Chapter 10: Get a Grip!

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

Thud!

“Eek!”

I crashed directly into the attacker.

My vision spun wildly.

Without knowing which way was the sky or the ground, I grabbed the attacker and rolled around with him several times.

For a moment, the blade came dangerously close to my eyes.

‘Ah, this is going to hurt… right?’

I squeezed my eyes shut.

I tensed my whole body, preparing for the pain that was about to come.

But—

“…Huh?”

The pain I was waiting for never came.

There was no feeling of being stabbed or cut.

Instead, what I heard was rough breathing and—

“Let me go! I said let me go!”

A desperate shout.

I carefully opened one eye.

Then I blankly looked at the situation.

Ozvalt Yulian was standing over the attacker, who was rolling around on the ground.

His face was neat and calm, as if nothing had happened.

With one hand, he was holding both of the attacker’s wrists at once and twisting them behind his back.

“Graaagh—!”

Even though the attacker struggled, Ozvalt Yulian’s body did not move even a little.

He even casually kicked the fallen sword away with his foot.

Tap. Rumble….

The sword rolled far away.

His calm, cream-colored eyes turned toward me.

“Are you all right?”

“Ah….”

No.

My eyes shook violently.

I swallowed my words and wiped away the tears gathering in my eyes.

‘What is this?’

There was dirt all over my clothes, my skin was badly scraped and bright red, and a little blood was trickling out.

There was no way I could say I was all right.

Without even having time to think, I had jumped at the attacker.

The reason was obvious.

‘The soul bond….’

I swallowed my tears.

I never knew it would be this frightening.

My body had moved before I could even make the decision myself.

I slowly raised my head… but immediately lowered my gaze again.

“…Hic.”

Ozvalt Yulian was looking down at me.

As always, his face was calm and neat.

An alarm started ringing inside my head.

‘W-wait. What if he finds out…?’

If things worked like this, that man could kill me right away.

He could deliberately create a dangerous situation, and if I simply jumped into it, I would throw myself into danger and die on my own.

It was an unexpected loophole in the contract.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

‘I-I have to hide it.’

Just as I thought that—

[Hide what?]

Ozvalt Yulian’s voice came from right inside my ear.

“Eek!”

What is this…?!

I shuddered and reflexively looked toward Ozvalt Yulian.

“Y-Your Highness…?”

How did he know when I hadn’t even said anything…?

A chill ran down my spine.

‘Can you hear my thoughts…?’

Please.

That can’t be it, right?

But his low, lazy voice immediately followed.

[Yes.]

I’m doomed…!

I hurriedly asked,

“W-when did you start hearing them?”

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

No, how can he answer without opening his mouth…?

[Yes, just like that.]

Eek.

I shivered all over from the chills.

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

Was this some kind of divine magic?

[To be exact, it is the power of the contract. Divine power itself cannot create magical effects.]

Oh, so that’s how it was…

Apparently, I had added this kind of clause somewhere along the way.

But where exactly did he start hearing my thoughts?

As I nervously bit my lip, he gave a small laugh.

[Did you curse me?]

No! It’s not 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….’

Of course, I meant worried about myself.

‘And I’m a little embarrassed thinking that you heard that.’

[…]

I thought he would mock me or look down on me, but Ozvalt Yulian stayed silent for a moment.

[Worried.]

His voice was quiet.

[Were you worried about me?]

There was something almost surprised in his tone.

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

My heart beat rapidly.

Was he angry?

Would he scold me for daring to try to deceive him?

‘Yes, I was worried.’

I swallowed my nervousness and quickly continued.

‘I belong to Third Prince Ozvalt Yulian now. I was really, really worried that I might not be able to protect you!’

So please, just let this go…!

I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed.

That short silence felt like an eternity.

After a little while—

[I see. So that’s what you were thinking.]

Ozvalt Yulian finally spoke.

I slowly opened one eye.

Maybe I was just imagining things, but somehow his voice sounded a little touched….

[Not bad.]

I knew it!

I swallowed.

[But there is no need for Vanillin to put herself in danger.]

‘That may be true, but….’

[As Vanillin said—]

He spoke calmly.

[Vanillin is my person.]

His tone was as calm as always.

That was why it didn’t sound like a joke.

It sounded as if he were simply stating a fact.

‘…Ugh.’

I had only said it to get out of the situation….

But those words—

My person.

For some reason, they stayed in my ears.

My heart felt strangely ticklish, so I quickly nodded.

‘Thank you….’

Then I quickly added,

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

My body would probably jump in by itself anyway, so it wasn’t 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.]

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

[I will look forward to it.]

Even though he was quite far away, I could clearly see his saintly eyes curve softly as he smiled.

…Did he believe me?

It seemed like he did.

Thank goodness….

Worried that the topic might come back to me, I quickly changed the subject.

‘But what about this attacker…?’

[Who knows.]

Ozvalt Yulian replied indifferently.

[I’ve never seen him before.]

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

I examined the attacker’s expression.

There was unnatural hatred and anger in his eyes, and also—

‘Greed?’

Then the attacker suddenly struggled again.

He twisted his body desperately and shouted,

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

The way he unnaturally called him by his full name—

And the fact that he had come deep inside the Imperial Palace covered in blood, somehow passing the knights guarding the entrance without causing any trouble—

‘Could this be…?’

No matter how I thought about it, the only explanation was that another member of the Imperial Family had opened the way for him.

Then I heard a relaxed answer.

[You’re thinking correctly.]

‘Then….’

[It is probably the Second Prince.]

Just as I thought.

In the end, this was also part of the battle for the throne.

And perhaps because he had expected something like this, his voice entered my ears with a hint of laughter.

[I never thought things would go smoothly in the first place.]

Was this what the Imperial Family was really like?

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

‘Then what I have to do is….’

I bit my small lips tightly.

Looking around, I heard people whispering.

“What happened?”

“Some kind of attacker….”

“Did you hear him call His Highness his enemy?”

“Third Prince Ozvalt Yulian…?”

The members of the delegation were whispering among themselves, and the atmosphere was becoming strange.

[It’s all right.]

Ozvalt Yulian spoke calmly.

[I already finished the diplomatic meeting. He simply chose the wrong timing.]

He meant that they would just let this pass.

Certainly, from his position, that might be the best choice.

…But.

‘I have to earn his trust.’

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

‘Something that people of high status can’t do, but Vanillin from the bottom can.’

It was a good thing I had worked under Dai.

I was an expert at all kinds of bad things.

My heart pounded.

Honestly, I wanted to ignore all this and run away.

But—

‘It’s already too late.’

My paradise wasn’t out there.

I slowly opened my eyes.

And then—

Slap!

“Please, get a grip!”

“Ghk…?!”

I slapped the attacker’s cheek with all my strength.

His head snapped to the side.

The hunting ground instantly became silent.

[Vanillin?]

Ozvalt Yulian called me as if asking what I was doing.

The delegation began whispering.

“What is that maid doing?”

“Do they know each other?”

“Come to think of it, she immediately ran in and stopped him.”

Good. I had their attention.

Then, next—

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

I grabbed the attacker’s collar even tighter.

I pulled him up so hard that he couldn’t even speak because he was struggling to breathe.

The attacker struggled in confusion.

“What are you suddenly—Ghk!”

“He is Third Prince Ozvalt Yulian!”

I shouted as loudly as I could from the bottom of my stomach.

“He is the person who gave you money and medicine whenever you were dying on the streets! He was the one who reached out his hand to you and told you to live like a human being!”

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

But what mattered was not whether it was true.

What mattered was the atmosphere.

“Oh my goodness.”

“What a shameless man….”

The delegation was completely absorbed in the story by now.

I deliberately lowered my voice.

“James… you know.”

The delegation leaned closer to listen.

“You know how ungrateful it is to attack your benefactor just because he is the family of your enemy.”

I didn’t directly say the name, but this should have been enough.

The person who killed this man’s parents was not Ozvalt Yulian, but another member of the Imperial Family.

This story would spread to other kingdoms through the delegation.

I pressed my lips together and knelt before Ozvalt Yulian.

“Third Prince Ozvalt Yulian, I am sorry.”

I bowed my head deeply.

“I will leave his punishment to Your Highness.”

“Hm.”

Ozvalt Yulian narrowed his eyes and smiled.

[You did something interesting.]

He whispered into my ear through the contract, sounding amused.

Then he opened his mouth.