I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 21

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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 21. Would you like to take a look inside my head?
Yawwwn.
I opened my mouth slowly and yawned.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d just said.
It was simply too comfortable in this moment.
Warm, soft, drowsy….
My whole body had turned to jelly, not a shred of tension left in me.
“…….”
Yurian gazed down at me in silence.
A ticklish quiet descended.
My heart beat slow and steady, thump-thump.
Whether from the wine, sleepiness, or something else….
“What is it you want, then?”
His low voice came rough and quiet against my ear.
What do I want?
“Um, well….”
I wiggled my fingers and nuzzled my face a little deeper into his embrace.
If you asked me what I wanted, well, naturally—
“This feels really good.”
A soft smile.
My lips curled up of their own accord.
Leaning against his firm, warm chest, I mumbled on.
“The bedding here is incredibly plush, you see.”
As I brushed my fingertips across it, I could feel the texture of the quilts I’d been using these past few days.
Fluffy and soft, and they even seemed to smell of sunshine.
“The blankets are so warm… and the pillow is wonderfully cozy.”
The way my body sank into it was pure art.
For the first time, I woke up each morning feeling happy.
“Sunlight streams in so nicely in the morning, and no one wakes you even if you sleep late.”
Ah, even thinking about it again, it’s truly lovely.
I stretched my eyes into crescents.
Not having to hear complaints the moment you open them.
Not having to tread so carefully you can’t breathe.
I’d never realized how precious such things were.
I reached out and gently grasped his collar.
“And most of all….”
“There’s more?”
“It’s nice having you here beside me.”
As I smiled and spoke, Yurian’s whole body went rigid.
Ah, was that too embarrassing to say…?
But my wine-soaked mind couldn’t hold onto shame for long.
I rubbed my cheek lightly against his chest and murmured.
“It’s… reassuring.”
Since my brother died, this was the first time I’d slept beside another person.
My chest fluttered strangely.
It wasn’t sadness, exactly… how should I put it?
Maybe it was just that warm memories came back to me, and that felt good.
I burrowed deeper into his arms, little by little.
“Anyway, that’s why it’s nice. Really nice.”
“I see.”
A low chuckle rumbled from above my head.
“Your assessment is more generous than I expected.”
He sounded like he was teasing, but there was something tender in it.
Soon I felt my body lift.
“Ah!”
“Hush. Hold still.”
Yurian swept me up into his arms and headed toward the bedroom.
Oh… I could walk on my own.
But not wanting to leave this warmth behind, I simply gazed up at him, pretending not to notice.
His face was terribly close to mine.
Every lash was visible, so close I could count them.
‘…He’s beautiful.’
No matter how many times I saw him, it was a face blessed by the gods themselves.
Lost in that thought, Yurian laid me down on the bed.
Soft—
My body sank deep into the mattress.
‘This feels wonderful….’
I hugged the blanket and burrowed into it.
It smelled lovely, as always.
Yurian, looking down at me, asked quietly.
“Am I not frightening to you, Banilin?”
“…What?”
“Or perhaps you find me repulsive.”
Where was this coming from?
I pulled the blanket down from my face.
Yurian sat perched on the edge of the bed, looking down at me.
That soft smile, unreadable as always.
“Why would you say such a thing?”
“You saw, didn’t you? You must know.”
Yurian spoke casually, matter-of-factly.
His voice was matter-of-fact, as if merely listing facts.
“I feign sanctity, but in truth I’m nothing but a rotten hypocrite—”
His fingertips moved slowly toward my cheek.
Gently, he brushed away a piece of cheese clinging to my face, and the touch tickled.
“A wicked human being, that’s all.”
“Oh….”
I blinked blankly.
He had known, then.
I’d honestly thought he had no idea.
“You knew….”
“Most people do, typically.”
Heh.
Yurian laughed as if amused.
Always that beautiful laugh.
“That’s precisely why the Empress wanted me dead.”
What?
I lifted my head.
The Empress….
“Your mother, isn’t she…?”
“Correct.”
Yurian shrugged.
“She called me repulsive, monstrous.”
“That’s….”
“A demon borrowing the blood of the Imperial Family to be born—so she swore. It’s a shame the Empress never grew old gracefully.”
Yurian smiled, his eyes folding into crescents.
Yet I could not smile with him.
He seemed unbothered, but truthfully, my heart was not at ease.
‘When a caregiver speaks like that, a person has no choice but to break….’
I knew this.
I’d grown up listening to Dai’s abuse.
I knew what it felt like to breathe in curses as naturally as air.
“But that was long ago. She’s been dead for years now, anyway.”
“…Your Highness.”
I found myself biting my lip nervously.
I wanted to comfort him, but how?
My alcohol-clouded mind couldn’t come up with anything helpful.
‘Hmm.’
I furrowed my brow in thought for a long moment, then gave up and spoke.
“Your Highness.”
“What is it?”
“Would you read my mind just once?”
“Banilin’s mind.”
Yurian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He looked as though he might say “Why should I?” at any moment.
“Please. Just once.”
“…Hmm.”
Yurian nodded.
A silent affirmation.
I closed my eyes quickly.
Thoughts drifted through my half-drowsy mind.
‘Mmmm… so comfortable.’
‘To receive full service from a prince of the Imperial Family—life really has nothing left to surprise me.’
‘The bed is lovely, the blankets are lovely….’
‘Goodness, he’s incredibly handsome. Even his voice is wonderful.’
‘Your Highness, you’re so warm. It feels good being next to you.’
‘I’m so happy….’
Mostly just wandering thoughts.
But I wanted him to hear them.
That I didn’t find him repulsive in the slightest.
‘…I’m a little frightened sometimes, though.’
But it wasn’t that I wanted him dead.
It was simply that the Empress had been an odd person.
…….
Yurian was silent.
He didn’t say anything at all—just stared at me, as though unsure whether he was truly listening.
“Well? What do you think?”
“What about what?”
“You asked what I thought of you, didn’t you?”
Technically he’d asked if I found you frightening or repulsive, but—well, that’s essentially the same thing, isn’t it?
I gazed up at him with a drowsy expression.
When our eyes met, he blinked slowly.
“Ah.”
It seemed he’d just remembered asking that.
“So that’s why you wanted me to listen—to tell you how I feel about you?”
“Yes… that’s right.”
“Heh.”
He laughed quietly.
Was it a sneer? …No.
He was genuinely amused—that much was clear.
The crescent-moon curve of his eyes proved it.
Softly.
Yurian settled himself beside me.
“You’re truly peculiar.”
“…Me?”
“Who opens their mind for someone to read? When they should be guarding their thoughts with everything they have.”
His tone was oddly loosened.
Always before, he’d seemed perfectly fitted together without a seam; but now there was something relaxed about him.
“I wasn’t particularly sad about it….”
He rolled toward me.
Body heat drew close.
Warm, and bearing a pleasant scent.
I instinctively shuffled toward him.
At which Yurian laughed low.
“It’s almost touching, to see you trying so hard to comfort me like this.”
Lying in the soft bed, listening to his hushed voice, sleep began to overwhelm me irresistibly.
And so it was.
“It’s not an unpleasant feeling, having a subordinate who knows everything.”
I couldn’t bring myself to ask whether he meant it,
or whether he truly wouldn’t kill me.
“Mm….”
Her eyes closed of their own accord.
…I’d have to ask him about this tomorrow.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, strong arms drew her waist slowly toward him.
Her body melted into the warmth of his embrace.
“Foolish rabbit.”
She thought she heard a low whisper against her ear.
* * *
The days that followed proved remarkably quiet.
Yurian seemed buried under mountains of affairs concerning Valenta Island.
Since the territory was seized from the Second Prince, the aftermath appeared equally thorny.
For days, she could barely catch a proper glimpse of his face—he was consumed by work.
It was a welcome reprieve.
Rustle—
I drew out the Incident Report he had given me from the drawer.
‘Good.’
At last I had time to read it slowly.

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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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