I thought to myself once again.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.
I couldn’t help thinking that way in this situation.
“She’s trying to pass out on her own. Fidel, bring me some water.”
“Yes, Boss.”
A bucket of water, no one knew where it had come from, was poured over the assassin’s head.
The assassin began coughing and sputtering. However, with his arms and legs tied to the chair, all he could do was writhe.
“Just… cough! Kill…”
“A knife. One that goes in deep.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Actually, this was only natural. Who would let an assassin who had broken in to kill them go so easily?
It was understandable that they would torture him to find out who was behind the attack, and that the other interviews had been canceled, too.
I understood all of that. Really, I did.
But why won’t you let me go…?
I’d already been waiting quietly for over thirty minutes, yet the male lead hadn’t said a single word about me.
Fortunately, after about forty minutes, someone finally approached me.
It was the manager who had conducted the game.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”
“N-No, it’s fine…”
“Since you saved our boss, we should give you a proper reward. Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t even gotten your name properly yet.”
For a moment, I considered asking him to pay off my debt… but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. What if he suddenly changed his expression and asked, ‘How dare you expect compensation?’
“Would you mind telling me your name?”
I was also afraid of using dirty money. I wouldn’t suffer some kind of karmic retribution for it, would I?
So I merely let my eyes wander around the room.
Then, suddenly, my eyes met the male lead’s.
He began walking toward me. There was blood on both his fist and his white shirt.
Eek! Scary!
“What are you doing?”
“I was asking for her name. We were thinking of giving her a reward.”
He gestured toward me with his chin.
“Is there anything you want?”
“A ho—”
“A house? You want me to buy you a house?”
“Please send me home…”
“……”
“My puppy gets scared when I’m not there…”
Of course, I didn’t have a dog at home. I was so desperate to get out of this place that fear made me blurt out whatever came to mind.
The male lead, Rashak, simply stared at me without saying anything.
How much more time passed like that?
“Let her go.”
“Pardon? But…”
“Fidel. Take her home yourself.”
At that, a man strode toward me.
When he put his hand inside his jacket, I momentarily panicked, wondering if ‘send her off’ meant ‘send her to the afterlife.’ Fortunately, what he pulled out was a handkerchief.
After wiping the blood from his hands, Fidel bowed politely to me.
“I’m Fidel, the leader of the assassination squad. I’ll escort you.”
Listening to that introduction, which was frightening enough to bring tears to my eyes, I practically ran out of the room.
Even I could tell that I was walking exceptionally fast, but thankfully, Fidel adjusted his pace to match mine.
He even opened the carriage door for me and drove calmly and carefully.
After dropping me off in front of my house, he bowed his head.
“Thank you for saving our boss.”
When I stepped inside, I let out a deep sigh.
It had been an incredibly long night. Still, since I’d saved someone’s life, I decided it hadn’t been a bad way to end things. After washing up, I headed straight to bed.
The following day, at noon.
I froze when I saw the silver-haired man standing in front of my entrance.
“W-Why are you here…?”
“Your speech has gotten rather casual overnight.”
“May I ask what brings you here…?”
Instead of answering, he strode right into my house.
After glancing into the slightly open bedroom, he let out a short laugh.
“Some puppy, huh?”
…Had he come because he was curious about my puppy?
I really hoped that was the case.
“Sit down. I have something to discuss with you.”
Even though I was the homeowner, I obediently sat at the dining table he pointed to.
No one else came inside. I’d seen Fidel at the entrance, but he’d merely greeted me with a slight nod before closing the front door and stepping back.
After a brief silence, Rashak took out a stack of papers and placed them on the table.
The name written at the very top was none other than mine.
“You investigated me.”
“Got a problem with that?”
I didn’t deny it.
Because I certainly did have a problem with it.
“I haven’t even… done anything wrong…”
When I finally mustered the courage to mumble those words, he let out a quiet, incredulous laugh from across the table. What?
Am I not even allowed to say that?
“Let’s get straight to the point. You have a debt of a hundred million. I’ll pay all of it off for you.”
It was a statement that instantly made even my rebellious thoughts turn respectful.
Pardon me? His Excellency, the Boss, was going to pay off my debt?
“If you accept my offer.”
“What kind of… offer?”
“Bait.”
“Pardon?”
“After what happened yesterday, I’ve come to suspect that there are rats even among my closest subordinates.”
Tap, tap. He drummed his index finger against the table.
“That abandoned building yesterday. It wasn’t somewhere just anyone could easily find their way to. Finding out the meeting place and making it there were part of the test, too. I didn’t want any half-hearted candidates showing up.”
All that had happened to me was that a piece of paper with the location written on it had blown over and landed at my feet.
And the journey there had been perfectly peaceful, too.
“From the very beginning, the fact that I would personally conduct the interviews there was a top secret. Everything had been arranged so discreetly, yet there was an assassin waiting for me. As if he knew I would show up.”
“Are you saying… one of the people who were there yesterday was a spy?”
“Yes. Not one of the candidates like you, but someone inside my own organization leaked my schedule.”
“T-That’s terrible…”
“And by now, those bastards probably know about you, too. They’ll know that you suddenly appeared and saved my life. They’re probably furious among themselves, cursing the fact that you ruined their plans.”
“……”
“Do you understand what I’m getting at now?”
I asked cautiously, “Those people… might try to kill me, too?”
“They won’t kill you right away. They’ll probably capture you first and ask where you came from, why you saved Rashak Barsen, and all sorts of other questions.”
His words reminded me of the man who had been tortured yesterday.
“So here’s what I want. For exactly one week, I want you to act as bait.”
“Pardon?”
“You can go about your daily life as usual. During that time, my subordinates will keep an eye on you and capture anyone suspicious who approaches. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get anything useful out of that bastard yesterday.”
“……”
“Well, it would be nice if you could land another punch like you did yesterday.”
I organized Rashak’s words in my head.
He had a point. If I were one of those spies, I’d consider myself a thorn in my side, too.
He was offering to protect me in this dangerous situation. On top of that, he was going to pay off my debt.
I still wasn’t comfortable getting involved with the male lead, but honestly, I had no reason to refuse. It was only a week.
“You’ll definitely pay off my debt, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll do it.”
“I like how quickly you make decisions. If there’s anything else you need…”
Just then, there was a sudden knock at the door.
“Who is it?”
This was unexpected.
I rarely had visitors at my house.
Part of it was my timid personality. I didn’t socialize much with the neighbors, but the main reason was the rumors surrounding my magic potions.
People said that someone had died after drinking one of my potions, that I regularly conducted illegal experiments, and that I could control people’s minds.
These were such absurd stories that it was difficult to even figure out how to respond to them. They clung to my name like a permanent stain.
Given the circumstances, if someone had come to visit…
No way.
My ominous premonition made my body stiffen instinctively.
Whether I liked it or not, Rashak was already heading toward the entrance as if he owned the house.
Sir Male Lead! No, Rashak! No, Boss…!
“…Who the hell is this woman?”
Rashak frowned at the woman standing outside the door.
The woman herself was also frowning.
She had brown hair with a reddish tint similar to mine, and her facial features looked much like mine, too.
At the sight of this familiar person, my eyes instinctively drifted toward her stomach.
…It wasn’t very noticeable yet.
“Do you know this woman?”
“That’s Renoa… my younger sister.”
“Sister. Who is this man?”
“Just… someone I know… through someone else…”
At my vague answer, he raised one eyebrow.
But I couldn’t exactly tell His Excellency, Rashak Barsen, the ruler of the underworld, to bow his head to her…
“I heard you closed your shop. I came by to see it.”
As she spoke, Renoa naturally tried to step inside the house, but Rashak stretched out his long leg to block her path.
“Your younger sister?”
Then, after seeming to think for a moment, he added,
“Oh, the one who had an affair with her fiancé?”
I looked up at him with wide eyes.
Of course, what he’d said was true.
I’d assumed he already knew because he’d investigated my background before coming here.
And people probably talked about me that way behind my back, too…
But this was the first time I’d seen someone say it so openly, right in front of both of us!
Renoa shouted in confusion.
“Sister! Who on earth is this man?!”
“Enough. What do you want?”
“Excuse me?!”
“Is that all? What a trivial matter. If you’re done, get lost.”
“W-Wait a minute! Unni!”
Renoa grabbed the door as Rashak tried to close it and shouted,
“Mother told you to come home this weekend!”
At the mention of Mother, my shoulders flinched involuntarily.
“Allen’s family will be coming over. You know very well that they’re not easy people to entertain.”
“……”
“So I want you to come over and help prepare the meal. You know their tastes better than I do, after all.”
Her sharp tone softened. Whenever Renoa asked me for something like this, I’d always agree.
But…
“I don’t think I can do that.”
At my calm response, Renoa’s eyes wavered.
“Why? You don’t even have anything to do anymore, sist!”
I firmly shook my head.
I had no choice.
Allen’s family was coming over. Wasn’t that practically a formal meeting between the two families?
Allen had…
“By Allen, you mean Allen Brent? Your former fiancé?”
At Rashak’s intervening question, I clutched the hem of my skirt tightly and slowly nodded.
His gaze shifted back to Renoa.
“So, let me get this straight… You’re dating your older sister’s former fiancé, and his family is coming to visit this time.”
“……”
“And the two families are going to meet, so they need a meal… But they have no intention of letting Hiel Cavernon, who’s practically an unwelcome guest, sit at the table.”
“……”
“Are you telling her to work in the kitchen? Like a maid? While you’re busy flirting with your older sister’s former fiancé?”
Rashak let out a disbelieving laugh.
“I’ve really seen every kind of crazy nonsense imaginable.”
Glare!
Renoa shot Rashak a furious look.
However, perhaps she didn’t have the courage to pick a fight with a man as imposing as a door, because her gaze soon returned to me.
“Father will be angry if he finds out.”
“…I don’t care.”
“How can you not care? He’s your father! He’s family!”
That was when Rashak interrupted again.
“Now I’m curious. When your younger daughter had an affair with her older sister’s fiancé, wasn’t he angry then? They’re family, too, aren’t they?”
He raised his index finger and twirled it beside his temple.
“Looks like the parents aren’t right in the head, either.”
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