* * *

Karl couldn’t sleep.

No, he couldn’t bring himself to sleep.

It was the first time he couldn’t fall asleep next to Lumiere.

‘Why does it feel like I’ve fallen in love with someone I shouldn’t love? Why does it feel like a part of my heart is crumbling when I look at you? You must know.’

Her words pierced his heart like a dagger.

Someone she shouldn’t love.

It wasn’t an incorrect statement.

Strictly speaking, there was a barrier of status between them.

And even if the day he dreamed of came, Lumiere would have to wait indefinitely until then.

‘…Is it really good for my happiness if I regain my memories?’

That wasn’t incorrect either.

In fact, she wouldn’t lose anything by forgetting him and starting a new life.

“But Lumiere… even so, I…”

…can’t let you go.

I can’t let you go.

You are my one and only happiness.

Karl gazed at Lumiere’s face as she slept peacefully, pushing his heart into the flames.

He couldn’t even dare to touch her out of affection.

He feared this might be the last time he would see her sleeping face.

‘…Foolish.’

He clenched his aching fingers into a fist.

Gazing at Lumiere’s delicate face, he imprinted it on his retina, over and over.

He even loved her red hair, which resembled the flames he despised.

He had once laughed to himself, thinking it might be the most beautiful red in the world.

So how could he let her go?

She made him love even the color of the flames he hated so much.

“…I shouldn’t be impatient.”

Karl carefully reached out and weakly held Lumiere’s hand, which was lying defenseless.

Then, Lumiere’s eyelashes, which he thought were fast asleep, trembled slightly, and her eyelids slowly opened.

Her half-closed eyes, still drowsy, narrowed.

In a deeply subdued voice, she spoke.

“…I told you no.”

She murmured sternly in her drowsy voice.

Whatever Chris had told her, she had allowed him to share the bed but drew a large pillow between them as a boundary.

‘Even if we share the bed, don’t cross this line. Understand?’

Even that prim voice was so endearing.

He wanted to pull her into his arms and savor her right away, but he couldn’t.

Karl stifled a disappointed sigh and was grateful for the small grace she had granted him.

This must be what unrequited love feels like.

It was both amusing and terrifying.

He feared that Lumiere might never remember him and declare she would never love him again.

But at the same time, he felt an arrogant certainty that she couldn’t possibly do that.

This tender affection wasn’t something he had nurtured alone.

As much as he loved her, she loved him too.

As Lumiere said, even without memories, seeing him made her heart ache, that’s how much she loved him.

So that deep, heavy love couldn’t disappear so easily.

It couldn’t.

Karl grasped Lumiere’s hand tightly as she blinked her sleepy eyes.

Feeling his grip, her fingers trembled slightly, and her eyelids fluttered open again.

“I can’t sleep. I’ll just hold your hand and sleep.”

He said, as if whining, and Lumiere muttered in disbelief.

“Where… did you… learn such… tricks…”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

As Karl laughed, Lumiere glanced at him and smiled faintly.

As if she found it amusing too.

“…I’ll let it slide today. So… sleep now. Please.”

The sleepy smile on Lumiere’s face spread a gentle warmth through Karl’s cold heart.

“Alright, I’ll sleep.”

I really can’t let you go.

I’m sorry, but I’ll never let you go.

I’ll just do my best to ensure I’m not your misfortune…

‘Just forgive me this once.’

Karl lay down facing her, barely managing to close his eyes.

A painful yet soothing sleep overtook him helplessly.

* * *

“To-Tommy!!”

A woman screamed as she caught the bloodied man thrown at her like a sack of goods by the assailants.

“Cough, cough! Ugh!”

The man called Tommy coughed dryly, his body trembling.

He had lost so much blood on the way that his forehead was drenched in cold sweat.

The woman burst into tears and pulled the man called Tommy into a tight embrace.

“What on earth is going on? Why is this happening? Hey! Tell me something! You said it was nothing serious! You said it was just about breaking a window to scare them!”

At the woman’s frantic shouting, the three men who had dragged Tommy in spoke harshly, like angry beasts.

“Shut up. This bastard failed, and now we’re in trouble too!”

Torres, the leader of the three men, scowled and spat out curses.

How hard could it be to set fire to a mansion, and yet he failed!

Of course, the mansion was always heavily guarded.

At night, gas lamps lit up the central garden, and before bed, the servants meticulously closed the wooden shutters on the windows.

After observing for a few days, it was clear that the twin servants took turns guarding the mansion during the early hours.

It wasn’t even a duke’s mansion.

Even a duke’s mansion didn’t have such tight security.

The places that supplied goods to the mansion were also fixed, making it hard to approach.

Moreover, no matter how trivial the item, a young head maid would meticulously inspect everything that entered the mansion.

‘Ha! Anyone would think there’s royalty inside!’

Toreso scratched his head irritably.

Recently, additional guards seemed to be lurking around the mansion.

Meanwhile, the higher-ups were pressuring him to produce results quickly, which only added to his stress.

‘Damn it! If it weren’t for the boss’s orders, I’d just get rid of them quickly…’

Toreso worked as a handyman under Shantes, the owner of the large tavern .

Although he was called a handyman, he was actually the enforcer who handled Shantes’ dirty work.

was the largest pub in Karien, bustling with food and drink during the day and gambling and betting at night.

Until Count Cissus opened , dominated Karien’s nightlife.

Even now, remained a popular tavern.

This was because the ‘entertainment’ offered by The Grey Club and Isaac were different.

While The Grey Club provided luxurious fantasies, Isaac offered more primal and violent pleasures.

‘But we lost our biggest source of income, the nobles. Our revenue has been cut by more than half.’

Their most popular attraction there was ‘dogfighting.’

It was a form of gambling where fighting dogs were pitted against each other, and bets were placed on the winning dog.

Occasionally, as a special event, they even staged fights between dogs and humans.

Though criticized for being inhumane, they received generous support from high-ranking patrons who appreciated the spectacle in silence.

Thanks to this, Shantes was making quite a bit of money.

However, all of Shantes’ business was illegal gambling.

But with powerful backers supporting him, the kingdom’s laws didn’t pose much of a threat.

What was more frightening was disappointing those ‘sponsors’ who supported him.

It was for one of these ‘sponsors’ that Toreso was here.

“…Tsk, this is annoying.”

He thought setting fire to the mansion would be an easy task, but the security was too tight.

And he couldn’t make a big fuss over dealing with just one woman.

Moreover, ‘that person’ wanted the matter of this mansion to be resolved cleanly.

Without leaving any traces.

So the chosen method was ‘fire.’

Although there was a risk of the fire spreading, it was the cleanest way to eliminate any evidence.

Even if they failed, the chaos caused by the fire would still serve their purpose.

‘…But instead of starting a fire, we got shot.’

Toreso looked at the fallen ‘Tommy’ with an annoyed expression.

They had disguised him as a dawn newspaper delivery boy to avoid the eyes of the watchers outside, but it was useless.

At this rate, Tommy would die. If that happened, the woman they had barely bribed would…

‘Become a liability.’

Toreso’ eyes turned to the woman holding the crying Tommy.

She instinctively looked at him, her eyes trembling with fear. She already seemed to sense her fate.

Her pale fingers clung to the small, frail body of the boy, not a man, trembling violently. Watching this, Toreso’ expression suddenly changed.

He knelt on one knee to meet the woman’s eyes and spoke.

“If left like this, he’ll die soon. We’ll take him to a doctor.”

“Th-thank you. Thank you!”

There was nothing to be thankful for. Tommy was in this state because of these men. But they were also the only ones who could save him now.

“In return, you must finish what he couldn’t.”

“……!”

“You have a week. Finish it within seven days. Can you do that?”