Chapter 287 Even On A Dark Night
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
From the day I met Cany, my life was swallowed by grueling training—every moment spent learning to move in sync with those who carried on Grelego’s will.
I had no experience in combat. I had never trained my body, never fought. So every day was harsh beyond words. That fake smile I always wore just to get by? It didn’t work in this world. Without realizing it, the smile I once thought was stuck to my face had vanished completely.
In its place, a hardened, unyielding expression took root. And when Cany saw it, she smiled and said, “That’s a lot better than that fake smile of yours.”
The training to inherit Grelego’s will became the most intense part of my life. But unlike before—when all I did was lose things—I could finally feel myself changing, growing stronger. And because of that, a foolish thought began to bloom inside me.
Maybe, just maybe… I could become what my parents wished for. Someone who shines in secret, protecting the Empire from the shadows.
But that hope was only an illusion.
At the time, Cany and I were lying in wait in a certain town, preparing to assassinate a noble.
We had everything—entry routes, guard rotations, schedules. All the intel was in place. But even so, Cany didn’t move. Days passed with no change.
”Cany, when are we finally going to act?” I asked.
”Again with that question?” she replied, sounding tired. “I already told you. We wait until a successor for that noble is ready. If we take him out now, it’ll trigger a power struggle. Do you want a dozen nobles clawing each other for the empty seat? We can’t have that.”
”I get it. But while we wait, that noble keeps making more victims.”
If we strike now, we might save someone. But if that leads to chaos that hurts the Empire itself, then the damage could be even worse. I understood the logic. I did.
But just standing here—watching people suffer in silence—how can that be right?
I was about to speak my doubts when Cany looked at me and said,
”Remia, do you really think I helped you? That’s a huge misunderstanding.”
”What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
Her face twisted bitterly as she forced out her reply.
”Sixteen. Do you know what that number means?”
”…No.”
”It’s how many women the Marquis of Barole destroyed since I began watching him.”
”!”
”I didn’t save you because I couldn’t stand seeing you attacked. You just happened to be targeted on the day I put my plan into motion. That’s all. Let me make one thing clear—We’re not allies of justice. We’re poison, used to kill poison.”
She was right. I had been completely mistaken.
I only lived because things happened to line up that day. Cany didn’t save me out of kindness.
We don’t serve justice. We exist for a single cause—for the sake of the Empire. We are evil that devours greater evil, choosing the shadows with our own hands. Like the night sky, we can never become the light. No matter how much we struggle, we cannot shine like the stars hidden above.
The more time I spent in the darkness, the less I dreamed. I gave up on hoping, and simply lived.
One day, while on another mission with Cany—
”A frontier settlement?” I asked.
”Yes,” she said. “A bunch of merchants are setting up shop there. The higher-ups want us to infiltrate it too.”
”How are we supposed to do that?”
”You might not like it, but there’s a brōtḥel called Toys of Preference—Shikou no Gigu. They’re recruiting. We’re planning to slip in through there.”
”A brōtḥel…”
”You hate the idea, huh? Well, I don’t blame you. You’ve got your history, and if it’s too much, I can go alone—”
”No… that’s not it,” I cut in. “I just don’t think I can fake a smile anymore.”
I had already sold my corrupted body to the shadows. That wasn’t the problem.
What scared me now was pretending to be warm, pretending to be kind.
”You don’t need to worry about that,” Cany said. “Toys of Preference is a special kind of place. Charm isn’t a requirement there.”
”Really?”
”They value appearance and technique more. Being personable helps, sure, but it’s not necessary. As long as you meet their standards, you’re in.”
”I see… then I don’t mind.”
”Great. Let’s apply right away. It’s kind of embarrassing to say this, but we both look good enough to pass. You even worked in a high-class shop favored by nobles. Oh, and—what name should we use?”
”What about Cany?” I asked.
”I’ll just stick with it,” she replied. “It’s a fake anyway.”
”Then I’ll keep using Remia. It’s fake too.”
”Huh, really? You’ve been using it since you quit working as a courtesan, so I thought it was real.”
”I can’t use my real name anymore. I’ve already dirtied it too much.”
”…I won’t pry. It doesn’t matter anyway.”
And so, we began our infiltration of the frontier settlement.
Just like Cany said, we passed through easily. Our resumes—former workers at a noble-favored shop—helped more than we expected. We were even offered transfers to more profitable shops. That made Cany panic.
Thanks to her quick thinking, we managed to stay assigned to the frontier settlement branch. But then, the manager messed up. The shop’s opening got delayed, and with no work, the other girls grew restless. Problems started piling up.
It wasn’t until around mid-Water Star that everything settled down and we finally took our positions as courtesans of Toys of Preference.
”Ha… Looks like we can finally focus on the real job,” Cany muttered, watching the quiet shop.
I nodded, then asked, “Where do we begin?”
”Our main target is the prodigy of Atmiras, but the group from Spear of Shouhyou already went ahead to handle that. We’re here to investigate what’s moving behind the scenes. But right now, the settlement’s still too chaotic. We’ll wait a little longer.”
”But won’t people with bad intentions try to take advantage of the chaos?”
”They might. But if we rush and get exposed, we lose everything. We don’t know who’s hiding where or why. Right now, it’s too risky to act blindly. Luckily, we have a trustworthy collaborator already inside.”
”You mean the one who was here before even Spear of Shouhyou arrived? Who are they really?”
Sometimes, people with the same goal as us help from the shadows. They don’t belong to our organization, but we treat them as collaborators. Usually, we dig into their pasts thoroughly before accepting them.
But this one—this collaborator—was different.
No one had ever seen their face. We only found their notes, left exactly where we needed them. On desks. Among papers. Inside our own clothes. We never saw how they got there.
Their method, age, even gender—completely unknown.
”Trusting someone we’ve never met is frustrating,” I said, pressing a hand to my forehead, “but their information has been so accurate, we’ve come to rely on it.”
”Relying too much could backfire,” Cany said, her arms crossed. “If they feed us false info at a crucial time, it could be fatal.”
”I know that,” I replied, lowering my voice. “That’s why we always double-check. But… there’s something that’s been bothering me.”
”What is it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
”This informant always gives us what we need the most. In this case, it should’ve been detailed info on the prodigy of Atmiras. But strangely, there’s barely anything. Most of what we got is about the frontier settlement instead.”
”So you think they’re hiding something about the prodigy?” Cany asked, leaning in. “Could the informant actually be someone close to them?”
”Considering they slipped into the frontier settlement before the Spear of Shouhyou got involved,” she said, tapping her chin, “it’s not impossible. But if that’s true, then… the way they’re feeding us information feels off. It’s not like they’re hiding it. It’s more like they just couldn’t dig any deeper──”
Cany’s voice trailed off, and we both fell silent, ears straining.
”Whoa, it’s super cramped in here.”
”I peeked inside on the way to the dining hall,” a man’s voice said from outside the shop. “Didn’t think it’d be this tight. Hope I can even squeeze through.”
We paused the conversation and I quickly retreated to the back of the shop.
Since arriving at the frontier settlement, the only chance Cany and I had to talk in secret was when she was watching the store. ‘Toys of Preference’ was tightly packed with goods, so the back area couldn’t be seen from outside. Plus, with the girls waiting upstairs, we’d notice right away if anyone came down. That gave us short windows of privacy during slow hours.
Just as I was heading to my room on the second floor, thinking I’d continue the talk later, I heard Cany call out from downstairs.
”Remia! Can you come here for a sec?”
When I went down, three customers were still in the store.
”What is it?” I asked quietly. “You’ve still got customers.”
”Yeah, one of them got suspicious when I said no face showings. I told him there’s a cute girl here, just needed you to prove it.”
”…I see. Can I go back now?”
”Of course. Sorry for dragging you out.”
With that done, I returned to the back and climbed the stairs again. Knowing Cany, she’d handle the three customers just fine. It might be a while before we could talk again, I thought—until she called me once more.
This time, it wasn’t for a face showing. It was work. One of the customers had requested me.
He was the youngest among them, and he looked around nervously, like he wasn’t used to places like this.
”Thanks for choosing me,” I said softly, leading him to my room.
Wanting to finish quickly and return to our earlier conversation, I undressed right away and told him to do the same. We got ready and began, but I noticed something odd almost immediately.
A familiar scent lingered on his skin—soap used by nobles. The same kind I used back when I worked at a noble’s estate. It caught me off guard, and I took a closer look at his features.
Though I’d never seen his face directly, everything I’d heard about him lined up.
There was no doubt.
This boy was the prodigy of Atmiras—Neil-sama.
I was shocked, but didn’t let it show. I buried the reaction deep inside and focused on my work as a professional.
Neil-sama wasn’t like the nobles I had known.
It wasn’t that he was disguising himself or pretending to be kind. The way he treated me—with casual respect, with care—it felt sincere. Natural.
Customers came here to satisfy their desires. That was the way of it. They paid, they touched, and we responded. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I never hated that system. It was just how things worked.
But Neil-sama was different.
He didn’t come here to indulge. He was simply drawn in by Cany’s usual pull and got involved by chance.
I remember thinking… it was oddly refreshing.
”I’m really sorry,” Neil-sama said quietly. “Should I pay extra… for that part earlier?”
”No need,” I replied, shaking my head. “We don’t do hidden charges here. Off-the-books payments aren’t allowed either. And besides, I should’ve stopped you sooner.”
”But still…”
”You’re serious about this,” I said with a faint smile.
”Huh?”
”I wish someone like you had been a customer at my old job.”
”Um… what do you mean by that?”
”……”
He looked guilty for crossing a line, even unintentionally, and I couldn’t help it—I spoke honestly.
If more nobles had been like Neil-sama, maybe I wouldn’t have ended up here.
I thought I’d given up completely… but even now, I hadn’t let go of dreams I thought I’d buried long ago.
Before I could make any more mistakes, I sent Neil-sama on his way.
Until things settled in the frontier settlement, I decided to stay quiet and play it safe. But after that day, I couldn’t stop thinking about Neil-sama.
”I’m hopeless…” I whispered to myself. “How many times do I have to dream before I finally stop?”
No matter how noble someone seems, once you peek behind the curtain of the Empire, the darkness is always there.
To survive as a noble, you had to accept it. Or drown in it.
Many young aristocrats swore to stay pure, but they either perished or were swallowed whole by that same darkness. There was no middle ground.
Neil-sama might still be untainted now, but when he inherits his house, ideals won’t be enough. That’s how the Empire works.
Even the brightest stars fade eventually. I’d seen it with my own eyes.
And yet… I couldn’t stop hoping.
Even as time moved on, the situation in the frontier settlement kept changing.
There was a large-scale monster attack. The two Pordhails remained in town. And more personally, Neil-sama began hiring girls from our shop for chores—cleaning, the dining hall, even the bakery.
Without meaning to, he’d given me more chances to get close.
Then one day, the mysterious collaborator sent another piece of information.
Cany and I were stunned by what it revealed.
”Being so honest that people think you’re stupid to lie… The prodigy of Atmiras really came up with something wild,” she muttered, eyes wide.
”Cany… is that even possible?” I asked.
”It depends on whether it goes well,” she said seriously. “But yes, it’s possible. That’s why Count Atmiras let his son run wild. And why Viscount Hedmar and Marquis Rubal took his side once they caught on. The question is, can he gather enough power to shut the critics up before they react?”
”Unbelievable… If something like that could really work──”
That tiny spark of hope inside me suddenly began to burn brighter.
Even if I was stuck in darkness and couldn’t shine anymore… maybe I could still pull down anyone who tried to snuff out Neil-sama’s light.
If I couldn’t shine myself, then I would become the night that made his brilliance stand out.
I decided that, deep in my heart.
I skipped quite a few descriptions, so the next part will probably conclude Stella’s flashback… probably.
Notes:
• Grelego – Ally of the empire. The one who judges those who harm the empire.
• Cany – Female. A member of the empire’s fanatics, also known as Grelego. She is skilled, resourceful, and exasperated by Remia’s detached demeanor. She rescues Remia from the Marquis Barone and offers her a chance to join her organization. Her relationship with Remia begins as a rescuer but evolves into a mentor-like role.
• Remia – Female. Other name of Stella.
• Viscount Hedmar – Zora’s biological family
• Count Atmiras – MC’s family
• Marquis Rubal – Another noble, who is famous as gourmet.
• Stella – Female. A young woman from a village in the territory of Count Cordis. Her appearance is that of a young girl with a fixed smile, reflecting her traumatic experiences. She was renamed Remia by the brothel owner in Malm. Her relationship with others is marked by survival and adaptation, as she endures sexual exploitation and bullying. Her inner thoughts reveal a deep sense of despair and disconnection from her original identity.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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