~Chapter 15~
The Master lunged at Melanie.
Whether it was fear or her legs giving out, Melanie fainted on the spot.
Just as the Master was about to thrust her dagger toward Melanie, something surged forward with a terrifying force.
‘That…!’
The Master twisted her body desperately to avoid it, but the object brushed across her cheek.
‘Damn it…!’
The assassin, now with a line cut across her cheek, glared at Izaya.
Her black hair, which had been pinned up with a hairpin, now hung long.
The Duke had told her that the Empress had learned swordsmanship.
But what the Empress displayed now was not swordsmanship.
‘Throwing a hairpin like a dagger? A noble would have learned swordsmanship from a knight…?’
Izaya calmly met the assassin’s puzzled gaze.
“For the head of a great house like Lauchen, one must prepare for assassination. And to prepare for assassination, one must understand the assassins.”
The person who had taught Izaya how to wield a blade had been her mother’s bodyguard, a former assassin.
Thanks to that, she knew a great deal about assassins.
Izaya curled the corners of her lips.
‘A lifeless assassin, perfect timing for me.’
She spoke to the assassin:
“Your target is me, correct? Then there’s no reason to attack anyone else.”
The Master furrowed her brow.
‘My goal isn’t actually to kill you…’
“Seems like your goal isn’t to kill me. Are you just stalling for time?”
It was as if Izaya had read her thoughts; the words came out naturally.
The Master’s eyes widened, but she quickly composed herself and stared at the Empress.
‘Anyway, my job is done. Now I just need to hold out until the knights arrive, and the advance payment will be mine…’
“Do you think you’ll leave the imperial palace alive?”
The words made the assassin frown.
“What do you mean…?”
She had planned only to feign pursuit, letting only two knights enter.
“Your usefulness is over. Do you think your client would bother with a tool that has outlived its purpose?”
The Empress’ words unnervingly turned her thoughts inside out.
Their eyes met, and Izaya’s gaze swept over her.
“My father is well known to me. Why not verify it if you doubt me?”
“Verify? Why would I—”
“If your father’s subordinates keep their promise, I’ll give you one million gold coins.”
The enormous sum made the Master’s eyes widen.
Izaya continued, smiling calmly:
“Nothing to lose, right? If your client keeps the promise, you just feign an attack on me, take the money I give, and escape. That’s all there is to it.”
The Master’s eyes wavered as she looked at Izaya.
Izaya’s smile widened:
“However, if I win this wager, you will work for me exclusively for the next three years. Of course, you will be properly compensated for every assignment. How about it?”
It went against her professional creed, but Izaya’s words stirred something within her.
‘Alright, preparing for contingencies isn’t a bad idea.’
The Master nodded, giving her agreement, and Izaya said:
“Then hide now.”
The Master quickly concealed herself, and Izaya threw a vase.
Clang!
Moments later, the doors burst open.
“Your Majesty, what’s happened?!”
Knights rushed in—but six, not the two previously arranged.
“That’s quite a number. Were they guarding outside my room?”
“Given the circumstances, we strengthened security. But what about that maid…?”
Izaya replied casually:
“She suddenly fainted while moving the vase. Call a doctor.”
The Duke of Lauchen’s subordinate looked around curiously before sighing.
“Yes, understood.”
Hiding, the Master gritted her teeth.
‘The Empress’ words were true! That bastard!’
Soon, Melanie was carried away, leaving only Izaya and the Master in the spacious room.
“I’ve won.”
Izaya’s words made the Master smile wryly.
“Yes, you were right. But… I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“Why would you save me with such absurd conditions? What do you intend to make me do?”
Izaya chuckled softly.
‘You didn’t try to kill Melanie, so…’
As expected, the Master’s goal was simply to push the Empress back to the imperial palace.
If that was the case, targeting Melanie’s vital spots would have been effective.
Yet, the Master had avoided killing Melanie, only aiming at non-lethal areas.
Therefore, Izaya decided to give her a chance.
“You now owe your life to me, the Empress of this Empire. Correct?”
‘A lifesaver…’
She could not deny it; without the Empress, she would certainly be dead.
‘And… sending an assassin after one’s own daughter, used by the daughter herself…’
She knew a day for revenge would come if she remained near Izaya.
The Master lowered her weapon and slowly knelt before Izaya.
“First, your name.”
“Why my name all of a sudden…?”
“Since you’ll be my subordinate for three years, knowing your name is the proper order of things.”
A ridiculous reason, yet the Empress’ smile was radiant.
The Master, stunned, lowered her eyes and pondered Izaya’s words.
‘My name…’
She had never been addressed by her real name, only by her guild alias.
‘Getting sentimental, unlike me.’
But it didn’t feel bad.
“Roxanne.”
She revealed her name, then frowned and asked Izaya:
“Now, will you tell me why?”
Izaya smiled lightly:
“Roxanne, you will use honorifics when speaking to me. It’s proper for a client, isn’t it?”
Roxanne twisted her face.
‘Where’s this obedient daughter they told me about?’
Unlike what the Duke had said, all she could see was the Empress, not some puppet daughter.
“And so, my question—what do you want from me?”
“I needed someone. Someone who can operate secretly between the palace and the outside, executing my orders. Someone who will never side with the Duke of Lauchen.”
Seeing Roxanne appear so perfectly, it felt like a stroke of luck.
“You’re skilled enough to infiltrate the palace, and having already betrayed the Duke, you surely won’t side with him.”
Roxanne smirked.
‘So that’s it?’
She realized she had been deceived, but strangely, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
“Fine. If there’s someone you want removed, I’ll…”
“No, you won’t stain your hands with blood.”
Fighting monsters sometimes makes one a monster.
Izaya had no intention of killing to defeat her father.
“That one person is easily defeatable anyway.”
The real enemy wasn’t the Duke, but the forces behind him and a mysterious royal family.
‘That royal must have been contacted sometime… but no clue yet.’
The imperial edict for Ern to have children began tapering off one year after he came of age.
‘Probably around then… but no evidence yet…’
Izaya studied the assassin before her.
Assassination and intelligence are closely linked—she needed someone in the shadows to gather information.
Roxanne, receiving Izaya’s gaze, smiled faintly.
“So my task isn’t to shed blood, but to move unnoticed. Surveillance, then.”
Truly the instincts of someone who had led an organization.
Izaya nodded.
“Yes, you will monitor my father, the Duke of Lauchen.”
Roxanne grinned.
‘I get to take revenge on the one who used me and get paid. No reason to refuse.’
“Shall I start the surveillance immediately?”
“No, stay here for now. I have to check on my maid briefly.”
“Understood.”
As Izaya left, Roxanne grinned with excitement.
‘A steady source of funding! If it gets risky, I can always pull back…’
Suddenly, a chilling sensation ran down her spine.
Clang!
Roxanne instinctively drew her dagger and swung.
‘How did I not sense their presence?’
She saw the assailant—a young boy.
‘Wait… silver hair, violet eyes… that must be…’
“Could it be… the Emperor?”
Roxanne muttered in shock.
“What conversation did you just have with the Empress?”
“None at all…”
The lazy gaze of Ern suddenly sharpened into a terrifying intensity.
“Answer properly. Or you’ll vanish without a trace like your companions.”
Seeing the murderous energy in his sword, Roxanne immediately realized who had killed the other assassins.
‘The Emperor is a transcendent… he must have been hiding his true power.’
Her life hung by a thread; at worst, she might die.
So she decided to speak honestly.
“The Empress had me…”
“Call me Your Majesty, if you value your life.”
The Emperor’s aura grew even more ferocious, and the Master swallowed dryly before continuing.
