I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 38

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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 38. A Gemstone Mine…?
“…….”
I didn’t know what to say.
I fell silent for a moment.
Perhaps it was because Yuri An’s smile seemed unusually faint, unlike his usual self.
I couldn’t discern the true intent behind his question.
‘It must be a joke.’
Yet he looked like someone who had never once taken my side before.
Rustle, rustle—
The sound of grass insects moving in a line drifted toward us.
The grass beneath my feet swayed slowly.
I fiddled absently with the berry in my pocket before opening my mouth.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“…….”
“I’m on your side.”
Part of that was due to the Soul Contract, but it was also because of all the time we’d spent together so far.
Yuri An and I were already in the same boat.
That was a fact I couldn’t deny.
And….
‘Even if it weren’t for the contract, I don’t want to see you hurt.’
Otherwise, I’d feel abandoned again.
I lowered my gaze.
Then I picked up a berry identical to the one he’d eaten and took a bite.
“So I hope you won’t get hurt.”
Crunch.
The rich juice of a berry soaked in sunlight burst across my tongue.
A moment of silence fell between us.
Then Yuri An’s eyes curved slowly.
“I see.”
Unlike before, his expression seemed genuinely satisfied.
“I shall be more careful from now on.”
His smile was so radiant that I was momentarily transfixed.
My heart began to race uncontrollably.
My breathing grew slightly quickened.
“Your cheeks are flushed.”
Yuri An stepped closer.
Then his hand moved to the back of my head, stroking it gently.
His other hand settled against my waist.
“Ah…?”
At such close proximity, our eyes met helplessly.
I could see myself reflected in his transparent gaze.
He smiled, squinting his eyes with a serene and beautiful expression.
“I forgot to mention something.”
“…Yes?”
“That berry causes Paralysis in those without Immunity to it.”
“Yes?”
“The initial symptoms are body heat and rapid heartbeat, typically.”
Thud.
Clatter, clatter….
The berry fell from my hand.
At the same moment, my legs buckled beneath me.
“Steady.”
Yuri An caught me as though he’d been waiting for precisely this moment.
My head and waist were supported securely.
He smiled softly and continued.
“I’m moved. To think you’d take the poison upon yourself rather than see me harmed—truly admirable courage.”
“No, wait… Your Highness?”
“Your body will remain rigid and immobile for some time.”
Yuri An said this, then hoisted me into his arms.
A proper princess-carry, to the letter.
“Well, I suppose my tongue still works.”
“Eek!”
My upper body—or more precisely, my face—sank into his broad chest.
Beneath the slightly damp fabric, I felt the warmth of his skin.
This is… this, this is….
“Oh dear. You’ll suffocate me, Vanillin.”
Sniffle….
“Help me….”
“As you wish.”
Yuri An adjusted my posture with what seemed like an amused expression.
My limp arms were folded neatly and placed across my chest.
“I’d planned to tease you a bit longer, but I suppose I can’t help myself.”
“What… what do you mean?”
“There’s a place I’d like to show you. Shall we go?”
With that, he began walking with long, purposeful strides.
The way his lips seemed to curve upward in amusement was surely just my imagination—born from my own exasperation at him.
Yes, yes.
It had to be.
Otherwise, I’d pass out from stress.
* * *
He moved deeper into the forest with practiced ease.
Each time we pushed through the dense undergrowth, dew-laden leaves brushed against my arms.
“Ah, how cold.”
“You’re rather sensitive, aren’t you?”
Yuri An wiped the moisture from my arm with his fingers, then chuckled softly.
I remained cradled in his embrace.
The Paralysis would last at least three hours, or so it seemed.
‘Hehe.’
If I’m being honest, it was extraordinarily comfortable.
‘It’s like riding in a sightseeing carriage… it feels wonderful….’
Moreover, since Yuri An was tall, my vantage point was all the higher.
The island revealed itself anew from this perspective.
In many ways, it was delightful.
And besides.
“Mind your head.”
“Oh, thank you.”
He lifted the low-hanging branches to keep them from striking me.
“Are you thirsty?”
“Now that you mention it… a little.”
“Let’s rest for a moment.”
When a pond came into view, he cupped water in his hand and brought it to my lips.
Yuri An performed these gestures as though they were nothing, yet somehow I felt perpetually cared for.
Truthfully, I felt humbled.
‘To think I’d enjoy such luxury….’
It felt as though I’d suddenly become someone of noble station.
“Ahem.”
“What are you doing?”
“Hehe, I just wanted to affect some grandeur for a moment.”
“…I have much to say about that, but I’ll refrain.”
Yuri An sighed and continued walking.
After walking a bit deeper, a large cave came into view.
Its entrance was half-obscured by thick vines.
I glanced at it with only my eyes.
“What is this place…?”
“Where I stayed during my Exile.”
“Your Highness stayed… here?”
In a place like this?
Even for exile, surely not—and a member of the royal family, no less?
“Is there some objection?”
“…No, nothing at all.”
How long did I stay here before…?
I have no idea.
While I tilted my head in confusion, Yuri An stepped inside as though he knew the place well.
The interior of the cave was far more spacious than I’d expected.
Navy-blue stone walls rose sheer and unbroken.
It was cool without being damp, and instead carried a dry, pleasant fragrance.
“Do you know why I wanted this island, Vanillin?”
His voice echoed through the vast cavern, sweet and resonant.
I tilted my head.
…Actually, I wasn’t really thinking—I was just pretending.
“Didn’t you say it was to develop it as a tourist destination?”
“I did.”
Pebbles crunched beneath his feet—crackle, crackle—a soft, rhythmic sound.
That smile on his face.
I blinked.
“…Was there more to it than that?”
“It’s refreshing to be understood so quickly.”
Yuri An nodded lightly.
“Tourism is merely a secondary concern. If that’s all it had been, I wouldn’t have exposed my brother’s weakness back then.”
“Then what?”
“The true value of this island lies here.”
Tap.
He stopped walking.
Then he slowly tilted his gaze toward the cavern ceiling.
…….
What was I supposed to be looking at?
Since I happened to be lying down, looking up at the ceiling wasn’t difficult.
I turned my eyes.
And then I saw it.
“Gasp….”
Gemstones? All of it?
I held my breath.
The entire world was shining.
The walls, ceiling, and floor of the cave were densely studded with crystals—transparent minerals embedded everywhere.
Blue light, pink light, vivid rainbow hues.
Though there wasn’t a single opening to the outside, the space blazed with daylight brightness.
A cavern stretching down into depths beyond sight.
I stood speechless, my mouth hanging open.
“Diamonds…?”
“Those, and various gemstones besides. All of exceptional purity.”
I must be losing my mind.
When I couldn’t close my mouth, he laughed softly and tapped my lips with his finger.
“My mother gave me quite the gift.”
“Your mother… you mean the Empress?”
“Yes. She abandoned me here.”
……?
My thoughts froze mid-stream.
Abandoned…?
“You said I was sent into Exile.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
He nodded matter-of-factly, as though conceding the point.
“One can hardly abandon a prince outright, so she hastily fabricated a pretext. Even naming this desolate island as Valenta Island was meant to make it seem somewhat legitimate.
“That… that makes no sense.”
It was absurd.
And yet the way he spoke of it so calmly made it sound like truth.
“How old were you?”
“Around four, I think.”
“…How long?”
“I survived here for about six months.”
Yuri An answered with casual indifference.
He spoke as though recounting a tale that had nothing to do with him.
But I couldn’t gather my wits through the shock.
‘Four years old—that’s just a baby.’
And yet on this desolate island, he’d been abandoned under the pretext of exile?
‘That’ Yuri An?
“It rained heavily the day I was abandoned. I was wandering to escape the downpour when I discovered this cave.”
He tilted his head back, gazing at the skylight above, and smiled faintly.
“Perhaps the heavens looked kindly upon me, bringing me such a lifeline.”
“That’s…”
Impossible.
Something swelled in my chest, pressing upward like a tide.
I forced it down and opened my mouth.
“Why don’t you seem to suffer from this?”
It was wrong, somehow.
Abandoned by his own family. Left alone as a four-year-old child on an uninhabited island.
And yet he could smile like this, as though nothing were amiss. It made no sense.
Yuri An laughed lightly at this.
“Because I never believed in them to begin with.”
“……”
“I held no expectations.”
Perhaps the Imperial Palace was nothing like the fairy tales I’d imagined.
Looking at him, who seemed so untouched by it all, a sudden ache bloomed inside me.
Perhaps that was why.
“…Your Highness.”
I raised my hand—the one that had wanted to move for so long now—and cupped his cheek.
If he could trust neither his parents nor anyone else.
“What about me?”
“……”
“Would you… trust me?”

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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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