Chapter 80
‘I’ve received orders.’
‘From the Kingdom? I told you to lay low—did you contact them?’
‘It wasn’t me. The Kingdom doesn’t even know there’s trouble here. Surveillance appeared too suddenly—I couldn’t report the situation. That’s why these orders reached me.’
‘Damn. So what’s the mission?’
‘…Kill the first Prince.’
For a moment, Katie doubted her own eyes.
Kill the enemy. A command that might make sense for any other spy—but not for them.
The Kingdom had sent infiltrators for one purpose only peace. To prevent a war that could reignite at any moment. The peace they’d longed for was finally within reach. With the envoy’s arrival, the war might end for good.
‘And they order the Imperial Prince’s assassination now?’
Then, Helion’s words flashed through her mind. He’d claimed the envoy’s banquet was an alliance to kill him. If Wayne’s report was true, then Helion’s words were too.
Which meant—the incident thirteen years ago hadn’t been the Empire deceiving the Kingdom. It has been a collaboration between both nations.
‘That’s impossible. If Helion dies, the Kingdom is the one in danger. War will break out. They know that—don’t they?’
Katie denied Wayne’s words like a mantra to herself. She stared at his lips, desperately hoping he would say it was all a lie.
‘I know. That’s why I came. I don’t know what to do.’
This time, she raised her gaze to meet his eyes. His trembling pupils held not a trace of deceit. Wayne was terrified. That reaction was genuine.
‘Method? Timing?’
‘Nothing’s been decided.’
The man let out a shaky breath and suddenly dropped to his knees.
“What are you doing?”
Startled, Katie shot up from her chair. But the man clutching her hands forced her back down.
“Please… please help me, Lady Katie. I can’t do this. I don’t even know how to hold a sword.”
“Shh! Keep your voice down! Someone might hear.”
Katie gritted her teeth as she whispered, but Wayne was beyond reason, lost in full-blown panic.
“I have a wife and child back home. If this fails, I’ll die. The Empire won’t spare me!”
He buried his face in her hands, his tears soaking her skin within seconds.
Katie grimaced but couldn’t bring herself to pull away. His desperation was palpable—his grip so frantic it made her arm shake pitifully.
“You’re absolutely sure the order came from the Kingdom? No chance it’s someone playing a sick joke?”
“Positive. It was encoded with our private cipher.”
“…First, calm down and get up, Wayne.”
She hauled him to his feet and guided him back to his chair, then briskly dusted off his soiled knees.
All the while, fat tears continued to plop down like chicken droppings. Katie dragged a hand through her hair, frustration knotting in her chest.
Wayne had been the one to teach her the ropes when she first arrived in the Empire. In this foreign land, he was her only friend—her sole ally.
Seeing such a vulnerable side of him felt like witnessing something forbidden—her heart lurched uncomfortably.
After a brief hesitation, Katie spoke.
“A spy’s duty is to follow orders without question… but no matter how ruthless our leaders are, they shouldn’t demand unconditional sacrifice.”
Katie was rigidly principled. Had she been the one to receive the order, she would have obeyed first and questioned later, no matter her doubts.
But this time, the command had fallen to Wayne. Setting aside her own emotions, she had always been weak when it came to the lives of those around her—a trauma left by the countless lives lost in war.
“The envoy will arrive soon. Refuse the mission then.”
Ahyul was a fearsome leader, but he cared for his people. If he saw how terrified Wayne was, he would surely rescind the order.
“But what if he won’t let me refuse?”
“That won’t happen. And even if it does… I’ll help you.”
“R-really?”
Wayne’s face lit up as if he’d found salvation. Katie nodded.
As the spy currently closest to Helion, she knew that if Wayne’s orders were revoked, they would likely fall to her instead.
If that’s how it’s going to be anyway… then there’s no reason not to help him now.
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