Hearing his panicked pleas, my expression tightened with disbelief. What is this guy even talking about? Do I look like a thief? A common thug? When did I ever ask him for money? Why is he trembling like a leaf?
I wiped his nonsense from my thoughts and spoke coldly. "I'm not asking for money. In fact, if you do what I need, I'll pay you—enough that your wife and children will live without worry for a year."
I leaned in slightly, lowering my voice like a dagger sliding into silk. "But if you fail, or breathe a word of this to anyone, not only will you die… your entire family will follow."
He recoiled, panic etched on every feature—but greed glimmered just behind his fear. That familiar look. I'd seen it a thousand times before. And I knew in that moment—he'd do exactly what I asked. Money always moved men better than morality.
He swallowed hard, then rasped, "W-What do I have to do?"
I pulled a folded note from my coat and pressed it into his trembling hand. "Deliver this. To your mistress. Quietly. No one else sees it. If you succeed, you'll receive more coin than you've ever dreamed of. But if anything goes wrong—your life is forfeit."
He stared at the note, then back at me. "I just take this… give it to her… and come back. Then I get the money, and I can go?"
I nodded, flipping a silver coin toward him. He caught it mid-air, awe and greed fighting in his eyes. With a final nervous glance, he scurried off.
The moment he disappeared, a voice hummed inside my head, sardonic and amused.
> "Tell me honestly… were you a scumbag back in your world too? The whole 'charming playboy' thing was just a cover, right? You sound more like a career blackmailer."
I didn't bother answering.
> "Seriously. All this threatening and scheming—you've definitely broken a few laws before."
Still, I kept silent, waiting.
> "You're waiting for her," he added after a beat. "You really think she'll come?"
This time I responded, voice calm and certain. "She'll come. What I wrote in that letter… if even a whisper of it spreads, her life is finished. She knows that."
> "And what if she decides to kill you instead?"
I smiled faintly. "She might try. But with one of the strongest swordmasters at my side? Not a chance. I trust your skills, after all."
The prince seemed satisfied with the compliment and went quiet for a while.
But she won't attack me—not yet. Not until she's sure I'm acting alone.
The silence didn't last.
> "You know anything about her?" he asked. "Our royal curriculum never bothered with noble backgrounds, just their heirs."
"Don't worry. In this world, I probably know her better than anyone else," I said.
And in my mind, her story began to unfold.
---
Adriana Morey.
A name both feared and whispered.
The woman I was about to meet.
She was half-fairy—something rare even in this realm. And fairies… they don't share what they love. They keep them. Possessively. Obsessively.
It sounds romantic in tales. But in reality, it's suffocating. And Adriana learned that the hard way.
Her mother, a fairy, and her father, a human, fell in love and gave birth to her. But as her father's health began to fade, the fairy bloodline's curse showed its fangs.
He could've been healed—should've been. But her mother couldn't stand the idea of him leaving, even for treatment. So, she killed him, binding him in eternal slumber by her side.
Young Adriana saw it happen. And it shattered something inside her. She fled, hoping a new city might offer a new life. But life had something crueler in store.
A stranger tricked her, sold her to slavers for a handful of coins. Years passed in darkness—no food, no freedom, no dignity. She was caged, starved, worked to the bone.
Then, when her beauty began to bloom—she was sold again.
This time, to a nobleman.
She was terrified. She thought he would break her. But to her shock… he married her.
For the first time, hope flickered. He gave her a title—Countess. He treated her with dignity. He never raised a hand to her. For a while, she believed her nightmare had ended.
But peace, for her, never lasted long.