I Was Hired by the Black-Minded Prince for My Life's Ransom - Chapter 5

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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 5. Vanillin, Come Here
I forgot the situation entirely—a chill ran down my spine.
‘That smile….’
Even as Mother hurled her curses directly at him, he remained utterly unmoved.
His mouth curved upward in that same soft arc, his gaze crystalline and unwavering.
…That was what truly terrified me.
He was human, yet he didn’t feel human.
‘Come to think of it, he was exactly the same when the Sacred Artifact of Cheonin nearly shattered.’
In the moment when everyone else held their breath, he alone remained serene.
As if he had known all along that something like this would happen.
“…Your Highness has no understanding of how the world works. Why, exactly, do you refuse to marry my daughter?”
“There are many eyes watching. …Why do you insist on causing such trouble?”
“…Answer me!”
Bang!
Desmond stamped his foot down hard.
Gasp!
That… that startled me.
My train of thought shattered in an instant.
In mere seconds, the situation had careened toward the brink of catastrophe.
“Playing virtuous, pretending to be noble….”
Desmond, his eyes bloodshot, thrust his arm out roughly and shoved the Third Prince.
“It’s revolting. Wipe that smile off your face.”
Crash!
The wine glass in the Third Prince’s hand flew through the air and shattered against the floor.
His slurred speech and the presumption of his gesture made it clear that he had passed beyond the point of reason.
The Third Prince sighed and gestured to the knights.
“Please escort the Marquis outside. He appears to be quite intoxicated.”
His voice was quiet, yet the knights moved the moment he finished speaking.
There was no hesitation, no question.
It was as though they had been waiting for nothing but this moment.
“People like Your Highness I know well. Gentle in front, plotting all manner of schemes behind closed doors—a contemptible lot!”
Desmond’s thrashing proved useless.
They all understood.
Who held the center of this gathering.
“Enough of this! What is this disgraceful conduct at the Foundation Celebration Banquet!”
“Let me go! All of you are deceived! Deceived by that ugly smile!”
“No further disturbance will be tolerated! Away!”
Clang!
The knights hauled Desmond away with considerable force.
Fortunately, they took him in the opposite direction from where I stood.
Of course, Dai was no exception.
“You should leave as well.”
“What? No, wait! I’m—!”
“Yes, let’s step outside and discuss this.”
His flailing arms proved futile.
Dai too was dragged away in Desmond’s wake.
“I will expose everything—for the Empire!”
The Marquis bellowed to the bitter end, but no one heeded his words.
And then—boom!
The heavy door swung shut with a resounding thud.
Every noble in the hall watched the Third Prince intently, gauging his mood.
“Your Highness….”
“Are you unwell?”
“Dear me.”
The Third Prince smiled as though troubled.
“I’d like to say I’m fine, but….”
He lowered his gaze, a melancholy settling over his features.
“It seems fortune has abandoned me today.”
As he smoothed his sleeve, all eyes naturally followed the gesture.
Looking closely, a vivid crimson stain spread across his pristine Ceremonial Robe.
It was the trace of a wine glass that the Marquis Desmond had flung moments before.
“This madman…!”
“Your Highness, your clothes…!”
“I shall summon an attendant at once.”
What an ungracious wretch, to the very end…!
The nobles’ faces were etched with open hostility.
The Third Prince gazed down at his sleeve for a moment.
Then he shook his head.
“It’s nothing.”
He forced a smile, but his long lashes drooped with a sorrowful grace.
“I’ll step away for a moment and return. Please, continue to enjoy yourselves.”
With a respectful but firm bow.
And so the Third Prince left the Banquet Hall as well.
Only then did I exhale the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“Phew….”
The royal household truly was something else.
It wasn’t simply beautiful, whatever one might think.
The string of incidents—each one trailing into the next without ever quite breaking—held my gaze captive.
My strength drained away and I collapsed into a chair.
And yet… there was something I’d forgotten.
‘Oh, that’s right—Dai!’
He’d been thrown out, after all.
Only then did reality dawn on me.
Oh no… what do I do.
‘I need to head to the meeting place…?’
Ugh.
I should have hurried after him sooner.
I sighed and quickened my pace into a trot.
* * *
‘Why is the path so impossible to find…!’
I’d lost my way countless times already.
“Sniffle….”
I swallowed back tears.
The Abandoned Royal Garden.
It lay within the Fifth Separated Palace, which had been struck by a terrible curse and abandoned after everyone there had perished.
Since no one would ever willingly set foot in such a place, it was indeed an excellent location for thieves to rendezvous.
‘Dai… he’ll come, won’t he?’
He should have to.
I let out a long, heavy sigh.
It had been a truly long day.
I’d attended an interview as a palace maid, stolen a worthless Sacred Contract.
I’d obtained the Sacred Artifact of Cheonin, and witnessed all manner of chaos in the Banquet Hall….
‘And I saw the Third Prince himself.’
A man both strikingly beautiful and terrifyingly fearsome.
Shiver.
The mere thought sent chills down my spine.
‘I’ll probably never see him again.’
A summer night’s dream, all of it contained within a single day.
I would likely never cross paths with the Third Prince again in all my remaining years.
I had no way of knowing when—or if—I’d ever see the world beyond these walls again.
Sigh.
I dragged my feet forward.
Dai was a complicated presence to me.
He was my benefactor, the one who had taken me in after my brother—my only family—died and left me alone; but he was also a cruel master who beat me whenever he felt like it and drove me to earn money with harsh demands.
In exchange for investigating my brother’s death, I wasn’t allowed to venture beyond these walls—only to work.
It had begun when I was very young, just five years old.
Crackle.
A small sound cut through my thoughts.
Looking around, I found myself at the entrance to the Fifth Separated Palace.
Faintly, I sensed a presence nearby.
It must be Dai.
I quickened my pace.
But as I drew closer, I caught the sound of voices.
‘Is he with the Duke?’
I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they were definitely men’s voices.
Rustle, rustle.
I hurried forward.
“…forgive me for being so perceptive….”
“…please, spare me…!”
The muffled words I couldn’t hear before began growing steadily clearer.
The content was a bit odd, though….
‘What is this…?’
I kept moving forward.
And finally, when I cautiously rounded the corner.
“Atone for your sins through death.”
That familiar voice—saccharine in its gentleness—and
Slash!
I locked eyes with the Third Prince, his blade carving through Desmond’s chest.
“Ah…?”
Wait. No, hold on.
The Third Prince?
I went rigid, my eyes darting about.
Desmond, bearing a wound, blood streaming from his chest—
and further back, Dai, collapsed in the same way.
My thoughts froze.
‘This can’t be… surely not…?’
I blinked hard, rubbing my eyes.
But the sight before me didn’t change.
Two men lying fallen…
and the Third Prince, watching me with that same lingering gaze.
‘The Third Prince…?!’
Yes. It was the Third Prince.
The one who brushed off insults with wisdom,
who laughed it off when wine was spilled on his robes—
the Empire’s beloved saint, loved by all.
He smiled, his eyes curving beautifully.
“Vanillin?”
At that voice, my wits snapped back.
‘I’m finished…!’
A vulgar sound escaped unbidden.
I glanced at the man’s hand through eyes welling with tears.
The blade, catching moonlight, gleamed sharply—blood thick upon it.
“So it is Vanillin.”
His voice, as always, was soft and warm and gentle.
…But why did I feel such a chill in the air around me?
Sniffle.
Swallowing my tears, I spoke as harmlessly as I could.
“If I told you I was blind and deaf, would you believe me…?”
Sniff, sniff.
With my nose reddened in supplication, the prince laughed, his eyes closing.
“Of course.”
“You… truly mean that…?”
“Do you think I do?”
No…..
Sniffle.
I shook my head, my voice trembling.
‘I’m ruined….’
No matter how I looked at it, this was far beyond the scale of what I should have witnessed.
My gaze shifted again to the man sprawled on the ground.
“The Duke Desmond….”
And Dai…!
What manner of abuse must I endure because of those cursed wretches.
Trembling as I was, a voice descended gently.
“How strange. I was told you couldn’t see or hear anything?”
You know exactly who I am, don’t you?
The Third Prince glanced at Desmond, who was bleeding from his chest, then locked eyes with me.
Then he—
Slash.
With a serene expression, he flicked the blood from his blade.
“Vanillin.”
A smile bloomed like flowers reaching full bloom.
“Come here.”
It was that same smile—the one of a predator sighting its prey.

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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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