I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 4

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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 4. How Amusing
The timing was far too convenient to be mere coincidence.
‘Could the Duke really have lost his footing at precisely that moment… by pure chance?’
Third Prince Oswald Urian.
The Empire’s saint—gracious and tender-hearted to everyone.
And his appearance, as if to prove that reputation was no exaggeration, was utterly angelic.
I lowered my head, hiding the tremor in my eyes.
Oswald asked gently.
“What was your name again?”
Such a gentle voice.
Low and kind, as though he knew nothing at all.
A warning siren wailed inside my head—I shouldn’t tell him—but—
“Vanillin… Your Highness.”
There’s no way a mere maid could do that!
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Vanillin.”
He rolled my name around in his mouth as he spoke it.
Then, eyes crinkling with a smile, he nodded.
“I shall remember it. I’ll see that you receive a generous reward shortly.”
A chill.
‘Unless this generous reward turns out to be death or something…’
Surely it wouldn’t come to that?
I forced myself not to shrink back and bowed my head.
“It is an honor, Your Highness.”
“I had no idea the Imperial Palace harbored such talent.”
The expression on his face seemed at odds with the man who had just stepped on the Duke’s cloak.
Radiant, serene…
A face of absolute purity.
That flawless perfection made my heart waver.
‘Ah, perhaps I was mistaken…?’
Had I misread the situation?
Or had it truly been nothing but coincidence?
I pressed my lips together.
The Duke’s cloak was somewhat longer and more ornate than standard formal wear, designed to trail broadly across the floor.
It was possible, I reasoned, that he might not have noticed if someone stepped on it.
‘Besides, if an accident occurred while showing off the pottery, the Prince would find it hard to escape responsibility no matter his rank.’
They’d called it National Treasure Number One, after all.
The responsibility for breaking something so precious would be grave indeed.
The Prince was no fool, and he wouldn’t deliberately court such a stain on his honor.
With that thought, my nerves eased somewhat.
‘…Right. I was being paranoid.’
I’d simply been too startled.
Yes, there’s no way that beautiful, gracious Prince would do such a thing.
I shook my head and cast off my suspicions.
Then I turned to him with a bright smile.
“Thank you so much, Your Highness.”
……
The Third Prince gazed down at me for a moment, then softened the corners of his eyes and returned my smile.
“Yes.”
With such an innocent face, radiant as he smiled,
“Let us meet again, Vanillin.”
he pledged our next encounter.
* * *
And after the Third Prince and Duke Desmond departed,
“Vanillin…!”
“You lucky thing!”
The maids rushed toward me with tears glistening in their eyes.
“However did you manage to catch the pottery with those frail arms!”
“You look so dim-witted… and yet you’re this clever!”
“We can hardly breathe…”
Squeeze.
So many hands wrapped around me.
Warm enough to steal the breath from my lungs.
As I wriggled between them, the Head Maid’s face broke into a pleased smile.
“The Celestial Pottery was a gift from the Celestials, offered to celebrate the founding of the Empire.”
“Celestials?”
I blinked, echoing her words back.
“People who live in… Heaven?”
“More precisely, people born of mixed blood—angels and humans alike.”
Angel hybrids, she said.
I tilted my head.
Why would angels marry humans and bear children in the first place?
It all sounded like pure fantasy.
The Head Maid shrugged her broad shoulders.
“I don’t know much about it myself. They say the Celestials ascended to Heaven long ago, ages past.”
“So it’s more like a legend, then?”
“You could say that.”
I see.
I nodded slowly.
Understanding didn’t come easily, but one thing was certain: this mysteriously crafted pottery was the Empire’s most treasured possession.
And just moments ago…
in my hands…
it had nearly shattered into pieces…?
A chill ran through me.
I shuddered at the creeping dread settling at the nape of my neck.
“That was… incredibly dangerous, wasn’t it…?”
“Precisely.”
My blood went cold.
I felt as though my very soul was draining away.
‘I could have vanished without a trace, without anyone ever knowing…!’
Not just me—everyone in this room would have been slaughtered.
The crime of breaking a national treasure carried a punishment that severe.
‘I should never have accepted this Imperial job in the first place!’
Dai, that man—blinded by gold…!
Tears welled up.
My eyes began to sting.
As I sank down with reddened eyes, the Head Maid gave my shoulder a hearty pat.
“This proves you truly are a talent! Please, work with us for many years to come!”
“That’s right—we’re counting on you, Vanillin!”
“We love you, Vanillin—!”
“I have no intention of doing any such thing.”
Why am I being treated this way!
I wanted to wail.
I swallowed my tears in silence.
‘All I want is to escape right now.’
Should I pretend to use the washroom and slip away to find Dai…?
Would he listen if I told him the Sacred Contract was meaningless and urged him to get us out of here quickly?
‘At least he wouldn’t hit me.’
I sniffled quietly.
If I went to him before our meeting time, though,
he’d surely beat me, muttering about whether I’d lost my mind and asking what I was doing finding him here.
So for now I had no choice but to stay and work….
“Um… may I visit the washroom for a moment?”
I might as well use the washroom while I’m at it….
As I began to shuffle away, the Head Maid called after me with a teasing tone.
“Vanillin, you’re not running away, are you?”
“Of course not!”
I spoke without turning back.
But inside my heart, I was screaming with clasped hands.
‘I’m sorry! I want to disappear this very instant…!’
* * *
Yet the order to die never came, and the days passed without incident.
I simply polished various treasures,
polished,
and polished some more.
‘Ugh… my whole body aches.’
After arranging all the treasures from the palace entrance to the Banquet Hall,
I rubbed my stiff lower back and gazed out the window.
Evening had fallen, the moon already risen—Foundation Day was in full swing.
Which meant the time for the rendezvous was drawing near.
‘What a shame….’
When would I get another chance to leave?
My feet were reluctant to move, but I forced myself to stand.
“I’ll just step away for a moment—need to use the washroom.”
This time, unlike before, I was fleeing in earnest.
Creak—click.
I slipped quietly outside without arousing anyone’s suspicion.
“Hah….”
The meeting place was the Abandoned Garden of the Imperial Palace, if I recalled correctly.
It was a fair distance away, so I moved at a measured pace.
The Imperial Palace draped in night was a wholly different face than it wore by day.
Tall, majestic buildings softly melting beneath the gentle glow of starlight.
Golden lamplight spilled from every window, and beautiful music drifted from open balconies.
“Ah….”
A small gasp escaped me unbidden.
Perhaps just for a moment—the briefest glimpse?
I found myself drawn toward the great doors standing half-open.
Through the gap, an enchanting sight overwhelmed me.
Dresses flowing like waves, laughter, the sweetness of perfume….
Everything sparkled and shone.
As if a world painted in a picture had begun to breathe.
“So this is what a banquet is.”
My chest fluttered.
A world could be this beautiful.
I thought I could watch it forever without tiring.
I was absorbed in the view when—
“Oh….”
A familiar figure suddenly entered my line of sight.
I blinked.
“It’s Dai.”
My master.
Now that I thought about it, he had mentioned attending the banquet.
But something seemed odd.
The usual glib expression was nowhere to be found—his face was flushed as he strode purposefully across the room.
And Desmond was at his side.
‘What’s this…?’
Something felt wrong.
Did they know each other? Since when?
Uneasy, I pressed myself closer to the gap in the door.
I could see that Desmond’s face was just as flushed as Dai’s.
The Marquis exhaled sharply and pointed accusingly at someone.
I couldn’t make out the words, but the mood was unmistakable.
‘Oh no… they’re actually fighting….’
Who were they quarreling with?
I leaned in a bit more.
That’s when I saw a familiar head of cream-colored hair.
Wait, just a moment.
“Th-the….”
The Third Prince…?!
Gasp!
I was so startled that a hiccup burst out of me.
I quickly clapped a hand over my mouth and ducked behind the door.
It was definitely the Third Prince.
There was no mistaking that face.
‘What in the world is he doing there…!’
He wasn’t supposed to come to the rendezvous point I mentioned—why was he here?
This was ominous. Very ominous. Deeply ominous.
I peered through the crack in the door again.
In the moment I’d looked away, it seemed a full-fledged argument had broken out.
“…what did you just say?”
“…Your Highness said you’d already lost your mother!”
Oh, please.
Dai, no—!
Even for the Third Prince, this was going too far.
Right as I squeezed my eyes shut.
The Third Prince laughed.
“How amusing.”
His expression was gentle—exactly as it had appeared to me moments before.

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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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