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Chapter 4
“Emma, you’re certain you delivered the request properly, aren’t you?”
Emma looked utterly exhausted.
This was the same question she had already answered an hour ago.
She could tolerate hearing it once or twice.
But there was a limit.
Especially when the intervals between repetitions kept getting shorter.
“Yes, Your Grace. I delivered it properly. There’s still a day and a half left, so please try to wait.”
Emma answered mechanically.
She looked like someone worn down by endless repetition.
“Only one day left already…”
Emma clicked her tongue internally.
He had conveniently ignored the half-day she had added.
And it wasn’t even an appropriate time to be worrying.
It was broad daylight.
No dramatic developments were likely to happen right now.
“Just wait a little longer, Your Grace.”
“What if she isn’t coming?”
Emma quietly sighed.
Apparently, the duke had no intention of listening to reason.
“Would you like me to make you a doll?”
“A… doll?”
“A doll that listens to your worries instead of me. As I’m sure you know, I have an incredible amount of work to do around this estate. At this rate, I may end up doing laundry all night.”
Her indirect way of saying enough already finally got through to him.
Deus coughed awkwardly.
“Right. Then you may go, Emma.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
“Ah, and about that doll…”
Oh no.
Emma turned around with a bad feeling.
“Could it perhaps be a red—”
“No.”
“…Cat?”
“No.”
Emma was firm.
Deus reluctantly nodded.
Leaving behind a man visibly dripping with disappointment, Emma finally escaped the duke’s office.
As soon as she reached the stair landing, she let her shoulders slump.
A heavy sigh escaped her.
“Honestly. What is it about love?”
Her face was filled with exhaustion.
“I’m surprised to hear the word love coming from Miss Emma’s mouth.”
A familiar voice spoke from below.
Emma looked down and immediately frowned.
Of all people, it had to be him.
Neatly combing back his dark blue-black hair, Chandler approached with an attractive smile.
“Surely Miss Emma hasn’t fallen in love with someone?”
“Excessive curiosity is a quick road to death, Sir Chandler.”
Emma tilted her head and spoke coldly.
Unfazed, Chandler continued climbing the stairs.
Soon only a single step separated them.
Looking up at her, he smiled.
“I’m not that easy to kill.”
He shrugged.
The ornate epaulets on his shoulders jingled slightly.
The smugness was unbearable.
Emma casually rolled her wrist.
“People die more easily than you’d think. Falling on marble stairs. Going over a railing. Getting thrown with a shoulder toss.”
The threat was subtle.
Chandler immediately stepped back down one stair.
“At least you’re quick to notice.”
Emma smacked her lips in disappointment.
Chandler stared at her like a man facing a perfect predator.
“Is His Grace inside?”
“Yes. He’s been sitting there since this morning.”
“Since morning?”
It was already well past noon.
And he still hadn’t moved?
“Yes. Since morning. It’s impressive and frustrating at the same time.”
“Wow. First love really is terrifying.”
“First love?”
Emma raised an eyebrow.
“She was His Grace’s first love. He’s talked about her ever since he was a child.”
“First love…”
The concept meant absolutely nothing to Emma.
After thinking about it for a moment, she shrugged.
“I don’t understand it at all.”
Chandler laughed.
“I never expected you would.”
“Oh? Aren’t you underestimating me a little?”
In an instant, Emma transformed her expression and blinked innocently.
The acting was flawless.
Chandler stared at her in disbelief.
“What a waste of talent. You should’ve been on stage as an actress instead of hiding in the shadows.”
“The world isn’t that generous.”
Emma replied immediately, completely unaffected by the reminder of her past.
Chandler’s lips moved silently.
It looked as though he wanted to say more.
Emma pretended not to notice and bowed slightly.
“Well then, I’ll be going. I have a lot of work waiting for me.”
Before Chandler could stop her, she hurried down the stairs.
Watching the black hem of her skirt disappear below, Chandler released a bitter sigh.
* * *
Martini wandered constantly through Rosalyn’s field of vision.
He polished decorative mobiles.
Moved tables.
At one point, he even replaced an entire carpet.
“Seriously. Dovak is already giving me a headache. Do you have to do this too?”
“Master, that’s not the urgent issue right now!”
Martini shouted while frantically waving a feather duster.
After enduring his endless fussing, Rosalyn finally surrendered.
“Fine! Fine! I’ll go! I’ll go tonight!”
The sentence lacked both subject and object, but Martini instantly understood.
His eyes lit up.
“You’re finally going, Master?”
“…Maybe.”
Rosalyn answered lazily while pushing his face away with her palm.
Moments ago he’d been shouting at the top of his lungs.
Now he looked entirely different.
“No! That’s not good enough! Today’s the last day! You absolutely have to go! You’ve already accepted the deposit!”
Martini continued shouting despite his face being squashed.
“Even criminals need business ethics! You can’t just take the money and run!”
Rosalyn stared at him like he was insane.
“No, seriously! This is the most famous fortune-telling shop in the Empire!”
She sighed.
“I don’t need titles like that. And we’re only famous among a handful of noblewomen.”
“Oh, come on, you’re being modest— OW! Master! That hurts!”
Rosalyn pushed his cheeks even harder.
A pitiful scream escaped from between his crushed lips.
Only then did she release him.
Martini rubbed his reddened cheek miserably.
“Wasn’t that a little excessive?”
The mark on his face was impossible to ignore.
Rosalyn quietly looked away.
“You’re awful. You never appreciate how much I care about you!”
“I’d actually prefer never knowing.”
The honest answer slipped out before she could stop it.
“Master! Seriously?!”
Seeing no escape, Rosalyn finally threw up both hands.
“Fine! I got it!”
“That’s a promise!”
Having finally gotten the answer he wanted, Martini hummed happily and hurried upstairs.
Left alone, Rosalyn buried her face in her hands.
She had always been certain she would never see him again.
After all, how often would a former assassin and wanted criminal cross paths with the empire’s only duke?
Yet fate had other ideas.
I wonder if that kid is really Duke Cervellion now.
She remembered the boy from her past.
A fragile child like a snowflake.
Someone who looked as though he might disappear if touched too roughly.
Surely he won’t recognize me… right?
That fear was the real reason she had kept postponing the simple job.
Deliver the letter.
Collect the reply.
That was all.
But she was afraid.
Afraid that Deus Cervellion would recognize her.
Afraid he still remembered what happened when they were children.
Afraid he would look at her with resentment.
Rosalyn closed her eyes and sighed.
As an assassin, she had seen countless faces staring at her with hatred as life faded from their eyes.
But those were only fleeting moments.
A few seconds before death.
What would resentment look like after six long years?
She wasn’t sure she could bear it.
“This is such a pain.”
Her low voice was heavy with hesitation.
Forget the two hundred gold.
Wouldn’t it be easier to pretend she’d never received the request?
The client certainly couldn’t report her.
Neither of them dealt in legitimate business.
But there was another problem.
Her reputation.
The reputation she had spent years building could collapse overnight.
No. That’s not happening. Do they know how hard I worked for this?
Memories flashed through her mind.
Together with Martini, she had pretended to tell fortunes and make prophecies.
Then she secretly worked behind the scenes to ensure those prophecies came true.
Naturally, word spread.
People flocked to the fortune teller whose predictions always came true whenever she flipped a card.
Before long, Rosalyn’s fortune-telling shop became known less for divination and more as a highly effective problem-solving agency.
Rosalyn didn’t particularly care.
Money was money.
And she would soon leave this land forever.
Whether anyone looked for her afterward was none of her concern.
“Hah… but I really don’t want to go.”
As though touching something filthy, she gingerly picked up a set of black infiltration clothes.
The irritation on her face was unmistakable.
“The second I get the success payment, I’m leaving this damned place for good.”
Grinding her teeth, Rosalyn’s deep green eyes flashed with a strange hint of madness.
