Chapter 6

At that moment, Rité was also restless, pacing back and forth in her room unable to relax comfortably.

Suddenly, her eyes fell on the dress Aster had bought her. Seeing the dress carefully hung on a hanger to avoid wrinkles, memories of their date today flooded her mind.

Dining at an elegant restaurant dressed in stylish clothes was an unforgettable experience for her.

Aster’s smiling face and his resolute expression as he earnestly looked at her under the table telling her to run away kept flashing before her eyes.

She felt she needed to see him again.

Rité left her room and headed straight for his office.

“Aster, it’s me.”

Though she hadn’t received permission, she had never waited for such a thing. As usual, Rité tried to open the door without hesitation, but she paused when she felt it was locked.

“Aster? Are you in there? Open the door.”

There was no response from inside. Rité suddenly had an ominous feeling.

“Aster! Is something wrong? Aster!”

She pounded on the door as if to break it down, but it still wouldn’t open. Rité stepped back with a determined look, preparing to ram the door with her body to break in.

But just as she took a deep breath and started to run, the door opened from inside and Aster emerged. Rité let out a surprised “Oh!” and crashed right into his chest, embracing him.

Aster reflexively caught her in his arms, placing a hand on her waist as he leaned forward. This caused Rité’s waist to bend slightly backward as if they were dancing the tango. The two of them pressed against each other looked as if they were engaged in a passionate dance.

He looked down at Rité’s face and asked,

“Did you miss me that much? It hasn’t been long since we last saw each other.”

Rité’s face turned bright red.

“What are you talking about! If you’re inside, you should answer, making people worry…”

“Were you worried?”

As Aster blinked in slight surprise and asked again, Rité’s face turned even redder, like a tomato.

“…I misspoke. It wasn’t you I was worried about, but my brother. I came to ask you about him.”

As Rité brazenly spoke, Aster lowered his eyelids knowingly and said,

“Now you’re trying to break down my office door? How many times have you damaged property now?”

“Well, you should have opened the door when I asked nicely!”

“I was sleeping for a moment.”

“You were sleeping?”

Rité asked with a very suspicious look. It was hard to imagine him, who always seemed busy and cold, taking a casual nap.

He straightened up, his hand still on Rité’s waist. As Rité stood awkwardly in place, Aster slightly averted his gaze and said,

“I take short naps sometimes. To prepare for times when I can’t sleep at all.”

It made sense that he might do that, given how often he went into battle. Rité nodded in understanding and entered the room. Then, Aster asked curiously from behind,

“Why are you coming in?”

Rité turned around.

“What?”

“I didn’t tell you to come in.”

Rité looked at him staring at her blankly, opened and closed her mouth, then said,

“Should I just go back to my room then? I came because I had something to ask you.”

Aster was silent for a moment before saying,

“…Do as you please.”

Rité stayed in the room, feeling a bit strange. She didn’t particularly want to be with him, but oddly enough, she didn’t want to leave either.

Aster locked the door again and flopped down on the sofa. His disheveled appearance suggested he had let his guard down. Seeing him like this for the first time felt unfamiliar, so Rité stood there blankly, not even thinking of sitting across from him.

Aster suddenly spoke as if he had forgotten to say something earlier,

“You did well today. If you stay as calm as you were today in any shootout, you’ll survive.”

“Is that what you should be saying right now…”

“It’s a compliment. Don’t overthink it, just take it at face value.”

Rité was rolling her eyes when she suddenly noticed something and her eyes widened. Under the sofa where he was sitting, she could see a blood-stained shirt. It was the dress shirt she had picked out for him today. Turning her head abruptly, she saw the white suit lying near the door.

“You… are you hurt?”

Rité hurriedly approached and forcibly lifted his black uniform jacket. She could see blood slightly seeping through the new shirt underneath.

Aster casually covered the jacket back up and said,

“It just grazed me.”

“That’s not just a graze!”

As she looked at where the blood was coming from, Rité suddenly remembered what had happened at the restaurant earlier. Aster suddenly throwing himself at her with wide eyes, the window breaking immediately after…

He must have been shot while shielding her.

Rité’s face turned pale.

Aster smiled at her as if to reassure her, but somehow the smile seemed faint. Looking closely, his face was also pale and bloodless, and his hair was disheveled and damp with sweat.

He looked just like someone about to lose consciousness, or someone trying to make their last words before dying. Seeing that face, Rité was reminded of someone else’s face, and before she knew it, she lost her composure and rushed towards him.

Rité hastily undid his tie, roughly throwing it on the floor, and unbuttoned his shirt from the top down. The white shirt had become slightly transparent from the cold sweat that had spread all over his body. Thanks to this, his taut chest muscles were visible through the shirt clinging to his body.

Rité, who had unbuttoned down to his chest, suddenly felt his gaze and stopped her hands. Slowly raising her eyes, she saw Aster staring at her with a strange expression.

“You’ve become quite skilled after doing it once.”

Rité’s face flushed at his mischievous words. If someone else had seen this scene, they might have thought she was trying to pounce on him.

Rité pushed his chest and said,

“Take off the rest yourself.”

 

The impact made Aster exhale a short, pain-filled breath, but Rité brazenly turned her head away, ignoring it. He deserved that much pain. He seemed perfectly lucid, so she felt foolish for having worried about him.

Aster obediently took off his shirt. The way he leisurely unbuttoned the sleeve with his other hand looked so elegant that Rité couldn’t help but keep glancing at him even with her head turned away.

As he put the shirt down on the floor, he muttered while looking at the blood-soaked shirt with a hole in it,

“It’s a shame to throw away a shirt I just bought today…”

To be precise, he was very disappointed to have to throw away the shirt she had picked out for him as soon as he put it on, but Rité didn’t know that inner thought.

With the shirt off, signs of emergency treatment were visible. However, blood was slightly seeping through the bandage wrapped around his side.

Rité bit her inner lip as she unwrapped the bandage. A horrific gunshot wound with pooled blood was revealed on his bare body.

Aster calmly said,

“I removed the bullet. Fortunately, it didn’t embed too deeply.”

As he said, the bullet had indeed hit his body, but luckily it had missed any vital organs.

When she touched his side, Aster’s body was very hot, as if he had just come out of a sauna. She could tell that it must have been very painful even without him saying so. It was hard to believe that he had fought the enemy calmly and rationally in this state, and it seemed remarkable that he had managed to hide it from everyone.

Rité asked quietly,

“…Why didn’t you ask me to treat you?”

Aster looked up at her blankly. It had been dark in the car, so Rité hadn’t noticed at all that he was injured. To be honest, she had been so worried about Nox that she hadn’t even checked his condition.

“I understand not saying anything in the car because you didn’t want your subordinates to find out, but you had plenty of opportunities to tell me after that.”

When he didn’t answer, Rité asked again, keeping her eyes on the wound,

“Did you give up in advance, thinking I wouldn’t treat your wound?”

The memory of him worryingly asking if she was okay and if she was hurt as soon as they got in the car, despite being injured himself, made her heart ache.

Aster still didn’t answer. Rité stared intently at the wound without treating it and said,

“Answer me.”

“…Well. Because it would be shameless?”

Rité looked at him with slightly widened eyes. Aster was smiling at her again. Rité immediately frowned.

“Shameless? Since when did you care about that? You could have just ordered me to treat you. Like at the courthouse back then.”

“Well. This time, I didn’t really want to do that.”

Rité opened and closed her mouth at his suddenly changed attitude, then said,

“…You’re really strange. No one will ever understand you.”

“Then why are you treating me? I didn’t order you to.”

“What?”

“You wanted me dead. All along.”

“…”

Aster’s expression as he said this was so calm and composed that Rité felt oddly unsettled. After taking a breath through her nose, Rité spoke calmly,

“Of course, I’d be glad if you died. But not like this. Especially you dying while trying to save me, that would feel really awful. You made a deal with me, didn’t you? I need to see you achieve your goal and receive your reward. If you suddenly die, who’s going to release me and Nox from the military? I’m the one who’s going to kill you. I absolutely won’t allow anyone else to do it.”

At those words, Aster chuckled.

“I’m glad. That there’s at least one reason for your partner to stay alive.”

Rité closed her mouth. Though he said it with a smile, somehow those words felt lonely.

Rité couldn’t imagine how Aster must have felt treating his wound alone. Since making the contract with her, he couldn’t ask for treatment from his loyal subordinates or anyone else in the military. As he was known to be a healer himself, there could never be a situation where he couldn’t heal himself.

Aster had kept the secret from everyone to protect her safely, even in this emergency. Her secret was his secret, and it isolated him here.

The only space where he could rest was this small office, but now he couldn’t even rest comfortably here. It had become a precarious space like a sandcastle, where the secret could be discovered at any moment, where everything would be revealed if the door was broken down.

Rité suddenly remembered the lonely and painful memory of when she was shot and hiding behind the stairs, and felt depressed.

Was it empathy, or pity?

She bit her lip as an inexplicable emotion stirred in her chest.

“…This pays off one debt. You’re not the only one who’s saved me, got it? Remember that well.”

Rité said this, forcing a haughty smile to shake off her gloomy mood.

But his expression was a bit strange. Aster was staring at her smiling face without blinking.

Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Rité avoided his gaze and started the treatment.

“…I may be blinded by revenge, but I’m not stupid enough to cut my own lifeline.”

As she placed her hand on his wound and activated her healing ability, a green light swirled around. Only then did Aster seem to relax a bit, slowly exhaling through his nose.

After the treatment, he lay down on the sofa with Rité’s support. His posture, lying there with his eyes closed and upper body bare, was intensely alluring. From the veins on his forearms to the way he placed one hand on his forehead and took deep breaths, everything somehow looked sexy.

Rité glanced at him repeatedly. While his body had many scars and muscles, she wondered how a man’s skin, especially that of a soldier who had been through battlefields, could be so fair and smooth like white jade. Meanwhile, his muscular body, glistening sensually with cold sweat, looked as if it had been sculpted from the moon itself.

Somehow, just looking at him filled the room with a strange tension.

As she kept glancing at his body, Rité had to admit that he was different from other lust-blinded, barbaric soldiers. Despite being a partner she could handle at will, he had never once touched her body. Even today, he had thrown himself to protect her. It wasn’t a calculated action, but an instinctive move in the moment.

That fact suddenly felt strange to her. Wasn’t a Wilder’s partner just prey to provide abilities? But she didn’t like how she kept thinking there were other intentions behind his actions.

Lost in thought, Rité quietly asked. It was a question she had really wanted to ask.

“…Why were you nice to Nox?”

 

Aster slightly opened his eyes and looked at her. Rité stared right back at him and asked directly.

“Were you trying to tame Nox? Me too? Is that your training technique?”

Aster didn’t answer her deliberately harsh question, asked to avoid falling for him.

As expected, he was a man whose thoughts were impossible to read. Just as Rité was about to give up on getting an answer and stand up, he spoke.

“That child left alone… suddenly reminded me of my younger self.”

Rité turned to look at him with wide eyes at his soft voice. Aster was gazing somewhere into space with a distant expression.

“Maybe I wanted to watch him survive and grow up safely, just like me… I think the world would be less lonely if there were more people like me. Because everyone I’ve ever felt a kinship with has died. Except for two people.”

Rité was at a loss for words at the revelation that he too felt loneliness. As if reading her thoughts, Aster immediately turned his gaze to her and asked.

“Shall I guess what you were just thinking?”

“…Never mind.”

Rité turned her head away and then asked.

“One person is Nox, who’s the other one?”

“What?”

“The person you said you felt kinship with.”

Aster answered with a slight smile.

“You.”

Rité’s heart skipped a beat. But not understanding what that sensation meant, she frowned and retorted.

“Don’t be ridiculous. What kinship could you and I have? How are we alike at all? Please don’t treat me like I’m similar to you.”

“Alright, I’ll correct myself. I’ve never met a woman like you before. You’re one of a kind in this world. That’s why I like you even more.”

Aster chuckled. He didn’t seem to mind her words.

Rité was at a loss for words at his attitude, which somehow seemed to regard her as a special existence. Especially the words “I like you” made her feel strange. She should clearly feel bad about it, but for some reason, she didn’t feel bad either.

Rité opened and closed her mouth before speaking.

“At the restaurant… I made a mistake.”

“What?”

“Judging you by your appearance and making assumptions. That’s something I really shouldn’t do, but I realized I was doing it unconsciously. I was really wrong about that.”

Rité apologized to him, but she didn’t feel her pride hurt. She couldn’t tell if it was because she could imagine the environment he had grown up in, or if she suddenly felt sorry for him.

But then,

“…I find it interesting to watch people struggle to survive.”

“What’s with that sudden perverted talk?”

Rité asked, frowning one eyebrow.

Aster smiled and said,

“I mean it literally. Human life is just a thin piece of paper that could disappear at any moment, yet people struggle to live even for that short time. To me, it feels raw and vivid. Watching that makes me feel as if my life has value too, as if it means something.”

Rité closed her mouth and focused on his story.

“When I was young, I saw a huge, intricately woven spider web at the training camp. I witnessed a butterfly accidentally flying into it and getting caught. It was a dazzlingly gorgeous turquoise butterfly. I could say with certainty that I’d never see such a beautiful butterfly again. I had to go back for training, but strangely, I felt so regretful. The fact that that butterfly had to die… Because there probably wouldn’t be another butterfly like that in the world.”

Rité said gruffly,

“Then you should have saved it.”

“No. What right did I have to intervene in their life and death? It wasn’t the hungry spider’s fault. The spider also had to hunt someone to survive. Just as the butterfly had its circumstances, the spider had its circumstances too, and it’s an unavoidable law of the ecosystem that strong creatures eat weak ones. So I left it alone. But, even at that young age, I wanted to at least witness the butterfly’s last moment.”

Aster paused for a moment, recalling that butterfly. He suddenly thought that the butterfly, shimmering all over in turquoise, resembled Rité.

“A moment later, the spider, sensing its prey, slowly approached the butterfly. But the butterfly, which had been sticking there as if dead, suddenly gathered its strength, struggled, and freed itself from the spider web, flying high into the sky. At that moment, I felt an indescribable thrill. It was as if lightning had struck my head. Maybe I wanted to see that sight again through that child.”

“…You’re crazy.”

That was Rité’s response after listening to his long story. He smiled and closed his eyes again.

“If you don’t have a reason to live, you die. Even if your body is still moving, your soul is already dead, abandoned inside your body. Rité Rainhills, you’re lucky. You have a reason to live without having to look for one.”

Rité closed her mouth. He looked just like someone searching for the meaning of life. He must have spent almost his entire life devoted to the military and rolling through battlefields since he was young, but it felt somewhat unfamiliar yet somehow understandable that he was obsessed with something like the meaning of life.

“We are important parts in the military.”

He had said that before, but it probably wasn’t his true feelings. He was wearing a thorough mask here. Rité became more curious about his true self without the mask.

Suddenly, she remembered him going to meet and persuade Nox again for her sake when she had fallen ill after meeting with her brother. Did she really look like she was about to die? She didn’t think she had ever seen him look so anxious as he did then.

Aster, with his eyes still closed, tensed his face and spoke again.

“I spoke weakly. Don’t mind it, it was nonsense.”

“…It’s not weak. And it’s not nonsense either.”

At Rité’s sincere words, Aster opened his eyes and looked at her. Rité spoke without meeting his gaze.

“The wound is completely healed, but you still need to rest today. As you already know, my ability doesn’t heal the mind. If you’re not careful, you could develop trauma.”

Aster chuckled and said,

“Something like this won’t leave me traumatized.”

Rité shrugged as if to say ‘whatever you say’. But before leaving the room, she paused at the doorway and said,

“Thanks for the perfume. It made me remember the scent of flowers I had forgotten.”

As he looked at her, Rité continued in a low voice.

“I don’t mind even if it’s an artificial scent. Just because it’s made by human hands doesn’t mean it’s not the scent of flowers.”

As she finished speaking, the door closed with a thud. Aster’s eyes softened as he smelled the perfume that had slightly clung to his body. The scent he had given her was now mixed with her own scent.

 

 

* * *

 

The next day, Rité emerged from her room looking as if she hadn’t slept at all. She couldn’t sleep due to the tension from yesterday’s attack and worry about Nox.

As she headed straight for the training ground, Benyak noticed her haggard face and spoke to her.

“Eisen will be fine. I caught all the guys who attacked you and the Major yesterday.”

Rité asked with wide eyes,

“Is that really true…?”

“Yeah. My job is done now, and the Major will personally conduct the interrogation.”

Despite Benyak’s words, Rité couldn’t shake off her worry. It was fortunate they were caught, but she was anxious about what if they had noticed Nox’s identity and reported it before being captured.

Perhaps she had unconsciously pinched her fingers painfully and picked at her hangnails, because seeing this, Benyak calmly said,

“Don’t worry. The Major will never let that Eisen kid be in danger. I know that well.”

His confident words provided some reassurance.

“…Thank you.”

Benyak, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, looked at her a little surprised at those words. Rité turned to him and smiled slightly.

“I wanted to say this before, but I missed the timing. Thank you for showing me memories of my brother, talking about him, and worrying together, even though there was a risk of going berserk. And thank you for catching the enemy.”

Benyak was silent for a moment, then smiled back and said,

“It’s nothing. You and Eisen are not only the Major’s subordinates but also mine. It’s natural to worry about and care for valued subordinates.”

Rité felt her heart settle a bit more at those words. It was comforting to know that there was someone here who looked after and worried about her brother, even more so than being treated well herself.

Benyak led Rité to a certain room.

“You won’t see the Major often because he’s busy. In the meantime, you’ll be doing different training.”

“Different training…?”

Benyak opened the door silently.

Inside the room stood a woman dressed flamboyantly with vibrant red hair cut into a lively bob. She smiled mischievously at Rité.

“Is it you? The one I’m supposed to teach?”

“Good luck then. Michelle is an expert in this field.”

As Benyak closed the door with a smile, Rité couldn’t ask ‘What kind of expert?’. The woman called Michelle walked forward, her heels clicking.

“So, you’re Major Cloud’s partner? Hmm, seeing as you’ve seduced that iron fortress I couldn’t, it seems there’s nothing much to teach you.”

As she finished speaking with a laugh, Rité hardened her expression and said,

“I never seduced him.”

“Then did the Major seduce you?”

As Michelle asked playfully with wide eyes, Rité’s expression crumpled even more.

“It’s not like that. I was just captured by that man.”

“Anyway, since you became his partner, it means you pleased him, right? That’s amazing!”

“What’s so amazing about it?”

When Rité asked with a frown, she grinned and said,

“Because he never keeps just anyone by his side.”

Rité closed her mouth. Michelle explained how much power being his partner brought, but it didn’t really register.

“So what am I supposed to learn?”

“Have you ever heard of honey trapping?”

“You mean seducing men?”

Michelle leaned in close and said,

“To be precise, it means deceiving enemy men perfectly.”

Rité asked in surprise,

“You want me to learn that…?”

Michelle said with a deflated look,

“What? I heard the Major taught you a little. Didn’t you two go on a date yesterday?”

At the word ‘date’, Rité’s face suddenly turned bright red.

She wondered if rumors had spread that way in the military. Certainly, when they returned, both of their outfits looked exactly like they had been on a date, so it made sense that word would have gotten around.

Michelle narrowed her eyes and said with a smile,

“For a spy, disguise is very important. First, let’s test how good your eye for detail is before we start on disguises.”

She held out five photographs.

“There’s a spy hidden among these five people. Try to guess who it is.”

Rité looked at the photos intently.

[A man in a blue hat wearing cleaning clothes, wiping a window]

[An old man with white hair wearing farmer’s clothes, laughing heartily]

[A heavily pregnant woman touching her belly with a gentle expression]

[A college student wearing a checkered shirt and overalls with glasses]

[A typical urban white-collar man in a white shirt with a tired expression]

Rité couldn’t answer easily. Somehow, judging by the intent of the question, it seemed likely that the person least fitting to be a spy would have the highest probability of being one.

Rité soon made up her mind and looked at Michelle, saying,

“The third one, the pregnant woman.”

Michelle crossed her arms and casually asked back,

“Why?”

“Do I have to give a reason?”

“Of course. You didn’t just pick randomly, did you?”

“…”

Rité, who had indeed picked randomly, was momentarily at a loss for words, but thinking this was also a test, she felt she shouldn’t appear to be taking it lightly.

Rité gathered her thoughts and said,

“Because she looks the weakest among them. When you see a pregnant woman, you feel like you should protect her, and she doesn’t look threatening. But what’s in that belly might not be a baby, it could be firearms. However, you can’t casually check. It’s not easy to ask a pregnant woman to show her belly, that would be crude.”

“Hmm, not bad.”

“Did I get it right?”

As Rité asked with a hint of expectation, she smiled and said,

“You did get it right, but not 100%.”

“Then?”

“Actually, all the people there are spies.”

Rité’s eyes widened. Michelle said casually,

“I didn’t initially say how many spies there were and asked you to choose, so you naturally thought there was only one. But in real situations, you don’t know how many spies there are. Like now, everyone could be a spy. If you can’t figure it out… it’s over.”

Rité swallowed hard and looked at the photos again. It seemed that if such perfect actors secretly infiltrated a scene, she wouldn’t be able to notice.

Rité finally raised her eyes and asked seriously,

“What role do I have to play?”

“A holy healer that puts saints to shame.”

Michelle added with a grin,

“But even for a saint, having a bit of an unexpected twist makes them more attractive. You need to make men fall head over heels for your appearance. You should look humble and modest usually, but it would be good if you could transform into a lady exuding sexiness at night or at parties.”

She clapped her hands and said,

“Well then, before we start image making, let’s do a check. Can I see your hand?”

When Rité held out her hand, she exclaimed dramatically,

“No, what in the world is this hand?”

“What’s wrong with my hand?”

As Rité asked with a frown, she said as if dumbfounded,

“Don’t you know? Anyone can see these are hands that have held a knife.”

“…”

Rité observed her own hands carefully for the first time. They were scratched, scraped, and rough with calluses all over.

“You need to look like a beautiful, noble, and kind-hearted healer. You should look as holy as an angel without wings. But no matter how kind-hearted you are, if your appearance shows rusticity or lacks refinement, upper-class people will praise you as a saint to your face but dismiss you as an ignorant country girl behind your back. That’s problematic. You need to become a woman worthy of standing next to a king.”

Rité closed her mouth, feeling that everything she said seemed right. Above all, Rité had vividly felt this when she went out with Aster last time.

Even though only her appearance had changed, people’s treatment of her was drastically different. She understood why Aster had called all of that day’s date ‘training’.

Michelle raised her index finger and said ominously,

“And people of the same kind can recognize their own. They might notice that you’ve held knives and guns, not syringes or surgical scissors, as soon as they shake hands with you, no, as soon as they see the hand you extend for a handshake.”

At those words, Rité suddenly felt a chill down her spine and swallowed hard. Michelle said seriously,

“This won’t do, we need to start with the basics for you.”

 

 

* * *

 

At that time, Aster entered the torture room.

The two spies they had captured were being interrogated separately in two rooms to prevent them from coordinating their stories. Aster came to see one of them.

In front of him, a man wearing only underwear was kneeling with his hands and feet bound and eyes covered.

“It seems you were observing me from afar that day. Since when did you start tailing me?”

“…”

When the man didn’t answer, Aster sat casually in a metal chair, crossing his legs, and asked,

“It’s not a difficult question. Do you really need to endure a few more lashes for this simple question? I’d like to spare your strength. I want to hear useful information.”

Though he deliberately spoke as if it wasn’t important, this question was the most crucial for him.

Did they witness Nox and Rité meeting?

Depending on the answer, the assassination plan could go awry, and Nox and Rité’s safety could be at risk.

Aster’s eyes gleamed strangely as he waited for an answer. The man, perhaps wanting to conserve his strength, opened his mouth obediently.

“…I saw a military vehicle parked in front of a clothing store and waited to follow it.”

“Why?”

“…I thought if they had a separate driver, a high-ranking military officer must be riding in it. But since it wasn’t a vehicle used by the royal family, I judged it to be a dangerous person.”

Aster interlaced his fingers, asking as if amused,

“So you followed me? To find out what kind of person I was and eliminate me in advance?”

“…That’s right.”

Aster uncrossed his legs and leaned back in the chair.

His words were likely true. The enemy didn’t know about Aster’s existence. They had never seen his face, and there were no insignia indicating his rank on his clothes, so they would have needed to identify him.

Aster felt relieved inwardly. Nox had a keen sense of smell. If anyone had approached during their meeting, he would have noticed immediately, so it was right to assume there was no surveillance while the two were meeting. Fortunately, they hadn’t been followed from the beginning with the intention of tailing the two.

“But it seems you couldn’t figure out my identity in the end.”

“…”

“You had nothing to report to your superiors, right? Even though you put a bullet hole in my body.”

As Aster chuckled and spoke, the man bit his lower lip. He sensed that he would face retaliation. Having shot the man before him, there was no chance he would leave here alive.

But then, Aster suddenly asked,

“Which of you two is the better spy?”

The man didn’t answer the question with unidentifiable intent.

“It’s better to be honest. I’m thinking of sparing the better spy.”

At those words, a small, incredulous laugh escaped the man’s lips.

“Say something that makes sense. Why would you keep a skilled spy alive from your position?”

“Oh? Would the other guy think the same as you?”

“What?”

“I already went to the other guy before coming to you. When I asked the same question, he said he was a better spy than you.”

At those words, a small, disbelieving laugh escaped the man’s lips. Aster observed this reaction closely and said,

“You don’t seem very surprised. Did you expect that?”

“…It seems you’re trying to drive a wedge between us. Such a shallow trick won’t work.”

As the man answered calmly, Aster smiled slightly and said,

“Have you ever escaped from enemy territory?”

The man didn’t answer, but Aster didn’t miss the slight movement of his lips, as if hesitating to answer.

He clearly had escaped before, but he seemed to hesitate, worried that admitting it might increase surveillance on him. Even in this situation, he was considering the possibility of escape. His calm demeanor also suggested he was no ordinary spy.

“If you answer this question, I’ll pause the interrogation for a while. Wouldn’t that be advantageous for you to rest a bit and gather your thoughts?”

The man was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

“…I have escaped before. And between us two, the better spy is… not me, but the other one.”

Aster hummed and said,

“I see. Thank you for your answer.”

As soon as he left the torture room, he strode directly to the next room where the other spy was held. Aster asked him the same question.

“Which of you two is the better spy? I’m thinking of sparing the better spy.”

“You expect me to believe that? F**k you, bastard.”

He was a man with a much rougher mouth than the spy he had just met.

“Oh? That’s too bad. The other guy confidently said without hesitation that he was the better spy. He also said he became a spy before you.”

“…”

The second spy’s face contorted for a moment, showing a look of despair. Seeing this, Aster’s eyes gleamed sharply. The last statement was just a guess based on the calm attitude of the man he interrogated first, but it seemed to have hit the mark.

“It’s better to be honest. I won’t ask again, so think carefully. Which of you is the better spy?”

“…It’s me. I’m the better spy.”

Aster relaxed his gaze and leaned back in the chair, saying,

“Then I’ll ask a few more things fairly. I gave the other guy a chance to answer too.”

That was a lie, but the man, not knowing this fact, swallowed hard, seeming nervous.

“When you’re captured and interrogated by the enemy like this, do you keep the information you’ve each obtained secret from each other to prevent leaks?”

The man thought for a moment before answering this complex question. He needed to first understand why such a question was being asked.

‘Is he trying to figure out if we’re both useful? No, that doesn’t make sense with saying he’ll spare the better spy…’

As the deliberation time grew longer, the chilling sound of a gun being loaded came from in front. The blindfolded man jerked his head up, startled.

He spoke urgently,

“No, no! That’s not it. We share information with each other.”

“Then your information should all be the same, so what basis do you have for saying you’re the better spy?”

Aster asked leisurely while examining the gun.

“Th-that’s, we share common information, but I know more detailed information…”

The man’s face fell as he fumbled with his words and lowered his head. For some reason, the more he spoke, the more he felt like he was digging his own grave.

Knowing more detailed information. If that were the case, there was absolutely no reason for them to spare him; they would just torture him more. From the start, Aster’s statement about sparing the better spy was contradictory, so he had no choice but to keep giving contradictory answers. With just a slight misjudgment in his words, it would be easy for his lies to be exposed.

He trembled, sensing that this unseen man before him was a terrifying individual. Aster was extremely strong in psychological warfare.

Aster soon stood up from the chair and handed the pistol to a subordinate, saying,

“I’m done with this one. Execute him.”

At those words, the blindfolded spy’s eyes widened.

“Wh-what are you saying! You said you’d spare the better spy!”

“That’s right. You’re not a skilled spy.”

“…What?”

“The other guy chose to die.”

 

At those words, his face turned pale. He believed Aster’s words that his comrade had betrayed him without a shred of doubt.

Aster said coldly,

“Why do you think that is? To save you? No. He thought that his death, as the more skilled spy, was the best way to prevent information leaks. That’s why he even went so far as to admit he had escaped from enemy territory, deliberately drawing attention to himself. That’s the true mindset of a spy. Not only did you betray your comrade to save yourself, but you’ve also failed as a spy. For a spy, information is more important than life.”

“No, no! Just listen to me for a moment!”

“Dispose of him.”

Aster handed the gun to the guard. As the sound of the hammer being cocked was heard, the spy spoke urgently,

“I have information only I know! This is personal information, the other side doesn’t know. Please believe me!”

“…Personal information?”

As Aster was about to leave but glanced back, the man swallowed hard and said,

“Yes. There’s a place King Shine frequently visits. It’s an unofficial schedule, so very few people know about it except for his close aides.”

“And you claim to know such information?”

“I know it’s hard to believe! But I have a personal acquaintance among the royal servants, and that’s how I heard it. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but wouldn’t it be helpful to you? Unlike the other spy, I have a family to protect. Please spare me…”

A slight smile appeared on Aster’s lips.

“Alright. I’ll see how useful you are.”

The spy, having spilled everything, hung his head low with a resigned look. Aster said to another subordinate,

“Organize the information and report it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Aster’s expression as he walked out of the torture room seemed relieved as if he had finished his work, yet somewhat complex. There was something in the spy’s words and actions that unsettled him.

Would someone abandon all their achievements and pride they’ve built up like that when they have someone to protect?

That fact felt strangely uncomfortable to him.

Aster had always been someone who could throw away his life at any moment. He had no attachment to life and thought it wouldn’t matter if he died if he couldn’t find a purpose to live for. In his mind, he was already as good as dead anyway.

But why? For a brief moment, he simulated in his mind how he would act if he were in such a situation. And simultaneously, Rité’s face clearly came to mind.

Suddenly remembering Rité kneeling before him, begging him to spare Commander Maud’s life, he stopped abruptly in the corridor. Benyak approached from the side and asked,

“What’s wrong, Major?”

“…Is Rité training now?”

“Yes. She’s being educated by Michelle as you ordered.”

“Let’s go see.”

Aster walked on without saying anything more. Benyak followed behind him without thinking much of it.

In truth, Aster suddenly wanted to see Rité. As if seeing her face would resolve the questions that had arisen in his mind.

Just as he arrived at the dressing room and was about to knock, Rité’s voice came from inside.

“I can’t take it anymore!”

Aster’s hand stopped in mid-air. Inside, Rité shouted hysterically,

“Does it take an hour to trim hair? I won’t do it! I won’t!”

“Just a moment! We’re almost done!”

“That’s the fifth time you’ve said that!”

“No, we’re right at the finish line! Wait, Rité…!”

Rité, who was about to burst out the door, saw Aster as he opened it and stopped abruptly, her eyes widening. Aster also blinked once, his eyes slightly widened.

Rité, in the middle of her transformation, was wearing a sky-blue dress with her teal hair beautifully half-tied. Wearing the flowing dress with her side hair braided, she looked just like a sea nymph from mythology.

Michelle, who had been chasing Rité, also stopped in her tracks, surprised to see them. Benyak blinked at the sight of the two who had become like childhood friends in just a few hours.

Rité averted her eyes slightly and made an excuse.

“…I wasn’t trying to play hooky. I just felt… stifled. You know. I hate staying still.”

When there was no response, Rité glanced up to see Aster smiling. Rité’s face turned bright red.

“Why are you smiling!”

“You’re pretty.”

“…Huh?”

Rité gaped blankly for a moment, thinking she had misheard. Aster smiled and said,

“He’d fall for you at first sight.”

Seeing Rité’s face flush at those words, he mischievously added,

“The King.”

Rité’s expression instantly soured. The same was true for Michelle behind her.

“Why did you come here? To keep an eye on me?”

As Rité snapped, Aster said casually,

“To give you good news.”

At those words, Rité changed her expression and listened intently.

“The spy who attacked us didn’t see you and Nox meeting. Nox is safe.”

Rité’s shoulders sagged with relief as she let out a sigh. Aster smiled and said,

“Since you hate staying still, I suppose we should train you.”

He spoke to Benyak behind him.

“Prepare for a mock assassination training.”

“Pardon?”

Benyak asked in surprise. Aster said calmly,

“I’ve judged that her skills are sufficient for actual field work now. We don’t know when an opportunity might come our way, so we need to prepare from now.”

As he said, Rité’s skills were truly improving day by day.

She no longer caused any problems within the military, did everything she was told to do, and diligently attended all training sessions without fail.

Though not quite obedient, she no longer looked at passing soldiers as if she would scratch and bite them like a wildcat.

Benyak always watched Rité closely while training the unit members. She endured like a fierce fighter, not falling behind the male soldiers at all, and completed operation training with excellent results. During break times, she even practiced hitting targets using her ability alone in the shooting range.

Since he had already written in the training log that Rité could now hold her own as an assassin, he answered without objecting to Aster’s words.

“Yes, understood.”

After Benyak left, Rité asked anxiously,

“What do you mean by mock assassination training? What is that?”

“It’s training to enter the royal palace, kill the king, and escape. We’ll practice in a space very similar to the real thing. It needs some preparation, but we’ll start training as soon as it’s ready. Until then, take care of your body.”

Rité’s expression darkened and became serious. She felt the pressure of that day approaching, but more than that, his words, which seemed to treat her like a mere tool, strangely pricked at her heart.

Take care of your body. It sounded like he was telling her to sharpen a blade.

Was she really nothing more than a weapon to him?

Rité’s lips moved, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask that. The desire not to be hurt any more kept her mouth shut.

But just as she was slightly lowering her head, Aster suddenly took her hand and gently lifted it.

As he placed something on her hand, Rité finally looked up and asked,

“What’s this?”

 

Aster answered with a gentle smile,

“Hand cream.”

“Why this all of a sudden?”

“Would you believe me if I said I picked it up on the way?”

Rité slightly furrowed one eyebrow. The luxurious appearance made it absolutely impossible that it had been picked up on the way.

“Use it often. Your hands seem rough.”

“…Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they don’t look like an assassin’s hands.”

Rité said stiffly, recalling Michelle’s words. But then Aster suddenly tilted his head and came close, saying,

“They’re pretty hands, don’t let them hurt. That’s why I’m giving you this.”

Faced with his face up close, Rité was once again flustered and didn’t know what to do. Behind them, Michelle watched with a look in her eyes as if she was completely absorbed in the romance between the two, clasping her hands together.

Aster calmly opened the hand cream lid, squeezed some onto his own hand, and then suddenly took Rité’s hand and applied the cream generously himself.

Rité shouted in great embarrassment, even stumbling over her words,

“Wh-what are you doing? I-I’ll do it myself!”

“Stay still.”

Aster said just that one word and then gently massaged Rité’s hand with his large hands as if handling a precious treasure. At his touch, Rité felt a strange sensation as if electricity was tingling from her fingertips to her toes, and she flinched. The feeling was completely different from when Michelle had massaged her.

Aster lowered his eyelids and focused solely on applying cream to her hands. Rité, unable to explain what this sensation and emotion she was feeling were, looked bewildered and kept glancing at his eyelashes.

A soft fragrance spread throughout the room.

Unable to bear the ticklish feeling any longer, Rité hastily pulled her hand away from him and turned her body to the side.

“Th-this is enough! It must have absorbed well into the skin by now.”

“Is it your first time?”

“What? What is?”

“Applying hand cream.”

Rité’s face turned bright red with embarrassment. She was about to say something, thinking he was trying to look down on her poverty again, but Aster smiled and spoke first.

“It’s my first time too.”

“…”

Rité was at a loss for words. Taking her reaction as an answer, Aster said pleasantly,

“It’s the first time for both of us. It’s nice doing it together.”

Aster looked down at his own hands, now softened by the cream. It was the first time he had ever applied anything to his always rough hands. Let alone cream, he had lived a life where he had no leisure to even apply ointment, creating new wounds before healing old ones, and never letting go of weapons even as calluses formed.

Having unexpectedly found something in common with him, Rité suddenly felt her heart beating and placed a hand on her chest. An inexplicable throbbing reached her ears.

Aster soon spoke professionally to Michelle, who was staring intently at them,

“I’m counting on you with Rité. Do as I instructed before.”

“Yes, Major!”

“Well then, I have to prepare for the operation, so I’ll be going. If you need anything, tell Benyak. I’ll make time.”

Rité nodded with a dazed expression at his changed attitude. In the past, he would have refused a meeting saying he was busy, but now it sounded like he was saying he would make time to meet her whenever she wanted.

As Aster left, Michelle came up from behind, making an indescribable dolphin-like sound.

“What was that just now? Are you two really dating?”

“…What are you talking about?”

Rité said that, but she couldn’t look straight at Michelle. Michelle smiled slyly.

“I didn’t know the Major could make such expressions. You too.”

“What?”

“I’ve never seen the Major speak such romantic words to a woman with that expression, or act so gently. So the Major is a man who can love after all!”

She seemed more excited about it than anyone. Rité’s face reddened as she listened to her words and recalled Aster’s behavior earlier.

It was because she realized that his voice and expression when dealing with her were different from when he was dealing with Michelle just moments ago.

“He’s a difficult man, but conquering him would be so thrilling.”

“What?”

As Rité asked in bewilderment, Michelle nonchalantly turned her gaze away. But the corners of her mouth remained upturned.

Recalling Aster’s orders, Michelle now meticulously groomed Rité as if creating a work of art.

She seemed to burn with the desire to make Rité so alluring that she could conquer him, even dominate him from head to toe.

However, contrary to her intent, Michelle’s mouth spewed unrestrained comments like “your skin is like an alligator hide,” “your hair is like a mop,” and “your spine is like a cobra.” Suspecting that Michelle might be secretly enjoying insulting her, Rité gave her a sidelong glance.

As Michelle touched up her hair, Rité quietly spoke up.

“Are you also part of the Shadow Unit?”

“No. Intelligence Division. But I am part of Major Cloud’s company.”

“When did you join?”

“Well, it’s been quite a while.”

Rité hesitated before asking,

“Do you… regret joining?”

Michelle laughed softly and said,

“Regret? No.”

She answered with a smile.

“I enlisted following the person I love.”

“The person you love…?”

“Khalid. That’s his code name.”

Rité’s eyes widened. Khalid was the name of the man who had scanned her memories. Seeing Rité’s expression darken, Michelle asked,

“What’s wrong? Did something bad happen with Khalid?”

“That person… participated in interrogating me when I first came here.”

This time Michelle’s eyes widened. But immediately her eyes crinkled, and Rité was surprised to see tears welling up.

 

She grabbed both of Rité’s hands and looked into her eyes, pleading earnestly,

“I’m sorry! I’ll apologize on Khalid’s behalf. Please forgive him…”

Seeing those tears, Rité felt a strange ache in her chest and nodded without realizing it. But then, Michelle gave a slightly bitter smile and said,

“This is my ability.”

“What is?”

“Controlling others with tears.”

Rité asked with a confused look,

“What do you mean?”

“You know that pathetic saying about how women’s tears are weapons? Well, that’s literally true for me. I never imagined I’d have such an ability.”

“So you’re saying you just controlled my feelings with your tears?”

“How else could you forgive someone who tortured you so easily?”

Rité was momentarily at a loss for words. She had indeed forgiven as if entranced, but hadn’t realized it was due to Michelle’s ability.

Seeing Rité’s dumbfounded face, Michelle said,

“I’m sorry. I said those unreasonable things to show you my ability, but it was inconsiderate. You don’t have to forgive. No one has the right to force forgiveness. It’s something only the person involved can decide.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I really did forgive him.”

“What…?”

This time it was Michelle who looked dumbfounded. Rité looked at her earnestly and said,

“Of course, having my most terrible secret exposed to others like that made me want to die. But aside from reading my memories, he didn’t harm me in any other way. And… ultimately, showing my memories to Aster ended up being helpful. Whether it was a whim or not, I think he decided to spare me when I went berserk after seeing those memories…”

Rité paused briefly before continuing with a slight smile.

“Moreover, Khalid kept that memory secret and didn’t reveal it to anyone. I’m grateful for that too. Even if it was Aster’s order, I can’t stand people who carelessly blab about others’ painful secrets. Also, I realized last time that his ability isn’t always used for bad things. He showed me a memory I really wanted to see. I had already forgiven him even without your ability. He’s not a bad person.”

Michelle looked at Rité with an unreadable expression.

“You… you’re a better person than I thought.”

“What?”

“I think I understand why the Major keeps testing you.”

“What do you mean?”

“He wants to confirm. He’s probably never seen someone like you during wartime. But even someone who seems flawless can be changed by circumstances, right? So he’s curious about how you’ll react when thrown into various situations. Whether you’ll remain like a diamond, unchanging.”

As Michelle spoke with a tone of certainty, Rité closed her mouth.

“Ah, sorry. I have a habit of analyzing people’s psychology on my own. It’s all since I got this ability and joined the Intelligence Division. But now that I’ve said it, the Major is quite perverted too.”

Michelle chuckled as she spoke. Rité’s eyes widened, seeing a subordinate call Aster ‘perverted’ for the first time. The two looked at each other and eventually burst into laughter.

Rité was very shy and severely lacking in social skills, so she had no friends. It would be more accurate to say that she couldn’t trust people after experiencing all sorts of terrible things since childhood.

Moreover, there were few female members in the vigilante group she belonged to, and even fewer of her age, so she had no opportunity to make friends. The situation was similar in Carta, so Rité was secretly glad to meet a female member. It felt like she had finally found a friend of her age here.

Curious, Rité asked,

“So did you use your ability to make Khalid fall for you too?”

“No. I met Khalid before I got my ability. We were famous as an extremely sweet couple in our village.”

Rité was a bit surprised to hear it was real love. Michelle lowered her eyes slightly and said,

“And that’s actually what caused my ability to manifest.”

“What?”

“On the day Khalid enlisted, he told me we should break up. He didn’t tell me anything. I only knew he was joining the military, but I didn’t know what he’d be doing or which unit he’d be in. He just said we could never meet again, so I shouldn’t look for him, and then he left abruptly. At the train station, I clung to him crying and begging, pleading with him not to go, but in the end, Khalid left me.”

Michelle smiled bitterly and said,

“That’s probably how I got it. The ability to make others do what I want when I cry. Khalid was my only connection, since I had no family.”

Rité found herself drawn into this interesting yet tragic love story without realizing it. She had never been interested in love stories before, so it was strange.

“Later, I found out that Khalid had joined Carta, a special forces unit. I learned through inquiries that they secretly recruited Awakened there, and this information was also obtained thanks to my tears. Even the coldest soldiers would listen when I cried and told my story and made requests. That’s how I learned that someone called Major Cloud was mainly recruiting Awakened. I immediately went to where that person was supposed to appear and used my ability to ask him to let me meet Khalid.”

“So your ability worked on Aster?”

Rité swallowed hard and asked, engrossed in the fascinating story. Michelle soon smiled enigmatically and said,

“At first, he treated me like a spy. I think he was suspicious of how I knew where he would appear and came in advance. But as soon as I used my ability and made my request, strangely, the Major immediately recognized that I was an Awakened. Until then, no one had realized that my tears were an ability, isn’t that interesting? The Major told me that if I wanted to stay with Khalid, I should enlist in Carta.”

Rité recalled when Aster had told her to join the military. It was very like him to dangle what a person most desperately wanted as bait and reel them in.

“So you got to meet Khalid again?”

Michelle smiled softly at Rité’s question.

 

“Yes. But honestly, I thought he’d be furious when he saw me. Angry that I had followed him into such a dangerous place. But as soon as he saw me, he hugged me and cried as if the world had ended. I didn’t know, but after breaking up with me, he went into his own memories every night to meet me. It seems he can enter his own memories too. They say fixating on specific memories is dangerous enough to cause mental illness.”

Khalid was an ability user who could store all memories he saw through his eyes, like a camera lens. Even if he hadn’t noticed something at the scene, he could catch even the tiniest details by replaying the memory.

It was a truly valuable ability in Carta.

But to use such an ability to meet a lost love every night? It would have been dangerous enough to cause mental breakdown for an ordinary person. But Khalid had risked that danger to meet Michelle in his memories every night.

Listening to their romantic love story, Rité was a bit surprised to learn that Khalid had such a side to him. She remembered him as a businesslike person with an expressionless face who seemed incapable of tears.

“That’s why Khalid is even more precious to me. He’s my first love, and the only person who gives me what I want without me using my ability.”

Michelle was excellent at gathering information because she could elicit answers from anyone with her tears. Moreover, being a woman often made men let their guard down, making it a perfect ability for a female spy.

The two were truly a match made in heaven.

Michelle added with a smile,

“But you know, even though I could seduce anyone if I wanted to, the only man I can’t seduce is Major Cloud.”

Rité looked at her with eyes full of curiosity.

“I still think that the Major granted my request back then not because my ability worked on him, but because I was an Awakened. You see, I’ve tried experimenting a few times since then, but it’s hopeless. No matter how much I use my ability, it doesn’t work for things he absolutely won’t allow according to his standards. At most, I can soften his cold attitude and make him reject requests gently.”

Rité asked in surprise,

“How can that be?”

“I don’t know? Maybe he’s a higher-level ability user than me?”

Rité thought about this point with a serious face. Maud had said something similar before. That Aster had found her in the mist as if her ability didn’t work on him.

Michelle said playfully,

“This is just my guess, but maybe it’s because he’s a person without tears? He doesn’t know the emotion of crying because he has no tears. That’s why my tears don’t work on him.”

Rité nodded seriously, thinking this was a reasonable explanation. Aster did sometimes seem like a person without blood or tears.

“Anyway, he’s a unique character. You’re amazing too, for making such a person fall for you.”

Rité finally understood why Michelle had been praising her so enthusiastically.

“So, does your ability not have any penalties? Can you just cry and get whatever you want?”

When Rité asked out of curiosity, Michelle answered,

“No. Of course there are penalties. The effectiveness of the ability depends on how desperate my feelings are. In other words, if I cry while telling a lie that I don’t mean, there’s a high chance the ability won’t work. It’s not like an absolute command.”

Rité nodded. It seemed like it would be difficult to use the ability 100% in every situation if you had to force tears each time.

Michelle smiled and said,

“Anyway, that’s not what’s important.”

“Then what is important?”

Michelle leaned in close to Rité’s face and said,

“That love can bloom even in the midst of war.”

Rité blushed, feeling strangely flustered.

“They say a lot of babies are born during wartime. Why do you think that is? It’s because every moment could be the last during war, so everyone falls in love. Since things have turned out this way, you should just enjoy it. No one knows how life will unfold. Probably not even Major Cloud.”

Rité fell into deep thought. She had never imagined loving someone, let alone falling in love with a man who had been her enemy.

But hearing Michelle’s words made her feel strange. Perhaps during war, the abnormal might feel normal.

“Well, shall we end here for today?”

Michelle stretched and ended the training, walking down the corridor with Rité. Suddenly, they saw someone standing with their back turned at the end of the corridor.

Michelle immediately broke into a broad smile and ran towards him. The person who turned around was Khalid.

“Khalid! Were you waiting?”

“Yeah, but…”

Khalid seemed flustered when he spotted Rité, not knowing what to do. Michelle mischievously whispered in his ear,

“It’s okay. She knows everything. About our relationship.”

He flinched at the mention of their relationship. While Khalid was feeling awkward, Michelle noticed something behind him and her eyes widened.

“What’s this? A flower?”

Behind Khalid’s back was a single rose.

“Oh, how lovely! That’s so adorable!”

Michelle threw her arms around Khalid’s neck and showered him with kisses. As he held his hands up awkwardly, not embracing Michelle back, Rité hurriedly excused herself.

Before turning the corner, she glanced back to see the two now deeply kissing.

Rité felt her own face flush as she strode back to her room.

But the moment she flopped down on the bed, a certain image flashed through her mind. Rité let out a yelp and buried her face in her pillow.

She couldn’t understand why the image of her and Aster kissing had suddenly popped into her head.

Her feelings towards him had certainly changed a lot since she first met him. The more she got to know him, the more curious she became about him, wanting to know the sides of him she hadn’t seen yet.

He was a fascinating person. This was an undeniable fact.

‘Does Aster feel the same way about me?’

Rité lay on her side with her face against the pillow, her flushed face deep in thought.

The romantic feelings she might not have even known existed were awakening inside her, perhaps thanks to Michelle.

 

 

* * *

 

A few days later, the date for the mock training arrived.

Aster took Rité to an abandoned building.

“We’ll conduct simulation training in a situation as close to the real thing as possible for actual field work. You can consider this essentially the final training.”

Rité swallowed hard and nodded.

“We’ve chosen an abandoned building as similar as possible to the royal structure, based on the palace layout Nox provided. The entire Shadow Unit will participate in this training. I’ll be in the room presumed to be where the king stays, so you should come find and try to kill me as if it were real.”

Aster spoke casually with a smile, but Rité’s face was paler than usual today. She couldn’t understand why the words “find and kill him” made her so tense.

“Attendants or secretaries will accompany you until you reach the king’s room. It’s best if you don’t reveal your identity until you reach the room. But if your identity is exposed or something unexpected happens… then you’ll have to do your best to kill people.”

Rité’s face hardened as she asked,

“What if the assassination fails?”

“Run. For your life.”

Aster’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“And come back to me. The same goes if you succeed. If you fail, normally you’d be shot upon returning. Being a former rebel, there’s a high chance you’d be falsely accused of deliberately failing the assassination.”

Rité’s eyelids trembled. Suddenly, she felt she truly understood her position in the military.

Aster stared at her unwavering eyes and said,

“But as long as I’m here, you won’t die. I’ll protect you somehow and persuade the officers, so don’t think about anything and just come to me no matter what. Understood?”

Rité’s lips moved before she asked,

“What if I fail to escape?”

Aster just stared at her silently. Rité anticipated what he might say.

‘Take your own life.’

It was an obvious answer. The best way to prevent information leaks was to eliminate the source of information itself. Moreover, from her perspective, it would be less humiliating and painful than being captured and tortured by the enemy.

But for some reason, Aster didn’t say it. In the past, he would have uttered cold words without hesitation and lectured about the qualities of an assassin, but he didn’t.

An inexplicable atmosphere fell between them. Aster looked at Rité’s trembling eyes before speaking.

“I won’t let you die.”

Rité felt her heart skip a beat.

“I have no intention of killing you.”

His usual words had subtly changed. Though only slightly different, the meaning felt completely different.

Aster said,

“Our soldiers will be hidden everywhere to help you escape. Whether you fail or succeed in the assassination, practice as if it’s real.”

Rité finally nodded, though somewhat stiffly.

“Then I wish you success.”

Aster returned to his casual demeanor, put his hands in his pockets, and walked away. While Benyak prepared for training with his colleagues, Rité, left alone, changed into the pure white nun’s habit Aster had given her.

It was the attire for the assassination attempt. The choice of pristine white instead of black was a deception to make her image appear more benevolent and holy.

She carried no weapons under the habit. Her ability itself was the weapon. Even if she were searched, nothing would be found, making them let their guard down even more.

Instead of weapons, Rité packed bandages, ointment, and painkillers in an old leather bag. These were for her own treatment, as she couldn’t use her ability to heal herself if injured.

As a nun serving God and caring for the sick, carrying medical supplies wouldn’t arouse much suspicion. The items she carried were solely for healing, tools to save people, not to harm others.

After finishing her preparations, Rité headed to the building entrance with a solemn face. Though it was a ruin, bright lights were lit in various places.

Suddenly reminded of the place where she had her final battle with Aster initially, Rité stood in front of the building, lost in thought for a moment. Then, gathering her resolve, she headed towards the room where the king was staying.

As if to make it feel truly real, people disguised as servants walked the corridors. The purpose of the training was to evade all their gazes and successfully carry out the assassination without anyone noticing.

Assassination was a race against time. The key was to carry out the assassination as quickly as possible and escape before being discovered.

Following a unit member playing the role of a secretary down the corridor, Rité keenly observed how many rooms there were, the distances involved, and potential escape routes like windows.

Finally, they arrived at the king’s room.

Rité stood in front of the door for a moment, focusing all her senses to check for any presence inside. She couldn’t detect any signs of life from within.

Rité took a quiet deep breath and then immediately flung open the door and entered.

But as soon as she opened the door, she saw that the bed directly in front of her was empty. The window was open, and the curtains fluttered in the breeze.

Just as she was about to look around the room in confusion, Rité’s eyes widened at the chilling sensation on her neck. Aster had somehow appeared behind her, pressing something metallic against her neck.

He spoke in a leisurely voice,

“You just died.”

“…”

Rité couldn’t breathe. Suddenly, death felt terrifyingly real.

Aster whispered softly into Rité’s ear from behind,

“Tell me what mistake you made.”

Rité gathered her wits, bit her lower lip hard, and said,

“I didn’t properly scout the terrain or space in advance.”

“Good. What else?”

“…”

“Is that all? You need to know what mistakes you made to correct them. I told you, this is training.”

Rité, hiding her trembling and looking straight ahead, brazenly said,

“I overlooked that my target was skilled.”

Aster laughed softly and lowly. That laugh and his breath strangely tickled her ear.

Rité’s heart beat irregularly. She couldn’t distinguish whether it was due to the fear of the metal against her neck, the frustration of failure, or because of this broad-chested man pressed close behind her.

“There’s one more thing. You should have calculated the probability that they had already noticed you were a spy. They could have been prepared to counter-attack you like this inside the room.”

Aster lowered the metal from her neck and instructed,

“The test isn’t over yet. Don’t panic, counterattack.”

At those words, Rité snapped to attention and immediately attempted to counterattack. Numerous needle-like weapons filled the space around her. Rité, standing in the center of the weapons, looked like a hedgehog with its quills raised.

Aster smiled, then immediately created identical weapons in the air and engaged her in combat. Every needle Rité launched was blocked by his flying needles. Long glass shards clashed and shattered in the air around them. It was a mesmerizing sight, almost like rain falling.

When Rité threw a punch, Aster easily dodged it, then grabbed her arm and brought his face close, saying,

“Do it properly. With the resolve to kill me.”

 

Rité’s face reddened as if struck at a vital point, having not put proper strength into her punch. She narrowed her eyes and immediately struck at his face with her other hand.

But Aster leaned his upper body back to avoid the attack, and using that momentum, pushed Rité’s body against the wall behind him.

As their positions switched, there was a ‘thud’ as her body pressed against the wall. Aster held Rité’s wrists up, facing her closely, just as he had when subduing her during her rampage in the torture room. With one of his feet pinning hers and one of his legs between her two legs, Rité couldn’t move an inch.

Rité struggled, trying to break free, but soon gave up and looked at him with trembling eyes. Aster relaxed his gaze and said,

“You failed.”

“…”

“In this much time, the guards outside would have more than enough time to burst in. But you failed the assassination, couldn’t escape, and with your hands restrained, you can’t even take your own life.”

“…”

Aster leaned his head even closer and said in a low voice,

“Imagine, Rité. What would be the most terrible fate for an assassin in this situation?”

Looking at his shadowed, calm face, Rité unconsciously swallowed hard.

Aster’s face turned a bit colder as he said,

“You failed the assassination, so you must face the consequences.”

He was always a man who was clear about rewards and punishments. Rité spoke with trembling lips, as if exhaling a held breath.

“…It was because it was you.”

As Aster looked at her with puzzled eyes, Rité averted her gaze slightly, as if embarrassed, and said,

“I couldn’t kill you because it was you. Because the person I had to kill was you, I couldn’t truly attack.”

His eyes widened slightly at those words. Though Aster was backlit by the moon, casting him in shadow, Rité’s face had reddened to her ears in the darkness.

Aster remained frozen in place for a while, his thoughts unreadable. With the moonlight behind him, Rité couldn’t read his expression. As an unexpected silence fell, their heartbeats seemed unusually loud.

Finally, Aster spoke.

“…Not bad. Making me let my guard down. If you had quickly used your ability just now, you would have succeeded in the assassination.”

Rité felt a surge of emotion at receiving such a businesslike response after subtly confessing her feelings.

“Even in this situation, you say such things…!”

Just as Rité was about to protest with furrowed brows, Aster lunged forward and kissed her lips.

Surprised by the sudden kiss, she could only stare with wide eyes in confusion as he delved deeper into her mouth.

His actions were rough, but his lips were soft. Perhaps they were the softest part of his entire body.

Though she had pressed her lips against his once before in the torture room when she went berserk, she had been half out of her mind then.

For Rité, this was essentially her first proper kiss with a man.

Given their relationship, Rité should have refused, and in the past, she would have immediately slapped him away, asking what he was doing. But now, her eyelids trembled as she tightly closed her eyes.

When she didn’t resist, Aster released her wrists pinned to the wall and forcefully pulled her closer by the waist. Rité, without realizing it, raised her freed hands to Aster’s broad shoulders, embracing him.

The sound of lips intermittently meeting and parting echoed densely in the silence-filled room. Aster, too, closed his eyes and explored her lips, focusing on the sensation.

His roughened breathing could be felt right in front of her. Feeling him gently, sometimes roughly, stirring inside her mouth, Rité felt breathless and as if her heart would burst.

With a tingling sensation rising from her legs, her whole body went limp, and she was practically hanging onto him. Her entire body felt electrified, incomparable to when they had applied hand cream together.

After finishing a round of intense kissing without giving her time to breathe, Aster grabbed both of Rité’s thighs with his hands, lifted her up, and walked towards the bed.

As his large, firm hands with visible veins gripped her thighs just below her buttocks without hesitation, Rité unconsciously inhaled sharply. Forgetting the embarrassing position, she clung to him, burying her face in his firm chest.

Aster placed Rité down on the bed with a thud and climbed on top of her. Rité breathed in and out roughly, looking up at him above her with slightly dazed eyes.

Rité’s pristine white clothes were disheveled, and her teal hair was scattered messily on the pillow. Her collarbone and cleavage were visible through the parted clothes, and her bare thighs were precariously exposed below her raised skirt. Her white skin, beaded with sweat, glistened even more in the moonlight.

Aster silently etched this image in his mind. Finally able to see his expression clearly in the moonlight, Rité was a bit surprised.

That gaze was very different from any expression she had seen on him before. No, it was an expression she had never seen.

Though he was forcibly wearing a mask to maintain his rationality, Rité could read his intense gaze filled with anxiety and desire.

When had their relationship become like this? Since when had they started looking at each other with such desperate gazes, treating each other like loving partners?

Rité couldn’t tell.

But what was certain was that they had gradually seeped into each other, unaware, like clothes getting wet in a drizzle. Perhaps they had truly realized what Aster had said before – that they were similar beings, the only ones who felt attachment and empathy for each other.

Aster overlapped his body on top of hers and lowered his face close to her neck. Rité flinched and tightly closed her eyes.

But Aster, who was about to shower her neck with kisses, hesitated. He whispered in a low voice near her ear.

“…Run away.”

Rité’s eyes flew open.

“What?”

The moonlit room was quiet. Aster, seeming to have regained his senses, got up from the bed and said,

“We still have work to do. Escape from me.”

“But…!”

It seemed absurd to hear this after they had just finished such a passionate kiss. Rité blushed and quickly sat up, but Aster immediately placed his index finger on her lips, as if telling her not to say anything.

“Kill your emotions, Rité. That’s how you can survive.”

Aster paused briefly, then added seriously,

“Survive.”

Those words felt more sincere than ever before. Rité stared into his dark eyes. For the first time, it felt as if some color had been added to his monochrome eyes in the moonlight.

It was a desperate wish.

Rité got off the bed and left the room without looking back. Once a mission had started, it had to be completed successfully.

Aster sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the doorway Rité had left through.

Rité regained her senses and started running down the corridor. But as soon as she left the room, voices immediately sounded from around her.

“Intruder!”

 

It seemed they had deliberately staged the situation to coincide with her leaving the room.

Rité bit her lip and momentarily resented Aster. He seemed determined to make her experience every possible situation that could occur during an actual assassination.

But Rité was certain that the kiss just now had been an unplanned action. It was his true feelings, breaking through his usually rule-governed behavior.

Thinking about this made her face flush again. With her guard momentarily lowered by thoughts of Aster, Rité failed to notice an enemy hiding behind a wall as she ran down the corridor and was kicked in the side.

A strong shockwave coursed through her body as if she’d been in a traffic accident. Rité, thrown against the wall, raised her head trembling and her eyes widened.

Standing before her with a villainous smile was Devel Jacqueline, the man who had humiliated her in the cafeteria before.

“Finally, I can pay you back for that humiliation.”

As Devel rushed forward to kick her in the stomach, Rité quickly rolled to the side to avoid it.

“You little rat bitch!”

Rité immediately used her ability to hurl sharp weapons at him, but he quickly raised his arms to block the attack. Like an invincible shield, her ability shattered like ice fragments upon hitting his arms.

Rité’s eyes widened, and he grinned, saying,

“My ability is arm reinforcement. With these two arms, I can pulverize someone like you!”

He charged at her again, crudely throwing punches. It really was an ability that suited him.

Her ability hardly worked on him. Moreover, his fists were like diamonds, so one hit could be fatal, making it difficult to counterattack.

“What’s wrong? Is our great assassin only capable of running away? Or can you not even run anymore?”

Rité bit her lip and used her ability once more. Thorn-like abilities flew at Devel from all directions. He frowned, clicked his tongue, and crudely swung his arms to shatter all the pieces as if swatting away a swarm of bees.

But he couldn’t block all the attacks and got scratched on the leg. Seeing this, Rité’s eyes widened as she realized something, then immediately focused on him seriously again.

This time, Rité boldly attempted a counterattack against him as he spewed curses. When she openly tried to kick his injured leg, Devel twisted his body to avoid it and wrapped both arms around her neck. Rité was caught in a back hug, her neck choked by both his arms.

Devel grinned near her ear and said,

“You foolish bitch. Did you think you could beat me in hand-to-hand combat? I’ll break this neck!”

Rité, her face turning red, looked up and said,

“…Why don’t you watch your own neck?”

“What?”

The moment he asked, a long needle formed right next to his neck. As Devel’s eyes widened, the needle passed through the back of his neck.

“Gak!”

Devel collapsed limply to the floor. Finally freed, Rité breathed in and out roughly and glanced down at him rolling on the floor.

“It wasn’t you who trapped me, but I who trapped you. Your two arms.”

Devel looked up at her with terrified eyes, trembling. He seemed to have just realized that she had deliberately attacked his leg as a feint to seal off his arms.

“The place you were just stabbed isn’t vital. But what about next time?”

Another long needle formed. Devel hurriedly covered his neck and heart with both arms, but her needle was aimed at his groin.

As he let out a terrified sound and backpedaled on the floor like he was crawling, Rité tilted her head once and said,

“Too bad. You only have two arms.”

“P-please spare me…!”

Seeing Rité’s sky-blue eyes gleam ominously, Devel, his whole body drenched in cold sweat, begged her. Those eyes looked like those of a perfect assassin who could kill at any moment.

“You shouldn’t have blabbed your weakness to the enemy. The talkative ones always die first, you know.”

Rité’s eyes widened slightly as if she had realized something.

“Ah, did you brag because you thought it was your strength?”

Devel belatedly regretted boasting that his ability was ‘arm reinforcement’ and trembled.

Rité walked towards him step by step. With nowhere left to retreat, his back against the wall, he wore a pitiful and miserable expression. It was truly pathetic to see such a large man on the verge of tears.

Rité was about to pierce his vital point but instead grabbed his collar and brought her face close, saying,

“Don’t ever show your face in front of me again. It makes me want to pierce that worthless thing of yours.”

Rité released his collar and dusted off her hands. Hearing people running from afar, she quickly descended to the lower floor through the window.

As she disappeared from view, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed in the silent corridor. Devel, lying on the floor, raised his head and flinched again.

Before him stood a gray-haired man, like the grim reaper.

“M-Major Cloud…!”

“Pathetic. Given an opportunity, you instead proved your own uselessness…”

Aster’s eyes were cold.

He had deliberately included Devel in this training because he wanted Rité to fight sincerely with enemies and escape when in such situations in enemy territory. He thought Devel would genuinely try to harm Rité, and there would be no better practical training than that.

While including him, Aster had also intended to decide on Devel’s future treatment. It was a test to see if he was truly useful and whether it would be good to keep him in the military.

But as he watched the confrontation with Rité, he felt disgusted with himself for making such a decision. Not only was Devel’s skill pathetic, but seeing him spew filthy words at Rité was unbearably revolting. He didn’t want to see that sight anymore.

Aster turned his head as if avoiding trash and said coldly,

“You don’t need to participate in any training from tomorrow.”

“What? W-what do you mean…”

“You’re not needed. Can’t you understand?”

Devel couldn’t say anything, his bloodshot eyes wide and mouth open.

“It seems those two arms of yours can’t even serve as a bullet shield, so leave the military and find somewhere else to use your strength. If need be, I’ll tell Benyak to recommend you to a construction site. With those brutish arms, you should be welcomed anywhere.”

“M-Major Cloud! Please give me one more chance…!”

Devel cried out desperately, reaching out from the floor to grab Aster’s trouser leg. Aster immediately frowned and firmly stepped on his hand.

“Argh…!”

Aster looked down at him fiercely and said in a low voice,

“Don’t touch me with your filthy hands, and don’t call my name with your filthy mouth.”

Aster finished speaking, turned away from him, and walked away with heavy steps. Devel lowered his head on the floor and sobbed for a long time.