Chapter 10. Wake Up!

The blade flashed before my eyes, the smell of blood, and then—

Thud!

“Eek!”

I collided head-on with the assailant.

My vision spun wildly.

Without even knowing which way was up or down, I grabbed the man and rolled across the ground with him several times.

For a moment, the blade came frighteningly close to my face.

Is this going to hurt…?

I squeezed my eyes shut.

I tensed my entire body, bracing myself for the pain that was about to come.

But—

“…Huh?”

The pain I had been waiting for never came.

There was no sensation of being stabbed or cut.

Instead, what I heard was rough breathing and—

“Let go of me! I said let go!”

A furious shout.

I cautiously opened one eye.

Then I stared blankly at the situation.

Yulian was standing over the assailant, who was sprawled on the ground.

His face was as neat and composed as ever, as though nothing had happened.

With one hand, he had seized both of the man’s wrists at once and twisted them up behind his back.

“Grrrgh—!”

Despite the man’s desperate struggles, Yulian’s body did not move an inch.

He even casually kicked the sword lying on the ground with the tip of his foot.

Tap. Clatter, clatter….

The blade rolled a considerable distance away.

His calm, cream-colored eyes turned toward me.

“Are you all right?”

“Ah….”

No.

My eyes trembled violently.

I swallowed my words and wiped away the tears that had gathered in my eyes.

What is this?

Dirt was smeared all over my clothes, my skin was scraped raw and bright red, and blood was trickling out.

There was no way I could say I was fine.

I had thrown myself at the assailant without a second thought.

The reason was obvious.

Soul subordination….

I swallowed my tears.

I never imagined it would be this terrifying.

My body had moved before I could even make a decision of my own.

I slowly raised my head… only to immediately lower my gaze again.

“…Sniff.”

Yulian was looking down at me.

His face was calm and composed, just as always.

An alarm began ringing inside my head.

W-wait. If he finds out about this…?

If things worked like this, that man could kill me at any moment.

All he had to do was deliberately create a dangerous situation, and I would throw myself into danger and die on my own.

An unexpected loophole in the contract.

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

I-I have to hide it.

That was when—

[Hide what?]

Yulian’s voice sounded directly inside my ear.

“Eek!”

What is this…?!

I jolted and instinctively looked toward Yulian.

“Y-Your Highness…?”

I hadn’t even said a word. How…?

A chill ran down my spine.

Did you just hear my thoughts…?

Please.

That can’t be it, right?

But a low, languid voice immediately followed.

[Yes.]

I’m doomed…!

I hurriedly asked,

“Wh-when did you…?”

[Quiet. I can hear you even if you don’t open your mouth.]

No, but how can you answer me without moving your lips…?

[Yes, just like that.]

Eeeek.

A shiver ran through my body.

So he could hear my voice even when I didn’t speak.

Is this what divine magic is like?

[More precisely, it’s the power of the contract. Divine power itself cannot produce magical effects.]

I-I see….

Apparently, he had added a clause like this somewhere along the way.

But more importantly, exactly how much of my thoughts had he heard?

When I nervously bit my lip, he let out a small chuckle.

[Did you happen to swear at me?]

No! It wasn’t anything like that….

[Then why are you trembling so much?]

Well….

Sniff.

I swallowed my tears and desperately thought of an excuse.

I-I was really worried….

About my own safety, of course.

It’s just a little embarrassing to think that you heard me say that.

[…]

I had expected him to mock me or think I was pathetic, but Yulian remained silent for a moment.

[Worried, huh.]

His voice was quiet.

[Were you worried about me?]

There was something almost puzzled in his tone.

His voice was flat, making it difficult to tell what he was feeling.

My heart began to pound.

Is he angry…?

He’s not going to punish me for daring to deceive him, is he?

Yes, I was worried.

I swallowed my anxiety and hurriedly continued.

I’m His Highness the Third Prince’s person now, after all. I was really, really worried that I might not be able to protect you!

So please, just let this slide…!

I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed.

The brief silence felt like an eternity.

After a short while—

[I see. So that was what you were thinking.]

Yulian finally spoke.

I cautiously opened one eye.

How should I put it?

Maybe I was reading too much into it, but he almost sounded a little moved…

[Not bad.]

S-so I was right?

I swallowed hard.

[That doesn’t mean you need to put yourself in danger, Vanillin.]

That may be true, but….

[As you said—]

He spoke casually.

[You are my person, Vanillin.]

His tone was as calm as ever.

And that was why it didn’t sound like a joke.

There was a composed certainty to his voice, as though he were simply stating a fact.

…Ugh.

I had only said it to get myself out of trouble…

My person.

Those words lingered strangely in my ears.

My heart began to feel ticklish for no reason, so I quickly nodded.

Thank you….

Then I hurriedly added,

If something dangerous happens again, I’ll protect you again!

My body will probably jump in on its own anyway, so it’s not exactly a lie….

In any case, I needed to earn his trust as quickly as possible.

So that even if he discovered this loophole, he wouldn’t kill me.

[All right.]

Yulian smiled gently, completely unaware of what I was really thinking.

[I’ll look forward to it.]

Even though he was standing quite far away, I could clearly see his sacred-looking eyes curve softly as they narrowed.

…Did he buy it?

I think he did.

Thank goodness….

Worried that the conversation might turn back to me again, I quickly changed the subject.

But what about this assailant…?

[Who knows?]

Yulian responded indifferently.

[It’s the first time I’ve seen him, at least.]

…Then why was this man glaring at Yulian like that?

I studied the assailant’s expression.

In his eyes were hatred and anger that seemed strangely unnatural, and…

Greed?

Just then, the man began struggling again.

He twisted his body violently, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Let go of me, Oswald Yulian! He killed my parents…!”

The fact that he had unnaturally used Yulian’s full name—

“I’ll kill you!”

And the fact that, despite being covered in blood like this, he had somehow made his way deep into the Imperial Palace, past the knights guarding the entrance, without causing any commotion…

Could it be…?

No matter how I thought about it, there was only one explanation.

Another member of the imperial family had opened the way for him.

Then came Yulian’s leisurely response.

[You’re thinking along the right lines.]

Then….

[It’s probably the Second Prince.]

Just as I thought.

In the end, this too was part of the struggle for the imperial throne.

And perhaps because he had expected something like this to happen, his voice carried a hint of amusement as it slipped into my ears.

[I never expected things to go smoothly from the beginning.]

Is this what the imperial family is really like?

It was a little different from the beautiful stories I had seen in fairy tales.

Then what I need to do is….

I bit down firmly on my small lips.

Looking around, I could hear people murmuring.

“What on earth happened?”

“Some sort of assailant….”

“Did you hear him say ‘my parents’ killer’?”

“His Highness the Third Prince…?”

The envoys were whispering among themselves, and the atmosphere had become strange.

[It’s fine.]

Yulian spoke calmly.

[I’ve already finished the diplomatic negotiations. He simply chose the wrong timing.]

He meant to let the matter end here.

Certainly, from his perspective, that might have been the best option.

…But.

I need to earn his trust.

And I had to do it before Yulian noticed the loophole in the contract.

Something that those lofty people could never do.

Something only Vanillin, who came from the bottom, could do.

It was a good thing I had worked under Dai.

All kinds of dirty work had been my specialty.

My heart pounded.

Truthfully, I wanted to wash my hands of this whole mess and run away…

But it’s too late.

My paradise isn’t there.

I slowly opened my eyes.

And then—

Smack!

“Please, get a grip!”

“Ghk…?!”

I slapped the assailant across the cheek with all my strength.

His head snapped to the side.

The entire hunting ground fell silent in an instant.

[Vanillin?]

Yulian called out to me as though asking what on earth I was doing.

The envoys began whispering among themselves.

“What is that maid doing?”

“Does she know him?”

“Come to think of it, she rushed in and blocked him just now.”

Good.

I’ve got their attention.

Now, the next step….

“Do you even know who the person standing right in front of you is?!”

I grabbed the man by the collar and yanked him closer.

Hard enough that he could barely breathe, let alone speak.

The assailant struggled in confusion.

“What the hell are you—Ghk!”

“His Highness the Third Prince!”

I shouted from the bottom of my lungs.

“The person who gave you money and medicine every time you were dying on the streets! The person who reached out his hand and told you to live like a human being!”

Of course, I had just made all of it up.

But what mattered wasn’t whether it was true.

What mattered was the impression it created.

“My goodness.”

“What a shameless wretch….”

Before I knew it, the envoys were completely engrossed in the scene.

I deliberately lowered my voice.

“James… you know that.”

The envoys perked up their ears.

“You know how ungrateful it is to attack the person who saved you simply because he’s related to your enemy.”

I hadn’t directly named anyone, but this should be enough.

The person who killed this man’s parents wasn’t Yulian.