Eventually, the woman raised her head and looked straight at me.
“You’re not going to fall for a cheap trick like this, are you?”
Her tone changed in an instant. From a soft tone that seemed to coax and soothe,
“Alright, then. Did you come looking for me because you wanted to play?”
to a chilly and cynical one.
“I heard you have a wife? Well, men do need a partner for a wild night once in a while.”
*Kideuk-kideuk*, the woman’s laughter slowly filled the narrow space.
She acted like someone who had given up on everything. But I knew that was absolutely not the case.
Her blue eyes were burning fiercely like a torch in the dark. Those were eyes one could never have if they had given up on life.
“There’s no need for that.”
I opened my mouth lightly, as if having an everyday conversation.
“Because I have no interest in your body.”
“Huh?”
The woman scowled as if she had heard sheer nonsense.
“Liar. That’s the first time I’ve heard something like that in my life.”
“Well.”
I tilted my head to the side and stared at the woman. Under my apathetic gaze, devoid of any emotion, her body trembled slightly.
“......Hah!”
Eventually, the woman averted her gaze.
“Living up to the Schmaichel name, I see. What a murderous look.”
She only averted her gaze; her tone remained loud and clear.
“Are you trying to kill people with your glare? How do your wives manage to put up with you without running away?”
Every word she chose had a knack for getting under people’s skin. Her ill-mannered way of speaking was the same.
However, all of this was intentional behavior. She was trying to provoke her opponent to create an opening. The more she did so, the higher her chances of survival.
Knowing her intent, I simply let out a faint smile.
“I haven’t done it yet, though.”
“Hah, seriously.”
Realizing her provocation was useless, the woman finally let out a long sigh. A somewhat deflated, yet still incredibly haughty voice followed.
“So, Lord Dane Schmaichel. What do you want from me? There must be a reason your noble self bothered to come all the way down here.”
The woman was clever. She initiated the conversation only after realizing I had no killing intent. Thus, she brought up the main point without any further explanation.
“I need a shadow.”
“What did you keep your subordinates around for?”
The woman snorted as if it was absurd.
“Several of our comrades died just trying to break through here. With such skilled people at your disposal, why me?”
“Only you survived among them. I’d say that’s more than enough to prove your skills.”
The woman was the leader of the assassins who invaded this castle a few weeks ago. Many assassins had raided this place before, but these ones were quite meticulous and persistent.
Because of that, this woman had nearly driven a knife into my neck. I spared her life, appreciating that fact.
‘Though I just tossed her in the dungeon because it was a hassle.’
The original Dane Schmaichel never thought he could use this woman usefully. So the woman had to stay here all alone until Rose was imprisoned.
‘Honey, isn’t she pitiful?’
Perhaps out of a sense of shared misfortune, the woman treated Rose kindly. She even confided quite a bit about herself. Thanks to that, it became easier for me to deal with this assassin.
“Besides, I’m not hiring you solely based on your skills. The guys in my castle are all stiff and old-fashioned. There is no one like you, who doesn’t care about the means or the methods.”
“......Is that an insult or a compliment?”
“A compliment.”
In truth, the biggest reason was that she had to be someone outside of Joel’s sight in this castle. But there was no need to tell her that much yet.
First and foremost, I needed to test how capable she was and how much she could help me.
“*Hehe*, as expected of no-ble nobles.”
The woman couldn’t hold back and started sneering. With a miserable smile hanging on her lips.
“You’re despising me, aren’t you? Thinking of me as a wretched woman who spreads her legs to prolong her life.”
“......”
“Everyone thinks like that at first, but they change their minds after sleeping with me once. How about it, Lord Schmaichel. Want to test it out right now?”
The woman spoke like that, seemingly wanting to hurt herself. She was slicing her own flesh before anyone else could criticize her.
“I have never despised you.”
At that calm remark, the woman flinched.
“Why would I despise someone for doing whatever it takes to survive?”
“......”
“Everyone becomes fierce in the face of death. Not doing so is a dereliction of duty.”
I peeled myself off the wall I was leaning against. I asked the woman, who was staring at me intensely.
“If I were going to judge you for that, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”
An unfamiliar emotion was welling up on the woman’s face. Her flirtatious eyes were entirely filled with me.
“Am I wrong?”
I spoke leisurely while stroking the scabbard at my waist.
“If you’re going to refuse, refuse now. I’ll kill you painlessly.”
The killing intent, which had risen as slowly as my voice, gradually filled the dungeon. Amidst the thick cloud of killing intent, the woman suddenly smiled.
“Ahahaha!”
The suffocating killing intent should have constricted her breath, but the woman simply laughed happily. It was proof that she was accustomed to an environment full of killing intent.
“That woke me right up.”
Having barely stopped laughing, the woman smiled brightly.
“When I took the request, I thought you’d just be some stiff, old-fashioned nobleman. But oh my, compared to what I thought...”
The woman’s tongue licked her lips in a slow motion.
“You were quite a fun man.”
I ignored the obvious intent behind her actions and asked.
“Your answer?”
“Just one question before that.”
Even though I hadn’t permitted a question, the woman asked with brazen nonchalance.
“What are you going to do if I betray you? I could just return to the guild once I’m a free woman, you know?”
What rose in the woman’s eyes was clear curiosity and interest.
Feeling that, I replied in an impassive tone.
“An assassin’s rule is to commit suicide if they fail to kill their target. The guild probably assumes you are dead.”
“......”
“If a guild member presumed dead returns and says, ‘My target hired me, please take me back’—the guild would just love that.”
There was no need to be sarcastic. I merely recited a future that was highly probable. As if it was the correct answer, the woman giggled out loud.
“Right, they’d just love it. Especially the guild master would be so overjoyed that he’d try to wring my neck right away.”
“Answer.”
“You’re quite an impatient Master-nim.”
The woman shrugged as if she were throwing in the towel. Her answer was already in those words, but—
“I’ll do it.”
The woman smiled brightly and answered without a hint of hesitation.
“If you ask while emitting so much killing intent, the answer is already decided, isn’t it?”
She made a *Hiing* sound through her nose as if she were scared, but she spoke well.
“Ah right, should I say ‘I will do it’-*yo*? You are my Master-nim now, after all.”
“As you like.”
She wasn’t the type of woman who would suddenly develop respect just because she used honorifics.
Above all, she hated strict rules and feeling restricted. As long as she did well what I entrusted to her, I didn’t care about the little things.
“How generous of you.”
Whether that was the right answer or not, a satisfied curve formed at the corners of the woman’s mouth.
“But you’re not telling me to do it while I’m like this, are you?”
*Jjal-geu-rang*.
The woman shook both her arms to show off her restraints. The handcuffs binding her wrists were firmly fastened to the wall with chains.
“I can’t just let you escape.”
*Teop*.
As I approached and grabbed her chin, the woman’s eyes widened greatly. I carefully observed that expression of hers, which showed how much she was looking forward to what was about to happen.
*Jjal-gang*.
I placed a key between the woman’s lips.
“I picked it up on my way here. My hand slipped.”
It was the key I had secretly swiped from the guard earlier.
“Come find me in three days. I’ll consider that a test of your skills.”
“*U-ung*.”
The woman rolled her tongue and quickly tucked the key into her mouth.
“I was planning to seduce ten guards and escape. Thanks to Master-nim, I can’t do that anymore.”
“Stop it. Saving people is annoying.”
“Haa, is that my fault? What am I supposed to do about being born with these looks?”
The woman tilted her body as if to show off. It was an attitude that showed she knew perfectly well which angle made her look the most attractive.
“Master-nim, do you really not have a problem with your eyes? How can you look at a body like this and do nothing?”
“......”
It was good to have piqued the woman’s interest, but it seemed her interest was heading in a weird direction. In the original work, only her time in the dungeon with Rose was described, so I didn’t know she had this kind of personality.
‘This is tiresome...’
In the future, this woman would constantly try to test and seduce me like this. But I knew very well that I shouldn’t fall for it.
Because this was the way to maintain her loyalty for a long time.
“*Heu-eung*.”
When I remained entirely silent, the woman changed the subject.
“Anyway, I get it. So, should I come to your bedroom in three days? It’s definitely better at night for having secret conversations.”
“No.”
I replied with a blade-like, firm attitude.
“You haven’t forgotten where you were caught, have you?”
“It was the bedroom. So wouldn’t it be easier to break into again?”
“There won’t be a second time. Make contact somewhere other than the bedroom.”
Above all, I no longer used the bedroom alone. An ambush while sharing a marital bedroom with Rose was something I would rather avoid.
Strictly speaking, it wouldn’t be an ambush, though.
“......It seems Master-nim likes his new wife?”
The woman’s eyes narrowed like a snake’s. Behind the interest filling her eyes, something dangerous was flicking its tongue.
“Stop overstepping your bounds.”
“*Heu-eung*. I see, so that’s how it is.”
The woman nodded half-heartedly as if she roughly understood. To extract information about the new wife with just this short exchange—as expected of a former assassin’s sharpness.