1.

Bang! Bang bang!

In the middle of an open plain, a noise loud enough to drown out all the sounds of vast nature echoed. Soon after, the man standing in the center, surrounded by gunpowder smoke, took out a cigarette from his coat pocket. The accompanying secretary skillfully lit the end of his cigarette.

Another middle-aged man watching this scene up close broke out in a cold sweat. When he smoked a cigarette while looking at an almost fully developed weapon like this, there was only one reaction that would follow.

“It’s garbage. Scrap it all.”

These words came from Duke Arcturus Cloen’s mouth during a brief pause in the shooting.

“You know, Your Grace.”

The man in charge of this gun production wiped away his noticeably profuse sweat with a handkerchief and offered an explanation to the man young enough to be his son.

“The war is over anyway. We don’t need to put as much effort into weapon development as we did during the height of the war. The military is demanding quick delivery of weapons, but…”

The man abruptly stopped speaking, not for any particular reason. He simply felt a strange pressure from the gaze of the man in front of him, who was staring intently at his face while blowing out cigarette smoke.

Arcturus Cloen showed no emotion, but his very presence instilled fear in others. Young and beautiful, yet his sturdy body and jawline were enough to intimidate others, and his blue eyes, almost gray, were like jewels, but his upturned eyes and pale irises gave a sharp impression.

Especially the indescribable atmosphere he exuded…

“Mr. Smith.”

For a moment, the man who had been staring at Arcturus snapped back to attention at the polite voice.

“Yes, yes!”

Arcturus raised the corners of his mouth slightly as he looked at the foolish man’s face. Unlike his expressionless state earlier, the softened atmosphere almost made the man unconsciously let his guard down.

“There’s a big error in what you said.”

“Yes… yes?”

“First, our war isn’t over. We’re just in a temporary ceasefire due to the massive damage between nations from the long war.”

“But, but the possibility of another war…”

“Second, the weapons made by our family’s company go out under my name.”

The name of the arms company directly operated by Arcturus Cloen was ‘Arcturus’. It was a famous anecdote that the founder, his maternal grandfather, had named the company after his grandson.

“It means I can’t let this kind of trash go out under my name just to chase immediate profits.”

The words coming from the man standing before him were so at odds with his appearance. Unlike his gentle smile, his words were incredibly sharp.

“And, you seem to have forgotten…”

Arcturus, who had carelessly dropped and stepped on his now short cigarette, finally showed emotion on his face.

“I was also a soldier.”

“……”

“It means I suffered quite a bit because of such crappy weapons.”

After briefly furrowing his brow, Arcturus once again wore a crooked smile and patted Smith’s shoulder a couple of times.

“Thank you for your hard work until now, Mr. Smith.”

Roches, the secretary who had been listening beside them, shook his head inwardly.

The man with the dumbfounded expression didn’t seem to have realized yet, but that was a dismissal notice.

***

The line connecting the hand holding the long rod, the arm, and the shoulder was graceful. A nude-colored leotard and a skirt that didn’t even reach the knees fluttered.

“She’s so intense.”

Director Mark clicked his tongue.

It was Karen Chaner, the principal dancer of the Swan Ballet Company, who also held the title of ‘étoile’, meaning a shining star in the night sky.

With her long hair reaching down to her waist tightly tied up, Karen had been repeating the same step for hours already on her tiptoes in white tights.

She repeated the pas de bourrée movement while holding onto the ballet barre.

Today was supposed to be a day off for the dancers with no practice, but Karen seemed to have no intention of leaving the practice room even at this late hour. This wasn’t a one-time occurrence.

Karen was a hard worker who surpassed geniuses. She had a frighteningly persistent side, so even if others saw no problem, if she wasn’t satisfied, she would practice a single movement all night long. Even the most basic movements were no exception.

Just as Karen was about to take her hands off the ballet barre and spread her arms to do a Port de Bras movement, seemingly satisfied with her steps,

“Why don’t you stop and go home?”

“…Director.”

Unable to watch any longer, Director Mark parted the curtain and entered the practice room to stop Karen.

“You need to know how to rest too.”

Instead of answering, Karen, with beads of sweat on her forehead, just smiled faintly. The fine hair near her forehead was wet, but strangely, she didn’t smell of sweat.

“You don’t have any friends because you practice so intensely like this.”

“Isn’t it a good thing for the principal dancer to practice hard? Why are you angry?”

“I’m upset, that’s why I’m upset.”

It was common for dancers to envy and be jealous of each other. But it was rare for someone like Karen to have no close colleagues at all.

Was it because Karen was quiet and reserved?

Because she was exceptionally beautiful even among dancers known for their beauty?

Because she was the top dancer with the title of ‘étoile’?

All of these could be reasons, but Director Mark had found a more fundamental reason.

“You need to learn how to mingle with people.”

Karen put up too much of a wall against people. This level of practice could be called passion and dedication, but to him, it seemed more like an obsession.

“Do you have a lover? Everdeen said that you…”

Karen, who had been smiling awkwardly in place, only showed a reaction when he put down the newspaper he had brought from outside on a small chair in front of the mirror.

“Ah…”

For some reason, Karen quickly picked up the newspaper.

Since he had brought the newspaper delivered to the ballet company out of habit, Mark didn’t know what was on the front page. He carefully stood behind Karen and clicked his tongue as he saw the large photo of one individual printed on it.

“What? Don’t tell me you’re also an ardent admirer of that guy?”

The person whose face was on the front page was Arcturus Cloen, revered as a hero of the Gloretta Empire.

Although he’s now involved in the arms industry, he was once famous as a sniper who joined the military at the youngest age and took out hundreds of key enemy figures. The enemy country even widely distributed wanted posters for his assassination.

On the contrary, the Gloretta military used him as a promotional model to recruit soldiers due to his young age, handsome appearance, and outstanding achievements. The year they used him as a promotional model saw the highest number of volunteer enlistments. His fervent followers knew no bounds in terms of age or gender.

Although his popularity had quieted down these days as he quietly led the arms company built by his maternal grandfather after the ceasefire.

“…I need to practice.”

“What?”

Karen, who had been quietly staring at Arcturus Cloen’s photo, suddenly blurted out. She put down the newspaper and started practicing the same movement again from the beginning, standing in front of the ballet barre, ignoring Mark’s bewildered reaction.

“This performance needs to be perfect.”

“When has it ever not been?”

“It always needed to be perfect, but this time especially…”

“……”

“It needs to be even more perfect.”

Karen’s demeanor seemed strange.

Could it be that she’s acting like this because she thinks Duke Cloen might come to this performance?

No, that can’t be.

He had never come to a Swan Ballet Company performance before. Not just in ballet performances, but he didn’t enjoy any cultural activities and was a workaholic obsessed with his job.

Since Karen probably doesn’t have any personal connection or acquaintance with Duke Cloen, she shouldn’t be harboring any false hopes.

Watching Karen, who seemed to have forgotten his presence and was solely focused on practicing, Director Mark clicked his tongue as if he couldn’t help it.

***

Arcturus Cloen.

Not even 30 years old this year, this young man was known for his competence. In killing people on the battlefield and in manufacturing weapons to kill people.

As competent as he was talented, he was also a hard worker. Especially since starting his business, he participated directly in weapon manufacturing and had memorized related books and information to the point where he could recite them. Since he could handle weapons himself, his understanding was high.

That’s why he couldn’t understand incompetent people. If there was a type he particularly disliked…

“Those kinds of guys are the ones who betray the country when the opportunity arises.”

“Isn’t it a bit much to label Mr. Smith, who worked at Arcturus for 10 years, as a potential national traitor?”

Roches, Arcturus’s secretary and long-time friend, chuckled and subtly defended the poor employee who had just been fired.

“Grandfather would be upset if he knew…”

“Being incompetent isn’t a crime, but living with self-justification and rationalization is.”

“You really…”