TYMC 18

Chapter 18

Thanks to Del, who acted as a guide on the way back, we managed to leave the forest safely.

As soon as we returned to the mansion, Lis stopped by his office to gather some documents. He said he would be working in his bedroom until dawn and that there was no need for me to attend to him during the night.

But was that really okay?

I’d never heard of a maid going to sleep before her master when he was still awake.

Maybe it would be different for an ordinary maid, but I was his personal attendant. The more I thought about it, the more conflicted I became.

When I remained standing in one corner of the bedroom instead of leaving, Lis, who was leaning against the bed while flipping through a stack of documents, spoke up casually.

“If you want, you can stay by my side all night.”

With a gentle smile, Lis patted the space beside him.

The unspoken addition was that the bed was large enough for me to sleep there if I wanted.

“Good night.”

“Oh my, rejected.”

The moment I stepped back without hesitation and offered a brief farewell, Lis shrugged as though disappointed.

Pretending not to notice, I hurried back to my room.

Perhaps because the weather was getting colder by the day, the number of assassins targeting the duke’s estate had gradually decreased, allowing me to sleep relatively peacefully lately.

To be fair, the night garments assassins preferred were far too thin for winter.

But wearing fur coats would restrict movement, so that wasn’t an option either.

“Back in my day, we worked in winter wearing nothing but a single set of night clothes. Kids these days are getting soft.”

Pulling out some paper for my report, I began writing down the details I had already organized in my head.

“Come to think of it, I was asked before to check whether Del’s eyes glowed red…”

I had thought it was strange. Why would an ordinary fox’s eyes glow?

Still, questioning an assignment was unnecessary for an assassin.

“Now they’re having me monitor a fox, of all things.”

In any case, I had carefully observed Del’s pupils for half a month.

In the end, I never once saw them glow.

“I’ll mark that as not applicable… Then the only thing left is the report on Lis’s power that I’ve been putting off.”

I submitted regular reports to Black Rose every three days, but so far I had never mentioned anything regarding Lis’s power.

There was no hidden reason for that.

There simply wasn’t anything worth reporting.

“Half a month has passed, so I can’t keep delaying it. I need to write something.”

When I submitted reports to Black Rose, Death reviewed them first before forwarding them to the client.

If I failed to mention the power again this time, the client would undoubtedly start complaining.

Death would be the one dealing with those complaints, which wasn’t my problem—

No, that wasn’t right.

I couldn’t leave the captain in a difficult position.

“He gets injured at the slightest thing and seems terribly frail. It is believed that he has either not awakened his power yet or possesses no power at all… Honestly, I might as well submit a blank page.”

Normally, speculative statements should be avoided in reports.

But I hadn’t discovered the secret behind his power.

I couldn’t even confirm whether he had one.

Naturally, I could already picture Death smacking his forehead and asking what kind of report this was.

But what else could I do?

It was the truth.

“I should at least write an explanation underneath. It’s a bit pathetic, but I have my grievances too.”

The target usually worked from home.

Since he rarely went out, he had almost no contact with the outside world, and the duke’s estate was so peaceful that there was virtually never an opportunity for him to use any power.

Naturally, I had no chance to determine whether such a power existed.

Based on my observations over the past half month, I arrived at a conclusion that was entirely subjective yet somehow completely objective:

The target probably had no power.

“…If I write that I’m frustrated because of all these reasons, the captain should understand.”

Because an enormous fortune was at stake, there could not be even the slightest falsehood in the report.

“What if I just lied and said he seemed powerful? How would I even prove that?”

Feeling the pain of personally writing a report stating that I had achieved absolutely nothing, I finished the document.

“It’s not like I didn’t try to think of other methods, Captain.”

As I carefully folded the report so the crow could carry it safely, I muttered to myself.

At one point, I had seriously considered simply watching if an assassin attacked during the night instead of stepping in to help.

After all, there must have been assassins targeting him before I arrived, yet he was still alive.

That meant he had something protecting him.

“I did see him handling a sword before… but using a longsword against assassins who specialize in closing the distance and attacking quickly is foolish, so I’m not sure how useful that really is.”

Leaving Lis’s fate entirely to an unseen power I had never witnessed was far easier said than done.

“What if he dies because I chose not to save him?”

Then my payment would disappear as well.

And my father’s gambling debts—which had already grown to astronomical proportions—would tighten around my neck once again, along with their ever-increasing interest.

“It’s too much of a gamble. I really did consider it seriously once… but even now, it still seems impossible.”

Of course, if some urgent situation arose before my eyes where he had no choice but to use his power, that would be another matter.

But in the Duke of Cassio’s estate, where the loudest thing one could hear was the rustling of fallen leaves, such a situation felt unlikely to ever occur.

“Half a month is enough time to complete a normal assignment. This is my first long-term mission that’s dragged on for months, which makes me even more cautious.”

If the target suffered because of my poor judgment, not only would time and money be wasted, but so would all the Black Rose personnel who had worked to make this assignment possible.

Because of that, acting rashly was difficult.

I couldn’t recklessly throw the target into danger.

Nor could I deliberately place him at risk.

No one understood better than I did that people could lose their lives for the smallest, most insignificant reasons.

“Oh, perfect timing.”

Spotting a crow pacing along the windowsill, I opened the window slightly and placed the neatly folded report in its beak.

If this report—stating that Lis had no power—was accepted, then my mission would immediately come to an end.

There would be no reason for me to remain here.

Using family circumstances as an excuse, I would leave.

The mission was to uncover the secret behind Lis’s power and kill him.

But if there was neither a secret nor a power, then there would be no reason—or value—in killing him.

“Then I’ll return to Black Rose…”

Since Black Rose operated with a small number of elite members, everyone was constantly busy with their own assignments.

As a result, people rarely crossed paths at the hideout.

The duke’s estate was different.

The servants were friendly with one another, giving the place a lively and bustling atmosphere.

I’d only stayed for half a month, but I’d already become familiar with many of the household staff.

Thinking about leaving made me feel unexpectedly reluctant.

“Ah, except for Demon Haires. Not him.”

The aide known for serving Lis longer than anyone else still disliked me.

As an assassin, I could easily distinguish goodwill from hostility.

And Demon had shown me nothing but hostility from the very beginning.

To be fair, it had lessened compared to the early days.

But that didn’t mean he had become friendly.

For example…

“Young Master does not drink tea below eighty-two degrees.”

While I was carrying tea, Demon suddenly stopped me and pressed a thermometer—wherever he had gotten it from—against the teapot.

Then he slowly shook his head.

“Uh… he drinks it just fine, though?”

“To think you’ve ruined the Young Master’s palate. Impressive.”

What exactly was impressive?

I wasn’t sure, but Demon would probably understand if he tasted it himself.

Back at Black Rose, brewing tea had always been the youngest member’s responsibility.

I was confident in my skills.

“Would you like some? It’s delicious.”

“Why would I drink tha—” gulp.

After pouring some tea into a spare cup and holding it toward him, Demon frowned.

Eventually, however, he opened his mouth.

A heavy silence followed.

“Wow, this is actually incredi—”

Demon abruptly stopped speaking and froze.

Then he turned around and strode down the opposite side of the hallway.

Just as before, I had no idea what he was thinking.

Even now, he occasionally picked fights with me for reasons I couldn’t understand.

Of course, I still had absolutely no clue why Demon was so wary of me.

Still…

He did seem to like the tea, didn’t he?