SDD 05

Chapter 5.

1. Becoming the Villain’s Secretary (5)

Sleeping on duty was annoying, but as a fellow human being I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.

Meanwhile, all the intruder left behind were a couple of footprints and a half-erased fingerprint.
How on earth was I supposed to find the culprit with just that?

While I was wrestling with documents organizing the intruder’s traces, the alarm announcing the end of the emperor’s nap went off.

But no matter how loudly the alarm rang, Helwid didn’t get up.

Looked like he was in a deep sleep.

I tiptoed toward the sleeping emperor, planning to turn off the annoying alarm and wake him up.

“Um, Your— kyaah!”

Just as I reached out to touch him—

The moment my hand was about to make contact, Helwid’s eyes snapped open, cold and sharp. In one beast-like movement, he grabbed me and pinned me beneath him.

“Your— ngh!”

With one hand, he pinned both my wrists above my head against the plush sofa.

It was pure instinct—a movement trained to protect his life from assassination.

Looming over me, Helwid stared down as if still half-asleep, letting out a low breath.
His blue eyes—deep sapphires mixed with emerald—looked like a predator staring at its prey.

“I—ugh—it’s me! Your Majesty! It’s me, Blain, your secretary!”

When I stammered frantically, his eyelids fluttered once.

His fond, gentle smile disappeared, replaced by an emotionless expression as he stared at me for a long moment—only then seeming to come back to himself.

“…My mistake.”

Helwid climbed off me.

My wrist throbbed from where he’d gripped me, leaving a red mark.

“I have a bit of a bad habit when I’m asleep,” he said, smiling.

I swear my fist trembled with the urge to hit him.

My heart was still pounding like crazy from being suddenly taken down with self-defense moves.

“Why did you sneak up like an assassin?”

“You weren’t waking up even with the alarm!”

The humiliation and shock finally hit me, and tears welled up.
I had been pinned and shoved into the sofa like some criminal.

Seeing me trembling and sniffling, Helwid clicked his tongue once and gently wiped the tears from my eyes with his thumb.

“Were you that frightened?”

“Sc—scared? Not at all.”

“For someone who isn’t scared, your legs seem too shaky to stand. Or… did you enjoy rolling around on a sofa with me?”

Helwid teased with a sly grin—dangerously seductive despite his usual restrained attitude.

He! messed! up! and now because he’s embarrassed he’s just talking nonsense!

I jumped up like I’d touched a hot stove, and Helwid straightened his clothes.

“My mistake for startling my secretary. Take a break for a bit.”

“…Rest?”

“Yes. You need to calm your frightened heart before working, don’t you?”

“…Really?”

When I looked at him with a ‘wow, you tightwad, who are you and what have you done with Helwid?’ expression, he chuckled.

“If I were you, I’d run while the stingy man hasn’t changed his mind. What does my secretary think?”

…He reads minds.

One hundred percent. A thousand percent.

Before he could change his decision, I bolted out of the office.

My wrist still throbbed.

“At this rate I’m not going to live long.”

Not just mentally but physically—my hair was coming out in handfuls every time I brushed it.

I’d met every important character, got caught in every power struggle, and every time the whales fought, my back burst open.

“I should run away,” I whispered in the silent corridor.

To live like a human being, my only options were resignation or escape.

Thirty minutes passed since Blain left to “rest.”

Helwid, habitually glancing toward Blain’s desk, realized—

This secretary has an overwhelming presence.

Nothing had changed, yet the office felt strangely empty.

It had only been thirty minutes, but he already missed the face that complained it didn’t want to work.

And to declare she would run away without even closing the office door properly…

Careless? Oblivious? Who knew.

And yet, despite complaining and whining, she completed every task perfectly.

She’d act like she hated working but still ask, “How about we try this?”

Fascinating.

Despite wanting to quit with her whole soul, she supported him flawlessly without any handover.

Smart and competent—an unusually rare talent.

Rustle, rustle. The sound of his pen filled the quiet room for ten more minutes.

Helwid stood and picked up his coat.

“Well then… time to go retrieve my runaway secretary.”

His face brightened like a child about to open a present.

He hummed a quiet tune through the corridor.

It had been an hour since I escaped the emperor’s office.

In a corner of a rose garden, I chewed nervously on my fingernail.

Any moment now, the emperor could pop out of nowhere.
I felt like I was going to throw up from anxiety.

Why did I try to escape instead of just resting?!

My justification:
Neglecting duties.
Possibly added: defying imperial orders.

I had no excuse to give.

“I got lost”…?
No, I memorized the palace map and briefed it on the first day. Impossible.

“I helped someone in need”…?
He’d ask who and I’d dig myself deeper.

“I fell asleep”…?
He’d say something like, “So that’s why your skin is so nice—beauty sleep at work, I see.”

He slept too! Stingy jerk.

If I went back now, I’d have to face that smiling snake radiating murderous intent.

His name is Helwid—it’s practically Hell-with.

When I yanked my hair in frustration, I remembered Milina saying I’d been shedding hair lately—maybe going bald.

Then a small cluster of rose-colored hair fell off my hand.

“Oh my god… is this workplace-induced hair loss? Can I get compensation…?”

I was only twenty-three.
Going bald at this age was tragic.

Sorry, body. I’m abusing you.

I stood up. Ten minutes had passed.
If I didn’t go now, there’d be no coming back.

“No… what if he’s already looking for me?”

Better to return on my own feet before I get dragged back and ruined.

Why couldn’t he just let me resign…

Dragging my feet, I headed toward his office.

And then—

“Mm!”

A hand suddenly covered my mouth with a cloth.

There was some chemical on it, with a sharp smell.
As soon as I inhaled it, a crushing wave of drowsiness hit me.

I’d been kidnapped—in broad daylight, in the palace rose garden.

“Your Majesty. They are the ones you predicted.”

“I see.”

Helwid leaned back and looked up at the blue sky, sipping tea leisurely.

“The weather’s nice today.”

The knight reporting anxiously looked confused.

“The sky is clear. The wind is warm.”

“Yes… the weather is pleasant today.”

Helwid toyed with his teacup like a lazy predator basking in the sun.

“And yet, it seems my secretary is coming down with something.”

“…pardon?”

“She couldn’t smell the tea fragrance at all. I steeped it extra strong.”

Helwid was sitting not far from where Blain had been gnawing her nails.

Blain was completely in the palm of his hand.

“Get the information quick—”

“She’s his secretary, so she must—”

“When she wakes up— throw water—”

Muffled voices. Not loud, but distracting enough for someone trying to nap.

Who was making such a fuss when I was trying to sleep?

I tried to swat them away, only to realize—

I wasn’t napping. I was kidnapped.

“Mm!”

A gag was stuffed in my mouth.

I was tied to a chair, arms pulled painfully behind me.

I struggled—and suddenly, silence.

I couldn’t see anything. My eyes were blindfolded.
But I could feel at least three pairs of eyes on me.

I should’ve pretended to be asleep!

A voice spoke.

“So—you’re awake?”

…What was that voice?
Like someone inhaled helium.

Before I could react, someone yanked my hair.

“Mm!”

HEY! That hurts!
I’m someone with hair-loss anxiety!

Tears sprang to my eyes.

“Hey, answer him!”

Another voice—also helium-pitched.

Terrifying situation. Ridiculous voice.

I shook my head: How do you expect me to talk with a gag?!

“Oh. Right. The gag.”

Idiots.
Are you sure you’re criminals? You seem too stupid.

They removed the gag, and I gasped for air.

Before I could yell, Helium Guy said:

“Scream and you die.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but something cold touched my neck.

“You can’t see it, but this is a knife.”

A sharp sting sliced my skin.

Heat and wetness trickled down.

That psycho just cut my neck.