Chapter 9.

Soul, Contract, Dangerous!

“Uh….”

Huh?

I was so stunned that my mouth fell slightly open.

“Really?”

Come to think of it, now that Dai was dead, there was no one left to investigate what had happened to my brother.

Honestly, so much time had passed that I had already thought I should just give up…

But somehow, it felt like I had received an unexpected gift.

“I can’t guarantee it. My own affairs will always take priority over yours, Vanillin.”

“That’s okay!”

I answered immediately.

Dai had always been like that, after all.

He would always put other jobs that actually made money before my brother’s case, saying they were more important.

…Even so.

“I’m not very knowledgeable about the ways of the world….”

I had never had the courage to investigate it myself.

Because Dai had always told me so.

You’re too incapable to do anything on your own.

I stood up and bowed deeply toward Yulian.

“Please take good care of me.”

“Yes.”

Yulian answered curtly, as though he found it bothersome.

He wrote on the contract:

“Oswald Yulian will investigate Vanillin’s family history.”

It wasn’t just an empty promise like Dai’s had been…

It felt like a dream.

After that, we moved elsewhere.

He took me to the Imperial Palace, then returned after establishing a perfect alibi at the Founding Festival.

Then we went over the details of the contract again.

“If you reveal anything about me, even accidentally, all contracts will become void immediately. Understood?”

“Yes…”

Of course, calling it “negotiating” was a bit of a stretch. Whenever he made a demand, all I could do was nod.

We spent several hours refining the clauses, trimming the wording, and eliminating loopholes.

Chirp, chirp—

Dawn approached, and the faint sounds of birds began to be heard one by one.

“Wake up, Vanillin.”

“Eek…!”

Huh? When did I fall asleep?

When I opened my eyes, Yulian was holding his seal.

“I’m going to stamp it.”

“Ah….”

Before I even had time to read it over again, he slammed the seal down.

Bang!

A yellow light flowed across the contract.

“Then I’ll do mine too….”

I made a shallow cut on my finger.

A drop of red blood fell onto the paper, blooming like a flower.

Fwoosh!

Light burst forth.

I felt the sensation of an invisible shackle locking around my heart.

Without needing to say a word, I could tell that Yulian’s soul and mine had become connected.

“Vanillin is now my person.”

Yulian smiled as he slowly rose from his seat.

He meant it literally.

Everything that belonged to me now belonged to him.

“Officially, you’ll be my personal maid.”

He held out a cream-colored coat toward me.

I instinctively helped him put it on.

It suited him perfectly.

“From now on, only Vanillin will be allowed into my room.”

My heart began beating faster for no particular reason as I lowered my head and fastened his buttons.

“And everything that belongs to me will be yours as well.”

…If we hadn’t been bound together by a contract, I might have mistaken those words for a confession.

“Follow me, Vanillin.”

Yulian calmly smiled as he fastened his coat.

“Today, I have a diplomatic meeting with envoys from the neighboring kingdoms.”

As if nothing unusual had happened at all.

“To all the honored guests who have graced us with your presence on the Founding Day, I offer my gratitude on behalf of Oswald.”

Yulian spoke smoothly as he drew back the bowstring.

Whoosh—Thwack!

The arrow struck the deer squarely in the neck.

“A direct hit.”

“As expected of His Highness the Third Prince.”

Praises filled with flattery poured in from all around us.

This was the Imperial Family’s Third Hunting Grounds.

When I asked whether they really held meetings in a place like this, Yulian simply smiled.

—Those empty-headed fools can’t sit in a conference room for very long.

I had thought his hatred of humanity was getting rather severe…

But now that I thought about it, he wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Your Highness, may I ask for your opinion on something?”

“Of course.”

“What must one do to expand one’s territory to the size of the Empire?”

They were asking that to the Empire itself—and to a prince of the Empire, no less…

Yulian’s smile deepened.

“…One must strive for the sake of the people and the nation, I suppose.”

A textbook answer.

And then—

Whoosh—Thwack!

Another direct hit.

I pressed my lips together and forced a smile.

Now I understood why he had chosen the hunting grounds as the meeting place.

Rather than openly berating them, he seemed to suppress the urge by taking it out on the game he hunted…

I guess that’s his way of relieving stress.

I stood one step behind him, befitting my position as his personal maid.

However, only a few hours ago, we had been complete strangers.

The sensation of having our souls bound together was much more blatant than I had expected.

Whenever he inhaled, my breathing would unconsciously slow a little.

Whenever he became displeased, my own mood would waver as though I were sharing his emotions.

I’m really not getting used to this….

The last time I had been connected this deeply to someone was when I was five years old.

Well, being forcibly bound by a contract was definitely a first in my life.

I’ll worry about that later.

For now, work comes first.

I moved into action.

My role was to assist Yulian.

I had to do my best to ensure the meeting proceeded smoothly.

I quickly gestured to the servants.

“Please replenish the game and prepare plenty of fresh arrows.”

“Yes, understood.”

I prepared everything Yulian might need in advance.

“And leave out the wine today! Just prepare some grape juice instead.”

We had to avoid alcohol so that the conversation wouldn’t be disrupted by drunkenness.

“Why would you not prepare alcohol for a hunting gathering?”

If someone challenged me with that sort of complaint…

“I heard grape juice is very beneficial for enhancing masculinity, so I had it specially prepared. Shall I have it replaced with wine?”

I responded with a polite, friendly smile in a way that no middle-aged man could possibly resist.

“…Masculinity?”

The envoy who had complained froze for a moment before clearing his throat awkwardly.

“No. That won’t be necessary. Since you went to the trouble of preparing it, we’ll have this today.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Yes!

I smiled brightly.

As expected, the magic word was masculinity.

Even Dai had never been able to resist that one… Hehehe.

Just as I proudly swept my hair back, a short laugh escaped beside me.

“Really, Vanillin?”

It was Yulian.

He tilted his head playfully as he lifted a glass filled with grape juice.

“Does grape juice really help with masculinity?”

“Ah….”

Oh no.

“No….”

I mumbled while avoiding his gaze.

…Is he going to hit me for deceiving a noble?

I was looking up at him anxiously when—

“Haha!”

Yulian suddenly burst out laughing.

It was a captivating laugh, as though a whole cluster of white plum blossoms were blooming one after another.

“How amusing.”

I stared at his face with wide eyes.

…I had never seen this before.

I had never seen him smile with his eyes curved so completely.

H-he’s devastating….

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his breathtakingly beautiful face for quite some time.

If only he didn’t have that personality, he really would look like a prince from a fairy tale.

After laughing like a boy for quite a while, Yulian shook his head and looked away.

“Thanks to you, those idiots look even more ridiculous.”

The envoys were grinning foolishly at Yulian, completely unaware that he was insulting them.

“Today’s schedule is going much more smoothly than usual.”

He looked at me, his eyes curving into a smile.

It was a smile filled with genuine satisfaction, something he never showed to anyone else.

For a moment, it was powerful enough to make me mistakenly believe that I was someone special to him.

The man gave a small chuckle and lightly tapped my shoulder with his fingertip.

“Keep up the good work.”

Leaving those words behind, he returned to stand among the royalty and the envoys.

His pace of hunting slowed noticeably compared to before.

He no longer fired unnecessary arrows.

Thump, thump.

My heart was pounding.

This is the first time I’ve ever received praise like this….

Maybe it was because whenever I worked under Dai, all I ever received was criticism.

His words lingered heavily somewhere in my heart.

I worked just a little harder than before, and the meeting proceeded smoothly.

The envoys, no longer drunk, finally began having conversations that actually made sense, and Yulian accurately exploited every opening they gave him.

Smoothly, yet without yielding an inch.

It was a successful meeting.

…It’s about time this ended.

Yulian rose from his seat with a satisfied expression, and the envoys began putting on their coats.

“Phew.”

Just as I unconsciously began to relax—

“…t.”

“……?”

“Oswald—!”

Wh-what?

I turned toward the source of the sound.

Splash! Splash!

A suspicious man tore through the hunting grounds and burst out of the bushes, covered in blood.

“You murderer!”

The blade in his hand gleamed ominously.

His gaze was fixed directly on Yulian.

“……!”

My heart sank.

I felt something inside my chest being pulled violently.

The soul.

The contract.

He’s in danger…!

There was no time to think or assess the situation.

I threw myself at the assailant.