Episode 44 – I’m Fucked

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“I don’t know if it’s the information you wanted, but anyway, information is information.”

My teacher, Deborah, said so with a smile.

Though the corners of her lips revealed beneath the mask weren’t raised, seeing her eyes behind the mask curved like a crescent moon, I could tell she was smiling.

I felt my whole body tense up.

That sharp eye-smile is strongly imprinted in my mind.

It was the expression she made when she found prey.

Back when I was receiving training to join the Hero’s party.

Even back then, when she saw me enduring the harsh training that even soldiers would collapse from, all in the spirit of helping Mela, she had that exact same expression.

A student worth teaching after a long time.

She licked her lips and called me that.

And from that day on, I spent days that could only be described as ‘hell’.

Of course, the Demon King was much stronger than her, but her training was so cruel and harsh that I even thought she might be a level above when it came to tormenting people.

Her eye-smile, which brought back memories of that time, loudly set off my instincts’ alarm bells.

“Now, as I proposed, you’ll have to meet our employer-nim.”

“I, I want to refuse the proposal,”

“I also said you don’t have a choice. Don’t you remember?”

God damn it.

Deborah was flashing a snake-like gaze and fiddling with the scabbard at her waist.

It might be fortunate if I was simply afraid of her because the memory was etched in my mind.

But just from briefly clashing with her last time, I could tell well enough.

Her skills were still as strong as they were 20 years ago.

What a monstrous woman.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I want to kill my teacher-nim, so I won’t wield my demonic energy, but it seemed impossible to escape this situation without the Demon King’s power.

I frantically racked my confused brain, trying to find a way to escape this place for now.

“Okay, I’ll meet your employer-nim, should we make an appointment? How about meeting here in a few days like today?”

“Hehe, you’ve already gotten everything you can from us, what makes you think we’d let you go? Brat.”

“Heo,”

“You cute little thing, you won’t show up if we let you go.”

“…Then what do you want to do? Kidnap me here or something?”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

The last words didn’t come from Deborah’s mouth.

A frail yet laughter-filled voice came from behind her.

I whipped my head around to look at where the voice came from.

The voice was coming from the bed.

A person lying on the bed covered with a blanket.

Deborah said it was a corpse, but the voice came from that corpse.

The blanket on the bed that was bulging out wriggled, and someone pulled the blanket down from underneath, revealing their appearance.

It wasn’t a corpse, but a person lying in ambush.

The employer-nim, who even employs the former commander of the Imperial Knights, had already been in this room with me since I entered.

I took a step back and looked at the person who appeared from under the blanket.

A woman wearing a familiar white butterfly-shaped mask that I had seen somewhere before, sat on the bed, tidying up her disheveled, brilliant blonde hair from lying down.

The jade-colored eyes, clearly visible even through the eyeholes of the mask, sparkled.

After finishing tidying her hair, she smiled brightly and said to me.

“Hello. Mr. Unknown Masked Man.”

I realized who she was right away.

You could at least change up the mask a little,

The Princess. Elizabeth Siora.

“…”

“Nice to meet you.”

I didn’t say anything.

It might be more accurate to say that I didn’t know how to react to the sudden appearance of the Princess.

Idiot.

When I think about it, it was obvious.

Who else but a member of the Imperial Family would be able to hire Deborah, the former commander of the Knights?

Moreover, Deborah would have been like a trustworthy teacher to the Princess, responsible for her character education since she was young.

With Robin and the Valguir family’s influence growing day by day, it was easy to predict that she wouldn’t abandon or ignore Deborah, who was pushed out of her position as commander of the Knights by Robin.

Get a grip.

I mustn’t show any signs of surprise.

It would be unnatural for me, an unknown man wearing a mask, to realize that she is the Princess.

If I keep my mouth shut, I might be suspected.

It would be a disaster if it was revealed that I was Edward, let alone Baron Salvier.

I was conscious of the Princess and spoke slowly, one word at a time, trying to eliminate as much of Baron Salvier’s tone and accent as possible.

“I don’t know who you are, but isn’t this surprise appearance a bit much?”

Elizabeth chuckled at my words and said.

“You don’t know who I am?”

“…Yeah,”

She squinted at me.

Then, she sighed deeply and shook her head.

“Well, fine, I’ll play along. Then let’s start with introductions.”

“I’m not intere-“

“The knight-nim next to me is Monica, my bodyguard and maid. I’m her employer-nim. Monica told me about you three days ago, and I became interested in you. So I came to meet you in person.”

Monica my ass.

That must be Deborah’s alias when she’s hiding her identity as the former commander of the Knights.

“I’m just a common thug who’s as common as dirt in this neighborhood, why would such a delicate woman bother to come all the way here in the middle of the night to meet me?”

“Because I ‘became interested’, remember?”

“So I’m asking why you became interested in someone like me.”

“Hmm, well, I’ll tell you if you join hands with me as I proposed.”

“How can we have a proper contract when both the ‘甲’ (Gap – the superior party) and ‘乙’ (Eul – the inferior party) have so many secrets in the contract.”

“Hahaha, if we’re going to sign a contract, we need to know your name first. What should we call the unknown thug-nim?”

“I wouldn’t have worn a mask if I was going to introduce myself. You’re not wearing a mask to reveal your name either, are you?”

“Then what should I call you? Assassin-ssi? Masked Man-ssi?”

Elizabeth said with exaggerated gestures, as if she were acting in a play.

Unlike me, who was stiff with tension, she was as natural and dramatic as an actor flying across the stage.

I looked out the window.

Is there a way to escape by throwing myself out of there?

She noticed that I was thinking about how to get out of here and giggled.

At Elizabeth’s gesture, Deborah approached the window, closed it, and even latched it.

“Ha, damn it.”

As if she could see my expression of embarrassment inside the mask, she was enjoying my dismay.

She continued with a laughter-filled expression.

“Hahaha, I can’t do it anymore, it’s too funny. Let’s stop now.”

“Stop what…?”

“You know everything, too.”

“What?”

“I told you to drop the formalities last time, didn’t I? So weren’t you dropping the formalities?”

“…!”

“Baron Salvier-“

That goddamn bitch.

She knew from the beginning.

I glared at Deborah.

She was still looking at me with that look, with her arms crossed.

Knowing that it wouldn’t work, I denied it anyway.

“Heo, you think I’m that moronic foreigner who’s rolling in money? Besides, your information is slow, Baron Salvier is currently.”

“Badly injured and recuperating? Yeah, I know.”

“Do I look injured?”

She looked at me, snickering as if something was funny.

It was the face of a cousin who was amused by a five-year-old’s clumsy lie.

She straightened the slightly slipped mask and said.

“Let’s talk about that later. For now, I’m talking to you on the premise that you’re the Baron. If not, you can just forget what you’re hearing from now on.”

“What are you trying to say.”

“How many times do I have to say it? Let’s join hands. You and me.”

“You don’t need me to punish that Piadu guy, do you? And do I really need you?”

“My enemy isn’t just Piadu. The entire Valguir family and the aristocratic forces gathered around that family. And the Hero, who acts as their figurehead, is my real enemy.”

“…”

“And that goes for the Baron too, right?”

“…”

“Right?”

“No, I’m not the Baron.”

“Heuung-“

She slowly approached me.

Her lips were curved into a large smile, as if something was so funny, as she looked at me with squinted eyes, trying to read my expression hidden by the mask.

She brought her face so close that our noses touched.

The scent of luxurious perfume lingered on the tip of my nose, emanating from her skin.

I’ve thought about it before, but this young lady is so careless, not befitting her status as a princess.

What if I went crazy and swung a knife?

Is it because she’s sure I won’t, or is it because she trusts Deborah’s skills so much, who’s standing behind her with her arms crossed, looking at me?

Her jade-colored eyes seemed to pierce through me, so I tightly closed my eyes behind the mask.

She held back her laughter, exhaling through her nose, and opened her mouth cheerfully.

“Do you know how I knew you were Baron Salvier?”

“…”

“Monica.”

When Elizabeth called Deborah by her alias, she drew the sword from her waist and threw it forward.

It was definitely the sword that had cut me several times the day I fought her in this room last time.

The blade was completely stained black.

“Silver sword…”

“Undead in this Imperial capital, I’m so scared I can’t even sleep.”

‘I’m fucked.’

[I’m fucked]

[D-Don’t use such words!]

Elizabeth already knew not only that I was Baron Salvier, but also that I was undead.

.