Prologue

"I will carry on the mission, Your Highness, I will lookout for the Prince until he succeeded in the throne" I said, bowing deeply to the Emperor—my master—while he lay weak and frail upon his bed.

He nodded slowly and gave a faint smile; a silent sign that his time in this world was coming to an end.

I turned, opened the window, and put on my white mask securely over my face. Then, without hesitation, I stepped onto the ledge and leaped off the balcony while vanishing into the dark night.

I went to my hideout in the near village to rest for the night. When morning came, news already spread out.

"The Emperor is already dead, how pitiful, he was a good emperor after all" an old woman said in the market.

Here I am buying a piece of bread while also wondering who's gonna be the next emperor of this estate.

The late emperor actually has five children. The high chance of becoming one is the two eldest sons. They're twins after all so it's not a matter of who's older since both of them are the two eldest of the family so it's a hard decision.

Whatever it is. My job is to look after Prince Ezekiel. The only son of the third son of the emperor who died during the war last 4 years. This so called Prince Ezekiel will be the next in line after the ruling of whoever will be the next emperor between those twins.

A man suddenly bumped into me and slid a letter inside my brown paper bag with bread in it. He didn't even stop or apologize, just walked away fast into the crowd like he was never there. I didn't chase or call him since I already got the signal.

I went back to my shabby hideout house to check it out. Must be from the palace. I locked the door tight, pulled the curtains close, and only then did I take out the white envelope from the paper bag.

I opened it carefully and read the following words on on it—"Greetings Agatha Morettis,

We hereby ask for your appearance this afternoon. We will send a carriage nearby the gate of the village. Do not be late since this is the final order left by His Majesty before he passed away."

Agatha Morettis. So that’s the name they gave me. How ugly. Sounds plain, boring, and disgusting...though it is a perfect name for disguise, I guess, but still, it sounds awful to my ears, augh.

I memorized every word, then held the paper over the small candle on my table and watched it turn into ashes. I burned every trace before stretching my arms to relax myself.

The last mission of my master—after this, I guess I can just die peacefully. No more code names, no more hiding, no more killing. Just…the end?

When afternoon came, I went to the exact waiting location just like they said. There it was, a white carriage standing quietly by the big oak tree near the village gate. I saw the Westernberg crest painted in gold on the side—so that must have been the carriage.

I recognize the coachman guiding the horse immediately; I've seen him before, standing side by side by his majesty. So I guess the one inside is the evil butler.

I pulled the carriage door open and I was right.

There he sat, legs crossed, fingers tapping slowly on his legs. He looked up at me, lips stretching wide into a creepy smile that showed too many teeth.

"You look disgusting when you smile, you know?" I blatantly said.

"Long time no see, Silk Reaper" he mentioned my code name while grinning like the evil man as he truly is.

I smiled back and said "Same to you, Silver Slasher"

His grin widened even more, looking even more wicked now that I called him by his own codename. We were both ghosts of the palace—people the nobles knew existed but is just pretending it didn't. We are basically just tools used when hands needed to be clean and secrets needed to stay buried.

Our existence was never exposed to anyone. That’s how good we are at hiding. Not even the late Emperor’s own children knew we were spies. No one else had a clue. Only the Empress, the late Emperor, and our fellow agents knew the truth about us. We were the shadows they sent to other lands, to dig out secrets and watch over foreign nobles and royal families from afar.

If one decided to betray us, they will immediately disappear without a trace in this land and enjoy their life in the afterlife.

"Still sharp as ever, I see," he chuckled, "That's good. You’ll need that wits of yours where we are going. Things inside the palace are…chaotic right now. The twins are already fighting over the throne, and every noble houses is picking sides like it’s some kind of game."

"And right in the middle of all that mess is your new assignment: Prince Ezekiel."

I leaned back against the velvet seat, crossing my arms. "I know the task Silver. Watch him, make sure he stays alive, make sure no one uses him against anyone else, and he shall make a good emperor soon. That was the late Emperor’s last wish."

Silver Slasher shook his head slowly while smiling.

"You little brat. Stop calling me that, I have a name. It's a nice name compared to yours. Call me Sir Arthur."

I scrunched my forehead to his remarks.

The carriage rumbled forward, wheels rolling over the dirt road, carrying me straight back to the place I thought I had left behind forever. My last mission. My last debt to pay.

And I had a feeling….this wasn’t going to be as simple as just being a maid.

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