Reflecting on how she had been mesmerized by his beauty, she struggled to regain her composure.

“Why… Why are you reading a book in someone else’s bedroom?”

“I was waiting for you to wake up.”

“Right in front of a sleeping person?”

“I didn’t want to waste time.”

Waste? What did he mean by that?

Karl stood there, hands in his pockets, looking at Lumiere. His casual attire and relaxed smile made him seem at home.

Seriously, this is my house.

“It’s been almost three months since I last saw you, so I wanted to hear your breathing while you slept…”

Lumiere wasn’t used to hearing such sweet words from others.

Maybe that’s why? She felt her heart racing uncontrollably.

‘Calm down, you. Why are you beating so fast when you don’t even remember this man?’

Flustered, Lumiere scolded her heart and turned her head to avoid his gaze. She didn’t realize that by turning her head, her flushed neck was fully exposed.

His suppressed desire leaked out as his gaze followed her reddened neck.

“…Anyway, now that you’re awake, I should go.”

He forced himself to look away, pulling down his rolled-up sleeves. After buttoning up and tidying his clothes, he took a coat from the hanger and put it on with precise movements.

His straight posture and orderly actions made him the epitome of nobility. Fully dressed in a frock coat that reached his thighs, he approached her with long strides.

“I’ll be back soon.”

He lifted her limp hand and kissed the back of it, whispering softly.

“This time, I won’t make you wait long.”

His gentle touch caressed the scar on her hand. It was a tender warmth, as if he was soothing something precious and dear.

“Another promise you won’t keep…”

Startled by her own voice, Lumiere looked at him.

Karl’s expression changed instantly. He asked her with a deepened gaze.

“Did you remember something?”

“…I don’t know. The words just came out. Why did I say that?”

Confused, Lumiere asked him back.

Karl looked at her with complicated eyes. Her eyes, filled with confusion, wavered.

Suddenly, he softened his expression and kissed her forehead, murmuring.

“It’s all my fault. It’s my fault for making you wait endlessly.”

Karl muttered something she couldn’t understand and smiled bitterly.

“So… Please give me a chance to correct all these wrongs. My lady.”

His smile, directed at her, was distorted but heartbreakingly beautiful.

Lumiere felt her forehead, where he kissed, burning hot. She wanted to say something to him as he left, but in the end, she said nothing.

Her heart beat anxiously, as if leaving her with a warning.

* * *

“It’s ready.”

As soon as Karl left the mansion, his secretary, Chris, whispered to him.

Their escort, Gustav, stood by the prepared carriage, waiting for them.

Karl confirmed the carriage and turned back to look at the Lashantia mansion.

The mansion, made of ivory-colored Parshel stone, was square-shaped with a hollow center.

The roof was covered with red stones from the Shator region, and the pillars were engraved with designs by Lumiere herself.

From design to construction, there wasn’t a place Karl Winger hadn’t touched.

Every small material had his approval.

There were two secret passages unknown to the outside, and the trees and garden were arranged so that the inside of the mansion couldn’t be seen from outside.

This mansion was a fortress built solely for Lumiere.

A small fortress created to protect her and bring her joy.

That was the Lashantia mansion.

But in such a place…

‘There is a traitor.’
‘Find them.’

It seemed a dirty rat had snuck in.

Karl looked up at the hatch used as the mansion’s entrance.

Beyond the hatch, children were playing in a small park specially designed for Lumiere.

Watching that serene and peaceful scene, he suddenly grimaced and held his forehead.

Zzzing—!

A sharp ringing pierced his brain, shaking his head.

The intense headache rattled his brain.

“Sir!”

Karl raised his hand to stop Chris, who was approaching.

It was a symptom that surfaced whenever fatigue accumulated.

He pressed his forehead irritably and took a deep breath.

‘Of all times, now.’

More bothersome than the tinnitus was the auditory anomaly that followed.

Three or four times a year, after the tinnitus, his ears would become overly sensitive.

His ears, which seemed to swallow all the sounds of the world, would pick up even the most unwanted and unnecessary noises.

This meant living with headaches for at least ten days to a month.

Karl sighed briefly, then opened the carriage door with a roughened face.

Two men, bound at the wrists and lying on the carriage floor, flinched and looked up in surprise.

Karl glanced at them with narrowed eyes and then sat on the carriage seat.

His expression remained tense, likely due to the headache.

He sighed and extended his fingers towards Chris, who was sitting next to him.

Chris handed Karl a cigarette, always kept ready in the carriage.

With a sizzle, the end of the cigarette lit up.

As he inhaled deeply, the unique harsh and acrid scent scratched his throat.

The sensation of flames passing through his windpipe slowly began to ease the pain that threatened to split his head.

“…So.”

As soon as the headache subsided, Karl extinguished the half-burnt cigarette in the ashtray.

He then ran his large hand over his face, as if washing it dry, and sighed.

The last of the white smoke slipped out between his tightly closed lips.

The interior of the black carriage was dark, and the man’s golden eyes shone faintly through the hazy smoke.

The two men, who had been lying prostrate, glanced at him with terrified faces, forgetting their own predicament and staring blankly at his strange and beautiful appearance.

Karl chuckled as if mocking them.

It seemed these two didn’t realize the danger they were in.

“Who sent you?”

The man on the right, regaining his senses first, quickly shook his head.

“We, we don’t know anything…!”

“Th-that’s right! We were just lost and wandering around here when the people outside grabbed us…!”

The most expensive carriage in this city was spacious.

Not only that, but it was so sturdy that it wouldn’t break easily in most accidents.

This meant that no matter what happened inside, it wouldn’t show outside.

Karl extended his hand towards Chris without responding.

His clever secretary knocked on the wall towards the driver’s seat.

The carriage started smoothly, and Karl pulled back the curtain to look at the Lashantia mansion.

A delicate shadow flickered at the second-floor window.

For a moment, Karl’s expression softened.

He stared intently at the slender silhouette as if engraving it on his retina, only turning his head back after the mansion completely disappeared from view.

The carriage traveled for a while and reached a secluded clearing.

Chris, who had been observing outside, nodded to Karl and whispered.

“There’s no one around.”

At those words, the shoulders of the two captured men trembled.

They had been desperately proclaiming their innocence all the way, but the man in front of them hadn’t even pretended to listen.

In fact, the longer they talked, the deeper the furrow in his brow became.

But they couldn’t just do nothing.

One of the captured men, Proxy, shouted.

“Capturing innocent people like this is a crime! If you release us right now, we won’t report you to the police…!”

The man’s desperate voice abruptly cut off.

He had seen something terrifying inside Karl’s frock coat.

‘Gasp, th-that’s….’

A slow hand fumbled with a holster made of black leather.

Soon, a silver muzzle with a handle inlaid with Roexi wood emerged from the gun case.

Gulp.

Proxy swallowed dryly, watching the man’s reactions.