I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 6

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

Episode 6. Please, just collapse…
Was the red stain on that wrist from the wine spilled earlier, or from Desmond’s blood?
‘Oh God… I don’t know. I’m terrified…’
In the middle of the quiet Garden.
The smell of blood filled the space more thickly than the fragrance of flowers.
Beneath the moonlight, the Third Prince’s shadow stretched long across the ground.
The reality of having witnessed something I should never have seen crashed over me.
‘Who decided on this place as a meeting point…!’
And why, of all places, was the Third Prince disposing of someone here!
I resented everything in the world.
And most of all, I resented―
The person now beckoning to me quietly,
with such a kind smile on his face.
“Vanillin? Come here, would you.”
His voice was soft, which only made it more terrifying.
― Come here and die in my hands, please.
That’s what it felt like he was whispering.
“Your Highness… wouldn’t you prefer to leave…?”
“But you’re not me, Vanillin.”
…….
If I went, I would die.
Anyone short of a fool could have grasped that.
My tear ducts had already shut down long ago.
‘God, why would you send me such a trial…’
But I couldn’t run either.
If I ran, what would happen to my back…
No. I didn’t even want to imagine it.
A strangled whimper escaped me.
In the end, I swallowed hard and took a step forward.
One step.
Two steps…
And as I drew closer, the Third Prince’s face came into focus.
Even now, it was so virtuous and beautiful.
Eyes that shone bright and lovely in the moonlight,
lovely lips curved in a gentle arc.
A beauty so deadly it was almost violent.
Damn it.
I took another step.
At this point, there was only one option left…
With tears welling up, I surveyed the Third Prince’s vital points.
The space between the brows, the eyes, the throat, the solar plexus…
Places where I could knock him unconscious in one strike.
‘Dai told me not to hit people.’
He said I could die if I did it wrong.
That I was ignorantly strong and should never raise my fists carelessly.
But…
‘Dai isn’t here anymore.’
And what am I supposed to do if I’m about to die…!
I still want to live.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
And then.
“I beg your pardon, Your Highness…!”
I surrendered myself entirely to instinct.
Crack!
My fist drove straight into the Third Prince’s solar plexus.
I poured every ounce of strength I had into it.
Hard enough to shake my entire skeleton.
“……!”
His eyes widened as though he’d never anticipated this.
Slowly, ever so slowly, his upper body began to fall backward.
And then.
“…look at this?”
His laughter died.
What remained was a blank, expressionless face devoid of any emotion.
Those eyes were terrifyingly cold and brutal.
As if he’d finally revealed his true nature.
“……!”
A blood-stained hand reached toward me slowly, deliberately—but with terrible speed.
If he grabbed me, I would die. Certainly.
I swallowed hard.
I thought this much power would be enough….
‘Dai, you said I’m strong….’
Liar…!
I should have hit harder!
Regret surged up suddenly, but the deed was already done.
There was no helping it.
I threw another punch, tears streaming down my face.
Shriek!
Thud!
Another blow landed solidly.
The Third Prince gasped, his body convulsing.
“Ugh…!”
Splatter.
Blood dripped onto the grass.
He was coughing blood.
“You… Vanillin….”
The Prince’s eyes had gone dim.
It seemed he was forcing consciousness to remain even as it threatened to slip away.
One step,
then another.
His murderous intent pricked my skin with terror.
I could feel his resolve to kill me at any cost.
And yet.
“Please… please just collapse….”
This side was desperate too…!
Trembling, trembling.
I clenched my small fist and spoke through the shaking, my voice barely audible.
And pouring all my desperation into it,
I swung hard!
I struck the same spot again.
And finally—
“Hack…!”
Thump.
The Third Prince collapsed.
He’d lost consciousness.
“Haa… haa…. I’m alive.”
I sank to the ground.
The Garden lay silent—no birdsong, no wind.
“Sob.”
I sat there, tears of relief pouring down my face.
* * *
“All right, you’ve cried enough—now let’s get to work….”
Come on.
I called out halfheartedly.
The Garden of the Fifth Separate Palace.
I knelt among the three fallen men, hugging my knees, trying to collect my thoughts.
‘It seems… there really is no god in this world.’
Who could have known?
That the gentle Saint was actually this kind of monster.
I’d kept thinking surely not, surely not….
It was undoubtedly deliberate that she had stepped on the hem of Desmond’s cloak before the Celestial Instrument.
‘How did she know to come here? Did she follow Dai?’
Then was the wine stain on her sleeve part of the plan too?
To slip out of the Banquet Hall naturally and kill those two people…?
“Ah… no. That’s not what matters right now.”
I muttered morosely.
My gaze fell upon Dai’s corpse, sprawled in the distance.
“Pathetic. He really did work a little girl to the bone.”
Speaking it aloud like that made it feel more real.
Dai no longer existed.
I too was freed from bondage, from being enslaved and exploited.
“No funeral is necessary, is it, Fixer?”
If I had died, he surely would have said the same.
Thud. Drag, drag….
I grabbed one of Dai’s legs and hauled him forward.
Soon his body disappeared among the overgrown brush.
It was surprisingly untroubling.
Then again, he’d died after spouting off at a prince—it might as well be natural causes….
And next was Desmond.
Remarkably, he was still breathing, however faintly—
I did the same.
Grabbed his leg, dragged him beyond the thicket.
This one was harder, his bulk more substantial.
“And then there’s… the Second Prince.”
I looked down at his face for a moment.
Motionless as he lay, he looked like an angel, even knowing what lay beneath.
“He really is handsome, isn’t he….”
The honeyed hair, the long and sorrowful arch of his eyes.
‘Stop it.’
I shook my head sharply.
This was no time to linger admiring his features.
Knocking him unconscious was only a temporary measure.
‘Is this what they mean by a blessing in disguise?’
At least I had something useful.
I sighed and pulled the Sacred Contract from my pocket, crumpled from being stuffed away.
The contract I couldn’t bear to discard for fear Fixer Dai would strike me—the one I’d kept on me.
‘A contract wagering one’s soul….’
…….
The deliberation was long, but the resolve was swift.
I tore through the abandoned building like hunting for fleas and retrieved a pen that lay scattered on the ground.
Then I began adding clauses, scratching them out hastily.
* * *
“…Nngh.”
Yurian opened his eyes, his brow furrowed.
From having lost consciousness, his head throbbed as though it might split.
He pressed his hand to his forehead, searching his memory.
‘Desmond… I was dealing with him.’
The Second Prince’s dog, drunk and unable to distinguish what he should and shouldn’t say, who had finally touched a nerve.
Remembering the drivel that man had spouted, Yurian twisted his lips into a sneer.
— People like Your Highness, I know them well. Gentle in front, scheming all manner of plots behind the scenes—such despicable creatures!
Not bad instincts, for the fool.
— I shall expose everything, for the sake of the Empire!
Of course, he’d been foolish enough to start screaming for his life to be spared.
‘Expose everything?’
How could one remain composed upon hearing such words?
Everything was perfect until he dealt with that imbecile….
Yurian’s brow crinkled sharply.
“Vanillin.”
Yes, now he remembered.
The pink-haired maid who had held the porcelain.
That woman had sabotaged him again.
‘How should I deal with this?’
Yurian clicked his tongue in irritation.
No, it was more than an inconvenience—it was a crisis.
Vanillin had seen his weakness.
‘I can never let her live.’
His ugly inner self was a secret even the Emperor didn’t know.
He played the role of a Saint, acting as though he’d never dirtied his hands with blood, but it was nothing but performance.
A foolish Emperor,
and even more foolish siblings.
The fact that only idiots sat above him was unbearably offensive.
So Yurian became a Saint.
Pretending to care nothing for the Imperial Throne,
simply playing the virtuous one.
It made eliminating political rivals easier, and it was the only way to make even that suspicious Second Prince see Yurian as the exception.
Hide beneath the surface, then overturn everything at once.
He had endured all this time for exactly that.
‘…Which is why this cannot happen. None of this can come to light now.’
After building a tower with such care, one must reap the reward.
Yurian slowly straightened his body.
His upper abdomen still throbbed.
He almost laughed at the absurdity.
“That tiny thing….”
She’d been hiding such tremendous power.
He’d fallen completely for the act—her pitiful appearance, her frail trembling, her delicate facade.
It was his mistake.
‘For now… I need to move.’
How much time had passed?
An hour? Two?
It would be problematic if he returned to the Banquet Hall too late.
The Duke’s death had to appear unrelated to him.
He could not be suspected in the slightest.
But he also needed to go immediately and dispose of that small, cute servant girl….
“…This is tiresome.”
Everything was falling apart.
Yurian’s eyes were just beginning to turn cold when—
“Did you call for me…?”
A voice came from a few paces away.
A clear voice that didn’t belong in this drab Rear Garden.
…….
Yurian turned his head slowly.
And there, surprisingly, stood Vanillin.
“I’ve done wrong….”
Vanillin knelt as if taking her punishment, both hands raised in supplication.

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