The Same Dream (3)
Then I got caught by slave traders and sold to an organization.
The name of the organization the slave trader handed me over to was Angel's Breath.
It was the continent’s most notorious assassin guild, and the moment I was sold, I began training to become a killer.
At first, I felt a strong aversion to murder.
But humans are creatures of adaptation. They say anyone can grow used to anything, and sure enough, I became accustomed to killing people.
My first mission came when I was twelve, I believe?
Coincidentally, the same age as the current Prince Edwin.
After successfully completing my first solo mission, I went out alone on assignments every single day.
Everyone claimed it was bad luck to be paired with a girl.
At the time, I was the only female in the entire assassin guild, and no one wanted to team up with me. So I had no choice but to handle every mission alone.
They’d click their tongues and say a mere girl had lasted surprisingly long.
Everyone mocked and ridiculed me, but I always returned alive. Even if I came back half-dead, I completed every mission and survived.
The harder the assignment, the greater the reward, so I volunteered for the missions others refused to touch.
Looking back now, I wonder why I worked so hard.
Was my only dream simply to survive?
No, that wasn’t it. By the time I had earned a measure of recognition from the other members, a clear dream had taken shape.
…Ian.
I recalled the first time I met him.
I was sixteen, and he was thirteen.
He was one of the new children the leader had brought in.
My first impression was absolutely terrible.
Ian appeared covered in blood, sweat, and filth. He was so sharp and sensitive that he treated even a pebble rolling down the street as an enemy.
The leader had bought him after his family fell to ruin and he was sold at the slave market.
At the time, the leader assigned me to handle Ian’s training.
Ian initially ignored me simply because I was a young woman. But after I beat some sense into him repeatedly, he finally came around.
Before long, he was following me everywhere like a little shadow.
I didn’t dislike that about him.
It wasn’t unusual for young men and women who spent so much time together to become more than colleagues.
I quietly pictured Ian.
I hadn’t forgiven him, yet strangely, thinking of him now no longer made my heart tremble.
Ian.
I closed my eyes and drew his face in my mind.
Dark blond hair with a grayish tint, and eyes of a muted silver-blue. Long, straight limbs and a perfectly balanced frame. The slightly upturned eyes that curved playfully whenever he looked at me.
I never understood how I ended up falling in love with you.
Everything else, I understood perfectly. The fact that I could picture the scene of you killing me so vividly even with my eyes closed told me everything.
I must have loved you with my whole heart.
Then take this opportunity to think carefully. Why I’m doing this.
Ian’s last whispered words echoed in my head like a refrain.
What could it be?
What was it that could turn a man who whispered love to me every day into someone who would drive a blade into my back?
I slowly lifted my eyelids.
Come to think of it, Ian once spoke about dreams as well.
When was that?
It must have been another night like this, when we lay gazing up at the night sky and talking.
Kayla. You know…
Yes. It was on the way back after assassinating a noble whose name I no longer remembered, together with Ian.
The road back to headquarters was long, so we had to camp midway. Lying beneath the night sky with Ian’s arm as my pillow, he asked me:
“What is a dream?”
“A dream?”
“Yeah. Like a goal in life.”
“Are dreams and goals the same thing?”
“A dream is more desperate than a goal. Something hard to achieve, but desired with all your heart.”
“Hmm. If that’s what a dream is, nothing really comes to mind.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ve already obtained everything I ever wanted.”
I pulled him closer with one arm and looked up at him.
“Including you.”
Ian laughed, though it didn’t sound entirely cheerful. He took a piece of jerky from the pouch at his waist and placed it between my lips.
“Haha. Aren’t you being a bit too arrogant? What if I run away?”
“Will you?”
I tightened my arm around his chest, and Ian laughed even harder.
“Ahaha, no way. Where would I possibly go without you?”
“Exactly. It would be you who ends up in trouble if you ran, so you’d better not.”
“Isn’t that a little too brutal for a threat from a lover?”
Ian toyed with the short hair at the nape of my neck—the way I kept it cut like a man’s.
“Kayla, have you ever thought about growing your hair out?”
“It gets in the way when I move. I hate it.”
“It would look beautiful, though. What a shame.”
I chewed on the jerky he had given me and answered.
“After we retire and live together, I’ll show you what it looks like long.”
“Is that a proposal?”
“Something like that.”
Ian frowned, looking utterly bewildered.
“What is that? What kind of proposal is so lacking in romance?”
“If you don’t like it, you should have done it yourself.”
“I was waiting for the right moment. Who knew you’d steal the lead like this?”
He grumbled on purpose.
“Goodness. I never imagined in my life that I would be the one receiving a proposal instead of giving one.”
“So you dislike it?”
“No.”
There was no hesitation in Ian’s answer. He pressed a kiss to the side of my head.
“But I can’t give you a definite answer yet.”
“Why not?”
“We’re assassins.”
Assassins never knew when they might die or be killed. We couldn’t carelessly promise a future.
“Then we simply don’t die.”
When I answered casually, Ian snorted.
“Easy for you to say. Though for our angel, it might actually be simple.”
“I told you not to call me that.”
“I don’t care. I’m going to anyway.”
“Ian Angel.”
“What’s the problem? I’m the only one who calls you that.”
Ian pulled me into a tight embrace as I stiffened and whispered.
“Then, if we both survive until the day we retire, I’ll accept your proposal.”
“Good. I like that.”
I met his eyes and said, “Then my dream is decided.”
“Oh? You just came up with one? What is it?”
“From now on, my dream is to survive intact until the day we retire and leave this place together with you.”
Ian tilted his head, looking as if he didn’t quite understand.
“That’s your dream? Isn’t it too modest?”
“Why do you think it’s modest?”
I placed my palm against his cheek. Those blue-gray eyes that seemed merely cold at first glance had always followed only me.
“I only need you, Ian.”
It was the truth. In this gutter-like place, Ian’s existence was my only comfort.
“…I’m honored.”
Ian answered with an ambiguous smile.
At that moment, I suddenly grew curious about his dream.
“Then what is your dream, Ian?”
“Mine?”
He asked back in a slightly surprised voice. For a moment his expression seemed to darken, but the night was too deep for me to notice then.
“I…”
My memory ended there.
That day, I never heard what Ian’s dream was. Pursuers must have arrived right then, cutting the conversation short.
If that’s the case, then my dream—Kayla Angel’s dream—might as well be dead.
I never survived until retirement, and I never married Ian.
Looking back now, it really had been a trivial life.
“…A trivial life is more than enough to live through once.”
I recalled Edwin’s clear blue eyes again.
Something difficult to achieve, yet more desperate than anything and desired with all one’s heart.
For Edwin, that thing must be becoming emperor.
Crunch.
Using the recoil, I pushed myself up. The roof tiles clacked against one another.
I brushed the dust from my clothes and leaped down toward the windowsill.
Yes, dreaming the same dream as someone else might not be so bad.
Since I no longer had any dreams I wanted to fulfill, sharing one with someone else this time didn’t seem so terrible.
“Nanny, what brings you here at such an early hour?”
Catherine stared at me with eyes still heavy from sleep.
Well, I had summoned her to the head maid’s office before the sun had even risen, so it was understandable she wasn’t pleased.
“You’re telling me. Dragging this old man out too.”
Sage sat on the office sofa. He took a sip of hot mulled wine and gave me a sidelong glance.
“Ka— I mean, Lady Brown, don’t you need any morning sleep? I have classes to prepare for…”
“There is something I wish to discuss with both of you.”
At my words, both pairs of eyes widened.
“Something to discuss?”
Catherine blinked her large eyes, now fully awake.
“What is it? It isn’t anything bad, is it…”
“What is it?”
Sage cut Catherine off and stared at me steadily.
Feeling their gazes, I opened my mouth slowly.
“It seems His Highness Prince Edwin has developed an interest in the imperial throne.”
“…Pardon?”
Catherine’s jaw dropped in disbelief at the words that left my mouth.
“Th-the imperial throne?”
“Puhahaha.”
While Catherine looked utterly stunned, Sage burst out laughing as if he had expected it all along.
“Well now, things are about to get interesting!”
“Wait just a moment, Nanny!”
Ignoring Sage’s cackling, Catherine clapped both hands over her mouth.
“What on earth do you mean by that…”
“What do you mean, what? It means His Highness has finally found a real goal. Now it’ll actually be worth teaching the boy.”
Even after hearing Sage, Catherine still looked dazed and lost.
“It’s just… too sudden. Hearing that His Highness has suddenly taken an interest in the throne…”
She seemed to want a more detailed explanation. But there was nothing more to explain.
“His Highness Edwin has expressed his desire to become emperor, and I intend to help him achieve that goal with every ounce of strength I possess.”
I looked back and forth between the two of them.
“In that sense, I would like to ask for your cooperation as well.”