"Crap... I wish I could have stopped her..." Mathew said as he slowly got up. Feeling the pain coursing through his body thanks to his Lightning Speed ability.

"She made her choice," Wina said.

Mathew was looking at Wina and he noticed tears in her eyes. "Are you alright, Wina?"

She quickly walked over to him and gave him a hug and put her head on his chest.

"I-I'm sorry... I should have spotted them... Two people died. Ingrid is dead, and I could have stopped this..."

Mathew wrapped his arms around her and gently rubbed her head. "No. It's not your fault. I should have noticed something when we searched the room. I'm the one at fault here. And if it wasn't for you the Prince—"

Mathew stopped himself when he realized that Wina was able to fight extremely well and take down two assassins. And she wasn't affected by the Galebane Fumes.

'Why was she not affected? The toxin made the squires and me sluggish. Unless... No... It can't be! Can it? Is she an assassin too?'

Mathew and Wina stood there in silence for a minute before Wina spoke.

"Mathew... There's something I haven't told you..."

"Yes?" Mathew asked with a worried tone.

Wina took a deep breath. "My real name is not Wina... And... I was hired to kill the... Prince... I'm an assassin, Mathew..."

Wina looked up into Mathew's eyes with tears coming out of hers.

"But I couldn't go through with it! You are the first person that actually treated me like a person. The Queen, the staff... All of you... Have become a family I never had... I don't want to be a tool to be used... They see me as an object that is only useful until I serve my purpose and then I would be thrown away like trash... I've been trying to find a way out of this contract, but I can't..."

Wina looked back down as she couldn't take the look in Mathew's eyes. She was expecting him to push her away and say that she was a monster.

Mathew's panic subsided and was replaced by a bit of sadness and relief.

'She's an assassin with a heart of gold? I never thought I see the day...'

"I can't believe it... You are an assassin, huh?"

"Yes..." Wina said as she was trembling.

"Well... What now?" Mathew asked.

Wina's head shot up. "You're not mad!?"

Mathew smiled, "Well, it is disappointing that I won't be able to swoop in the save you. I was hoping to be your knight in shining armor. Like in those fairytales... But I guess it's not so bad to have my love rescue me instead?... Of all the women in the world, I seemed to have fallen in love with a badass assassin,"

Wina's face went red and she looked away. "Y-you idiot... Y-You are just saying that..."

"No, really. I don't care if you are an assassin. You've shown me nothing but loyalty to the Queen, the prince, and most importantly, me. I don't care if you are a monster, a human, a demi-human, an angel, or even a dragon. You will always be the Wina I fell in love with. No matter what," Mathew said with a smile.

Wina's heart skipped a beat and she wished she could have Mathew take her away. But her duty was first and foremost to the kingdom of Fiafyr. And she needed to find a way out of this contract with the Duke.

Mathew took a step forward and hugged Wina tightly.

Wina was shocked but then melted into his embrace. "Thank you..."

At some point, Mathew got woozy from the toxin and stumbled.

"Gah... I guess I'm not in tip-top shape..."

"It's the Galebane Fumes... Here let me get you an antidote," Wina said as she reached into her assassin's belt to pull out a green potion, and gave it to him.

"Thank you, Wina," Mathew said.

Wina shook her head. "It's the least I could do for you and the— Oh gods the Prince!"

Wina quickly ran over to the crib and saw the sleeping Prince. But his face was pale from the Galebane Fumes. It usually isn't lethal but a child could die if it was left untreated.

"I-I hope you're okay, my prince," Wina said as she pulled out another antidote and a dropper and put a few drops in the infant's mouth.

"What's wrong, Wina?"

"Nothing, I hope... Galebane could be lethal to children. But we better get him back to his mother." Wina said as she was relieved to see the color returning to Quinus's face.

"Wina? Do you think the person who hired you? Also hired these assassins too?" Mathew asked as his body started to regain its strength as the antidote started to work. But he was still in pain when he used his Lightning Speed ability.

"It's unlikely... He wanted the prince's death to look like a natural birth complication. These assassins were hired by someone who wanted him dead by any means necessary and they were trying to leave no witnesses. The way they attacked was sloppy and they were impatient. They were more amateurs than professionals. Even if they were skilled enough to not be detected until they attacked us."

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Mathew nodded. "Who hired you, Wina?"

She paused for a second before responding to him.

"Arch Duke Alaric Revelia... The King's brother wanted the throne for his son."

Mathew's face turned sour when he heard the Duke's name.

'So, you dare try to go against your own blood... The King needs to know about this.'

"We should get him back to his mother," Wina said.

"I agree, but we should check the remains of those assassins to see if we can find out who hired them... And I need to wake up are surviving squire. Can I give him that antidote?"

Wina looked at her hand that was holding the leftover antidote. "Here."

She handed it over to Mathew and he took it.

"Thanks," Mathew said as he headed towards the passed-out squire who was covered in the purple blood of the dead assassin, and gave him the antidote.

"Come on, wake up," Mathew said with a sigh.

He gently smacked the squire in the face.

*BAP!*

"Ugh! I'm up," George said with a yawn.

It took him a few seconds for him to get his bearings and remember what happened.

"R-Robert!?" George asked in a panic.

Mathew just gave him a sad look.

"Damn it... Damn it!" George said as he slammed his fist into the floor.

"I'm sorry, George," Mathew said.

George took a few breaths and wiped the tears away from his face. And he saw the purple blood all over him.

"Fucking vampires... We should have seen this coming. I should have seen this coming..." George cursed himself through gritted teeth.

"We probably would have joined him and Ingrid if it wasn't for Miss Wina. Come! The time to mourn the fallen will have to happen later. We need to search the remains of the assassins and try and find any clues on who hired them."

Mathew and Wina helped George up and the trio searched through the remains of the assassins.

"I found this note," Mathew said.

"I've got nothing but blood-covered leather," George said with a sour face. As he was using his sword to poke around Violet's remains.

Wina was going through Ash's remains and found a few pieces of folded parchment that were no longer legible thanks to them getting dyed by Ash's blood.

'Haah... This might be a map of the palace but it's impossible to tell what it is. And I doubt there is anyone else involved in this. So, we should be good. Huh? Is that a gold coin?'

"I found this," Wina said as she picked up the coin and cleaned off some of the blood.

The coin had the royal seal of the Kingdom of Marn on it.

All three of them came together and looked at the coin.

"It can't be a coincidence, right?" George asked.

Mathew looked up and stared into the distance.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they are planning something else... Let's see what the note says," Mathew said as he unfolded the small piece of parchment he found.

Wina and George looked over his shoulder.

When the parchment was opened they were greeted by Dark Elven writing.

"I can't read this," Mathew said.

"Here, let me translate it," Wina said as she was familiar with the scripture of the dark elves.

"To the Assassin's guild. This contract has been paid in full and you are authorized to kill Prince Quinus.

I will contact you if I am required to amend the deed.

Signed,

The Dark Council."

Mathew and George were confused by the writing.

"How did you learn the Dark Elven tongue?" George asked.

"I traveled around the world quite a bit when I was a child," Wina explained.

"The Dark Council, huh... I don't know much about the Dark Elves. But I don't think they have a council... I thought they were more of a matriarchical society. Do you know anything about them, Wina?"

"They seem to keep to themselves... If I had to guess. These assassins were trying to frame the Dark Elves as the culprits... If we didn't defeat them they probably would have let one of us live. While dropping this note in order to hide their true client. It's a classic assassin's maneuver for lower-ranked assassins."

"How do you know so much about assassins?" George asked.

'Shit! Why did I have to say all that?' Wina cursed herself.

"W-well..."

Mathew cuts in, "Wina was an assassin when she was younger. Luckily she was able to escape her contract and join our ranks. That's why we can trust her. She's the last line of defense for the prince. No one would expect a Royal Wet Nurse to be a warrior. That's why she was able to save us." Mathew said the half-truth with a straight face.

"Huh? I-I never noticed that you took down those assassins so easily," George said in confusion.

Wina's face was bright red and she looked down.

"I-I was sloppy myself... I forgot to wear my tearaway skirt and couldn't get my dagger out quick enough... I failed Ingrid... And I might have saved Robert..."

Mathew put his hand on Wina's shoulder.

"We all make mistakes. You were the only one immune to those Galebane fumes... But we can't let the past drag us down. We will honor their deaths. And learn from this... So we can live a better life for their sacrifice and protect the prince from whoever is trying to kill him. Understand?"

Wina's heart was pounding. The fact that Mathew trusted her after finding out that she was an assassin made her feel loved and accepted.

She thought she didn't deserve such kindness.

Wina looked back up at him and smiled.

"Aye... You have done good, Miss Wina... I should have tried harder... Robert would have been alive if I wasn't such a weakling," George said.

"Was this the first time you had someone you know taken from you?" Mathew asked.

"Yes..." George replied.

"Then you have been blessed... This world is cruel, George. One minute you're laughing with your brothers and then in an instant, you're wiping the blood off your face as a monster took their life before you had the chance to say goodbye. You can't afford to let your emotions control you. That's why we trained so hard. To steel ourselves against the horrors of this world. I wish I never experienced loss before I was ten, but it's a hard truth we all must learn... We survive so their memories can live on. Do you understand?" Mathew said as he stared into George's eyes.

"Y-yes," George said as he looked back at his superior.

"Alright. Let's get the Prince to his mother."

Wina nodded and walked over to the sleeping prince and picked him up. Just as she was about to walk to the door. She spotted Ingrid lying there on the floor. Her lips were blue and her eyes were open and empty.

'Ingrid... I'm sorry...'

Whispered a voice in her head.

"Huh?" Wina was startled.

"Is everything alright, Wina?" Mathew asked.

"Y-yea... Everything is fine," Wina said.

Mathew and George nodded and went to the door.

"Alright... Keep an eye out for any other assassins," George said as he opened the door.

"It's unlikely but I guess we should keep our guard up," Mathew said as he held his sword in his hand just in case someone was to attack them.

George and Mathew walked outside the room and waited for Wina.

Wina was still shaken from hearing a voice in her head. She didn't think that Ingrid was haunting her, but it was odd that she was hearing her voice. She looked down at Ingrid's dead body.

"Rest in peace, Ingrid..." Wina said.

Then she walked out of the room and closed the door.