I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 13

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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 13. Everyone Wins
So it’s not like I planned this from the start.
“What did you just say?”
“Well, you see…”
I’d grown so used to Dai’s insistence on keeping things brief that the words tumbled out before I could stop them.
“I asked whether you had any intention of loving me.”
The moment I’d walked in, I’d blurted out exactly what I’d come to say.
‘Ugh… so this is why people say proper upbringing matters.’
I’d been raised without any proper upbringing at all.
A soft sigh escaped me.
Either way, the words were out—no taking them back now.
Yurian sat perched on the edge of his bed in comfortable clothes, and he stared at me with such intensity that I found myself frantically avoiding his gaze, taking in the room around us instead.
His chamber was remarkably austere.
It should have been a warm, inviting space—pale custard cream mingling with soft white in all the right proportions—yet somehow it wasn’t.
There was something desolate about it, something cold.
They say a space absorbs the spirit of its inhabitant.
His room truly mirrored its master.
The shell was warm and ornate, but inside—utterly frigid.
“Vanillin, you have a truly curious talent,” Yurian said.
He’d been studying me in silence, but finally he spoke.
“Just when I think you might be useful, you manage to surprise me like this.”
I fidgeted with my fingers.
So that was how he answered my question?
“So… you’re not refusing, then?” I asked carefully.
He hadn’t said no, so that had to count as consent, didn’t it?
At my question, Yurian’s brow furrowed—a genuine expression I’d seen only a handful of times—and he sighed.
That real face of his, the one I’d witnessed a few times before.
He rubbed his temple as if troubled, then opened his mouth with the look of someone wondering how to handle a difficult situation.
“Forgive me. I momentarily forgot that roundabout language doesn’t work on Vanillin.”
His answer dropped with finality, as if there was nothing worth reconsidering.
“I refuse. I have no such intention.”
“Is there any chance you might feel that way in the future?”
“Does it seem likely to you?”
No. It didn’t seem likely at all.
I had enough sense to read that much.
I closed my mouth and looked down, my spirits sinking.
It would have been so much easier if he’d at least been open to the possibility.
With my head bowed, my fingers still fidgeting, Yurian sighed again.
“So what’s this about, then?”
“Pardon?”
“Why ask something like that?”
Ever since his true nature had been exposed, Yurian occasionally dropped the formal speech—speaking more casually.
No longer needing to wear that saintly mask?
Or perhaps because his real personality meshed better with his true voice?
Either way, it seemed to suit him far better.
‘Wait, that’s not the important part.’
I shook my head sharply, reining in my wandering thoughts.
The question was why I was doing this.
“Because I thought that way you wouldn’t be able to abandon me.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“If you love someone, you can’t just leave them, can you?”
Isn’t that how it works?
As I spoke hesitantly, Yurian fell silent.
He seemed to have plenty to say—yet at the same time, he looked irritated at the prospect of saying it.
His expression was subtle and complex, but then he brought his hand to his eyes.
“I’m going mad.”
His large hand covered his eyes, casting shadows across his face.
Beneath it, I caught a glimpse of how exhausted he looked.
But one thing was certain.
He was thoroughly exasperated right now.
“There are so many things I’d like to say, but… let me make one thing clear.”
Yurian exhaled long and slow like a sigh, leaning back against the chair.
“I don’t believe in love.”
“Love? Or people?”
“Let me correct myself. I don’t believe in either. Not love, and not people.”
His eyes narrowed like a smile, but held no warmth.
“I’ve never believed, and I never will.”
There was a biting cynicism threaded through every word.
I stared at him blankly.
“Why?”
“Must I really confess such things to Vanillin?”
“No, that’s not what I meant….”
I murmured my response, clasping my hands together tightly.
Yurian truly did not believe.
Whether in love, or in people.
But… how was that possible?
“Have you never loved anyone?”
“No.”
“Never believed in anyone, either?”
“Never.”
I found it genuinely difficult to comprehend.
Though my life had hardly been smooth, I had loved many things.
My brother, now a faded memory,
Books I’d carefully collected from garbage heaps,
And Dai….
‘Hmm, no. Dai doesn’t count.’
Even when I tried to recall fond moments, my master simply wasn’t someone worth loving.
There was a thread of trust, however thin… but regardless.
This man who possessed everything didn’t believe in love at all.
“My heart aches for you….”
The corners of my eyes drooped downward.
“You must have suffered terribly, Your Highness.”
Emotions rippled through me like waves.
It seemed no one could be truly known by appearance alone.
What pain must he have endured to lose faith in love itself?
“I know what you’re imagining, but stop it.”
“Whimper….”
“…This is driving me insane.”
That look of his—so absurd and exasperated—now only stirred my pity.
There was nothing to be done about it.
“Then I’ll do my best to help.”
I wiped away the tears pooling in my eyes and clenched my fists.
Yurian’s brow furrowed slightly.
“What effort could possibly achieve that?”
“I’ll help you rediscover your faith in love!”
After all, to survive Yurian, I needed to earn his love.
But this man didn’t believe in love.
So then.
“Until the day you come to love me, Your Highness, I will persevere…!”
Wasn’t this a mutually beneficial arrangement?
Yurian would recover that beautiful emotion of love, and I would gain his love and survive.
A win for both sides.
Good for Vanillin, good for Yurian.
“Vanillin….”
The man’s gentle, tender gaze trembled slightly.
He must have been deeply moved.
Yurian smiled sweetly, then—click-click—ground his teeth together.
“Consider yourself fortunate that I cannot kill you.”
“…Yes, I’ll remember that.”
Wasn’t that what he meant…?
Never mind.
But one thing was clear.
‘So if I’m not loved, I’ll be killed?’
I met the murderous intent rippling behind those warm eyes, and my resolve only hardened.
I would teach His Highness what love was, he would come to love me, and everyone gets their happy ending.
…But how do I teach him about love?
“Vanillin.”
Tap-tap.
Yurian shook his head as though giving up and drummed his fingers against the desk.
As if to say: we’re done with this subject.
“That’s enough of that. Come here, if you would. I’ve done some investigating into your brother.”
“…Oh!”
Already?
The moment my brother was mentioned, everything else vanished from my mind.
My eyes flew wide and I hurried toward him in quick, eager steps.
“Did you find something?”
“It’s possible. Or it isn’t.”
Rustle—
Yurian flipped through the papers that had been resting on the side table as he spoke.
The thick sheaf of documents he showed me was a Case Record Book.
“You said your brother died fifteen years ago, didn’t you?”
“Yes… that’s right.”
I nodded numbly and accepted the papers he held out to me.
They contained a complete record of all incidents that had occurred fifteen years prior—in Imperial Year 430.
“I didn’t have the patience to sort through them one by one. I’m hoping you’ll search through them yourself.”
“Ah…”
I buried my nose in the stack of papers as though enchanted.
The volume was immense, yet because of that, hope bloomed within me.
If there was this much, there might be something about my brother.
“And if… if it’s not here, what then?”
“Then I’ll give you the Unauthorized Case Record Book, so don’t worry.”
So this wasn’t the end.
Even if nothing turned up here, I could press forward without despair.
“How is this even…”
How is this possible?
My voice caught in my throat.
I opened and closed my mouth several times before falling silent.
Something felt strange.
In less than three days of knowing him, he had brought me more information than Dai had in fifteen years.
And it was practical, essential information at that.
“Take it with you and look through it.”
“Thank you…”
The words wouldn’t come.
My throat tightened in that peculiar way, so I bit the inside of my cheek urgently.
I couldn’t cry.
There was no reason to cry over something this small.
Rustle-rustle—
With each page I turned, new information emerged.
Names, ages, places of origin.
They were strangers, yet my hands trembled oddly.
I thought I had forgotten something so long ago, that I’d moved on from it.
Mounting cases, evidence that barely came together.
I thought it had all grown dim by now…
“Thank you… thank you so much…”
That’s when I understood.
I had never given up.
“I’ll work hard.”
I would work hard at whatever tasks Yurian gave me, and at teaching him what love truly meant.
With his help, I felt certain I could uncover the secrets wound around my brother’s death.
“May I take my leave now?”
“By all means. That’s precisely why I summoned you.”
“Thank you….”
I needed to get back quickly and examine those documents.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
I was just reaching for the door handle when it happened.
“Oh my! Opening the door for me—what a thoughtful maid you are.”
“…Excuse me?”
A half-dressed woman slipped through the gap in the open doorway.
She entered the room trailing the heavy scent of perfume and offered Yurian a demure greeting.
“Good evening, Your Highness. I’ve come to keep you company for the night.”

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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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