Contract of Submission with the Enemy - Chapter 25
Rité stared at the broken half of the key in disbelief. Everything depended on this key, and now it was useless. Her vision blurred as the warehouse filled with smoke.
She frantically looked around for another way to open the door. The fire was spreading to the warehouse’s contents. Rité covered her mouth and slammed her body against the door with all her might. But her small frame couldn’t budge the door.
Time was running out, and the warehouse was filling with smoke. Her vision and mind were becoming hazy. She noticed something in the blurry edge of her vision: a heavy stone in the corner of the warehouse. It was already heated by the fire but she had no other choice.
Screaming in agony, she picked up the hot stone and threw it with all her strength at the lock on the door. As the warehouse was engulfed in flames, she burst through the door and escaped.
Lying on the ground, coughing violently and expelling fluids from every orifice, a shadow fell over her. Covered in ashes, tears, mucus, saliva, and sweat, Rité looked up at the man in front of her, trembling. Though backlit, she knew it was Aster.
What happened next made Rité freeze and forget to breathe. Aster pointed the muzzle of a gun at the center of her forehead. Rité lay on the ground, unable to move, watching him with trembling eyes. It felt just like the night she parted from Nox.
Aster, without changing his expression, pulled the trigger. There was only an empty click. Rité opened one eye and looked up at him again.
“If there had been guards outside the warehouse, you’d be dead right now. Don’t let your guard down just because you’ve escaped. People are most careless when they feel the greatest relief. Quickly plan your next move. For an assassin, time is life.”
Even now, he was teaching her.
Despite trembling, Rité couldn’t argue with his words. They were correct.
Aster finished speaking, bent down, and finally healed Rité’s burns. The burn marks vanished completely.
Aster spoke calmly.
“Now that you’ve escaped, let me tell you what you need to do next.”
Having just escaped the inferno, Rité felt utterly exhausted at the thought of another task. Aster leaned in close and spoke quietly.
“Go to your quarters without being seen. There, you’ll find something very important for you.”
Gritting her teeth, Rité stood up and started running. Aster cheerfully called after her.
“Don’t let anyone see you! I’ll ask my subordinates if they saw you.”
“Shut up!”
She shouted back at him, his laughter echoing behind her. Consumed with anger, Rité ran at full speed towards her quarters.
Entering the building, she carefully observed the soldiers in the corridor, avoiding them by hiding against the walls. Fortunately, most soldiers seemed to be at breakfast, and the corridors were almost empty.
This, too, was Aster’s consideration, but Rité didn’t want to think about that. If this was his idea of consideration, then true consideration didn’t exist in this world.
Finally reaching her quarters safely, Rité locked the door and leaned against it, catching her breath. The tension suddenly released, and she felt drained.
Just as she was about to collapse, she noticed a small box on her bed. She couldn’t let her guard down.
Swallowing nervously, she quickly approached the bed.
Opening the box cautiously, she found a note in Aster’s handwriting.
[You successfully completed the mission, so here’s your reward. Something truly precious to you.]
Beneath the note were a dog tag and an old photo. Rité’s eyes widened, and tears began to flow.
It was a photo of Nox in uniform. In the photo, Nox looked tense, staring stiffly ahead as if taking a military ID photo shortly after joining the army. It was exactly how she remembered him.
Looking at the photo, it felt like she had traveled back in time. She almost expected the young Nox to burst out of the photo, arms outstretched, crying and jumping into her arms.
Rité tightly hugged the photo of the wounded Nox from those days, closing her eyes as she trembled with silent sobs. Though her body shook with grief, no sound escaped her lips. Instead, soft, painful noises, as if she were swallowing back her emotions, slipped out. It sounded like she was being choked or forced to swallow poison.
Having lived a life where silence was necessary for survival, Rité had forgotten how to cry out loud. While a fierce emotional battle raged inside her, no one could hear it. Yet, one person knew she was silently screaming.
As Rité curled up on the bed, silently sobbing like a cocoon for a long time, Aster stood leaning against the door outside. Just then, Benyak approached him urgently from a distance.
“Major! We can’t find that woman anywhere!”
At this, Aster silently laughed, confirming that Rité had perfectly followed his orders. Benyak looked at him in confusion.
“It’s alright, you can go back. Rité will join the training soon.”
“Really? You’re allowing her back into training?”
“Yes. She successfully completed the escape training. She’s too valuable to discard. She’ll become an excellent spy.”
Benyak didn’t argue further and turned back. Aster leaned his head against the door, recalling his conversation with Lieutenant General Russell. He had convinced Russell to allow Rité to have an audience with the Commander, as he was the one who captured the Commander. Russell had listened calmly despite his anger.
Aster succeeded in persuading Russell about his future plans, but he couldn’t refuse the directive to personally mete out an appropriate punishment to Rité. Russell intended to send a strong message. Allowing Rité, who had helped the military’s most dangerous prisoner escape, to go unpunished would upset the other soldiers.
However, Aster sensed another motive. Russell didn’t want Aster’s influence to grow unchecked. There was a perception that those favored by Aster Cloud could break military laws with minimal repercussions, and that his protection was even beyond Russell’s reach.
Russell wanted to curb the perception that Aster was an untouchable force in the military. Despite Aster’s unique and independent status, Russell wanted him to remain a weapon under his control, not a performer wielding power over him.
After selecting an appropriate punishment for Rité and obtaining Russell’s approval, Aster left the room. Although the punishment was harsh, it was necessary to satisfy Russell. Aster felt relieved that Rité wasn’t sentenced to death.
However, his expression remained grim as he headed to the training ground in the pouring rain. While Rité was trapped in the warehouse, Aster stayed up all night, waiting for her escape. He dismissed the guards and kept vigil alone, as if punishing himself as well.
“I told you, Rité. Whatever you choose, you must take responsibility for it.”
Aster intended to uphold his own words. Throughout the night, he remained silent, ignoring the soldiers’ greetings, with a sharp expression, smoking cigarette after cigarette.
He rarely smoked and didn’t particularly enjoy it. His subordinates knew that if they saw him smoking, it indicated a significant change in his mood. During such times, it was best to leave him alone. Even in combat, he had never been so sharp and sensitive, so everyone quietly passed by, tense in his presence.
At dawn, Aster discarded his cigarette and set the warehouse on fire himself. His gaze was more intense than the flames as he stared at the warehouse door. He was ready to rush in if Rité didn’t escape in time, but he firmly believed she would succeed.
When she finally burst through the iron door, Aster couldn’t help but smile brightly. Her vibrant, life-filled movements as she lay on the ground, catching her breath, appeared stunningly beautiful to him.
He aimed his gun at her head. Though the gun was empty, it was to imprint their meeting more deeply in her mind. Even if it became a trauma for her, he didn’t want her to forget that memory—the most significant one in his life.
Listening to the silent echoes of her emotions from inside the room, Aster stood like a shadow for a long time outside her door.