Chapter 02 — Feasts, Friends, and a Foolproof Plan

A damp, sticky, and cold sensation covered Talian's palm, repeating over and over until the young boy finally opened his eyes with slight dizziness.

"Mmm... what is...?"

His vision was blurry, and his eyes resisted his commands, opening and closing repeatedly as if longing to return to sleep. But once again, the cold, sticky feeling on his right palm made him instinctively pull his hand back and look at it with squinted eyes.

"Nooo... Fluffy...!"

Talian shut his eyes again, his muscles tensing at the disgusting sight of his hand, drenched in the saliva of the vile creature he knew all too well.

To his right, a small ball of white fluff rested where his hand had been. The only thing that betrayed its identity as a pet was the tiny, triangular pink face barely peeking from its thick fur.

Fluffy gazed at Talian with his small, unblinking black eyes full of curiosity before he began rolling toward his face. His movement was slow and strained, hindered by the uneven surface of the massive bed on which Talian lay.

But before the vile creature could reach him, Talian grabbed it with his still-drenched hand—one he didn't dare look at for too long—and used it as a towel to wipe off the pink, slimy saliva.

"That's what you deserve!" Talian sneered at the little beast, who put up a weak struggle but ultimately failed miserably. Its pitiful whimpers were sweet music flavored with revenge.

Even after his hand regained its dryness, the wretched creature's suffering was not over. Talian lifted him slightly, evaluating his surroundings as if making a judgment. Then, he hurled Fluffy with force against the stone wall opposite him. The round body smacked into the wall with a sharp slap, bounced to the ceiling at high speed, and continued ricocheting around the room. With each impact, the tiny beast let out another miserable squeal, which only ceased when his body finally came to a stop in a far corner of the room.

"Have you learned your lesson?" Talian addressed the creature, but it did not offer a clear response. Instead, the small beast quickly rolled into the bed's shadow, making no further sound.

"Heh heh...!" Talian chuckled slightly at the furry beast's misfortune while taking in the familiar details of the room.

To his left was the red rocking chair he loved sitting in, and behind it, a row of clothes neatly lined the smooth stone wall. On the right, the wooden window stood open beside a desk cluttered with plush toys instead of books. And in the center of the room was the bed he lay on, its pink sheets covering him from the chest down.

"I'm in her room..."

The words caught in Talian's throat as his gaze landed on the wooden door, which suddenly swung open.

"Good morning!"

The cheerful voice of the equally cheerful girl who had just returned to her room startled Talian as she beamed at him with wide, beautiful blue eyes.

And indeed, it was morning! Wasn't it supposed to be nighttime?

"Well done, assassin. You successfully infiltrated my room," Saeyt's bright, ringing voice spoke to Talian again as she hopped onto the bed beside him, her fluffy white tail swishing wildly behind her small frame. "But you broke your leg doing so."

At her mention of his broken leg, Talian's memory dragged him back to the night of his infiltration into the castle, forcing it to the forefront of his mind. He even ignored his childhood friend, who had begun sniffing his forehead for her strange reasons—though he was already used to her behavior after years of friendship.

After a few seconds of recollection, Talian reached a conclusion that cast a slight frown over his young features. 'I failed my mission.'

Tears threatened to spill from Talian's green eyes, but he suppressed them. He wanted to check his leg first because, surprisingly, the pain that had nearly killed him last night was nowhere to be felt now.

"Where's Fluffy?" Saeyt asked, her eyes mere inches from Talian's own. Her white, cat-like ears twitched as she tried to pick up the surrounding sounds.

"He's under the bed," Talian replied gloomily. And without waiting for Saeyt to get off him, he grabbed her by her white shirt and flung her off the bed onto the wooden floor.

Talian needed some time to think—about last night's events, the mission assigned to him by the mysterious man, and his future as an assassin, which was crumbling before his eyes.

However, Saeyt, who landed with absurd agility on both feet, quickly climbed back onto the bed and stared even more intently into Talian's eyes. Her ears twitched a little more, but her tail had gone completely still.

"Do you want me to call the healer? Does your leg hurt?" she asked, her concern not quite matching her youthful, beautiful features. She seemed to have completely forgotten about Fluffy.

Talian didn't answer immediately. First, he lifted the pink bedcovers slightly and took a peek at his leg, which was wrapped in bandages. He tried moving it, and it obeyed his command—without pain. That was good.

Only then did Talian turn to Saeyt, who was clearly worried, and say, "No, it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Then what's wrong?" she pressed almost instantly, looking unconvinced and unsatisfied. Wrapping her tail around her waist, she shifted to sit on the other side of the bed, careful not to touch his injured leg. "Tell me! I want to know!"

Talian studied his childhood friend for a long moment, evaluating whether she could be trusted with his secret—the mission given to him by the mysterious man. Saeyt seemed increasingly dissatisfied with the prolonged silence, but she waited patiently.

Finally, Talian spoke in a serious tone, his childish expression filled with an intensity that didn't quite match the way he worded his sentence.

"Can I trust you with a secret?!"

Saeyt's eyes lit up with excitement at the word secret, and she began nodding eagerly, her furry ears nearly folding onto themselves.

"Yes!!... Tell me!"

Talian sighed, smiling at his friend's ever-enthusiastic nature. He placed his hand on her forehead, trying to push her away slightly—he could barely breathe with her weight on his chest. Only after she backed off just enough, sitting with her legs tucked underneath her, did he finally find room to speak.

He told her about the way he had found to turn his dream of becoming a legendary assassin into reality—by completing the mission assigned to him by the mysterious man who claimed to be the leader of the world's greatest assassin organization.

Saeyt listened carefully, but her previous enthusiasm faded slightly, replaced by a hint of disinterest that she tried not to show. Talian, however, didn't notice—he only grew more excited as he spoke of his dream.

Once he finished telling his story, he waited for Saeyt's response. She seemed to be deep in thought.

Eventually, she shrugged and said, "That's great and all, and there's no need to worry. You can steal that thing tomorrow. But for now..."

Saeyt's words cut off as her ears twitched toward the door, followed by her face, which brightened into a grin.

"Food!..." she squealed with excitement and leaped gracefully from the bed onto the wooden floor, rushing toward the door. She flung it open with both hands, revealing the tall head maid with silky black hair and pointed ears. She carried a tray of food in her hands.

The head maid didn't seem surprised by the sudden opening of the door. She looked at Saeyt with a gentle smile.

"You have quite the appetite this early in the morning, young lady."

Then, her deep black eyes shifted to Talian with the same warm smile.

"And you... for all your hard work, I've brought you your favorite meal."