Battle Divorce! - Chapter 4
Of course, neither of them were truly father and daughter.
“How did you find me?”
Outside the chapel, after confirming no one else was around, Daisy immediately demanded answers.
“Now, is that any way to talk to your father?”
“You’re not my father.”
“You know my skills. Information is my lifeblood. If I couldn’t find you, what good would I be?”
Count Therese shrugged like it was nothing. Daisy was irritated. She’d gone through all that trouble to hide, and yet here she was discovered anyway.
Whether Daisy glared or not, Count Therese just grinned.
“Don’t look at me like that. What father wouldn’t worry when his daughter disappears? But what’s all this, Easy? Found religion since I last saw you?”
He reached for the cross around Daisy’s neck, but she slapped his hand away.
“I sent a letter. I told you I was retiring. Not to look for me.”
“I don’t recall agreeing to that.”
It had been a one-sided announcement, but she’d clearly declared her intention to retire. She’d sworn off killing and couldn’t do that work anymore.
“You’ve still got skills, though. Took me a whole year to track you down. Didn’t think you’d be that hard to find.”
“That’s rather disappointing to hear, coming from you.”
‘Dear Lord in heaven, your child is about to make one final exception to take a life…’
As Daisy removed her hair ornament, her hair, once pinned up, tumbled down like a waterfall. At the same moment, the sharp tip of the pin came to rest right against Count Therese’s carotid artery.
“My skills don’t fade so easily.”
“Whoa, Easy, take it easy. I get it.”
“For you to come here alone. Got careless, did you?”
“Enough with the chit-chat. You’ve rested long enough. It’s time to come back.”
“I can’t.”
Daisy cut him off firmly.
“Why didn’t you tell me the last target had a child?”
“It wasn’t intentional. Whoever gathered the intel must have missed that. I’ll apologize for that part.”
Count Therese admitted fault, even placing a hand over his heart and bowing slightly. Daisy found his nonchalance infuriating.
“But Easy, those royalist bastards still need cleaning up. Kid or no kid, the cause hasn’t changed.”
“……”
“You’re so soft now.”
He clicked his tongue at her silence.
“Well, I can’t do it anymore. I just want to live like everyone else. Maybe fall in love, do normal work, live a quiet life. So please, let me go.”
“You know the rules, Easy. Disobeying an order means elimination. No exceptions.”
“Then go ahead. Kill me.”
“Stubborn as ever.”
Count Therese let out a long sigh.
“Alright. What if it’s not an assassination? There’s something else only you can do.”
“What are you talking about?”
What else could there be for an assassin but killing? Daisy frowned.
“It’s simple. You just need to pretend to be my illegitimate daughter and stand in as a bride. You’ll get paid, and then you’re free.”
“Marriage and freedom don’t exactly go together.”
“They do when your husband goes off to war right after the wedding and dies as cannon fodder, no wedding night either. You’ll be a widow right away.”
Business must be slow these days. If assassinations aren’t selling, is he working as a matchmaker now?
Whether Daisy looked at him like he was insane or not, Count Therese just arched a brow and continued as if nothing was odd.
“His name is Maxim von Waldeck.”
“Not interested. If you want to live, just leave.”
She withdrew the pin from his neck and pushed Count Therese away.
“The pay is one million gold.”
At that, Daisy’s eyes widened.
“A special retirement gift from your old man. But if you’re not interested, I’ll just find someone else.”
“…If I do this, can I really retire?”
“Of course. Just finish this one job, and you have my blessing.”
Honestly, Daisy was tempted.
The little convent always struggled to make ends meet. There were no steady benefactors, and some of the orphans were sick. They barely had enough to eat, let alone pay for medicine.
She couldn’t deny she needed the money.
With enough, the children could get proper care, grow up healthy, study, and become better adults than she’d ever be.
“One million gold and my severance on top. Right, Father?”
Both Easy and Daisy loved money. In a harsh world, it was the only thing she could really trust.
And she had no idea.
Maxim von Waldeck.
That her husband—her final mission—would turn out to be more dangerous than anyone she’d ever met.
