I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 58

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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 58. The Chandelier
It was sweltering.
Each breath felt as though my throat were burning from within.
Crash!
A wooden beam that had fallen from the ceiling blocked my path.
“……!”
I jerked back in alarm, my body recoiling.
My heart pounded like it would tear itself free.
“Your Highness!”
The flames rose fiercely, beginning to swallow the Mansion whole.
Black smoke kept obscuring my vision.
“Yurian! Your Highness!”
Cough, cough!
I ran forward, choking.
Your Highness was supposed to deal with the Rogue and then join me.
After capturing the Rogue, Kyle would hand him over to the Imperial Defense Force he’d summoned in advance—creating the perfect alibi.
But there had been no explosion in that plan.
This was dangerous.
“Where are you? Please…!”
My voice came out trembling.
One mercy: I was still alive.
Which meant Yurian was still alive too.
Our lives were bound together.
‘So find him.’
I plunged back into the smoke, deeper into the building.
Through the Corridor and back into the First Floor Hall.
The Chandelier was melting—golden metal dripped steadily from the ceiling.
Flames surged and receded in rhythm.
Beyond them, I saw a human silhouette.
“…Your Highness!”
Relief escaped my lips unbidden.
He turned to face me clearly, as though he’d heard my voice.
“I told you to wait outside. Yet here you are, disobeying orders.”
“I’m sorry. I was worried.”
“I expected as much. Come here.”
Even as flames consumed everything around him, he remained composed.
His snow-white clothes were streaked with soot, yet his expression never wavered.
He was smiling.
I rushed toward him.
“Are you hurt?”
“As you can see.”
“Why did it suddenly explode?”
“To destroy the building and my weakness along with it.”
It was Kyle’s doing.
To erase the Underground Chamber and all the records beneath it.
‘How dare he. How dare he strike at our prince.’
My teeth clenched of their own accord.
‘Stay calm. I need clarity now more than ever.’
I bit my lip hard.
Taking a deep breath, I scanned the surroundings with sharp attention.
“…The Rogue. Did you capture him?”
“Not yet.”
He shrugged and pointed toward a corner of the Banquet Hall.
“He looked busy.”
I turned to follow his gesture.
There was a man crawling frantically across the floor.
Coin purses the nobles had cast aside in their flight, a Dagger studded with Jewels, Ornaments of solid gold.
Anything of remotest value he swept into his clothes by the handful.
“Heh… hehehehe!”
His hands trembled, his face blackened with soot, yet his lips curved in a wide, delighted grin.
“It’s all mine. I’m rich now… I’m starting a new life!”
His expression twisted with madness and avarice.
Pathetic, chilling, and utterly contemptible.
Clang!
Clink.
One of the gold coins he’d been frantically scooping up rolled across the floor.
He dropped to all fours and scrambled after it.
“No… no. My gold coin.”
The Rogue reached out to grab the coin—
“How often we meet.”
Tap.
A boot sole flicked down first, pinning the gold coin beneath it.
The Rogue’s hand landed a heartbeat too late. He looked up.
His glazed eyes darted frantically across the figure above him.
“Your Highness… the Saint?”
“What brings you here,” Yurian asked.
“How did you… get here?”
The Rogue’s eyes moved in quick, fearful circles.
He seemed to be checking whether Yurian had come with his knights—his gaze wary, searching.
But seeing that he was alone, the Rogue’s expression softened.
“Your Highness… did you come to save me?”
“To save you?”
“You knew I was trapped in this inferno and came to rescue me!”
I let out a hollow laugh.
‘So now he’s acting the victim.’
He’d started the fire himself, yet now he was putting on the mask of a man in need of rescue.
He thought that if it was Yurian—beautiful, graceful Yurian—then surely he would save him once more.
But.
“One half right, one half wrong,” Yurian said.
He smiled gently.
In this space consumed by flame, he alone shone with a sacred light.
“It’s true that I came knowing you were trapped in this fire. However, the reason I came here is—”
Scrape.
He drew his sword.
“Unfortunately, not to spare your life.”
His smile was as gentle and warm as sunlight.
It seemed almost reverent, as if it could embrace anything in the world.
That’s why people deceive themselves.
They call it the smile of a Saint, the smile of an angel.
“But to take it.”
Even demons could not conjure such evil.
I glanced sidelong at Yurian’s silhouette.
Even engulfed in these flames, he seemed to glow—and I suspected it wasn’t just my imagination.
The Rogue let out a dazed question.
“Take it… you mean kill me?”
“You heard me. Don’t ask again. I dislike repeating myself.”
Thud-thud.
He advanced toward the Rogue.
With each step forward, the Rogue shuffled backward, inch by inch.
“Your Highness… wait. You’re joking, aren’t you?”
……
“Please, just a moment—”
The Rogue bolted on pure instinct.
Despite the vacant confusion in his expression, his survival instinct still burned fierce within him.
His eyes flicked between me and Yurian, then he screamed and spun around.
“Help me!”
Bang!
Stumble.
His foot caught on a splintered table; his body lurched.
“Ahhhhh!”
He scrambled to his feet and bolted again.
Yurian simply stood there, watching him flee.
He didn’t chase. He didn’t raise his sword.
Only smiled, his gaze fixed on the fugitive’s back.
‘…I wonder if he realizes that’s what makes it truly terrifying.’
He never came at me first, either.
‘Come here, Vanillin,’ he would simply say….
“…ah.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I just remembered something from long ago….”
The memory of blood soaking his blade still sent chills down my spine.
Thank goodness he’s strong. If he weren’t, I’d be lying there like that rogue.
Yurian watched the fleeing rogue with a soft smile, as though
there were only one exit here.
As though there were no escape from death except through this way, on one’s own terms.
“Stop running and come here obediently. We need to leave soon.”
“Y-you monster! I should have killed you then!”
“Oh, how I hope you regret it in hell.”
“Shut up!”
Crash!
Seized by desperation, the rogue hurled the chair he’d been holding with all his might.
The chair, wreathed in flame, tore through the air—but Yurian merely tilted his head slightly and sidestepped with ease.
The chair slammed into a pillar behind him and shattered into splinters.
Burning wood scattered in all directions.
Clink.
Golden metal dripped from the ceiling once more.
I lifted my gaze absently.
The situation had grown far worse.
The iron chain suspending the massive chandelier glowed red-hot in the flames, bending gradually under the strain.
Screech….
The metal’s anguished cry brushed faintly against my ears.
“…Your Highness, the ceiling.”
“I’m aware.”
Yurian answered tersely and turned his gaze back to the rogue.
The rogue, meeting those eyes, seemed to have lost all reason.
There was nowhere left to run.
The Mansion was engulfed in flames, and Yurian stood at the only exit.
The rogue looked down at the treasures cradled in his arms.
Ornaments, gold coins, decorative pieces… and a dagger.
“…That’s right.”
His eyes gleamed.
“There’s no such thing as a Saint in this world, is there?”
He let the jewels he’d painstakingly gathered tumble from his grasp and gripped the dagger instead.
A finely honed decorative blade.
“I’ll kill you!”
The rogue charged toward us with a snarl.
He gripped the dagger so tightly that its tip quivered.
“Your Highness…!”
I held my breath and stepped forward to shield him when—
Screech—
The metal’s tortured cry came from the ceiling again.
Both Yurian and I looked up.
The red-hot chain and the massive chandelier swaying precariously above.
“Well.”
Yurian laughed.
Then he took my hand and pulled me back three steps.
Just far enough to narrowly avoid the falling chandelier.
My eyes widened.
“Your Highness, surely you don’t mean…?”
“How much do you believe in luck, Vanillin?”
He smiled beautifully.
The Rogue rushing forward with murderous intent, the precarious Chandelier swaying above, and my master—as ever, utterly composed.
In the same moment he drew me behind him,
Snap.
The chain shattered.

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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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