Episode 10
[Warning] The Nameless Extra Is Going Wild!
I was so startled to see Deoki that my feet tangled, and I almost fell. Just as I was about to tumble down the stairs, someone’s arm wrapped tightly around my neck from behind with a shout —
“Got you!”
It was the blue-haired man who’d been chasing me. Thanks to him, I didn’t roll all the way down the stairs, but I couldn’t be happy about it.
I’d avoided one disaster only to run into a worse one.
“Let go of her.”
Deoki’s cold, dangerous voice cut through the air as he glared at the blue-haired man.
“I said, take your hands off her.”
The tension was so sharp it hurt to breathe.
The blue-haired man — clearly one of Deoki’s subordinates — quickly released me and stumbled backward.
He looked panicked as he tried to explain himself.
“Um, that’s… it’s not what it looks like…”
“Jay! Did you catch the lady?!”
Reinhardt came panting up the stairs, late and out of breath. He wasn’t built for running.
Jay’s face tightened. Deoki looked between the two of them, then turned and said curtly:
“Follow me.”
He tossed a paper bag toward Jay. It slipped from his hands, and an apple rolled down the stairs.
Jay hurried to pick it up and followed after him.
Deoki came toward me. Frozen stiff, I couldn’t even move. His gaze dropped to my bare feet.
I was terrified. I could tell — if he decided this game was over, I’d die right here.
“I… I didn’t have a choice,” I stammered.
“They were trying to kill me…”
Without answering, Deoki suddenly lifted me up in his arms and carried me back up the stairs.
Dangling helplessly in his grasp, I was brought once again to that miserable solitary cell.
He set me down roughly and shut the door.
Then his voice came from outside — low, sharp, and cold.
“I’ll give you ten seconds. Explain.”
“……”
He was angry — no question about it.
I pressed my ear to the door, trying to hear the men outside.
“…We should move to another room,”
Deoki said after a moment, as if he sensed me listening.
Then came the sound of a lock clicking shut.
Ah… I’m doomed.
My legs gave out, and I sank to the floor. Alone again.
***
“Guildmaster, this isn’t like you.”
“What isn’t like me?”
“You’ve always been cold and logical when it comes to work,” said Reinhardt stiffly.
The three men — Deoki, Reinhardt, and Jay — stood together in another storage room of the tower.
Devon Kiel (Deoki’s real name) ran a hand through his hair irritably.
“Well, I’ve lived too long. Didn’t expect to get lectures from my own men.”
As he spoke, Jay nervously glanced at Reinhardt.
Devon shoved a pile of papers into their chests.
“When did I ever say you could leave classified documents lying around my tower? And in the same place as the lady, no less?”
“I’m sorry, Guildmaster,” Reinhardt muttered.
“Good thing she’s blind,” Devon said coldly. “If she weren’t, she could’ve read this.”
His black eyes narrowed sharply.
“And wasn’t it you, Reinhardt, who tried to hand off the mission to someone else?”
“Yes, sir. That’s true.”
“If I clean up your mess for you, you could at least show some loyalty in return, don’t you think?”
“……”
“Am I wrong?”
His words were icy enough to freeze blood. Reinhardt bowed his head, trembling.
“H-however…”
“Forgive me, Lord Kiel, but I think Reinhardt has a point,” Jay interrupted carefully.
He stood stiffly beside his partner, speaking his mind despite the tension.
Deoki raised an eyebrow.
Jay asked, cautiously:
“You’re not… planning to marry the blind lady, are you?”
“What nonsense.”
Deoki looked genuinely dumbfounded.
Jay didn’t stop.
“Then why haven’t you finished the job?”
He almost added — You’ve practically made a home with her in this tower — but held his tongue.
Before chasing the lady earlier, Jay had seen inside the room — the once-empty cell now had a bed, a carpet… even candles. It looked almost livable.
But the real problem was Deoki himself.
The Guildmaster they knew had never cared about a woman, let alone protected one.
If he’d known it would come to this, Jay would have taken the Second Prince’s commission himself.
He hesitated, then said quietly:
“People are talking, sir. They say our guild can’t even complete an S-class job. Is that woman really worth tarnishing our name?”
Deoki gazed out the window where white snow was falling through the night.
“The Second Prince isn’t the only one behind this request,” he said finally.
Then, turning back to them, he smiled faintly.
“So if anyone’s hesitating, it’s not me.”
***
“Scared you?”
A voice came from the shadows.
When I looked up, Deoki was lighting the wax candles on the table one by one.
Without looking at me, he said quietly:
“What were you thinking, going down the stairs like that? You could’ve slipped and fallen.”
His tone sounded almost scolding. I couldn’t help but snap back.
“I wouldn’t have gone down if your men hadn’t been chasing me!”
He nodded calmly, as if expecting that answer.
“Now that you know who I am, we can talk properly.”
“No. I still don’t know who you are.”
“……”
“Who are you, really?”
Instead of replying, he placed two empty cups on the floor and poured wine into one, water into the other.
The rich scent of red wine filled the air.
Deoki lowered his eyes, and the candlelight flickered across them — dark, deep, like a bottomless lake.
He handed me the cup of water and suddenly asked:
“Did you know that Nicholas plans to make you the Crown Princess?”
“…That can’t be true. Father said he’d never marry me off to anyone.”
Was that what the letter in Nicholas’s room had meant?
But me, a blind Crown Princess?
Impossible. Besides, the Crown Prince hated our family.
“Is that why people are trying to kill me?” I whispered.
He didn’t answer — just looked at me in silence. That was enough.
So that was why assassins had been sent.
If I became Crown Princess, our family’s power would skyrocket — and our enemies wanted to stop that.
I’d lost my sight to prevent our family’s destruction, yet fate had led me to an even worse future.
Even if I survived here, my family would eventually find me and hand me over to the Crown Prince.
No — I had to go back and find a way to stop this.
And warn Nicholas not to drink any wine — not after what I’d seen.
Deoki sat across from me, mirroring my posture, and looked into my eyes with a curious expression.
“It’s strange,” he said quietly. “When I look into your eyes… it feels like you can actually see me.”
“……”
“You really can’t see, and yet… why does it feel that way?”
Up close, his dark eyes weren’t cold at all — they were clear, curious, almost boyish.
I suddenly remembered what his subordinates had said earlier:
“Those eyes give me chills — like he’s possessed.”
“Who knew our Guildmaster was playing house with his target in that lonely tower?”
“He’s never been like this before!”
An idea flashed through my mind — crazy, reckless, but worth trying.
I leaned in close until I felt something soft and warm brush against my lips.
A quiet pop echoed in the still room — more of a bump than a real kiss, but it made my heart race anyway.
Breaking the silence, I spoke in a trembling voice.
“Deoki. Can you… send me home?”
“……”
For the first time, he looked completely speechless — eyes wide, frozen.
It felt like even time itself had stopped.
