Even after Regnard left the room, Serena could not take her eyes off the door.
She could no longer hear the sound of his footsteps receding down the hallway, yet the coldness that had pierced deep into her chest remained.
The moment that name had been uttered, the brightly lit room in the royal palace felt as though it had transformed back into the Black Needle Society’s basement.
Stone walls without windows... damp air... the smell of blood and medicine.
In that place, no one had called her Serena.
Sink into the shadows... Cut their throats... Return before you are found.
They only ever asked whether the mission was complete; they never once asked what she thought. The Shadow-Stitcher was not a person. She was a tool—an object that, when given an order, would kill the target and return.
It had been the same after she fled the society. Those who pursued her called her nothing but "traitor" or "Shadow-Stitcher." That was why, when Vain learned her true identity, she assumed her life here was over.
She expected to be thrown out of the mansion and handed over to the royal palace. Or perhaps, since he had gone to the trouble of picking up an assassin, he would order her to kill his enemies.
She had no intention of resisting, regardless of the outcome.
In his service, she had been given warm meals and a room to shield her from the wind and rain. She didn't have to worry about her throat being slit while she slept, and when morning came, Mylene would teach her how to work.
Even when she failed, she wasn't beaten.
When she broke a plate, they checked to see if she was injured before anything else.
When her polishing of the hallway was insufficient, Clarice would look exasperated, yet she would still show her how to fix it.
They had treated her on the premise that Serena would be there tomorrow—not as the Shadow-Stitcher, but as herself.
That alone should have been enough. And yet, Vain had spoken clearly in front of the First Prince.
She isn't the Shadow-Stitcher. She's Serena.
Don't get her name wrong ever again.
"...Serena."
Hearing her name called once more, Serena finally looked up.
Vain was looking at her with furrowed brows. The sharpness he had directed toward the First Prince had vanished, replaced by a look of confusion as to why she was standing there in silence.
"You've been standing there for a while now. What's wrong? Is there something else you haven't told me?"
"I..."
I have to apologize.
For hiding her identity... for being pursued by the Black Needle Society... for bringing danger to the mansion...
She understood this in her head. Yet, the words that left her mouth were different.
"Is it okay... for me to stay here?"
Vain blinked once. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"I have killed people... and I didn't tell you anything, Master."
"No one tells their employer their entire life story before being hired, especially when they haven't been asked. Besides, have you killed anyone at the mansion?"
"...I haven't."
"Then that's no reason to throw you out right now. At the very least, I have no complaints about your work at the manor."
His voice was so perfectly ordinary.
That was precisely why Serena found herself unable to respond. It wasn't that Vain took the past lightly. Even so, he did not try to define her current self by her past alone.
He wasn't looking at what the Shadow-Stitcher had done, but at how Serena spent her time at the mansion.
"...Are you not afraid?"
"Are you talking about the possibility of you killing me?"
When Serena nodded, Vain sat back in his chair with a look of annoyance.
"If that were the case, there have already been plenty of opportunities. You've brought tea to my bedroom, and you've stood behind me in the hallways. It's a bit late to start being afraid now, isn't it?"
"I don't think that's the issue..."
"Then what is the issue?"
"Usually... when people find out someone is an assassin, they don't want them nearby."
"The 'you' I've been watching is a woman who learns her job from Mylene, remembers how to arrange plates, and checks the corners of the hallways over and over to make sure no dust remains. I find it hard to believe that someone intending to kill their master would polish silverware for the next morning's breakfast."
Vain paused to think for a moment and then added.
"Besides, you haven't bared a blade against me even once. As far as I'm concerned, that is the fact I know."
The coldness that had remained deep in her chest slowly began to melt away.
There were many who had wanted the Shadow-Stitcher's skills. There were those who counted the number of people she could kill, asked how much it would cost to hire her, and verified whether she would obey orders.
But there had never been anyone who looked at the silverware she polished or the work she had learned.
"...I will never betray you, Master."
Her voice came out much clearer than she had expected.
"Not because I was ordered to... and not just because I owe you for taking me in. I want to stay by your side of my own will."
After she spoke, her heart pounded loudly. Back when she was in the Black Needle Society, simply stating her own desires without permission would have been grounds for punishment. Even so, she didn't want to take the words back.
Vain didn't answer immediately; he just looked at Serena's face. Eventually, he let out a short sigh.
"Then stay as you please. I have no plans to kick you out."
He didn't ask for a blood oath, nor did he tell her to kill someone as proof of her loyalty. He simply told her she could stay.
That alone was enough to fill Serena's heart.
"Yeah... I'll be here, always."
Vain watched Serena's face for a while, as if confirming something. "Just remember one thing. You are no longer the Shadow-Stitcher of the Black Needle Society."
"...Eh?"
"I'm not saying you can erase what you did in the past. If there's something you need to atone for, you can face it eventually. But you don't need to go back to those people because of it, and I have no intention of letting the palace take you away on a whim."
Vain leaned back against the chair and continued as if stating the most obvious thing in the world.
"Right now, you are the Serena I hired. Whether it's the Black Needle Society or anyone else, if they try to take someone from my household without permission, they'll have to go through me first."
Someone from my household.
Those words were entirely different from when she had been owned as a tool.
He wasn't binding her to prevent her from fleeing. Because Serena had wished to stay here of her own will, he was saying he wouldn't let anyone take that choice away from her.
"...Master, will you protect me?"
"Don't be stupid! I just don't like people meddling with my manor."
Vain cut himself off there and looked straight at Serena.
"If you leave of your own volition, I won't stop you. But I won't allow you to vanish on your own out of fear of the past, or try to return to being the Shadow-Stitcher. If you've decided to be here, then I'll at least protect your place here."
The last of the coldness lingering deep in her chest vanished.
She wasn't being kept because she was a tool that followed orders. She could stay here because she was Serena, who had decided to remain of her own accord. Vain had accepted that choice and was telling her he wouldn't let it be easily taken away.
"...Yeah. I'll stay here as Serena."
"That's fine. As for how long, decide as you like. If you get sick of it, you're free to quit. However, Mylene will be troubled if you suddenly vanish, so tell us beforehand."
You're free to quit.
Those words, ironically, strengthened Serena's resolve. She wasn't staying in a place she couldn't escape. Even though she could leave, she was choosing to be here.
For the first time, that made the word "loyalty" something of Serena's own.
"Also, I don't like the name Shadow-Stitcher..."
Vain suddenly spoke up, and Serena tilted her head. "...Why?"
"It's gloomy and hard to say. Besides, it doesn't suit you."
It was a name given to her for the purpose of sinking into shadows and killing people. No one had ever told her it didn't suit her.
"Then, what do you think would fit?"
"Let's see... How about 'Jet-Black Blade'?"
Clarice, who was watching from the side, visibly grimaced, and Alecia pressed a finger to her forehead.
"...Vain. How can you suggest an even worse name right after saying you hated 'Shadow-Stitcher'?"
"It sounds strong! A blade is easier to understand than a shadow, isn't it?"
"...Master, I'm fine with Serena."
"That's a shame. If the person herself says so, I suppose it can't be helped."
He looked truly disappointed. Seeing that face, a small breath escaped from deep within her.
"...Hehe."
It took a moment for her to realize it was her own voice. Vain raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"What's so funny?"
"...Jet-Black Blade."
"Hmm? Did you decide it wasn't so bad after all?"
"That's not it... It's very, very uncool."
Laughter spilled out once more.
This time, she didn't close her mouth. There was a place where she could laugh as Serena, not the Shadow-Stitcher.
She wanted to protect this place.
She wouldn't become a blade just because she was ordered to. She wanted to be by his side so that this man wouldn't need a blade. That was a role she had chosen for herself for the first time—one that hadn't been given to her by anyone else.
After Serena and Clarice left the room, Alecia watched Vain's profile as he stood by the window.
A man who hadn't backed down even an inch before the First Prince and had flatly stated that one shouldn't discard people based solely on their past. Yet the man himself didn't seem to realize how significant the things he had said were.
"...Vain. What kind of person do you think a king should be?"
Vain turned around with a look of genuine annoyance.
"I don't know... and I don't want to be one."
"You were telling my brother, weren't you? About the responsibility of those who use people, and not easily discarding those who stayed out of trust."
"I was just talking about being an employer! If you make someone work, you give them something equivalent to their labor. And if you entrust them with a job and they fail, you check if there was a cause on the side of the one who gave the order. That's just common sense, isn't it?"
"Is that the same for a lord or a king?"
"Yeah. Just because you've stood at the top doesn't mean everything you do is permitted. If you're going to order people around, don't run away from the results. That's all there is to it."
Vain had the face of someone who wasn't saying anything complicated. However, Alecia had seen many people who forgot that "obvious" truth the more they grew accustomed to a position of command.
If they failed, they punished their subordinates; if they succeeded, they took the credit for themselves. They discarded those who didn't obey and instilled fear in those who remained.
Her brother believed that was how one could rule people.
"...What if a subordinate makes a mistake?"
"Like I said, first you hear their reasons. If you cut them off without checking that, the next person will just make the same mistake."
"What if the person was just being lazy?"
"I'd treat them according to their work... but I'd tell them the reason for letting them go. If you discard someone without them understanding why, even those who remain will start thinking they're next."
Alecia silently took those words to heart.
She wanted to be king. To protect the country, lead the people, and build a better nation than her brother. She believed she had that resolve... but did she truly have the resolve to take responsibility even when those who followed her orders failed?
"...I'll remember that."
"Remember what?"
"When I become king... those words of yours."
"...Do as you like. But don't use me as a model for a king, okay? I'm only rebuilding my domain because I have to so I can drink wine without working."
"Yes... I certainly won't imitate that part."
Alecia laughed softly and turned her gaze toward the closed door.
The girl who had been bound by her past until moments ago had decided to stay here of her own will and left the room smiling.
Perhaps a king is not someone who makes people stay through orders.
It is someone who creates a place where those who have the freedom to leave still want to remain. And someone who does not run away from the responsibility of answering that choice.
When she eventually sat upon the throne, she would remember Serena's smile today.
Alecia made that vow.