Even when scolding her when she was his subordinate, he had never pressed her in such an agitated manner, expressing anger like this. Though he had often scolded her armed with logic so that not a single thing could be refuted, he had never shouted. Not just with her, but he had never raised his voice to anyone. To think that James was pouring out anger like this to someone…… Curiosity led her right to the study door.

“What were you thinking of doing if people’s attention had been drawn there? Did you have a plan?”

Listening more intently than before, it wasn’t a sound coming from the same floor. Then was the director raising his voice this loudly in the downstairs study? Dahlia couldn’t believe it. His anger, having lost reason, was desperate and stubborn.

“I didn’t know you could be this irresponsible. You’re fired.”

Dahlia unconsciously covered her mouth. He was angry at a servant? She quickly took off her slippers while the study became quiet. Then she ran with all her might to the upper floor where the bedroom was. Fortunately, when Dahlia had completely moved to the third floor, she heard the sound of someone coming out of the study.

Dahlia was very curious about who James had been angry with, but she held back and returned to bed. If she turned around carelessly, she might face an irreversible situation. Above all, James was in a very angry state. She didn’t want to make him angrier anymore. Not long after Dahlia lay down on the bed, James came in. The timing was really amazing.

“Weren’t you sleeping?”

Dahlia yawned nonchalantly. Because she felt a strange bewilderment in James’s expression. Was it because he was caught being angry? Or did he not want their conversation to be overheard? Though she hadn’t heard properly, seeing that he talked about people’s attention, it seemed someone had made a proper mistake outside.

“I just woke up.”

“Is your body feeling somewhat better?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

James nodded and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked down at the floor for a while, then carefully opened his mouth.

“Are you like this because of that incident?”

“No, it’s not that……”

Eventually, purple eyes turned toward Dahlia. The interrogation had begun. James could be recognized in the intelligence agency because of his characteristic persistence. Doing work well was basic, and once he bit into something, he never let go. He was S11’s hunting dog.

“Who did you see then? Was it Chloe?”

“I said no.”

“Red, you……”

Green eyes that had been looking only at the decoration at the end of the bed frame met purple eyes. Dahlia’s former code name, ‘Red.’ At words that seemed to remind her of when she was his subordinate, she interrupted James with a trembling voice.

“I am Dahlia Luperton.”

“Then report, Dahlia Luperton.”

At James’s hard-line attitude, Dahlia felt frustrated. At times like this, he had never just let it pass. She had sometimes felt resentful, wondering if he couldn’t just pretend not to know and let it slide once.

“I’ll wait until you speak. Even if not today, I can wait indefinitely.”

After the stick came the carrot. Threats and persuasion were the basics of interrogation. Dahlia couldn’t not know this. She felt like tears would burst out.

“But keep in mind that if the report is delayed, it’s not just your safety that becomes dangerous.”

It was chilling content that contrasted with his soft voice. All retired spies faced threats to their safety. By foreign intelligence agencies that knew their identity or by their homeland’s intelligence agency to which they had devoted loyalty. Knowing too much important information became poison.

Dahlia informing James of social circle matters wasn’t just about passing on information—it was also a precaution against the appearance of anyone who knew her past identity. If that happened, her foster father who had hidden her identity and James could also be in danger. So they had shared and made plans about people they newly met, and people who had recently become close to her, hiding nothing.

But this story was difficult to bring up. Whenever she thought of Chloe and Kevin, memories of that day followed frighteningly. Tears formed in Dahlia’s eyes. Purple eyes flashed without wavering. Dahlia bit her lower lip firmly. She ended up crying.

“Dahlia.”

Surprised, James hurriedly took out a handkerchief from his chest. But Dahlia didn’t notice him and didn’t take the handkerchief.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

“Last Saturday, with Catherine Cael…… after finishing shopping, at Blossom, Blossom Department Store……”

Perhaps because she forced herself to speak, the words didn’t come out fluently. Dahlia clenched her trembling hands into fists.

“If it’s difficult, you can talk tomorrow. There’s no need to be stubborn.”

Though Dahlia wouldn’t accept it that way, James was sincere. The faster she spilled everything, the more quickly and safely he could protect her. That’s why he wanted to hear the story, not because he wanted to torment her. However, Dahlia only shook her head and continued speaking.

“On the way to Downtown Robenty…… I saw Chloe Mullend.”

“Did Mullend see you?”

The tears that had been falling continuously gradually stopped.

“Mullend didn’t see me. Because I was inside the carriage, only I saw her.”

He thought they had faced each other on the street like when they met Kevin today. James finished taking simple notes in his notebook, then put the handkerchief back in his chest. Silence filled the space between the two.

“Please leave now. I want to be alone.”

When James quietly vacated his seat, only then did Dahlia wipe her cheeks.

“Haah……”

Every time Dahlia cried, James felt anxious and didn’t know what to do for her. In his heart, he wanted to pull her tightly into his arms. But that was only James’s personal selfishness, and to her, he was nothing more than a political marriage partner.

How could he truly comfort Dahlia? He felt heavy-hearted, thinking he had only hurt her again. James, who had been standing near the door, crouched down and sat in front of it. He planned to wait until she fell asleep, then secretly leave a simple dinner and go. She had eaten lunch poorly, so he couldn’t let her skip dinner. That was one of the few things he could take care of for her.

⁕⁕⁕

The tears that had stopped began to flow again. Dahlia slowly wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks with her hand. And she waited for the crying to stop. After crying silently to her heart’s content, her head hurt too much. After blowing her nose refreshingly and lying down until the headache disappeared, she felt refreshed.

Why couldn’t we sense the danger in that operation?

It was then that the fundamental question arose again. Until now, she had only wanted to run away from the memories of that day. Because she wanted to forget that day, she had never been curious. However, once doubt began, it was uncontrollable. Dahlia put question marks on the pure white ceiling visible before her eyes.

Why did it have to turn out that way?

For the first time, she wanted to know the truth about that day. She felt like digging into it thoroughly. Even if someone strongly dissuaded her, saying it was reckless and dangerous, she wanted to find out the reason. Only then did it seem she could be completely free from past memories.

I need to stop running away now.

Pretending not to know until the end, living as if she could never remember forever, wasn’t the answer. Covering up the past prevented her from taking even one step forward. Rather, it tied people up at that time and bound them so they couldn’t advance even an inch. Dahlia wanted to move forward little by little, even now.

For the first time since her retirement, she had a clear goal. Dahlia brought her hand to her pounding heart. Only now had she found something she wanted to do. After she quit work half-voluntarily and half-involuntarily, her foster father had told her to do what she wanted to do. He probably hoped she would enjoy a leisurely and peaceful life like other noble ladies, but Dahlia was not such an easy-going foster daughter.

Why didn’t S11 know that bombs would explode twice in the square that day,

and that Lily’s ambassador would die?

Dahlia sprang up from the bed. There must be some hidden facts. She carefully walked barefoot on the carpet. She quietly pulled back the curtains and tied them with ribbons. Blue moonlight brightly illuminated the bedroom. Dahlia took a small lamp from the desk and moved her steps to the dressing room.

Rustle. Dahlia took out the diary from the underwear drawer and wrote down the questions that came to mind without hesitation. It felt like her previously confused mind was being calmly organized. Finally, she wrote this sentence at the very bottom of the page.

Should I investigate by myself?

Dahlia crouched down and trapped her knees in her arms. As she looked down at the diary in front of the drawer for a while, her heart pounded rapidly. Being a spy was what she did better than anyone, but it was still frightening.

But wouldn’t it be more meaningful than a hollow retirement?

If she learned the truth of the incident,

couldn’t she comfort the victims who lost their lives in vain and their families, even a little?

Dahlia returned to bed.

Like when she managed her condition sharply for the mission the next day.

If she was going to do many things in the future, she needed to sleep well.