I Was Hired by the Black-Minded Prince for My Life's Ransom - Chapter 64

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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 64. To Lanslot Mansion
Lanslot Mansion was beautiful.
There was none of that peculiar desolation one finds in buildings where time seems to have stopped.
Pristine white stone columns and exquisite angel sculptures, densely wreathed by climbing roses.
Through them fell the drowsy afternoon light, casting an atmosphere so breathtakingly sacred it stole the breath.
Like… coming home.
“How beautiful…”
I moved forward as though entranced.
Was it because Descendants of Celestials once dwelt here?
Everything my eyes touched seemed wondrous and holy.
“Does it feel familiar?”
Yurian turned to look at me, his tone curious.
His hair gleamed in the sunlight.
“Ah…”
I turned my head away without thinking, my gaze slipping aside.
“Not yet. But it doesn’t feel entirely strange either.”
This beautiful mansion and he were dangerously, almost impossibly well matched.
That white uniform alone made him look like an angel.
Beneath the blooming roses, his figure blazed with such radiance it verged on excessive.
Radiance that made me unable to help but look away.
“I see. Let us walk a bit further then.”
He gazed at me intently for some time before turning back, his shoulders angled away.
A subtle chill emanated from his retreating figure, though…
‘That was… close.’
What choice did I have? This was the only way to keep from being discovered.
I’d nearly let myself think he was beautiful again just now.
I stepped back, struggling to maintain a distance of five meters, and sighed.
These days, watching him made my heart race.
My cheeks flushed, and when he drew near, I found myself holding my breath.
I thought I knew the reason.
‘It must be that. I must like him.’
That man.
That radiant demon wearing an angel’s mask.
It was the day after—the day I’d barely made it back to the Crown Prince’s Palace from the pleasure party and collapsed.
That was when I realized I didn’t see Yurian as merely ‘My Person’ anymore.
There was an emotion lodged deep within my heart.
It was desire.
An audacious desire to become more to Yurian than just ‘My Person.’
‘That can’t happen.’
I exhaled quietly.
I’d known from the start, hadn’t I?
Yurian was a crown prince, and I was a servant.
If my lineage to Lanslot was confirmed, I would become the Daughter of a Traitor besides.
No matter what, it meant a connection that couldn’t hold even if we died and were reborn.
‘I started this to survive.’
So I couldn’t allow myself to want more.
I remained at his side to keep my life, labored to avoid being cast aside.
I’d barely borne fruit from that effort—and now I was grasping for more.
The more I did, the more certain I was that the only one who’d be hurt was me.
‘He’s not someone I should like.’
I bit down hard on the inside of my lip.
No matter how gently he smiled, no matter how much he stood for me.
None of it was love.
It was only protection for ‘My Person.’
‘So… I’m ending it here.’
I drew the line in my heart again and again.
Don’t hope. Don’t want. And above all else—
never let this feeling show.
Be careful not to lose his kindness to some foolish attachment of mine.
“Sigh…”
I drew a deep breath and shifted my steps forward.
Five meters ahead, his back came into view.
Neither far nor close—a distance suspended between the two.
My heart maintained the same measure of separation.
That much, surely, would be safe enough.
That was when it happened.
Yurian abruptly stopped walking.
“Vanillin.”
“…Yes? What is it?”
“Why are you walking so far from me?”
His gaze swept slowly across the space between us.
Flustered, I touched my hair nervously.
“Oh, no…it’s not….”
Come to think of it, how much distance did I usually keep?
I couldn’t remember. The answer eluded me.
I spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
“The path is just quite wide, that’s all.”
“It wasn’t a moment ago, though.”
…….
Well, he had a point.
Caught in my own contradiction, I looked away.
He studied me slowly, intently.
His pale yellow eyes lingered longer than comfort allowed.
As if he were carefully retracing every moment of me until now.
Then he spoke, his voice low.
“Did I do something wrong?”
My heart plummeted.
“No, no—of course not!”
I waved my hands reflexively.
“You couldn’t have done anything wrong.”
“Then why are you acting so differently today?”
“That’s….”
I was caught.
I pressed my lips together tightly.
I knew he was perceptive—but how could I explain when I couldn’t even remember what natural felt like?
Keeping my eyes downcast, I offered the best excuse I could muster.
“Today’s the day I’m learning your secret, I suppose. It makes me nervous.”
“…Is that so.”
A tone that suggested he wasn’t quite convinced.
I averted my eyes further, focusing ahead instead.
I was grateful we were in the Lanslot Duke’s Residence.
Here, I could look around without it seeming strange.
‘…I can’t help it.’
If I drew any closer, if I allowed myself any more want.
I would surely be the first to break.
“I’ll trust you then,” he said.
His reply came in measured tones.
Then he extended his hand toward me.
“Come closer, then. There’s much undergrowth here—it’s easy to be hurt.”
…….
What was I to do if his kindness kept wounding me like this?
“I’m coming now.”
If he wouldn’t allow me to keep my distance.
I quickened my pace to his side.
Four meters apart.
Three meters apart.
From here on, I had to clear my mind.
Focus on the Lanslot Duke’s Residence, not on Yurian.
That was the thought occupying me as my foot came down.
A soft tap.
“…What?”
My foot caught on a sprawling tangle of vines.
“Oh… oh no?”
My body lurched forward sharply.
I was going to fall…!
The moment I squeezed my eyes shut.
Whoosh—
A firm arm wrapped around my waist.
With a naturalness that had grown familiar, Yurian caught me.
“I told you it’s easy to get hurt.”
His low voice settled near my ear.
The tone of it—as though addressing a reckless child—sent heat flaring through me in an instant.
All that distance I’d carefully maintained had collapsed in a heartbeat.
“I’m… I’m sorry….”
I felt certain he could hear my racing pulse.
I reflexively pulled away, wrenching myself free.
Shaking off his arm, one step, then another.
Only after putting space between us could I finally breathe.
“…….”
The air went cold in an instant.
Yurian looked down at his own hand, suspended in empty space, and smiled.
“Vanillin.”
That gentle smile was unchanged from always.
But his eyes—his eyes held no warmth at all.
“Now I’m certain.”
……Ah, I’d made a mistake.
My throat went dry.
‘No, it’s not that.’
I should have started by saying it wasn’t like that.
But.
“Your Highness, I….”
“You…?”
“…….”
The words wouldn’t come.
If I denied it now, then what would come next.
‘What excuse could I possibly make?’
I’d have to explain why I was pulling away.
Why each moment closer to him left me breathless.
Why my heart raced every time his hand touched mine.
Why I’d let myself fall for him.
I’d have to lay it all bare.
…I couldn’t.
The truth was, my own feelings were still tangled, still unclear.
I couldn’t think of any good reason to offer for why my manner toward him had grown so strange.
Then Yurian’s mouth curved upward.
“Ah, so it’s an excuse.”
“……!”
My pupils trembled violently.
He’d read my thoughts…. Of all times.
And of all feelings, the one most easily misunderstood.
I looked slowly up at him.
When my eyes met his pale, golden gaze—now cold as winter ice—my heart seemed to drop.
“I understand now.”
Yurian looked down at me.
The way he withdrew the hand he’d held suspended in air seemed oddly serene.
“Avoiding my gaze since just now, pulling away the moment our hands touch. If it’s not that I’ve done something wrong, then there’s only one reason, isn’t there?”
“…….”
“I make you uncomfortable, don’t I, Vanillin?”
I stood frozen, staring up at him blankly.
“No.”
A whisper escaped her lips—something between a plea and a gasp.
“That’s not what I meant….”
“I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
Without thinking, I shook my head.
I only wanted distance.
I wanted him not to hear my thoughts.
I wanted to be somewhere safe, somewhere my unguarded feelings couldn’t leak through.
It wasn’t that he was unbearable, or that I disliked him. It was never that.
Yet his pale golden eyes no longer wavered.
“From now on, there’s no need to strain yourself. You needn’t smile for someone who makes you uncomfortable.”
“Your Highness, please, let me explain—”
I reached toward him.
But as though no further opportunity would be granted, he turned away without a word.
“From this moment on, I shall keep my distance of my own accord.”

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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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