— Screeeeeech!
— You crazy girl! Watch where you’re going!
Downtown Easton.
A red-haired girl dashed across the road.
Ignoring the commotion around her, she continued to run.
Splosh!
Mud splattered on her expensive shoes, and dark stains spread across her dress, but she didn’t care.
‘I can meet him, I can finally meet him.’
In her tightly clenched hand was a note.
It had Lee Han’s address written on it.
Claire’s lips, which had resembled a withering flower, began to bloom into a smile.
The dullness in her eyes flickered with hope.
And so, she arrived at the Royal Social Sciences Research Institute.
Standing in front of the institute’s door.
“Haah, haa.”
She placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.
Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump.
Her heart raced wildly.
Just being near this place filled her with nervous excitement.
But at the same time, she felt the mana within her body calming.
‘The doctor’s words were true.’
Just as he had said, it was Lee Han who could calm her mana.
In other words, it meant Lee Han was here.
Lee Han. The place where Lee Han was.
Looking back, his presence had always been a place of solace. Even though it was she who had abandoned that solace…
‘……..’
Claire shook off the negative thoughts and reached for the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
A slightly trembling knock.
But she also felt a sense of confidence.
She was confident that Lee Han wouldn’t turn her away at the door.
Confident that she could somehow start a conversation with him.
Confident that she could clear up the misunderstandings.
These baseless confidences swirled in Claire’s mind.
At least until there was no response from inside.
– ……
The surrounding silence.
“Huh… that’s strange.”
Did he not hear the knock?
Claire knocked again, a little harder this time.
– Knock. Knock. Knock.
Yes, he must not have heard it.
If Lee Han is really inside, he wouldn’t ignore her.
No matter the reason.
Claire swallowed dryly, reassuring herself with these thoughts.
But still, no response came.
That initial confidence quickly faded.
As the lack of response persisted, anxiety began to creep into Claire’s expression.
— Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!
The knocking became more frantic.
She looked down at the note again, worried she might have come to the wrong place. Royal Social Sciences Research Institute. This was definitely the place.
More importantly, hadn’t her mana calmed down?
Lee Han was surely inside.
Claire’s lips began to tremble.
Bang, bang, bang.
Before she knew it, her knocking had turned into something closer to pounding on the door.
“Is… is anyone there?! Hello!”
Claire began to shout.
Passersby turned to look, but she paid them no mind.
That groundless confidence vanished, replaced by the painful questions buried deep within her heart.
‘Of course, he must hate me.’
Because she didn’t stop it when he died. Lee Han isn’t stupid. Of course he knew that.
Claire’s hands began to weaken.
Thud, thud.
She now gently scratched at the door with her hand.
‘Should I just go back?’
The instinct to avoid this situation began to rise in her mind.
Go back. Focus on the trading company.
Surely there must be a way…
“…”
The image of her servants’ gazes flashed in her mind.
The way they looked at her as if she were insane. The threats of murder, the house reduced to ashes.
“Urk.”
Claire involuntarily gagged.
She had no place to return to. No one to lean on.
That’s why Claire came to find Lee Han.
She knew.
She knew that he would despise her.
She knew.
She knew just how terribly she had wronged him.
She had just buried it deep in her heart, unable to forgive her own cruelty. She regretted, and regretted again, her foolish, stupid, and disgusting choices, knowing that she could never forgive herself.
And yet.
Claire stood here now.
Because there was nowhere else to go.
Because there was no one else who could save her but Lee Han.
Even knowing how repulsive she was, she stood here like this.
When she admitted that, Claire understood.
She had to give something.
To meet Lee Han, she had to offer up something of herself.
Whatever it took, Claire was desperate.
“I-I’m here to request something!”
– Creak.
Finally, the door opened.
◆
At the entrance to the institute.
– Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound of knocking from outside.
Lloyd stood with his arms crossed, lost in thought.
Even without opening the door, he had a good idea of who was standing outside.
The familiar sound of knocking.
The faint glimpse of red hair through the slightly ajar door.
Claire Harold.
Lloyd stood there for a while, just listening to the knocking.
He recalled the plan he had devised to take control of Easton.
- Thwart one of the conspiracies led by the powers in Easton.
- Wait for a rift to form between the powers and their backers.
- Recruit one side and attack the other, then swallow both.
The dominant power in Easton was likely the Seventh Death Squad.
And he suspected that their backers were one of the major trading companies.
He just hadn’t been certain that it would be Claire’s Harold Trading Company.
Moreover.
‘I didn’t expect Claire to come in person.’
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The knocking grew more intense.
Yet Lloyd stood still, deep in thought.
The plan was still on track.
The power and their backers had split, so now all he had to do was target the Seventh Death Squad.
And if Claire was the leader of the trading company, securing her would be a major advantage for Lloyd’s plan.
But.
— The opportunity has finally come, Lloyd. Can you hear it? That desperate knocking. She’s out there, whispering to you.
The problem was Lloyd himself.
More specifically, the seed of disaster rooted deep within him.
— She’s begging for revenge. She’s standing outside that door, desperately hoping you’ll strangle her with your own hands. What will you do? Will you just let it pass? No. Revenge is sweet. I know it well, having done it many times.
Can you handle it?
Can you suppress the desire for revenge when you see Claire?
Can you resist handing control over to Ortega?
— Open the door. Feel it. The rising tide of vengeance within you. You can’t just stand there and watch the woman who cut you down, can you?
Grit.
Lloyd bit his lower lip.
Would he lose?
He had already erased his former comrades from his heart.
To him, they were no longer human. Just pawns or puppets.
Revenge.
He realized that even revenge was too much for them.
When he thought that way, he could suppress his emotions.
— It would be wise not to run from your feelings. They will explode someday. And when they do, you’ll hand control over to me…
Click.
Lloyd pulled out a small bottle. He tossed two sedative pills into his mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
The unpleasant sensation of the bitter powder grinding in his teeth signaled the distant fading of Ortega’s voice.
Outside the door, the voice had grown increasingly desperate.
– I have a request… Please… Please accept my request. It’s all my fault. So just this once… I’ll give you anything… Anything, just this once… please…
Creak.
Without a word, Lloyd opened the door.
A few passersby glanced over.
To find the source of the voice, Lloyd had to look down.
“Just once. I’ll pay… I have money… Wha…?”
The floor wasn’t exactly clean—he had forgotten to tidy up.
There, collapsed on the ground, was Claire.
Her face was a mess, her dress filthy.
In that state, Claire looked up at him, her mouth moving soundlessly like a fish gasping for air.
“Are you a customer?”
“I… I… um… that… uh…”
Was she really in such a state that she couldn’t even answer that?
Claire’s state looked far from normal.
“If not, I’ll close the door. I’d appreciate it if you stopped causing a scene. There are too many eyes on us.”
Lloyd coldly gestured toward the street.
The curious onlookers seemed to be waiting to see if something would happen.
In the past, he might have felt some sympathy, but now, Lloyd’s voice was nothing but ice.
Claire’s shoulders trembled.
“I-I… I came to make a request. Is this… is this…?”
“Are you here to make a request, or are you looking for someone?”
“Th-That…!”
Claire’s eyes shook violently.
She had no way of knowing who Lloyd really was.
Was this boy standing before her truly Lee Han?
That doubt constantly plagued her.
His way of speaking was similar to Lee Han’s.
But the attitude, and the voice he used to address her, were entirely different—cold and devoid of warmth.
“I-I’m here to make a request…”
Claire didn’t dare ask if he was Lee Han.
“Come in.”
Lloyd’s invitation was cold and unwelcoming.
Bang.
The door slammed shut, scattering the attention of the passersby.
Lloyd led her to a room with a counter.
Yulia and the village chief, who had been idly watching, took the hint and quietly excused themselves.
“Sit down.”
“Y-Yes…”
With a dazed look in her eyes, Claire sat down.
Lloyd prepared some tea.
He glanced at Claire.
She was sitting with her head down, fidgeting with her fingers.
Then, as if making up her mind, she clenched her fists.
She looked up, met his gaze briefly, then looked away, only to raise her head again as she spoke.
“E-excuse me!”
Whatever emotion she was feeling didn’t reach Lloyd. Even if Claire realized that he was Lee Han, it wouldn’t change anything for him.
Without waiting for her to finish, Lloyd set a cup of tea on the table.
“Drink.”
“Ah… yes, thank you.”
Claire brought the cup to her lips. And then, a moment later—
Drip, Drip, Drip.
Tears began to fall into her teacup.
“So… so you really are Lee Han.”
