TYMC 06

Chapter 06

Unexpectedly, it was time to do my actual job.

‘This time I’m definitely charging extra pay. My mission isn’t to protect the target!’

But now that I knew someone was after the guy who’d won my ten million gold, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.

Before making my move, I waved my hand back and forth over the sleeping Lis’s face just to make sure he was really asleep.

‘Let’s see. Smooth skin, neatly arranged hair, soft-looking eyelashes, and red lips…’

I’d thought he was pretty from the first time I saw him, but his sleeping face was even more… ah, wait, that’s not the point.

Anyway, his steady breathing continued softly, so fortunately he seemed to be in a deep sleep.

I immediately lifted my maid dress that reached my ankles and pulled out the weapon hidden against my thigh.

Then I slowly walked toward the presence outside the window, where faint moonlight seeped in.

‘Let’s see… about four large steps away? Closer than I thought.’

The enemy had gotten this close and I only noticed now… had I gotten too absorbed in maid work?

It didn’t take long to find the suspicious intruder. I quickly figured out his location and quietly opened the window before stepping out onto the terrace.

Since it was the middle of the night, making too much noise could get me discovered.

So, slightly tense, I looked up toward the rooftop where I’d sensed the presence…

“…Where exactly did you roll in from?”

What I saw wasn’t the enemy…

No, actually, it was the enemy, but—

“Cough… s-save… m-me… urgh.”

The guy sprawled across the rooftop saw me and desperately stretched out his hand as if he’d found a savior.

Crack.

A horrifying sound of bones shifting came from his trembling arm.

He had a sword at his waist and his face hidden under a robe, so he was definitely an assassin after my ten mil—no, after Lis.

But somehow, he looked like he was on the verge of dying already, bleeding heavily.

This was strange. I hadn’t even hit him yet.

At that moment, the guy suddenly jumped to his feet and charged at me with his sword raised.

“Urgh, die!”

“Wow, impressive. You can still move looking like that?”

I casually stepped aside, and he rolled right across the roof. For a last desperate attack, he had way too many openings to be worth dealing with.

As I slowly approached him after he collapsed again, he whimpered and let out a groan full of pain.

“P-please… spare me…!”

Seriously, I never thought I’d hear those words from a fellow assassin…

Thud!

Subduing someone already half-dead was easier than breathing.

Without even needing a weapon, I struck the back of his head with my scabbard, and he instantly lost consciousness.

Looking at the deep cuts beneath his torn black clothes, it seemed he’d been attacked by someone strong—definitely not an amateur.

“This is really weird.”

This shouldn’t be possible. After all, there were no guards or escort knights protecting the Duke Cassio estate.

‘Then who exactly beat this assassin up?’

Rustle.

Just as I tilted my head in confusion, I sensed movement below.

This presence wasn’t unfamiliar. It wasn’t an outsider.

‘W-what!? Since when…?!’

Was I caught? But I definitely checked that my ten million gold was deeply asleep…!

Thump thump.

My heartbeat mixed with anxiety and panic roared in my ears.

So tense I forgot to breathe, I stiffly turned my head toward the sound.

Thunk.

As the bedroom door closed, the corners of Lis’s lips curved upward.

‘To think Eil would actually sing.’

The image of Eil glaring at him with an exasperated expression when he asked for a lullaby kept replaying in his mind, making a chuckle escape him.

To think she’d dare show such a face to her master.

Eil was truly the first maid to openly show her dislike toward her master’s orders.

Was she unable to control her expressions, or simply unwilling to?

Either way, she definitely wasn’t ordinary, but strangely enough, he didn’t dislike it.

Feeling like he’d developed a rather bad hobby, Lis let out a quiet laugh.

“How long would it take her to bring Del back? Around ten minutes?”

There was something Lis had deliberately neglected to tell Eil.

To catch Del, you had to approach slowly.

If you chased him recklessly trying to catch him, Del would think it was a game and happily run away.

Not knowing this, Eil was probably unintentionally playing with Del right now.

“…That should be enough.”

The smile had already disappeared from Lis’s face as he stared absentmindedly toward the moonlit window.

Someone’s shadow flickered faintly across the pure white terrace railing.

Because of the bothersome presence that had been irritating him for a while, he’d had no choice but to end his conversation with Eil quickly.

He couldn’t let his angel find out.

“Tch.”

Running a hand through his hair with an irritated expression, Lis stepped onto the terrace without hesitation.

At that very moment, someone lunged down from above as if waiting for him.

“Die!”

Clang!

The assassin’s sword collided with Lis’s dagger, producing a harsh metallic sound. As Lis leapt onto the rooftop, the assassin immediately pursued him.

“You monster! Running won’t save you!”

“…You’re noisy.”

Suddenly, the assassin heard a sharp whoosh cutting through the air beside his ear.

Thinking the young master had made a clumsy swing out of fear, the assassin opened his mouth to sneer—

“Urgh… AAAAGH…!”

Clang!

Instead of counterattacking, the assassin dropped his sword and collapsed, clutching at his severed nose.

“AAAGH, URGH!”

A merciless assault followed one after another—striking his solar plexus and stabbing his legs so he couldn’t escape.

Unable to endure any longer, the assassin finally screamed in agony.

“S-spare m—mmph!”

But suddenly his mouth was violently sealed shut by some unknown force.

Unable to breathe as his airway closed, the assassin’s red face turned deathly pale.

“I told you to be quiet.”

Lis’s purple eyes stared coldly at the horrifying sight, and for a brief moment they flashed blood-red.

At the same time, the mysterious force around the assassin’s throat tightened even further.

“M-monster…”

“Who? Me?”

Lis had somehow appeared before him, smiling faintly as he tilted his head.

His dark crimson eyes, devoid of light, gleamed even more savagely.

“Urgh… monster bastard! God will never forgive someone like you…!”

“What are you talking about? I’m someone who was saved by an angel.”

Lis’s languid voice, completely out of place in the situation, sank quietly into the trembling assassin’s ears.

The assassin recalled what the information broker had told him and bit down hard on his lower lip.

‘The young master of Duke Cassio’s family is still young, so he shouldn’t be that dangerous.’

So they’d said that the power called “monster” was still something he couldn’t properly control.

And since Duke Cassio’s estate had no guards or escort knights, infiltrating it would be easy.

They said the strange rumors surrounding him were all exaggerated.

‘I trusted those words and came here, but this is completely different!’

He’d truly been deceived.

Crack!

As black smoke-like shadows tightened further around his throat, the sound of bones breaking rang out, and blood burst from the assassin’s mouth.

“Urgh… kh…!”

No matter how hard he tried, blocking an invisible attack was impossible.

So this was the power of the so-called “Monster Duke Family.”

Overwhelmed by unimaginable terror, the assassin stared blankly at Lis, forgetting even the blood flowing from him, before finally losing consciousness.

“What a pointless amount of vitality.”

Seeing that the assassin was still breathing, Lis raised his dagger without hesitation.

Just as the blade sliced through the air, an unfamiliar scent brushed against his nose.

‘…Sweet?’

A sweet fragrance that was difficult to encounter caused Lis’s body to freeze.

‘Ah, did Eil catch Del already?’

The presence below belonged to none other than Eil.

Then this unfamiliar scent must be hers as well.

‘If Del was caught, that means Eil will be coming here soon.’

It felt like the haze clouding his mind slowly began to clear.

Suddenly, he remembered Eil chattering earlier that day about sharing cake with the other maids during snack time.

‘So that’s why she smells sweet.’

Lis’s crimson eyes, which had looked so terrifying, returned to their usual violet color as though nothing had happened.

He needed to get back to the bedroom before Eil saw him.

“…Killing him will have to wait.”