“Your Majesty. What are you doing in such a crowded place?”
I was feeling a little unfocused, but with a lovely bright smile, I hugged the emperor’s arm tightly and rubbed my cheek against him.
“What’s going on with you?”
The emperor smiled as if he’s dying from love, then he lifted my chin, pulled me into his arms, and kissed my forehead while whispering gently.
“It’s all because you’re far too lovely.”
“Ah…what should I do? For loveliness is a sin, will this lady have to live the rest of her life as a sinner?”
“There is no such thing. How can you be born so beautiful…”
One of the servants turned his head away as if he was distressed, but the emperor didn’t care and continued.
“Come here, you cutie, I shall accompany you tonight.”
The handsome emperor who kissed the outgoing concubine’s forehead as if she’s dying from affection, the maids who looked at them with content, and the other concubines who watched them with envy. Perhaps the scene they all see now is that of a foolish concubine and the emperor who fell in love with that foolish concubine.
‘Well… I hope it looks like that.’
I gave a pout and grumbled.
“Must I wait until tonight?”
The emperor chuckled.
“My beloved concubine seems to be quite impatient.”
“Isn’t this a way to express my loveliness? It’s just that it’s cute. Cute, cute, cute…” (1)
The emperor, who caressed my lips with his hand, wrapped his other arm around my waist and pulled me towards him. But what he feels is not soft flesh but firm muscle. He whispered in my ear while holding me close.
“I’m going to die from laughing.”
I answered softly with an apparent smile as if I was embarrassed, with my face buried in the emperor’s arms.
“Will Your Majesty laugh to death? If so…I might also pass away.”
The emperor’s mouth curled upwards.
“My poor carnivorous deer, you must endure.”
Since you’ve accepted the money, you should act accordingly.
He only smiled with his eyes, but my ears seemed to hear and understand the emperor.
Who could guess? The two of us, who seemed so close, are actually in a fake relationship. The relationship between the emperor and I is that of a client and employer.
***
This strange relationship began about a month ago. It all began when a client offering 100,000 gold coins came to the Assassins Village.
“Are you Yesuh the Reaper?”
I was sitting on an elevated beam, slowly swishing my legs while humming but stopped when I heard a voice from below, and I lowered my gaze. At the time, it didn’t occur to me that the client with 100,000 gold coins was the emperor of Seongguk.
Below me was a man in a black cloak.
I stared at him with a crooked smile and asked him in a tone that imitated his way of speaking and asked.
“Are you the man with 100,000 gold coins?”
There were several assassin villages but most of the assassins did not meet their clients in person. The requests of 5,000 gold coins or less were made by the brokers, and they would hire an appropriate assassin for the job. In return, they would receive the brokerage fees.
Most clients were reluctant to meet assassins face to face, so they willingly accepted this system. Moreover, in case a problem arises, it was convenient to have a broker who could easily ‘call off the hit’.
‘Hmm? Who is that person? It’s someone I don’t know.’
‘Did that person give him my name? How unfair!’
However, if the commission was more than 5,000 gold coins, that’s a different story. 5,000 gold coins was such a large amount that it could last three generations their whole lives without having to work on the premise of them having wealth.
Of course, for those who wanted to use that amount of money to hire an assassin, whether they were rich, powerful, or even a young master, the more alert and wary they were. Therefore, they prefer to visit and commission a broker in person rather than being introduced to the assassin directly. They were more concerned about keeping their identities confidential than the assassination. That’s the kind of person the cloaked man was.
The man in the cloak ordered me instead of answering me.
“Show me your face.”
He said it in an overbearing, but not arrogant way.
I replied with a bloody smirk.
“Assassins don’t reveal their faces. It cannot be done unless you reveal yours.”
“Is there an illness where a person who needs to be assassinated can’t die unless they see my face?”
“Yes, it’s a severe illness.”
I was slightly curious about the 100,000 gold coins that the man offered and then requested for an assassin to reveal their appearance while showing up in a mask and black cloak. Besides, it was amusing to answer him with a dull joke.
It’s embarrassing to say this about myself, but I am the only assassin who can qualify as the best among the active assassins.
I am a living legend among the assassins. I have never failed a single mission, and I have never missed a deadline. Due to that, I am the one who receives the most expensive commissions in the assassin village, but I have also received the most requests.
However, even for someone like me, an offer for 50,000 gold coins doesn’t come by often. 100,000 gold coins! It’s a satisfactory amount to just quit and stop working as an assassin.
‘What should I do?’
I felt troubled when the man strongly insisted for me to show my face no matter what.
‘Should I reveal the ‘Reapers’ secret that I’ve kept up until now, or should I return the 100,000 gold commission?
Even if I was offered 90,000 gold coins, I would have sent it back.’
In all the time I’ve worked as an assassin, I had never shown my face… However, the temptation of the 100,000 gold coins was too great.
“I’ll listen to your request and then I’ll decide.”
In the end, I answered him vaguely without rejecting or accepting his offer.
Naturally, the job must be dangerous given the large sum. The reward was proportional to the risk. The 100,000 gold coins commission would be a request worth 100,000 gold coins. Without knowing the situation, I had to consider the risk of revealing my face and accept it.
“You’re really meticulous.”
“Occasionally investigators come. It’s to make sure it’s not a trap.”
“Huh, is that so?”
Of course. Usually if they approach and offer you a coin or two, it’s a problem if they don’t cough up anything… But I can’t tell him this. The moment you speak, investigators will silence you and wipe out the assassin village.
I inwardly mocked the duality of the officials, but on the outside, I gave him an offer with a serious attitude.
“Tell me your request first.”
“If it was a simple request that could be easily spoken about, I wouldn’t have come here directly.”
“I can keep a secret. A client’s confidentiality is the most important thing to an assassin.”
Sometimes even more so than a mission.
“Hah… The clients confidentiality…”
“What. Is it funny for a person that kills people pretending to be tight-lipped?”
“Somewhat.”
“Even if you laugh, it’s the reality. It’s hard to believe those who save lives are light-lipped.”
The man once again gave a small laugh.
“You’re quite cynical.”
“Don’t worry. I have a warm heart.”
When I spoke sarcastically, the man burst out laughing,
“Haha! Alright. Tell me, warm-hearted assassin, could you also kill an emperor?”
“Emperor?”
I answered immediately without even having to think.
“No.”
“Why? Aren’t I offering you 100,000 gold coins?”
“I’d still refuse even if you offered me 1 million gold coins.”
“Ah… do you lack the ability?”
“Think whatever you want, but I don’t accept assassination requests for emperors, kings, or religious leaders.”
It’s troublesome if you get yourself involved with them. Assassinating them was not the issue. Killing an emperor would make the empire an enemy, and killing a religious leader would turn the entire religion into an enemy.
I had learned a painful lesson from the past that the stronger an individual was, the greater the aftermath. So…
“If you’re here to request the assassination of an emperor, leave.”
I don’t want to get involved.
I waved my hand towards the man, raised my legs on the beam and turned around. But unexpectedly, the man chuckled, satisfied with my answer.
“I like that.”
‘What is he talking about? Does he like it when people refuse him?’
When I looked at him again, he was reaching into his sleeve and pulling out a black pouch and raised it towards me.
“It’s a check issued by the top officials.”
“Officials?”
I quickly went down, grabbed the pouch the man was holding, and I ascended the beam to sit back down, which the man admired.
“I see. Your reputation is not just for show.”
I took the check out of the pouch examining it while listening to the man’s praise.
Occasionally there were some who would try to cheat the assassins. No, there was a surprising amount who tried.
Assassins are those who do not pay taxes, and those who do not pay taxes are unprotected by the public power. They are left to solve it on their own if they are swindled.
Therefore, we’ve been exposed to fraud such as counterfeit checks and fake gold coins. Of course, it’s a rule to exact your revenge right after you get swindled but even so, clever people get away with it.
But this…..
“It’s real.”
A genuine check issued by the top officials. There was a total of five checks each worth 10,000 gold coins.
“It’s the down payment.”
As I was admiring the check, the man spoke like it was nothing.
“If you succeed, I will pay you the entire sum.”
I was composed when I heard the offer of 100,000 gold coins, but when I held it in front of my eyes, my heart shook.
Even if the person was a snob, it can’t be helped. This amount….. from this one request…..
‘If I succeed, I’ll be able to save ‘them’ and have some gold coins left. It’s a hefty sum that allows for the survivors to start a new life.’
“Hey, 100,000 gold coins. Are you sure you’re not asking me to assassinate the emperor?”
“No, it’s not an assassination request for an emperor, king, or religious leader.”
If so…..
“Your request, I will accept.”
I had to.
I jumped down from the beam directly in front of the man. I threw away the mask I was wearing, and I could feel my white-blonde hair fluttering in the air as it hit my back.
“Oh my…..”
When I revealed my appearance that I had kept hidden, the man’s eyes filled with surprise.
“I had imagined a wild boar when I heard you were a female assassin.”
“It’s just prejudice.”
“I see.”
The man smiled slightly and discarded the mask he was wearing.
At that moment, the men who had been lurking in the shadows since the man’s arrival revealed their presence. But, they disappeared quickly. They seemed to be surprised at the man’s sudden behavior.
“The baby birds that are hiding now, are they your guards?”
“This feels refreshing. This is nice.”
The man was younger than I thought. His black hair was soft and neat and his expression was eye-catching and filled with monotony and languidness. But when you looked closely, his face was very attractive, void of any ugly features which included his eyes, nose, and mouth.
However his most notable charm was not his face. It was his soft spoken voice with a medium to low pitch that caused the listeners heart to shake.
But I’ve also killed a man who was more attractive than him.
My appreciation for the man’s appearance subsided quickly. It was good enough. It wasn’t his appearance that shocked me, but it was his words that followed.
“I want you to enter as a concubine of the Emperor of Seongguk. That is my request.”
End of Chapter 1
(1) She says the word in an exaggerated way multiple times to act cute.
Shinoa Translations 