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Chapter 08
“Eil?”
Before he realized it, Eil had already stepped right in front of him and placed a hand on Lis’s forehead. Because of the considerable height difference between them, Eil was standing on tiptoe.
“Young Master, are you feeling unwell?”
“—!”
Startled by the sudden warmth against his forehead, Lis flinched and took a step back. But instead of withdrawing her hand, Eil simply followed him and closed the distance again.
“Your face is red. Your ears seem a little red too… Though you don’t have a fever.”
“That’s because of you, Eil…”
“Me?”
At being told she was the cause, Eil’s blue eyes immediately filled with indignation.
‘As if writing a report wasn’t enough trouble already. I really can’t afford any more mistakes.’
In an instant, Eil’s expression darkened. Lis’s violet eyes flickered strangely as he caught the change.
“Most people would be surprised after seeing someone else’s bare body.”
“…Ah.”
Only then did Eil realize her mistake, and her eyes darted around.
‘I see that sort of thing every day. It’d be stranger if I were surprised…!’
This wasn’t her fault—it was the environment she had grown up in.
Unfortunately, the gender ratio in Blackrose heavily favored men, and as a result, Eil had spent most of her life surrounded by nothing but them.
‘Today’s leg day!’
‘Protein! Protein!’
‘Eil, I gained weight. Awesome, right? Look at these abs. Incredible.’
‘Get lost. Seriously, get lost.’
Having lived together like family for years regardless of gender, Eil had seen their bodies often enough to be sick of them. To her, something as trivial as a bare chest wasn’t worth reacting to.
“Young Master, I’m offended.”
“You’re too late for that, Eil.”
Though she tried to salvage the situation, there was no way it would work.
Clicking her tongue inwardly, Eil swallowed her disappointment and forced down a dry gulp.
‘If I don’t act like an ordinary girl my age, people might get suspicious. I need to be careful.’
Instead of earning trust, she seemed to be pushing it away. Feeling a sense of crisis, Eil silently helped Lis finish getting dressed.
“Eil, I’m going to the arena today.”
The quiet statement made Eil pause while fastening the last of Lis’s buttons.
That was only natural.
The arena was a place where ruthless battles were fought endlessly. It wasn’t somewhere a young noble heir should be visiting.
“May I ask why you’re going there?”
“Someone said that having money alone was useless and that I should hire a bodyguard with it. So I’m going to hire one.”
“What? Who dared say something so ridiculous to you, Young Master?”
What lunatic would say such a thing to the heir of House Cassio? Whoever it was clearly had no regard for their own life.
Just as Eil frowned in disbelief—
‘What’s the point of having money? You’re weak. Don’t walk around alone anymore. Use all that money and hire a bodyguard or something.’
A memory suddenly surfaced.
Word for word, it was her own voice repeating exactly what she had said to Lis.
‘…It was me!?’
Instantly becoming the idiot in question, Eil forced the corners of her mouth upward while screaming internally.
She had never imagined he would remember that comment for so long.
‘Ten thousand gold coins… no, add another note to the target report. He’s much more petty and holds grudges longer than he looks.’
Thinking of another entry for her report, Eil concealed her awkward smile and stepped away from Lis’s collar.
“Then I’ll go prepare your meal first.”
“Okay.”
Closing the bedroom door behind her, Eil headed toward the dining hall to check whether the Young Master’s breakfast was ready.
“The arena, huh…”
The target was a Cassio.
A family so confident and arrogant that they didn’t even station guards around their own estate.
And now someone like him was heading to the arena to hire a bodyguard because of a passing assassin’s casual remark.
‘What is he thinking?’
Though she hadn’t shown it, his destination raised countless questions.
A bodyguard?
Someone from House Cassio shouldn’t need such a thing.
‘I’ve never seen the target’s power personally, but based on everything known about him, he’s definitely not weak.’
After all, why were the Cassios called monsters?
Because nobody who had witnessed their power had survived.
‘Then why was he getting attacked in the forest? Is it because he’s still young and can’t use it yet?’
If that was the case, then Lis’s explanation for hiring a bodyguard made some sense.
After nearly losing his life once, perhaps he had finally developed a sense of caution.
“…For now, I’ll keep watching.”
Considering the possibility that the target either lacked the power that made the Cassios infamous or had not yet awakened it, Eil stepped into the dining hall she had just reached.
Knock, knock.
At the sound of knocking, Lis gave a brief response, and the door opened.
Holding a thick stack of documents under his arm despite the early hour, Damon entered and gave a short bow as he looked at Lis’s back while the latter gazed out the window.
“Young Master, I have completed the cleanup of the assassins from the Black Forest and am here to report. They were all human traffickers by trade. Their bodies were chopped into pieces and scattered below the cliff. Torn fragments of their clothing were sent to their families.”
A mere scrap of cloth was far from enough to determine whether someone was alive or dead, making the act crueler than outright confirmation.
Sending fingers or other remains had been impossible due to the severe mutilation of the corpses.
The condition of the bodies clearly revealed that the battle had been entirely one-sided.
“Also, the matter you instructed us to handle this time involves a complicated procedure, so it will take some time. I’ll deliver the results as quickly as possible.”
Lis merely nodded leisurely at the calm report.
However, after finishing his report, Damon didn’t leave. Instead, he hesitated, lips parting and closing as he stalled for time.
After a moment, he finally spoke.
“…Young Master, if you had informed me beforehand that the ‘angel’ you met in the forest was an assassin—and that she had come here—I would have paid much closer attention.”
Only while carrying out Lis’s secret instructions the previous night had Damon finally learned Eil’s true identity.
Of course, Lis wasn’t the sort of master who explained every detail behind his actions.
But something this significant should have been shared much earlier.
Especially when Lis’s life was involved.
“Well, I hadn’t seen her for myself yet. I didn’t think she’d actually come all the way here.”
As if completely unaware of the cold sweat Damon had broken into upon learning the truth, Lis answered casually.
Damon knew perfectly well that Lis’s eyes didn’t belong to someone who had truly been uncertain.
“I also figured you’d make a fuss.”
“T-That’s…”
At the added remark, Damon’s dark blue eyes trembled slightly.
He was right.
Had he known beforehand, there was no chance he would have stayed quiet.
After all, what kind of insane aide would calmly allow an assassin to remain at his master’s side?
“Is there a problem?”
Lis looked completely unconcerned, as though asking what the issue was now that Damon knew.
‘The problem isn’t merely that you told me late…’
Lis had deliberately kept silent until Eil had settled into the ducal estate.
In other words, he had waited until the possibility of her being expelled due to suspicion had passed.
It had only been two days, but for an assassin whose specialty was striking quickly and disappearing, that was more than enough time.
‘By now, detailed maps of the estate are probably being sold at outrageous prices through information brokers.’
Deciding that he would soon need to clean out the black market, Damon swallowed a bitter smile.
“Of all people, keeping an assassin from Blackrose at your side is far too dangerous. Why make the maid who entered the estate your personal attendant?”
“Because she’s like a bug.”
“…Pardon?”
The answer came so quickly that Damon’s eyes widened.
He was certain he had just heard something strange.
‘You called her an angel before, and now she’s a bug…?’
He truly couldn’t understand what was going on inside his young master’s head.
The two descriptions couldn’t have been more contradictory.
“When she’s in front of me, she’s irritating. When she’s out of sight, she’s troublesome.”
There was no malice in Lis’s lazy tone.
He was genuinely comparing her to a bug.
Only then did Damon understand what he meant.
“When I say she’s irritating, it means she’s within my sight.”
A gentle smile curved Lis’s lips.
“And killing a bug is effortless.”
