I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 39

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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 39. Shall We Two Live?
“…….”
Yurian did not answer at once.
He simply gazed down at me in silence.
Gems of every hue scattered throughout the Cave cast their reflections across his face, painting it in shadow.
Blue and pink mingled in soft, silvered tones.
It was like starlight scattered across the night sky, then shattered into fragments.
I swallowed hard.
‘Did I say something foolish?’
Yet strangely, I felt no regret.
A life with no one to trust would be far too difficult.
‘At least I had my brother.’
It seemed he had no one at all.
A four-year-old child abandoned alone on an Uninhabited Island, and yet people could speak of God’s tender providence over him, of fortuitous resources gained—as if that weren’t twisted somehow.
‘It’s broken.’
What was never received cannot be given.
So I wanted, willingly, to help him.
“You speak in troubling ways,” he said.
At last, a smile drawn deliberately across his face.
“Trust in Vanillin, you say.”
He caught my wrist lightly.
Then, slowly, he withdrew my hand from where it rested against his cheek.
Yet perhaps fearing that I would touch him again if he let go—
He did not release my wrist.
The Cave was cool, but only where his skin met mine burned strangely hot.
I fidgeted, my fingers trembling slightly.
“People, you see,” he murmured, “create a weakness the moment they trust someone.”
“…….”
“They begin to hope. They begin to depend.”
Yurian spoke softly.
The corners of his eyes crinkled downward slowly.
“And in the end, they are disappointed.”
What followed in his measured voice was less an opinion than a sentence.
Stated as inevitable truth, his tone carried not a shadow of doubt.
“And yet.”
I looked up at him, my brows drawn down wearily.
“Isn’t it lonely to live trusting no one at all?”
Yurian fell silent, his lips pressed together.
I fumbled, stumbling through my next words.
“Of course I hate being betrayed. I hate disappointment too. I hate it terribly, and it frightens me…. If I could, I’d never experience it for the rest of my life.”
Who would want such a thing?
I pressed my lips together softly.
“But if you’re always alone, it’s far too desolate, isn’t it?”
“…….”
The Cave grew quiet.
The sound of water dripping echoed softly from somewhere distant.
Yurian’s pale golden eyes seized my gaze and held it fast.
What emotion dwelt in those eyes?
With such practiced skill at concealment, there was no way to know.
‘Do you think I’m meddlesome?’
After all, you’re already living well.
And perhaps my words seem hollow—I who have been so carefully ruining my own life from the start.
A tremor of doubt crept in, and I looked away.
He suddenly laughed softly.
“Vanillin.”
“Yes…?”
“You make things difficult for people sometimes.”
Yurian leaned toward me.
That characteristic fragrance drew suddenly near.
Gem-light scattered across his pale golden hair in delicate shards.
Beneath long, delicate lashes, his eyes curved downward with languorous grace.
“…Oh.”
He lifted my chin lightly with his fingertips.
My head tilted upward with the touch, and our eyes met.
His breath seemed to reach me.
“Your Highness?”
“Can you blame me for finding such words hard to believe?”
…….
My heart stumbled, likely because the Fruit’s effects still lingered in my veins.
I stared up at him, eyes wide.
Yurian was smiling.
Not the polished smile he usually wore like a mask.
A genuinely radiant smile—if I’m being honest, more beautiful than the Gems scattered around us.
It felt so strange that I stood speechless, my lips parting slightly.
“I, well….”
“Shall we go?”
“Go where?”
Go where, exactly?
As I asked, bewildered, Yurian laughed.
“Unless you’d prefer to stay like this?”
His tone was teasing.
Only then did I realize the state I was in.
We stood so close our breaths mingled.
“…! No, of course not!”
“Ha.”
I started, jerking backward.
His fingertip brushed the edge of my chin once more before falling away.
Yurian’s eyes curved with satisfaction as he turned.
“Let’s have dinner.”
* * *
Crackle.
Pop-pop-crackle.
Sparks leapt above the campfire.
Countless stars glittered beneath a sky that had already deepened to navy.
The waves were calm, the breeze cool.
A large Fish lay golden-brown and nearly cooked above the flames.
The Beach turned out to be closer than I’d thought.
There was even a natural harbor, perfect for anchoring a ship.
“…It smells wonderful.”
I hugged my knees and watched the fire.
‘If not for being shipwrecked, this would be a perfect resort.’
Yurian turned the Fish over with practiced ease.
“Your Highness, you can cook?”
“When you’ve lived alone for half a year, you pick these things up naturally.”
“…I see.”
Right, of course.
My chest tightened again.
The thought of him as a young prince, alone, catching Fish, building fires, preparing his own meals….
‘It breaks my heart.’
Noticing my expression, Yurian let out a soft laugh.
“There’s that look again.”
“What look?”
“As though you might cry.”
“…I won’t.”
“Not yet, perhaps.”
He placed the perfectly cooked Fish on my plate without ceremony.
The rich aroma rose up at once.
I took a careful bite.
“…Oh.”
It was delicious.
‘Incredibly delicious.’
Crisp on the outside, tender within.
She’d added no salt, yet somehow the seasoning was perfect.
“Why does it taste so good?”
“Because Vanillin is hungry.”
“It’s not that kind of deliciousness, though…?”
Yurian merely laughed.
A wave rushed in with a splash, then withdrew.
I bit into the fruit Yurian had selected and hummed contentedly.
Watching the sea glimmer beneath the warm firelight, my heart felt strangely full.
Had he felt the same way, back then?
“…The Empress.”
Yurian suddenly spoke.
I turned my head.
He gazed at the fire as he continued, his tone matter-of-fact.
“She was already suffering from insanity by the time she bore me.”
Sparks crackled and jumped with soft snaps.
I said nothing, my lips pressed together.
“They say she was quite remarkable once—intelligent, composed, well-regarded as Empress.”
“…….”
“But after my eldest brother was born, her condition began to deteriorate gradually.”
The night breeze blew cool and fresh.
Starlight settled softly overhead.
“It was something like postpartum depression, I suppose. She grew weaker and weaker, and by the time I was born, she was experiencing fits of madness intermittently.”
He gave a hollow laugh.
“They called me a demon-possessed child.”
“…Your Highness.”
“They tried everything to exorcise me.”
My hands clenched into fists without my realizing it.
Everything.
The cruelty contained within that single word was palpable, even unspoken.
“And now…?”
“She passed away. Shortly after my fourth brother was born.”
I see.
I nodded quietly.
Yurian tore off a piece of fish with the detachment of someone indifferent to the matter.
Then he offered it to me.
“Have more.”
“…And you, Your Highness?”
“I’ve had enough.”
Without a word, I took the piece of fish he offered and placed it in my mouth.
The fire crackled softly, swaying.
Stars seemed to pour down from above in profusion.
“What did you do here, all this time?”
“I made plans.”
“…An escape plan?”
“That as well.”
Yurian rested his chin on his hand.
“But first, I calculated how to utilize that ore vein, and how to acquire this island naturally.”
“…I’m sorry?”
The answer was so utterly Yurian that I found myself momentarily speechless.
Wasn’t that when people usually speak of loneliness, or fear, or something of the sort?
“I also worked out the strategy for seizing power once I returned to the Imperial Palace—”
And then.
He continued in the same measured tone.
“Every day, I made rescue signals on the beach. Just in case a passing ship might spot them.”
“…Ah.”
“Of course, no one ever came. A waste of effort.”
“…….”
I closed my mouth.
That’s cheating, isn’t it—saying things like that so casually.
She drew her knees to her chest and buried her face, while the firelight cast orange shadows across her.
“…What if the boat doesn’t come this time either?”
“What do you mean?”
“If no ship arrives again.”
“I see.”
Yurian nodded.
“I don’t know.”
He propped his chin up much like she had, then tilted his head toward her.
“But this time, you wouldn’t be alone.”
Then he spoke softly, eyes closing.
“Should we survive together?”

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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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