I Was Hired by the Black-Minded Prince for My Life's Ransom - Chapter 42

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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 42. If you ask Yurian to give you to me, will he hand you over obediently?
Cough, cough.
The man covered his mouth with the back of his hand and coughed softly.
I took a step back and pressed my lips firmly shut.
He looked sickly at first glance.
White hair as pristine as fallen snow.
Skin pale enough to seem bloodless, and thin Silver-Rimmed Glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.
Despite appearing to be not much older than me, he leaned on a Cane in one hand.
“Ah… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
When I tensed and drew myself inward, the man slowly raised both hands to show they were empty.
“I’m not a suspicious person. It’s just that I smelled food I could actually eat for the first time in ages, and I came as if enchanted….”
……
“…Well, you clearly don’t believe me.”
Noticing my expression, he arched an eyebrow as if troubled.
He sighed and leaned against the bookcase as though exhausted.
“Right, in cases like this, it’s proper to state one’s identity first.”
He spoke.
“I am Nike Otzwald.”
Then he looked down at me slowly and smiled faintly.
“Though I’m nothing much to speak of, they call me the First Prince of the Empire.”
* * *
After that, well… I suppose there’s no need to explain what happened.
‘I’m finished.’
“W-would you like some cookies…?”
“Ah, so that’s the smell. Thank you.”
Crunch.
I surrendered a good portion of my carefully hoarded Chocolate Chip Cookies, prepared water just in case his throat closed up.
After that, I knelt before him with my mouth clamped shut.
Honestly, it felt like sitting on a bed of nails….
‘The First Prince… it must be him. The one who’s been confined to his chambers because he’s ill.’
The sole survivor of the 5th Imperial Palace, as people said.
“Hih….”
“What’s wrong?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Fool.
I really am a fool.
When I squeezed my eyes shut, tears leaked out.
To fail to recognize a member of the royal family standing right before me.
And on top of that, here I was spouting things like “Who are you?” — and I was a handmaiden of the Imperial Court!
“Please forgive my failure to greet you properly from the start….”
I prostrated myself flat.
Disrespect to the Royal Family was a capital crime.
Even distant collateral relatives with barely half a drop of royal blood raised hell over not being recognized, so how much more so for a prince?
…My head would roll, and I’d deserve it.
Though I’d really rather not lose my head…!
“Hm?”
The First Prince blinked.
Then, as if understanding, he nodded slightly.
“It’s all right, these things happen.”
……
“I didn’t introduce myself first, after all.”
His voice was calm and matter-of-fact, without a trace of anger.
Only a subtle bitterness lingered beneath it.
“If I were to take offense at something like this, I’d spend all my time angry with the entire Imperial Court.”
The First Prince gave a dry laugh, ha ha.
Of course, I didn’t make the stupid mistake of laughing along.
…The nails beneath me only dug in deeper.
Yet he seemed genuinely unconcerned, waving his hand dismissively before lifting his Cane lightly.
“More importantly, I’d like to sit down. My legs aren’t good.”
“…Oh!”
I jerked upright.
Then I quickly fetched a chair from nearby and set it behind him.
“Would you perhaps need a blanket as well?”
“This is enough. Thank you.”
Nike lowered himself into the chair with deliberate care.
Even that movement seemed labored, each gesture slow and measured.
When I steadied him from the side, the man smiled as though pleased.
“What’s your name, then?”
“Vanillin. I’m the personal attendant to His Highness Yurian.”
“Yurian’s?”
For the first time, something shifted in his gaze.
His eyebrows twitched faintly.
Those blue eyes swept over me slowly, deliberately.
Under that scrutiny, I found myself drawing inward without quite knowing why.
“…I see. So that’s how it is.”
Cough, cough!
He’d been nodding when the fit seized him again.
Cold sweat beaded across his ashen face.
“Ugh.”
He was clearly unwell—gravely so.
What on earth had happened at the 5th Imperial Palace?
When I offered him a handkerchief, Nike covered his mouth with it.
“You’re a kind child. Thank you.”
Cough, cough!
The coughing continued unabated.
I watched him in silence, my lips pressed together.
Even now, he bore no resemblance to Yurian whatsoever.
Where Yurian possessed an easy, relaxed nature, Nike emanated a weary heaviness that clung to him like shadow.
And yet, oddly, it suited him perfectly.
“Haah….”
He exhaled slowly, leaning back against the chair.
“Are you quite all right?”
“I’m fine. I’m getting better.”
From here on, there’s nothing but improvement ahead.
He spoke with that conviction, shaking his head gently.
“Shall we talk of something else?”
The tone made clear he wished to abandon this subject entirely.
…True enough—lingering on illness would be poor manners.
I nodded in agreement.
His eyes drifted to the book I had open.
“Imperial History. You were reading it.”
“Yes… that’s right.”
“The Demon War.”
I’d happened to open to an illustrated page.
It depicted Demons twisted in agony, having drunk the blood of Celestial Beings—rendered with stark, unsettling realism.
Nike let out a soft laugh at the sight.
“Do you know? The man who slew the most Demons was the very first Duke Lancelot.”
“…Was he?”
“Look here.”
Nike pointed lightly at the illustration with one finger.
Beneath it stood a Celestial Being clad in heavy plate armor.
Wings spread wide, the figure stood surrounded by Demons on all sides.
He was drawn noticeably larger than the other Celestial Beings around him.
“Lancelot was always exceptional. Among his own kind, he possessed overwhelming strength, and to the Demons he was nothing short of their natural predator.”
He spoke quietly, with a faint smile.
“His was the name the Demons feared most.”
Their natural predator….
I gazed down at the illustration in silence.
A stern expression and lips pressed in a resolute line.
Not a single feature seemed to echo anything of my own face.
“But in the end, they were destroyed for treason, weren’t they?”
“Yes, a tragic affair.”
“So what happens now?”
I raised my gaze to him, my brows drawn together.
“If Demons appear in the Human World again.”
“…I couldn’t say.”
The man’s eyes narrowed.
“The Empire would fall beneath the heel of Demons.”
The answer came without the slightest hesitation.
Gulp.
I swallowed, though there was no need.
Something about it frightened me.
What would happen if such a thing truly came to pass?
Nike Otzwald seemed to notice the weight settling over the room, for he let out a soft laugh.
“Well, no need to worry—such a thing won’t happen. The Demons all perished in the Demon War.”
“…All of them?”
“Every last one.”
Then it was fortunate.
Yet something whispered otherwise—a strange certainty that Demons still lingered somewhere within the Empire.
Not rational judgment, but instinct.
A faint warning seemed to echo from some recess of my mind.
Bong—bong—
The bell chimed the hour right on cue.
It was time to prepare for lunch.
“…I should be going, I think.”
“Ah, has it grown so late already?”
Nike Otzwald nodded.
I returned the book to the shelf and brushed the dust from my skirts.
“Shall I summon an attendant for you?”
“Not necessary. I intend to remain a while longer.”
Well, if that was the case.
“Thank you for your time, Your Highness.”
I bowed with proper courtesy, then turned to leave.
One step, then another.
I had gone but a few paces when—
“Oh.”
A soft voice reached me from behind.
“May I ask you something?”
I stopped and turned back.
Nike Otzwald still sat by the window, drowsing in the sunlight.
The rays pouring through the glass scattered across his white hair.
Beautiful as an angel ascending toward heaven.
His hand rested upon his Cane as he regarded me.
“If Yurian asked me for you.”
His smile was gentle, almost docile.
The question, by contrast, was anything but.
Perhaps it was the backlighting.
Deep shadows draped across his face, obscuring his expression entirely.
“…I’m sorry?”
“Would you go to him willingly? Or would you resist?”
He smiled as he asked.
“What do you think?”

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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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