TTMLPTWW – Chapter 141

Right when the Village Chief was just about to spill his story—

“Huh? Cindy? I mean, my lady?”

The woman carrying food nearly jumped when she saw me.

I was even more startled.

“Nadia?”

I previously thought only three servants survived the Queensguard County purge.

Anna, whom Helene smuggled out, and the two I quietly tipped off to run.

Anita, who gave me the parasol, and Nadia, who dressed me up and apologized for her past mistakes.

I stared at Nadia in disbelief.

“What are you doing here?”

“I work here.”

She ran from one hellhole job only to get hired by the Organization?

“What? But why?”

“Because my boyfriend works here.”

An office romance?

She pointed to the most menacing-looking man among the Organization members, he gave off a terrifying atmosphere.

He was a hulking guy with long red hair, and beard to match, he looked like he was descended from a line of vikings.

I yanked Nadia toward me in horror.

“Is that brute threatening you? Are you dreaming of escape? If so, shake the carrot.”

“No? My darling is the kindest, most sweetest man ever. He’s practically a cream bun.”

Not a mammoth bun? I kept that comment  to myself.

Come to think of it, I had also married a rude, nasty man, but he eventually turned into a domesticated cat.

By now, he was probably tearing the house apart, worried that I hadn’t come back yet…

“Sweetie of mine, you don’t have to fuss over a woman like that. You’ll hurt those pretty hands of yours.”

“Hey now, she’s the one who saved my life.”

“Ahh. The Cupid of Love who brought us together.”

Nadia and the long-haired, bearded man suddenly started making out right in front of me.

“You two look great together. I hope you two have a beautiful love story, but please take it outside.”

Get a move on it.

I glumly watched the two lovebirds, wrapped so tightly around each other they had become one, leave the room. Then I turned back to the Village Chief.

“So, Chief, how did you end up here?”

I was dying to hear the rest.

The Village Chief looked like he had some standing in the Organization, as he dismissed the remaining underlings, sighed, and continued.

“Where was I? Oh, right. When I went to complain about a missing gun order, I brought the bag they gave me instead, it has a document titled the ‘Organization Executive Elimination Plan.’ And when I got there, there was an all-out turf war going on.”

“Ooh, and then?”

“They were too busy fighting to listen to their customer‘s complaint! Then one thing led to another and I got caught up in the brawl. I’m not sure whose side I was on, but I won. Unfortunately, because of those documents, my looks, and my age, they mistook me for a new executive of the Organization.”

He looked like a retired veteran, a man with a strong hidden master vibe.

Anyway, the bottom line was that he was pretending to be an exec because he thought he would be killed otherwise.

Like a man worthy of his villagers’ respect, the Organization members followed him like a father, which he said weighed on him.

He put a finger to his lips and lowered his voice.

“Right now I’m just waiting for the chance to quit. My social obligations, my family, the villagers, and my lovely crops are all waiting for me. I even miss the wild boars that used to dig up my sweet potatoes.”

But quitting wasn’t simple—apparently, leaving the Organization required paying an enormous withdrawal fee.

Nadia, who wasn’t bound by that fee, had come to help her boyfriend pay it off so they could move to a less sketchy line of work.

The Village Chief clearly wanted to leave the underground and go back to the quaint northern forest village as soon as possible.

Same goal as me. I suppose that counts as a stroke of luck.

The fact that he didn’t know I was the captured princess, despite his position… meant his movements were restricted. Which suggested he handled more Organization management than external missions—meaning he knew a lot about internal affairs.

“But why did the executive purge happen?”

Since we were on friendly terms and had the same goal, he spilled everything.

“It’s all because of Count Queensguard. He was the sponsor who bankrolled the Organization when it was founded. So the first-generation executives, on his orders, killed Capitano’s father. This was all in those documents.”

So it was true that the Count raised the Organization to overthrow the royal family.

“Even if you didn’t know I was a princess, you do know Princess Cynthia became an oil tycoon, right? Consider this a token of our promise to become partners.”

I handed the Village Chief a few pieces of jewelry and whispered,

“Sell these and convert them into cash today, then distribute it to your direct subordinates to boost your popularity. Then, if you retrieve the ‘Organization Executive Elimination Plan’ documents, I’ll make sure you get all the credit. I can guarantee a safe resignation, a high-ranking civil servant position with retirement pension, and even full support to become a local councilman if you want.”

His eyes went wide at my sweet offer.

It was the best I could do—asking him to send word outside about me could put his life in danger.

My gaze fell on the ring in his hand.

‘The message will reach him anyway.’

It was my wedding ring, the one Masera had stressed over and over that I had to wear every single day.

To clarify, all my jewelry bore traceable engravings.

Especially my wedding ring, whose owner was undeniable; Masera would be notified the second it sold.

It could be used as proof of my death, so it’s safer to give it to the trustworthy Village Chief.

Infiltration, intel gathering, extraction, dismantling an Organization—in my rough past time, those were my specialties.

* * *

Rutemia capital, the official residence.

Edford, who had come to see Masera, asked with an air of smugness.

“Were you actually serious about that wench Cynthia? How naïve of you—just like a soldier who’s spent his whole life rolling around the battlefield. To think you’d fall so easily for that sweet-talking innocent face.”

Bang—!

The unprovoked mockery was met with sudden violence.

The patience drilled into him since youth through brutal training was something he’d long since cast aside the moment she disappeared.

“Ugh!”

Edford, whose head was just slammed against the table, flopped like a fish on a hook.

Masera, who was holding Edford down by his hair, lowered his gaze to meet his.

“Get to the point.”

At the chill, weighty tone, the flattened Edford fumbled with his coat pocket and finally pulled out a single sheet of paper.

“Cynthia’s will arrived at the County. I snuck it out without my father knowing. Don’t you want it?”

Lifting his head just barely, Edford wore a vile smirk.

“I’m the only royal left now. Nox, the throne—everything will be mine. Whether Cynthia’s dead or alive, it doesn’t matter.”

“This is the second time I’ve told you to get to the point.”

Masera slammed his head into the table again, but Edford remained full of swagger.

“That woman’s a fraud. A lowly maid disguised as royalty and married off to you. You were tricked into a sham marriage! Even if she got lucky and survived, she would’ve run eventually. She had Carlos make her fake ID and travel papers in advance.”

To Masera, it was nothing more than useless noise.

“That’s three.”

Masera deftly drew his pistol, brought it to Edford’s shoulder, and immediately pulled the trigger.

Bang!

“Aaaagh—!”

Edford writhed in pain, but Masera still held him pinned.

“If you’ve still got nonsense to spew, I’ll take it as your last words.”

“Uuugh…”

Masera grabbed Edford by the hair—his face was a tear-stained mess—and spoke.

“One.”

At the low voice, counting down, Edford flinched and shook his head.

‘What kind of demon is this?’

He had always assumed the rumors of him being a ‘ruthless demon’ were exaggerated.

After all, he had that refined, almost boyishly handsome face, and he’d played the part of a gentle lamb whenever Cynthia was around.

“Two.”

Click. The ominous sound of a gun being readied again at his shoulder made his skin crawl.

It was obvious what would happen once he said three.

Only then did Edford realize Masera was a beast in sheep’s clothing, and he began to tremble violently.

“Uhh, th-that’s it! Cynthia was just a maid in our house, not royalty! She conspired with my father to fool you!”

Masera tilted his head slightly, his face expressionless.

“I’m not following.”

“To say it simply… if you’re just trying to keep Nox, we could… negotiate separately…”

“I might be losing my mind, but I’m not so far gone I can’t tell bullshit from fact.”

“I-I only told you the truth! If you kill me, it’ll only make things worse for you!”

Masera’s mouth twisted into a strange smile.

“And what exactly would change if one stupid bastard died? Even with two royals gone, the world’s this quiet.”

Feeling the muzzle move from his shoulder up to the back of his head, Edford panicked and thrashed.

“I think I get why she killed herself after this whole charade! No wonder her will was full of nothing but insults to you! She said being with you was worse than death!”

Masera’s irises turned a deep, solid violet.

The muzzle shifted from the back of his head to his other shoulder.

Moments later, gunfire was heard, and Edford’s screams followed.

The will he brought as a so-called bargaining chip had long since been taken from him.

“So you came here thinking you’d get something out of me with a will, huh? Feel free to tell the world my wife’s a fake and you’re the one and only heir. The moment people know you’re the last royal, the anti-royals will riddle you with bullets.”

Unlike when there are multiple royals, once there’s only one target, the result is obvious.

Leaving the groaning Edford on the floor, Masera stepped out and ordered the soldiers to clean up the mess.

“…They’ll stoop to the pettiest slander just to get Nox back.”

Back in his office, Masera tugged at his stifling tie and sat down at his desk.

He assumed Edford had brought a forged will, so he unfolded the paper without much thought.

However the crumpled page was the same will he’d found when she disappeared in the past.

Masera stared at the will. This time, it wasn’t unfinished.

The round, tidy handwriting was unmistakably hers.

He read the newly written words beneath the original.

Masera pressed his forehead to the hand holding the will and let out a long sigh.

The traces of her tears on the page burned him to the core.

🫰🏼🍓🍓🍓💜🍓🍓🍓🫰🏼
Hey All! I hope you like this translation!
My updates may be slow, but I do read/edit my chapters!
If you’re enjoying it, show me some love?
💕💗 https://ko-fi.com/stanrofanscans💗💕

✨Wanna read more of my translations?✨
💖https://linktr.ee/stanrofanscans💖