The Cat Who Weeps in the Dark - Chapter 22

Katie tensed, shooting a furtive glance at Helion. The empire had no beastfolk among its people. If her true nature was exposed, her identity as a spy from the kingdom would be blown as well.

But his expression was far too casual. His drowsy gaze didn’t look like that of someone scrutinizing an enemy—it was closer to the way one might look at a cherished pet.

“Your Highness, you shouldn’t call people ‘kittens,'” Katie said, only relaxing after hearing Cheche’s rigid voice chime in.

“Why not? She looks like a cat no matter how you look at her. Those prickly, narrowed eyes glaring at me. The way her fur bristles like she’s on guard the moment I say anything.”

“Since when has Dame Katie ever glared at Your Highness? That would be a crime of disrespect toward the imperial family—”

Cheche abruptly snapped his mouth shut after actually looking at Katie’s face. The way her eyes were sharply upturned was undeniably a glare.

“Don’t worry. This is just my usual expression.”

“Ah, I see. So that glare you gave me earlier didn’t mean anything either?”

“That one was because I really didn’t want to follow you. I thought I was being demoted… I mean, it was just too sudden.”

A spy shouldn’t easily reveal their emotions. The best approach was to maintain a poker face, but Katie substituted that with glaring. That expression happened to be the most effective at masking her hostility toward the empire’s people.

“I’ll hand this assassin over to the guards and return shortly.”

Katie smoothly redirected the conversation. Fortunately, neither of them seemed to question her strength. In that case, it was best to make a quick exit before they dug deeper.

But just as she was about to step out the door, Helion’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Katie. Have you ever killed someone before?”

“…No, I haven’t.”

The truth was, she had. Her spy training in the kingdom had included killing. But the persona Katie was maintaining was that of an ordinary imperial knight who had joined after the war. As someone who had never seen battle, she shouldn’t have any experience with taking lives.

“Then consider this your first opportunity. No need to hand him over to the guards and do my enemies any favors.”

Helion spoke calmly as he lifted his pen.

Does that mean… the guards are in league with whoever sent this assassin?

As always, Katie swallowed her questions. Asking wasn’t a subordinate’s place. When an order came, all she had to do was obey.

“Understood.”

“Make absolutely certain his breath has left him.”

Helion signed a document, moving his pen across the paper. His demeanor was eerily serene—utterly at odds with the fact that he had just ordered a man’s death.

* * *

Even after the flying squirrel-like assassin had been dealt with, two more assassins managed to infiltrate Helion’s office. One was shocking enough, but multiple? Katie couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

‘Did the kingdom send these killers?’

The thought crossed her mind for a desperate moment.

But the kingdom had no reason to take such a risk.

The purpose of spies like Katie infiltrating the empire wasn’t to assassinate enemy leaders. It was to monitor military movements and prevent another war from breaking out.

The empire and the kingdom were maintaining a precarious ceasefire. Killing a prince in this situation would only reignite the flames of war.

This was also why she had tried so hard to avoid facing Helion again.

If killing had been the goal, it would’ve been easier. But facing an enemy she couldn’t kill—controlling her emotions in that situation would have been too difficult.

Yet now that she had actually become part of Helion’s guard, she realized those worries had been pointless. There was no time to wallow in personal feelings. Assassins came relentlessly, forcing her to stay on high alert all day, every day.

“Wow. Is this their way of welcoming the new recruit? They’re especially persistent today,” Cheche remarked, sheathing his sword after cutting down another assassin.

Helion signed the last document on his desk and closed the ledger.

“Well, at least your initiation was thorough. So, Katie—how do you like your new posting?”

Katie shook her head with her usual stoic expression. She hadn’t even had the luxury of deciding whether she liked it or not—she’d been too busy panicking and blasting enemies away.

“I’m not sure yet. It’s all a bit overwhelming.”

“What is?”

“Unless the palace guard has completely collapsed, I don’t understand how this many enemies could get in.”

Helion’s palace was situated at the westernmost edge of the imperial grounds. Its name, the Palace of Dusk, suited its location—where the sun set.

But that very name and position also reflected his diminished standing within the imperial family. In an empire that worshipped Solaris, the sun god, as its sole deity, the “setting sun” carried no favorable meaning.

“Still, the Palace of Dusk is part of the imperial palace. Being on royal grounds, its security should never be lax.”

“Seems you didn’t fully grasp what I said earlier,” Helion remarked, watching Katie’s bewildered expression. “The guards are perfectly fine. That’s precisely why they let the assassins through.”

Cheche added kindly, seeing her confusion, “You’ll understand naturally as you spend more time here. No need to figure everything out on your first day.”

Katie’s grip tightened slightly on the hilt of her sword. The implications were clear—the empire’s rot ran deep, and even the palace guard served someone’s agenda.

Helion rose from his desk, the dying sunlight casting long shadows across his face. “Consider this your first lesson, Kitty. In this palace, the knives come from all directions—especially the ones you don’t see coming.”

The weight of his words settled over the room as another gust of wind rattled the broken window. Somewhere beyond the palace walls, the sun dipped below the horizon, plunging the Palace of Dusk into its namesake gloom.