Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The Two of Them (2)
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She was so small and skinny, yet her breasts were something else entirely. That was quite unexpected.
‘Does everything she eats go straight to her chest?’
Anyway, good… No, not that.
I shook my head vigorously for a moment, snapping out of my stray thoughts.
“I’m about to start galloping, so don’t talk. You might bite your tongue.”
“Ah, um. Okay.”
From then on, Rose kept her mouth firmly shut, focusing solely on clinging to my body. A pleasant warmth emanated from Rose’s body pressed tightly against mine.
The wind hitting the front of my body was bitingly cold, but my back felt nice and toasty. So, I didn’t feel cold at all.
‘I want to fold her up small and carry her around.’
Maybe take her along to inspect the mine. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about the cold.
I didn’t even realize I was thinking such things.
Clop clop.
The horse carrying Rose and me began to gallop smoothly. Toward the Arsil Orphanage, where Helena was waiting.
The sun was slowly setting, shadows starting to lengthen. Chill spread through every spot where twilight settled.
“It’s cold.”
Helena pulled her robe tight and stared ahead.
Arsil Orphanage.
The nameplate on the building was clearly visible even from afar. What a tiresome, horrific name.
‘It looks a bit different like this.’
She never imagined she’d return here of her own accord. And for the purpose of ousting the orphanage director, no less.
That fact excited Helena. It was a thrill she’d never felt even when taking on any commission.
‘It was my home for ten years, but I don’t feel the least bit sentimental.’
Helena’s parents had abandoned her here when she was very young.
For her, Arsil Orphanage had been her only home, and Kevin, who ran it, an unchallengeable master.
Age 10.
That’s when Helena caught Kevin’s eye and was raised as an assassin.
No one protected her. She learned the hard way back then that the only one who could protect her was herself.
Age 15.
The day she returned from her first commission, having assassinated her target. Kevin called her to his room, saying he’d give her a reward.
And he violated her body and soul.
“……”
Whenever she recalled that time, Helena hated and loathed herself.
Even though she could kill with a single stroke, even though she could escape unfavorable situations and slit her opponent’s throat.
She couldn’t defy Kevin.
She was terrified of his face twisting savagely at the slightest provocation, of his sticky hands pulling at her thighs.
Age 17.
She killed targets on Kevin’s orders, seduced and lured out those he designated, and ultimately murdered them.
She thought that was the only future left for her. Leaving this place—an orphanage and assassin guild—and living another life didn’t seem feasible.
Dane Schmichael.
Until she took his assassination commission.
‘Our orphanage’s fate rides on this commission. You must kill him.’
‘Who is it?’
‘Dane Schmichael. The Silver Tiger perched in the northern Calmar Mountains.’
Kevin’s eyes gleamed ferociously as he spoke the name.
‘No guild has succeeded on this commission yet. We’ll be the first.’
‘Can we really kill a target like that?’
‘We’ve already received a massive advance. We’re taking it on regardless of success.’
Kevin especially favored assassination commissions targeting nobles.
He was the type who derived pleasure from dragging people from a world he could never reach into his own cesspool.
In the end, the assassination failed. Even attempting it with the orphanage’s most skilled comrades was futile.
As if tempered by countless assassination attempts, Dane Schmichael didn’t even flinch. If he’d at least shown annoyance, her pride wouldn’t have been this wounded.
‘Monster bastard.’
His utterly impassive face, swatting away assassins like flies—it infuriated her more.
Helena was no slouch herself in this line of work. Not something to brag about, but the moniker “Golden Anemone” carried some weight in the industry.
‘Could I win if I tried again?’
While languishing in prison day by day, teasing the guards out of boredom, Helena often imagined such scenarios.
That fancy never came true. Instead, it manifested in another way.
‘What’s so contemptible about doing whatever it takes to survive?’
Dane suddenly appeared in her prison cell and declared he’d hire her.
Even setting aside the intriguing conditions, she couldn’t believe he felt no desire toward her.
Wondering how far he could suppress his lust, Helena tested him several times.
‘What’s your answer?’
But Dane’s gaze toward her remained as dry as if appraising an object.
He conversed as if interested only in her abilities, and things played out that way in reality too.
His tone was commanding but not overly coercive, his face cold yet his gaze held faint pity at the edges.
‘What are you so afraid of?’
And he’d ask, as if seeing right through her. After effortlessly subduing her as she grabbed for his collar.
How did he know her past, her fear of Kevin?
It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Her shameful past being unearthed felt embarrassing.
However… Helena thought it fortunate that the one peering into her was Dane, of all people.
“What does a young master like you know about running an assassin guild.”
She muttered to shake off the strange feeling creeping in.
“…He’s not really a young master.”
It’d be a lie to say she felt no pounding in her chest when he pinned her against the desk.
The flawless grip binding her wrists, the firm sensation of his thighs wrapping her legs. Even that delicate yet sharp face, like a bard’s, right before her eyes.
How could she keep her composure with him staring at her from such close range?
If she’d received a commission to seduce him, Helena would have accepted gladly.
‘Well, his face is kinda my type.’
That was one reason Helena decided to serve Dane as her master. Though she’d never tell him that.
‘It wouldn’t work with me anyway.’
She’d heard he mistreated his previous seven wives, but he was different with his new one.
The maids toiling in the laundry swapped all sorts of gossip to soothe their grueling days. Dane’s eighth wife was the hot topic among them.
‘He took her straight to the bedroom the moment she arrived? They spend every night together! This is a first!’
‘Did she slather honey on her body or something? Hehehe.’
‘They say the bedsheets are soaked every day. He even dismisses the attendants and bathes with her?’
‘Oh my!’
The idea that man could like someone.
She couldn’t believe it.
Could he be affectionate to his wife while so heartless to her? Show his wife a face he’d never reveal to her?
So Helena was intensely curious about the rumored wife. Mixed with jealousy, wondering just how much of a beauty she was, better than her.
‘Why the rush? Because of the wife at the door?’
That’s why she dawdled in Dane’s office when his wife arrived. She stayed even after his firm warning not to cross the line.
And the eighth wife she finally saw…
‘Hmm, just average?’
Her large green eyes rippled innocently, her still-youthful cheeks soft and plump. She looked so naive, like she couldn’t harm a bug.
‘Is that his type?’
She had a slightly different vibe from the noble ladies Helena had seen before.
Right, that gaze.
Those clear, upright eyes, untainted by corruption. Eyes that looked steadfastly at one thing alone.
The eighth wife, Rose, possessed such eyes.
However…
‘Does she know me?’
Helena couldn’t quite understand why Rose’s gaze toward her held a sense of familiarity.
No matter how she racked her memory, she’d never seen this woman before. And judging by her new master’s attitude, he hadn’t explained her either.
Anyway, after meeting the famed Madam in person, Helena assessed her.
‘She’s cute.’
And furthermore,
‘I’m better, right?’
A somewhat biased judgment, though she considered it objective.
Her own vibrant golden hair seemed superior to Rose’s red locks, her deep blue eyes more beautiful than Rose’s green ones. She felt her own features far outshone too.
She’d heard compliments on her beauty so often her ears blistered. So Helena took considerable pride in her looks.
But staying by Dane’s side now was Rose, that woman. Not her.
‘If I do a good job on the task he assigned… will he look at me even once?’
Tap, tap.
Lost in such thoughts, Helena crossed her arms and drummed her fingers. Then she spotted the horse’s shape growing larger in the distance.
“Mast…”
Helena stopped herself mid-call for Dane. She realized he wasn’t riding alone.
She saw red hair fluttering behind his body. She knew who it was even without seeing the face.
“……”
For some reason, it felt like she shouldn’t reveal herself now.
Helena melted deeper into the building’s shadow. And waited for Dane’s horse to draw near.
But.
“-!”
Their eyes met.
It wasn’t an illusion. Dane had pinpointed her exact location and was gradually slowing his horse.
‘How did he know?’
Concealing one’s presence was basic assassin training. Helena’s skills were advanced; when she truly hid, no one in the guild could find her.
Yet Dane had fixed his gaze on her from the start, as if he’d known her position all along.
“……”
Even that gaze felt intoxicating. She felt like she was going mad.