then?”
“Ah, yes! Hello, Miss Olivia.”
“I hear our servant owed you a debt of gratitude.”
“Oh….”
I closed my mouth and nodded carefully.
The gaze directed at me was soft and warm.
The wariness that had sharpened like a blade while speaking with Yurian seemed to soften a little.
She lowered her eyes as if choosing her words.
“He came to me when he had given up everything.”
Her voice was low and quiet.
“If it weren’t for you, that boy would have died there.”
…….
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
I felt suddenly embarrassed and fidgeted with my fingers.
“It wasn’t really anything remarkable….”
It was true.
All I had done was damage the lock on a cell gate a little—that was all.
Everything else had been the servant’s own doing.
Miss Olivia watched me quietly.
Her composed eyes, unlike when we first met, were clear and unclouded.
She slowly rolled the beverage glass she held in one hand.
The pale pink liquid swirled inside the glass.
“Well.”
Miss Olivia laughed softly.
“But it became a turning point for me.”
A turning point?
I lifted my head at the question.
Whoosh—
Someone brushed past Miss Olivia’s shoulder.
One of the merchants bustling about preparing for the festival.
“Oh.”
Miss Olivia’s body swayed.
And then.
“……?!”
Splash.
The pale pink beverage poured down over my skirt.
“Ah…?”
No… surely not?
I stared down with a dazed expression.
The sticky liquid streamed down over my light blue one-piece dress.
A wave of sweet fruit fragrance rose up.
“My goodness.”
The Brennon family’s young mistress approached with a startled expression.
“I was careless. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no, it’s all right…!”
I hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief.
But it was already too late.
Pink stains were spreading widely across the fabric.
‘My dress….’
I was wearing it for the first time today….
For a moment, tears nearly spilled from my eyes.
A color like this doesn’t come out easily.
Miss Olivia watched me like that for a moment, then quietly extended her hand.
“Wait just a moment.”
Her fingers naturally caught my sleeve.
Leaning in very close under the pretense of examining the stain, she whispered low.
“Brennon is a fake.”
“……!”
Just now…?
I flinched and my eyes flew wide open.
But the baron’s daughter was already smiling softly as if nothing had happened.
“The stain might be deep enough not to wash out easily. What should I do?”
Then,
Rustle.
A folded piece of paper slid into my palm.
“Shh, don’t let anyone notice.”
“…!”
It was so natural that even I didn’t catch it at first.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and stepped away.
“I’m sorry—would it be all right if I sent you a new dress?”
“Oh, no. It’s fine, truly.”
“Still, I’m troubled by it.”
She maintained the perfect face of a noble lady to the very end.
The cool expression she’d worn while warning me moments before seemed like an illusion—so graceful, so proper, so dignified.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
The baron’s daughter bowed lightly.
Then she vanished into the crowd.
“….”
What on earth had just happened?
I stood stupefied, gripping the folded note in my hand.
My heart pounded.
Yurian chuckled softly beside me.
“You seem quite popular today.”
“I, um, Your Highness….”
“What is it?”
I whipped my head around, checking the faces of those nearby.
Fortunately, no one was paying us any attention.
It helped that we were in the plaza just before the festival.
The chaos and noise all around us proved useful now.
“This.”
I quickly showed him the note.
He raised his eyebrow with evident interest.
When I unfolded the paper, there was only a short line written on it.

And the handwriting looked rushed, scrawled hastily.
“A location, it seems.”
“But why would she give me something like this…?”
“I couldn’t say.”
Yurian answered matter-of-factly.
“Did she say anything else?”
“Anything else would be…”
“That the current baron is a fraud, for instance.”
“…!”
I started, looking up at him sharply.
“How, how did you know that?”
“At that distance, I can read lips well enough. It’s a royal basic skill.”
Yurian answered without a shred of hesitation.
He spoke as though remarking on how pleasant the weather was.
‘…He really is the most terrifying person I know.’
He was someone I must never make an enemy of.
‘In any case.’
I clenched the note tightly in my fist.
“A fraud? What could that mean?”
“It might be simpler than you think.”
Yurian began walking at an unhurried pace.
I scrambled after him, staying close.
“He could have usurped the family name.”
“Or?”
“Or the true head of the household is someone else entirely.”
A chill raced down my spine.
That’s… well, it’s just a guess.
“You’re saying he usurped the title? The barony?”
“It’s merely an example, of course. It could be something else entirely.”
But I had a feeling his words rang true.
I swallowed hard without meaning to.
“In any case, the fact that he’d broach such a dangerous matter to royalty at all speaks to how desperate he must be.”
“Desperate…”
“It means he needs the backing of power, surely.”
I nodded in agreement.
Come to think of it, that was precisely it.
Olivia had been testing us all along.
Whether we stood with the baron or against him,
Whether we were trustworthy or not.
Only after confirming everything did she proceed with utmost discretion.
“So then…”
I asked quietly.
“Will you go there?”
“Of course.”
Yurian answered, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“But first, we should change clothes. If we wander about like this, Vanillin will keep giving me that mournful look.”
Right…true.
How could I forget.
I picked absently at the stained hem of my skirt.
Yurian watched me and laughed softly.
“We’ll visit the mailbox after dark.”

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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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