Chapter 1

Translator: Nox

Episode 1. [Prologue] Firing

Adel lived alone. In an old house deep in the quiet forest on the outskirts of the capital, Carlo.

The sole surviving daughter of a fallen baron's family, she had no place to rely on and thus worked as an aide to the Valoneck Duke's household to make ends meet.

Today, too, she finished her day's work diligently and rode home on her beloved horse, Lily.

A red sun hung over the rugged ridgeline shadowed by trees. The sky, the earth, and even the deep blue leaves between them were all soaked in flames of sunset.

As Adel gazed at her house drawing nearer, she was suddenly seized by a strange sense of incongruity.

It began as a small suspicion that something in the familiar scenery seemed different from usual. By the time she could clearly see every corner of the house, that suspicion had solidified into certainty.

Unfamiliar horseshoe prints on the remote mountain path, and the absence of the mountain cats that should have been gathered in front of the house by this time, waiting for food. This clearly meant someone unfamiliar was nearby….

Adel intuited it. That stranger was inside her house.

She tethered Lily a little ways off in the forest. Leaping down from the reddish-brown horse—whose name Lily didn't quite suit—she moved without even the sound of grass underfoot.

Circling to the back of the house, she saw the front door lock had been picked. As her instincts had warned, someone had broken in.

Adel pressed her ear to the wooden front door. From inside came a thump… thump… sound. The intruder wasn't even trying to hide.

She envisioned various scenarios in her mind and cautiously opened the door. She wanted to plan responses for each, but there was no time. She could only hope this intruder was a simple thief after valuables.

If it was something else—if it was after the thing she had hidden so carefully—there would be no answer. So it absolutely could not be more than a simple thief.

Peering through the slightly ajar door, Adel first saw the small parlor in the center of the first floor in disarray. Papers were scattered all over the floor.

She slipped inside silently. The papers littering the floor were familiar documents. She had hidden them herself in a special safe within the warehouse wall.

This meant her worst fears had come true—the hopeless situation. Staring at the overturned parlor table, chairs, and floor, Adel swallowed a despairing sigh.

At that moment, a thump echoed from upstairs, her bedroom. It was the same sound she'd heard through the front door.

Cold sweat beaded on Adel's palms. She clenched and unclenched her fists.

Adel grabbed a hand mirror from the sideboard and headed to the second floor. Midway up the stairs, she angled the mirror this way and that to get a glimpse of the situation above.

But the instant her eyes met blue ones reflected in the mirror by chance, she realized it was all futile. The intruder smiled at her in the mirror, as if he knew exactly how she would act.

Adel decided to stop hiding. She ascended to the second floor. And faced him directly: the man lounging casually on her bed, Gray Valoneck.

He had somehow found the flintlock pistol she had meticulously hidden beneath the bed's baseboard and now held it in his hand. The ongoing thumps had been the butt of the gun striking the bedroom floor.

The documents that no one must ever discover, the gun bought for a fortune on the black market. Everything had been exposed.

Her heart pounded wildly, yet her body felt drained of blood, overcome by weakness.

Gray stopped tapping the gun on the floor when their eyes met. His white fingers gripped the long pistol precariously. He acted as if he might fire it by accident at any moment—though as a former imperial officer, he surely knew better….

"Hello, Adel. You're late getting home."

His voice, as always, was soft—though more insolent than leisurely. But Adel was no novice at feigning composure herself.

"Yes, young master. To what do I owe this unannounced visit?"

Gray raised the gun he'd set aside and playfully aimed it at her.

"I heard an interesting rumor. That there were fascinating things hidden all over this house. I couldn't believe our Adel would do such a thing, so I came just in case. And lo and behold, it's true? I had no idea you harbored such resentment toward the Valonecks…. It's a wonder Father and my brother haven't been reported yet."

He set the gun down again and thumped the butt on the floor. If it had been loaded, his hand would surely have been shattered.

Adel swallowed dryly. Gray eyed her with his characteristic playful glint. Finally, he bit down on a pouch containing bullets and gunpowder that he'd placed nearby.

"Honestly, I didn't expect you to go this far. You're always beyond imagination. Who did you want to shoot with this? Father? My brother?"

"……."

"Or maybe… me?"

He pointed at himself—Gray Roer Valoneck, the youngest of the Valoneck family.

Adel said nothing. Gray hadn't really expected an answer; he tore open the pouch without hesitation. It signaled his intent to actually use the gun.

It was inevitable. There was no reason for him to let Adel live after she'd gathered enough damning evidence to indict the Valoneck family for treason. It wouldn't even be strange if he shot her dead right here.

Adel's frantically pounding heart began to slow. Her body had accepted that it was all over.

Adel thought it was for the best. Now that she'd been caught, her long-cherished revenge was finished. There was no longer any reason to cling to this life.

Gray held the bullet in his mouth and packed gunpowder into the breech. Then, with the pistol's muzzle in his mouth, he blew the bullet into the barrel.

The natural motion revealed his proficiency with flintlock pistols.

His red lips at the muzzle, his white cheek bulged slightly then hollowed deeply as he blew into the gun meant to kill Adel.

"Any last words?"

"None."

Adel slowly closed her eyes. In the darkness, a multitude of thoughts and emotions swirled like waves, as if waiting.

They came in many colors.

The white of snow they huddled under on cold winter nights in childhood; the transparent gleam of her siblings' sorrowful tears.

The yellow of wildflower nectar sucked to fill a starving belly; the red fury mingled with shock and self-loathing from those days.

Of course, there were recent colors too. Different from the others.

The apricot warmth of a firm body embracing her gently. The opalescent bliss of her first ecstasy. The tender blue arc announcing mornings spent together.

Ah, now that she thought about it, all those recent colors were ones he'd given her.

To have such foolish sentiments even as she faced death by his hand.

Adel wryly forced her eyes open. She resolved to clearly see the man now aiming at her.

So her long-prepared final moment wouldn't crumble into pathetic sentiment.

To temper herself once more with the grit and will that had sustained her life.

But when her gaze met the blue eyes above the barrel, a hidden passion stirred at the bottom of her heart, stretching and thrashing. It screamed to breathe just one last time. The sudden rebellion was so intense it gave her chills.

A memory struck her like a blow.

"Adel, do you like me?"

A lonely voice. Resentful eyes.

Yet so tender it melted her, a scorching body heat pressing against her.

And so Adel could never answer. Not even at the end, to the question that had eroded her life.

Gray had her squarely in his sights. The front sight stabbed forward; behind it, the blue of his eyes gleamed in the deepening twilight. The playful gaze now coldly targeted his lover.

"Adel."

The voice held no leisure or mockery. It was chillingly unfamiliar.

"Yes, young master."

"Say what you want to say."

"…I have nothing."

"Don't hold back. Say it."

He demanded. She sensed what he meant but couldn't comply. At last, his eyes surged white like angry waves.

"Say it."

"……."

"Say you liked me. Say you like me."

"If I do, will you let me live?"

"Maybe."

"I see. But I… never did."

So shoot. Don't hesitate.

His red lips—always sensually alluring—finally twisted upward beside the trigger.

"I see. You really just used me, after all."

Adel pressed her lips tight. What use were words now? It was always going to end like this.

Her mind felt lighter, somehow.

She'd carried too heavy a burden. Her shoulders ached to drop it. It was time. This was enough.

As Adel abandoned all hope and awaited that single shot, a sudden clamor of hoofbeats and carriage wheels echoed from afar. A faint light flickered in her empty eyes.

Gray's gaze remained steadily fixed on her, unshaken. He seemed to think the noise would pass by soon. But Adel knew. It was the cart of her only friend, Anna.

Though neighbors, Adel's house was in a different forest entrance. No one would pass this way unless visiting her.

Sure enough, the horse whinnied to a stop as Anna pulled the reins. Then came the sharp raps on the door.

"Adel!"

Anna's voice rang out urgently.

"Adel! Are you home?! I'm coming in?!"

For a split second, Gray's eyes flicked to the downstairs entrance.

He would remember leaving the front lock undone on purpose. But Adel clearly recalled locking it securely from inside when she arrived.

And from the moment she heard the approaching hooves, she had foreseen this exact turn. All in that brief instant.

This was her true last chance.

A chance to right even a little of what had gone wrong, to spare her person as much hurt as possible.

Ridiculously fortunate happenstance.

Would she let it slip?

No, she couldn't. The moment Gray faltered, Adel lunged.

"Adel! It's urgent! Open the door!"

As Anna shouted, Adel rolled across the floor, grabbed Gray's long leg, and sprang up. She slammed her forehead into his jaw with all her might.

A dull thud, and Gray staggered back. Adel snatched the gun from his hand and smashed the butt into his head without hesitation.

Gray collapsed onto the bed. His head twisted left, burying into the sheets. Time seemed to freeze.

"Adel! Are you in there? You are, right? Don't tell me you're not home?"

Moments later, Gray shook his head as if regaining his senses. He slid his gaze sideways, catching Adel at the edge of his vision. The gun barrel already pressed deep into his temple, preventing him from turning.

He assessed the situation and smirked. Blood trickled from his white temple, tracing his sharp nose like a sculpture before pooling on the sheets.

"As violent as ever, Summer."

Hearing 'Summer' made Adel's shoulders twitch involuntarily. But only for a moment. Soon it would all end. No need for surprise, or worry if the blow hurt him.

Adel replied calmly.

"Please understand, young master."

Gray's lips stretched into a broad grin, cracking at the edges. No trace of crisis in that smooth smile. If anything, his face seemed freer than when he'd pressed her about liking him.

Unfathomable Gray.

Leisurely rogue, Gray.

Adel had always envied him. That was why she still couldn't look away.

Once, how much she'd hated his boldness, his splendor, his tenderness. And thus… how despairing it had been.

"If you shoot now, your friend outside will hear."

"It doesn't matter."

Gray sighed in resignation and closed his eyes.

"Dying by your hand would be an honor."

He gripped the pistol himself, pressing it harder into his temple.

"Shoot. Do it."

That was when it began. Adel's iron-forged heart started fluttering again.

She steadied her trembling hand and heart. No choice now. One of them had to die here. So….

So….

"Young master."

His lush golden lashes rose and fell slowly in response to her quivering voice. The blue eyes beneath burned hot, like when their bodies had entwined.

Yes, so….

Now I'm the one aiming at him. The situation has reversed. This ending… isn't bad.

So.

Adel's chest swelled. The passion she'd locked away from all eyes vaporized, corroding her heart and seeping in.

It spread through her veins, burning flesh as it flowed outward.

She couldn't stop it.

The unswallowed fever rose to just below her throat. Her lips parched.

"Actually…."

First and last confession.

The guilt of countless nights weeping in silence. And longing.

Gray, the spring rain and star that had swelled the seeds of her misfortune.

"I knew it was wrong, but…."

His exquisitely beautiful face slowly turned to her. Lacking courage to meet it, Adel closed her eyes.

"I liked you."

Yes. Even now, I do.

Always. My heart feels like it will burst. I hate myself for it.

"Farewell."

As rehearsed, without a moment's hesitation, she pulled the trigger hard.

[Prologue] Firing. End.