Chapter 10.
1.Becoming the Villain’s Secretary (10)
Of course. As expected from members of the same bloodline.
Can you two leave me out of this power struggle? And seriously, it’s not some weird romantic triangle or anything…
I could practically hear my hair falling out.
I looked back and forth between Helwid, who had tightly wrapped his arm around my waist, and Indellis, who was gripping the hem of my clothes, and I let out a deep sigh.
“Your Majesty, if I get quartered or hanged because of His Highness, I won’t be able to stay by your side anymore, right?”
“That’s right.”
“And Your Highness, if I get crushed or branded because of His Majesty, I won’t be able to ever hold your hand again, right?”
“Correct.”
“Then how about we wisely hold one hand each?”
Ha! Solomon himself could descend and I would still win this one.
The two of them didn’t look thrilled, but they reluctantly agreed.
“Then I get the upper body.”
“Fine. I get the lower body. The hands are hanging down anyway—lower body’s domain, right?”
“Arms are attached to the upper body.”
Excuse me? That was not part of my plan. Why are they dividing me like property?
Helwid held me by the waist like he was escorting me, while Indellis clung to my index and middle finger.
Then he glanced between Helwid’s huge hand and his own tiny hand and scowled.
Apparently he was annoyed he couldn’t fully grab my palm because his hands were small.
He looked so cute that I squeezed his hand. His scrunched expression relaxed a bit.
Easy to read, that one.
“Let’s go.”
“Do you prefer the rose garden or the greenhouse?”
“I was kidnapped in the rose garden once, so how about the rear garden?”
“Rear garden sounds good.”
And just like that, the three of us headed to the garden… peacefully?
Even after surviving that deadly lunchtime ordeal, and even after a break, I was exhausted.
Everything had been somewhat harmonious—until the lunch boxes were opened.
Helwid, who had turned the picnic into a warzone, hummed as he brewed coffee.
“Your Majesty.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’m listening too.”
Because of course they answer at the same time. Same bloodline, same energy.
“Was it really that hard to give up the octopus-shaped sausage?”
It really was.
The lunch boxes the chef had prepared contained ten octopus sausages.
Ten.
We each eat three… I generously give up one… which still means Helwid and Indellis inevitably clash.
You’d think, as the older brother, as the Emperor—he would yield.
“Yeah.”
“…Sorry?”
“I didn’t want to give up the octopus sausage.”
The smiling jerk ate four.
“You’re twenty-six years old…”
“What did you just say?”
“Huh? N-nothing!”
“I’m pretty sure you said, ‘Ugh. Twenty-six years old…’”
Helwid handed me a cup of freshly brewed coffee with a soft smile.
Why ask when you heard everything?!
“Seriously. Did it feel that good to steal His Highness’s sausage?”
“It’s not the sausage that matters.”
“…What?”
“It matters that I didn’t yield.”
What?
Helwid sipped his coffee, speaking as if delivering a grand philosophy.
“We carry the noble blood of the Golden Dynasty. I am the Emperor, Indellis is the Prince. He comes after me. And this hierarchy must be absolute. The only thing that disrupts the order is rebellion.”
He took another sip.
“So I must win in every conflict against the prince. There is no such thing as yielding.”
“Even… in a sausage war?”
“Even in a sausage war.”
All that flowery speech, just to justify a twenty-six-year-old refusing to yield to an eight-year-old.
Ridiculous.
“It may sound childish, but that’s how an Emperor survives. I must never show weakness.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“But you thought I went too far.”
Helwid showed a bittersweet smile.
“My secretary wouldn’t understand.”
He’s right—I don’t. I don’t get living life by crushing others with hierarchical power.
I’ve lived competitively too, but never with swords literally pointed at my back.
Still…
Indellis wiping away tears because he lost the sausage war—bothered me.
“But… for a sausage? Just one? Really just one?”
Helwid looked genuinely puzzled.
“You’re strange.”
“Huh?”
“You get so worked up over something that’s not even your business.”
“That’s because I’m nosy.”
He stared at me like I’d said something absurd.
“It’s true!”
He chuckled lightly.
I smiled back.
“I’m an only child. It’s rare to see siblings. I just felt bad, that’s all.”
“…Bad, huh.”
Helwid frowned slightly and murmured.
“I don’t want to be harsh with my younger brother either. He’s still a kid. It’s not right to treat him cruelly.”
Says the man who has already committed numerous acts of cruelty.
“But I told you. I can’t show even a crack he might slip his blade through later.”
“But His Highness is behaving now.”
“You uproot weeds before they grow.”
That’s… not logic. That’s just tyranny.
I squinted at him. He snapped his fingers, suddenly inspired.
Uh-oh.
“…You’re going to make me do something, aren’t you.”
“Since you already know, cooperate willingly.”
“How does it always end up like this?!”
“Because I’m the Emperor.”
Helwid ignored my internal screaming and continued smoothly:
“Think of it as a good opportunity. We brothers never had anything in common. But now we do—you. With you as our common connection, isn’t improving our relationship reasonable?”
No.
You two fix your family issues yourselves.
He smiled sweetly.
“We’ll be counting on you to mend our brotherly bond.”
Damn it.
I knew my dreams felt cursed last night…
“My secretary, what food do you like?”
“What food do you hate?”
“What dessert do you prefer?”
“What tea do you drink?”
“What academic field interests you?”
“What hobbies do you have?”
During my heavenly lunch break, while eating the lunch Dad packed at dawn, I put my fork down.
“…Excuse me.”
“We’re listening.”
“We’re listening.”
Same voice. Same timing. Same blond hair sparkling like honey.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean? Isn’t it obvious?”
“Didn’t you agree to help?”
“I thought you agreed to help us.”
“I mean, yes, but—what does that have to do with this?”
“Why are you so slow today?”
“Did a homunculus show up to work in your place?”
Indellis pinched my cheek—lightly, but still.
“I AM me. Not a homunculus. And anyway—how does this relate to helping?”
“It relates perfectly. You are our only common link. To bond over you, we need more information about you.”
Helwid smiled radiantly.
I turned to Indellis.
He smiled the same radiant smile.
You two are already close. Seriously.
My hair roots tingled—a sign of incoming hair loss.
“Fine. Come back later. After I eat.”
“But later we work.”
“Yes, work during work hours. Don’t slack.”
“Then I should eat during eating hours.”
I glared daggers at them. Helwid waved soothingly.
“Lunch break is for resting and eating.”
“So you’re not leaving?”
“We’re not leaving.”
He smiled kindly.
“We’ll ask questions. You keep eating.”
“…Aren’t you two going to eat?”
How am I supposed to eat peacefully when you’re interrogating me?!
But the brothers only smiled wider.
You’re already close. You’re both so close already. Stop it. Please.
“So? What food do you like?”
“What about food you hate? Favorite tea? Hm? Hm?”
I’m going insane.
Beautiful faces leaned closer, their mouths revving up to unleash another barrage of questions.
My eyelid twitched.
For the first time ever, I was actually looking forward to work.
