But if not now, when would a man like Dane ever give her a chance?
Helena knew very well that it was absolutely impossible.
An orphan raised without parents and an assassin to boot—her life was like a tattered rag hastily stitched together from the worst possible conditions.
Dane, on the other hand, was the heir to the kingdom's most prominent family, a man with overwhelming wealth and power, equipped with everything anyone could ever envy.
They were like parallel lines, destined never to cross. Yet, an intersection that occurred by sheer coincidence had led them both here.
“……”
The moment Dane's gaze pierced through her like an arrow, she felt something akin to an irresistible fate descending upon her.
Weighed down by that crushing pressure, Helena stood frozen in place, unable to do anything for a moment.
Purureung.
Dane's horse snorted and stopped right in front of the building where Helena was standing. Then, Dane lightly jumped down from the horse.
“My lady, this way.”
He extended both hands toward Rose.
“Your Excellency.”
Rose hesitated for a moment, but eventually reached her hands out to Dane.
Teop.
Dane grabbed Rose's waist and pulled her down from the horse. He held her firmly until her feet were planted safely on the ground.
‘So very kind.’
Helena snorted at the sight.
Treating me so roughly. And he even tried to kill me when things went south.
She ignored the minor truth that she had attacked him first.
The fact that this man could treat someone like that was fascinating in a new way. At the same time, she felt bitter knowing she could never be the recipient of such treatment.
“Are you alright, my lady?”
“Phew, yes. It was bearable. We got here faster than I thought.”
Rose brushed her disheveled hair back. She looked utterly pure.
A slender body and a delicate face—a woman who instinctively triggered a man's protective instincts.
Unlike Helena.
‘...Ah, seriously.’
She hadn't wanted to out of wounded pride, but Helena found herself comparing Rose to her own self.
Searching for whatever she lacked that the other woman had—whatever it was that had caught Dane's interest.
“Was the journey here not too cold?”
“Ah, yes. Thanks to the robe Your Excellency gave me, I wasn't cold at all.”
“You can't afford to catch a cold again.”
“Your Excellency, I've told you repeatedly, I'm not that frail.”
Rose grumbled with a slightly pouty face.
“You worry far too much, Your Excellency.”
“And who was it that collapsed from exhaustion the next day?”
At Dane's single remark, Rose's cheeks instantly flushed red.
“Your Excellency, that time...!”
“It would be hard to call you strong looking at those wrists.”
Dane gestured with his chin toward Rose's arm, which was clutching the hem of her robe.
‘Huh?’
Helena repeatedly snorted.
She had no idea what the two of them were doing. Were they showing concern for each other, or just picking a fight?
Even when they clearly knew she was right here.
‘You look like you're enjoying this, Master.’
She could sense something soft undulating beneath the muscles of Dane's face. However, Rose, who was right under his nose, didn't seem to notice.
“So I've been eating a lot...”
Rose awkwardly lowered her arm and hid it inside her robe.
As Dane was about to say something to Rose,
“Master.”
Helena couldn't hold back any longer and stepped out of the building's shadow.
It was hard to keep watching. She was done playing the role of a spectator or a nuisance.
“Huh?”
Rose, spotting Helena, widened her eyes. She carefully scanned Helena's attire, which was different from before, and then,
“As I thought...”
She let out a sigh of unknown meaning.
‘What is "as I thought"?’
Rose's reaction was beyond her expectations. Unable to grasp the meaning, Helena stared at her.
“Allow me to introduce you.”
Dane, who had been standing quietly, stepped forward.
“This is Helena. A former assassin, but she now lives as my shadow.”
“Your... shadow, you say.”
Rose murmured as if sighing. Then, she asked in a sharp tone.
“Why did you give a different name earlier?”
“The one who answered earlier was the maid Rune. Right now, I'm someone else. Have you ever seen an assassin reveal their identity?”
Helena replied nonchalantly.
There was no point in demanding answers like that; it was just laughable. She didn't even use honorifics with her Master, so she wouldn't treat his wife any differently.
“How long have you been infiltrating as a maid?”
“Not long. About three days? Since the Master didn't di-rectly take me out of prison, I broke out on my own and sneaked back in.”
“Broke out, and sneaked back in...”
Rose lowered her eyes as if calculating something. Then, she took a shallow breath and met Helena's gaze.
“Helena, do you think you deserve that position?”
Oh? Picking a fight out of nowhere?
Helena felt her interest pique as she stared straight into Rose's eyes. She had thought the madam was pure and innocent, but she didn't expect her to bare her claws like this.
“A shadow operates behind His Excellency's back, doing the dirty work, doesn't it? In other words, it's a position that deals with dangerous matters.”
“That's right. I might gather intelligence, or kill a target if necessary.”
“You think you can do that? A woman? With that body?”
You're not in much of a position to say that.
Helena thought as she looked at Rose's incredibly thin wrists and shoulders. Then she pondered how she could give this woman a scare.
“I learned something while doing this job, you see.”
Helena smiled languidly and approached Rose. She glanced at Dane; he was watching the two with an expression that said he was observing some trivial experiment.
‘Hmph. He looks ready to kill me if I lay a finger on her.’
She didn't intend to actually do that in front of her employer, anyway. Instead, Helena brought her face close enough to Rose that their breaths could touch and stopped.
“It doesn't take much strength to kill a person.”
Seuk.
Her favored dagger had appeared in Helena's hand at some point. Helena twirled it and smiled fiercely.
“Should I show you? Where to slit the throat so you can't speak? Or are you curious about where to cut so you can't move your arm?”
“...No.”
Helena thought she would cower in fear, but this tiny woman was braver than expected.
“I don't need such knowledge. Someone already taught... no, I just don't need it.”
She had answered honestly despite frowning, and now she pointed out a different flaw.
“You tried to kill His Excellency before. What guarantee is there that you won't do it again?”
“Madam, did you forget who the man standing right in front of you is?”
Helena felt a surge of anger.
He didn't know how that man changed when he picked up a sword. He must have treated his wife so well that she mistook him for a noble and refined gentleman.
“The Master is strong. So strong that someone like me could never do anything to him.”
“Then he has even less need for a shadow.”
Rose retorted as if she had been waiting for those words. Her large green eyes were shining with an intensity that was almost strangely desperate.
“How about you just leave? It doesn't seem like there's a place for you here.”
What was wrong with this woman? Was she so blinded because the Master favored her? Why did she keep trying to drive her away?
Helena clenched her fist tightly, then quickly released it in case Dane saw.
Did she not like her? Was she feeling threatened because Helena was too pretty?
It was a struggle to hold back her mounting irritation. Originally, Helena had never let anyone who provoked her get away with it.
But...
“Helena.”
Why was she looking at her with such sorrowful eyes?
‘Please.’
Why did a voice that shouldn't have been audible echo in her mind like an auditory hallucination?
The words were quite harsh, but the end of her sentence trembled faintly. She glared fiercely, but the corners of her eyes looked ready to droop if she let her guard down for even a second.
She looked like she had mustered every ounce of courage she had. That was why Helena couldn't completely hate Rose.
‘Why is she acting like that?’
It was hard to grasp her intentions.
It didn't seem like she hated her... Weren't they meeting for the first time today? What did she even know about her to act like this?
Above all, the other party was...
‘She's so small.’
She looked so weak that Helena didn't even feel the will to fight. She looked like she would burst into tears if she were hit even once.
“It's His Excellency who hired me. Did you forget?”
Eventually, instead of scolding Rose, Helena redirected her arrow toward Dane.
“This isn't something for you to meddle in, Madam.”
She had to cut off this circular conversation this way. She had a feeling that Rose wouldn't give up unless she brought up Dane as an excuse.
“……”
At those words, Rose looked at Dane in resignation. Helena, following her gaze, was instantly dumbfounded.
‘He's smiling?’
She saw the corners of Dane's mouth slanting upward.
While he had been observing Rose with what seemed like interest, he felt Helena's gaze and straightened the corners of his lips. Then, he returned to his cold expression as if he had never smiled.
‘Are you amused, Master? Are you finding this situation funny right now!’
Curses surged up to Helena's throat. The only reason she didn't spew them out was a lingering sense of anxiety.
The anxiety that Dane might take his wife's side if things went south.
He cherished his wife so much; wouldn't he obviously take her side? He'd never take my side.
Such thoughts prevented Helena from acting as she normally would.
“Madam.”
Dane finally opened his mouth. Helena felt her heart drop and stared at his lips.
“Are you doubting my eye for people right now?”
“...Please forgive my insolence.”
Rose immediately lowered her head, her face darkening. The resignation of 'So it's no use, after all' crossed her mind.
“That is not what I meant. I apologize.”
“If what you say is true,”
Dane shifted his steps and stood close behind Helena.
“Then since Helena is no longer needed, I suppose I can just kill her.”
A chill ran down Helena's spine.
Her back was taken in an instant. It was a distance where she wouldn't be able to react even if he slit her throat right there.
“...What did you say?”
The color drained from Rose's face. Frozen like a white plaster statue, she took in Helena, and then Dane standing behind her.
“What... did you just say.”
“I told you before. Silencing someone by killing them is the easiest way.”
“……”
“She could try to target me again, so wouldn't it be better to eliminate the future threat?”
Standing right beside Dane, Helena could feel it.
That there was absolutely no killing intent from him. That even as he spat out such bloodthirsty words, he had no intention of following through.
However.
“No!”
Rose seemed unaware of this. She stepped forward as if ready to protect Helena from Dane right then and there.
“……”
At that moment, Helena could guess the expression on Dane's face standing behind her. Because she had almost worn a similar expression herself.
This made it clear. At the very least, Rose harbored no ill will toward Helena.
“...I see that you are terrible at acting, Madam.”
A moment later, Dane's uneasy voice reached her from behind.