I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 49

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 49. The Secret Passage
“Are you all right?”
“Yes? Ah… yes.”
Thud, thud.
I answered in a daze and followed Yurian down the spiral staircase.
The passage leading underground was far deeper than I’d expected.
The light from above had already faded into distant obscurity, and only the torches set at regular intervals along the walls cast a faint, ruddy glow.
Ordinarily, I would have been frightened enough to grip his sleeve tightly…
But today I had no room for such feelings.
It was because of words circling endlessly through my mind.
‘He was worried about me.’
It wasn’t simply the word “worry” that moved me.
He’d spoken of being concerned before, in his typical way.
What startled me was that he had acknowledged it directly, from his own lips.
‘He worried about me.’
My heart raced.
Yurian was a difficult man.
He neither loved nor trusted people.
Precisely because of that, he never allowed anyone close.
He was kind to everyone, yet opened his heart to no one.
The people of the Imperial Palace called him a saint, but… I knew better, didn’t I.
His kindness was nothing but habit, not love.
‘And yet I was the one he worried about.’
“Vanillin.”
A sigh.
Yurian exhaled and turned to look back at me.
“Is it truly that pleasing to you?”
His eyes held the look of someone who saw through all my thoughts.
A sting of embarrassment.
I rolled my eyes deliberately to the side.
“Yes…? Yes? What is it?”
[Have you forgotten that I can read your mind?]
“Eek!”
He suddenly spoke to me through Telepathic Communication…!
That’s cheating.
I jumped and scraped at my forearm where goosebumps had risen.
The sensation of his breath against my ear, as though he were whispering directly into it, was something I could never grow accustomed to, not even in death.
I stammered, flustered.
“You heard all of that…?”
“Had I known the word ‘worry’ would sound so pleasant to you, I’d have said it more often.”
“Will you say it more often?”
“Empty words. You ought to learn to distinguish them from the truth by now.”
…Ah.
I jutted out my lower lip.
I’d actually felt a flutter of hope for a moment there.
It’s true—a man as cold as that would never do such a thing.
I quickened my pace to follow behind him.
Regardless, my mood hadn’t soured.
“Your Highness, they say the foundation of worry is affection.”
“Do they.”
“And if there’s affection, you can’t abandon that person.”
There was a time when I had tried to earn his love because of that belief.
It had come to nothing after the incident with the young ladies, though.
……
It had been truly frightening then.
The memory chilled my spine, and I reached out to grip his sleeve.
He glanced down at the sleeve caught in my hand, then turned to face me with an indifferent expression.
“What is it you mean to say.”
It was a command to speak plainly if I had something to say.
I hesitated for a moment, then lifted my head.
“You’re going to throw me away?”
She cut through all the preamble and let the question tumble out.
Yurian let out a dry laugh, as if he’d heard something absurd.
“You made it so I have no way to throw you away.”
“But what if there were a way?”
“Is there?”
“No, I just mean hypothetically…”
“Hmm.”
To her surprise, he actually began to consider it seriously.
After a span of time it took to blink five or six times, his answer came—and it was remarkably vague.
“I’m not sure.”
“You’re… not sure?”
“It feels like I might, and also like I might not. I honestly don’t know.”
……
“Though on second thought, it does seem a shame to discard you.”
“Is that… your answer?”
“Yes.”
Ugh.
She let her body go limp.
Only now did she realize how tense she’d been—her shoulders were rigid.
All that worry, and this was what he came up with.
Should she be grateful he hadn’t simply said he’d discard her outright?
A long sigh escaped her lips.
That man was truly impossible to read.
She edged around his body and thrust her face forward with a peek.
“So you’re saying you won’t throw me away after all?”
“Well.”
“Which means you do feel affection for me…!”
“That’s one possibility.”
Was this vague way of speaking his trademark?
She sighed again, squeezed past his side, and pushed forward ahead of him.
If he was going to speak in riddles, she’d simply interpret things her own way.
‘In other words, he needs more convincing proof of my love.’
Then she’d make it so he couldn’t help but love her back.
It was time to restart the Love Pursuit Project, which she’d shelved for a while.
At last, the staircase ended.
She stepped forward first and grasped the heavy door handle.
Creak-eeeek.
The door swung open with the sound of ancient hinges.
She turned back with a radiant smile.
“Shall we go in, Your Highness?”
And unable to resist, she added one more thing.
“I’m ready to be loved this time.”
* * *
The Underground, which she’d thought was merely a secret space, turned out to be remarkably vast.
“Yoo-hoo—”
Yoo-hoo.
Yoo-hoo…
Her voice echoed through the expanse like a reverberating call.
Yurian regarded her with something like pity.
“What are you doing?”
“Just getting a sense of the size…”
“How terribly scientific of you.”
“Hehe, isn’t it?”
“I was being sarcastic.”
Why did he always have to mock her?
She pouted and surveyed her surroundings.
It was a world entirely different from the glittering revelry of the party above.
The ceiling stretched high, and the walls were uniformly rough.
Between the limestone rock faces, enormous candles hung at regular intervals, casting their light.
‘Is this a place they use often?’
The condition of it suggested careful, regular maintenance.
“It’s larger than I expected.”
“Indeed.”
“I had no idea a space like this existed beneath the palace….”
“Nor did I.”
We stepped forward cautiously into the darkness.
Dust stirred faintly beneath our feet.
The corridor branched in three directions—left, right, and straight ahead.
A maze, in other words.
The rusted pillars and storage-like chambers scattered throughout lent the place an unsettling quality.
“Do you think contraband is hidden here?”
“It’s possible.”
Yurian answered evenly, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.
His eyes seemed already to have grasped the layout.
I shrugged unnecessarily.
“Well? Is this much of a suitable gift, at least?”
“I’ll reserve judgment for now.”
“How petty.”
‘And stingy!’
He could just say something. Hmph.
“Vanillin.”
“…Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“Now you’re even becoming defiant.”
Yurian let out a hollow laugh.
There was no displeasure in it.
Only the sigh of someone at a loss for words.
I pressed ahead, feigning ignorance.
The deeper into the corridor we went, the cooler the air became.
“So, which way should we explore?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Hmm….”
Which would be best?
I wrinkled my nose in thought.
We weren’t pressed for time.
The window upstairs stood wide open, and I’d pulled the lever inside to close the Secret Passage again.
Even if the Fourth Prince noticed I’d vanished, he wouldn’t suspect the passage’s discovery.
‘Still, it’d be better to explore quickly and get out.’
…Was there anything here that might serve as a clue?
I stood at the fork and examined the surroundings carefully.
All three paths looked identical to my eye.
Whitewashed limestone walls and Candles, then another fork beyond.
Every corridor was structured so alike it was impossible to distinguish them.
‘Rein—or rather, the current Baron Brennan—I met him in a place like this too.’
The Slave Market had that distinctive ant-warren structure, designed so that even if a slave escaped, they couldn’t find the exit.
Was this space built with that same purpose?
Yet it didn’t seem like a prince would need something like this.
Not unless he was imprisoning people or running a slave operation.
‘…But if that were the case.’
I felt carefully along the wall.
I’d been to the Slave Market before, so I knew its structure somewhat.
If this was such a place, then here, about waist-height, there would surely be….
“Found it.”
I felt a small groove catch against my fingertips.
Carved into the rough stone: three branching marks like a bird’s footprint.
I turned back to Yurian.
“There’s a Marker here.”
“A Marker?”
“The Slave Market uses them communally. A bird for the Auction House, a dog for the Manager’s Office, and a fish for the Confinement Chamber.”
The handlers carved these Markers so they wouldn’t lose their way.
Who would have thought that the task Dai had dumped on me would prove so useful.
“I think it would be best if we head to the Manager’s Office, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Yurian nodded, his smile disarmingly gentle.
“It’s the only place in this wretched space worth anything.”
Wretched….
I opened my mouth, then awkwardly looked away.
By now I should be used to it—but hearing those words from that face still felt strange.
“Let’s go.”
Yurian moved first toward the place marked with the dog symbol.
I hurried after him.
That was when it happened.
“Help….”
“……?”
“Please… help me….”
A voice, faint and distant.
It was fading—barely audible unless you listened intently.
I grabbed the hem of Yurian’s sleeve.
“What is it?”
“Your Highness, wait. Just now….”
And then the voice came again.
“Help me!”
This time it was clearer.
We both turned at once.
The sound was coming from the far end of the corridor marked with fish symbols—from the direction of the Confinement Chamber.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————