Chapter 7: Shall We Make a Deal…?

“……”

Ozvalt Yulian’s eyebrow twitched.

‘She didn’t run away.’

I thought she would have run as fast as her legs could carry her.

And what was with that posture, like a five-year-old child?

Unable to understand the situation with his common sense, Yulian let out a dry laugh.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Can’t we… solve this by talking?”

Seeing Vanillin smile awkwardly, Yulian let out a quiet breath.

She wanted to talk.

“All right. That sounds good.”

As if it really was good.

If he were such a soft-hearted person, he would never have killed Desmond.

The corners of Yulian’s eyes gently curved.

‘How annoying.’

His secret had been discovered.

And by someone he had never expected.

The only thing he could give to someone who had seen the side of the Saint that even the Emperor didn’t know about was death.

“Next time, I’ll definitely try talking first.”

Yulian kept his gentle smile as he pulled out the dagger hidden against his thigh and swung it.

His target was her thin neck.

He intended to pierce it in one strike.

Whoosh!

The blue blade rushed toward her defenseless neck.

But just before the blade could pierce her skin—

“L-let’s talk….”

An unknown force pressed down on him.

His movement stopped, as if something had completely sealed his body.

It wasn’t me who stopped him.

It was as if some unknown power had restrained his movement, causing him to stop.

“……”

Ozvalt Yulian’s eyes turned cold.

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything….”

I rubbed my frightened chest and spoke in a tiny voice.

‘I knew he would do something like this… but he’s still so scary!’

My heart was pounding.

His foot had moved so quickly that—

before I could even blink, the blade was already touching my neck.

‘He looks like he wouldn’t even step on a flower….’

I should have known from the moment he endured several hits to his vital points without even collapsing.

He had a body that was far beyond human.

I just hadn’t noticed because it was hidden behind that soft and smooth mask.

“Vanillin.”

His cold voice fell over my messy pink hair.

I raised my head.

The smile had disappeared from his face.

“I’m not joking around, so answer me properly.”

“…Yes.”

“What did you do to me?”

It was the same bare face I had seen earlier.

Without a smile, Yulian’s eyes were frighteningly cold.

The air itself felt like it was pressing down on my throat.

I slightly shrank back and held out a piece of paper.

“…This.”

Yulian silently took the paper.

Unlike ordinary paper, its surface was especially smooth and firm.

The corner of his mouth twisted upward.

“Haha—a Sacred Contract?”

“Yes…. That’s right.”

I forced the corners of my trembling lips upward.

A special piece of trash that made the person who used it give their soul to the closest member of the Imperial Family.

But when I was about to die, I thought of something else.

—But why is it called a contract…?

—Do you always use everything only for its intended purpose?

That was what the Head Maid had said when I asked about the Sacred Contract.

In other words, its original purpose really was to make a contract.

Then… couldn’t I add more clauses?

It was a gamble with my life—

‘Looking at it now… it seems to have worked, right?’

Thank goodness….

I swallowed my tears and looked up at Yulian.

He was reading the contract in a cold voice, as if he were chewing and spitting out every word.

“Ozvalt Yulian cannot harm Vanillin, the other party to this contract, in any way….”

His voice was so cold.

It felt like winter had suddenly arrived.

“No hiring someone to kill her, no poisoning, no torture of any kind…. You carefully wrote down every possible way you could think of to kill someone.”

“Haha….”

“This is quite interesting.”

Your eyes don’t look like you think it’s interesting at all….

I avoided his gaze, desperately ignoring the killing intent pouring down over my head.

The man was speaking sarcastically in a gentle voice.

“You should have simply written that I would die if Vanillin died.”

“I have another sheet. Should I do that…?”

“……”

Yulian closed his mouth in disbelief.

I realized my mistake and mumbled,

“Ah…. You were being sarcastic…?”

“……”

The way he looked at me became even more frightening.

I obediently knelt down again.

“Your Highness, can’t you please let me live?”

“It’s not like I can kill Vanillin anymore.”

“It looks like you’re thinking of finding some way to kill me anyway….”

Yulian didn’t deny it. He simply raised an eyebrow.

So he really was thinking that… I’m scared.

I swallowed my sigh and tears together and gave him an awkward smile.

“Then, instead of killing me, would you perhaps like to make a deal with me?”

“A deal?”

“Yes, I mean, well….”

“Vanillin, you’re more cunning than I thought.”

He cut me off before I could explain what kind of deal I meant.

He lowered his eyes with a sorrowful expression.

…If it weren’t for the blood on his clothes and hands, he would have looked so pure and delicate.

I pressed my lips together.

“Yes. That’s right.”

I couldn’t give in here.

“Because I know my place.”

“Ah.”

“If you spare my life, I’ll become someone who can help Your Highness in any way I can.”

Yulian slowly tilted his head to one side.

“Someone who can help me.”

“I’m very capable!”

I clenched my fist and explained.

“If there is someone Your Highness doesn’t like, I can quietly and surely deal with them for you… and I can also get rid of all those annoying people who keep bothering you.”

Well, probably.

“So… could you perhaps take me in as one of your people, Your Highness?”

I looked up at him with the most harmless expression I could make.

I said I would help him, but of course, this was entirely for my own sake.

‘That personality…. I’m sure of it. He would never leave a dangerous person alive.’

After spending so long with Dai, I knew troublesome people very well.

A persistent man like him would definitely find a loophole in the contract and kill me somehow.

So before that happened, I had to become his ally.

I had to make him think that I was worth keeping alive.

The man stared at me for a while before slightly nodding.

“What did you do with those two?”

The subject suddenly changed.

He meant Marquis Desmond and Dai.

I answered half a beat late.

“I… hid them in the bushes.”

“Why?”

“One of them was a young nobleman who was already dead, so I wanted to hide his body. As for the Marquis, I didn’t know whether you intended to kill him or not.”

I answered and swallowed hard.

I had a feeling.

This was an interview.

‘I have to answer well.’

Was Vanillin worth making into an ally?

I had to prove it.

“The bleeding was severe, but it wasn’t enough to kill him immediately…. I don’t know if there was a reason you might need the Marquis alive, so I thought it was better not to do anything more.”

I continued speaking calmly.

“But if people found out that something had happened to Marquis Desmond, that would be a problem, so I hid him. I stopped the bleeding, but I didn’t treat him. I waited for you to wake up.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Yulian nodded with a calm expression.

As if that was enough.

But I didn’t stop.

“And—”

My voice trembled slightly, but each word was clear.

“I also sent a message to the banquet hall. I told them you might take some time because you were personally fixing your appearance out of consideration for the servants who had worked hard all day.”

“Oh?”

Yulian’s eyebrow lifted.

It was as if he hadn’t expected me to think that far.

“So you can return after an hour or two without causing any problems.”

I finished speaking and tightly closed my mouth.

My eyelashes trembled from the tension.

Did I pass?

…What if I failed?

‘Should I hit his vital points again…?’

While I was desperately thinking about it, the man stood up and brushed himself off.

“That’s a good response.”

“…! Then….”

“Let’s see for ourselves first.”

He gestured for me to stand up, even though I was still properly kneeling.

Then he turned around.

He didn’t even look back to see whether I was following.

‘I-I survived….’

At least my life had been extended for now.

I quickly ran after the Third Prince and led him.

“I hid them over here.”

“You hid them better than I expected.”

Yulian slightly moved the bushes aside.

Dai’s body was underneath them.

Marquis Desmond was still lying there without moving.

He was barely breathing.

“Oh dear.”

Yulian looked at the Marquis with pity and swung his dagger.

“He’s still alive. Quite persistent.”

“Urk—ugh…!”

The Marquis, who had been moving faintly, soon stopped breathing completely.

Without hesitation, Yulian kicked his cold body away.

It was hidden so deeply that no one would see it unless they deliberately searched for it.

Watching him, I carefully asked,

“Was killing him the right choice…?”

“No. Leaving him alone was the right choice. Vanillin couldn’t know what choice I would make.”

“But what if he had somehow escaped…?”

“If he managed to leave alive in that condition, then that would also have been God’s will.”

The man said it as if it were nothing important.

It was a little unexpected, so I looked up at him and asked,

“Do you… believe in God?”

“What do you think?”

I don’t think you believe in Him at all….

When I swallowed my words, Yulian gave me a perfect smile, as if he had drawn it himself.

“Follow me. We’re going back to the palace.”

“Th-then…?”

“We’ll discuss your deal in more detail.”