Having left the residence, Aneteu stood rooted to the spot, gazing up at the sky. The weather was quite sunny. The snow from yesterday had already melted entirely.
She glanced back and took in the residence once more, then took a step. Aneteu walked wherever her feet carried her. She did not care where she ended up.
“If I grant you the divorce, answer that you’ll live.”
Honestly, Aneteu had no intention of keeping her promise to him. It was not that she had resolved to lie and then lied. She simply had not given it any thought at all.
‘Should I die.’
Whether Haineo raged, resented, or grieved after her death, what of it? They were divorced now, and strangers.
Though it had not been much different before the divorce, either.
Aneteu, who had been wandering aimlessly, discovered a park bench. She placed her bag on the bench and sat down for a moment.
The air was cold, but the sunlight was warm. The light was blinding, so Aneteu lowered her head. Her gloved hand came into view. The brooch and Anseuga’s business card were still clutched in her hand.
‘What should I do now.’
Gazing blankly at the leaf-shaped brooch from Marquise Cut that she had once loved, Aneteu thought.
Even though she wanted to die, she could not think of how—what method she should use. It was as if she had forgotten how to think entirely.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over her head. Aneteu slowly raised her head.
Ah. Aneteu’s lips parted slightly upon seeing the other person’s face. Light returned to her unfocused, hazy pupils.
***
Haineo stood by the window, watching the small figure grow distant. Even after she disappeared, he remained standing there for a long time.
Slowly, the sun tilted. His shadow reflected on the wall stretched out long.
‘Where did it go wrong.’
Haineo thought hollowly.
At first, it was merely a heart that yearned. Merely a heart that wished to reach her, if only once. He had not even dared to desire her.
So he had desperately become the Count’s dog. To obtain a higher position, to obtain more power, to become a more ‘decent’ human being.
To draw even a little closer to your side.
Because you would never cast a glance at an orphan soldier whose only skill was killing people…….
Haineo looked down at his own hand gripping the window frame. It seemed he could still smell the blood that had long been washed away. He clenched his fist tightly.
If one weighed right and wrong, he knew he was a dirtier, baser human being than her. He knew he was more of a sinner, having killed countless people and driven comrades to their deaths.
He had not wanted to admit it.
He had wanted to shift all responsibility onto that woman.
With the position of the Count that I built by rolling through the mud, you are so happy. You do not know whose blood it is, whose sacrifice it is.
The most difficult and sad thing in your life is that your piano skills do not improve—just that.
So I…….
So I hated you.
Waves of all kinds of dirty, inferior emotions flooded his chest. Haineo’s body slowly crumbled. For that one woman, he had struggled so desperately, yet this was the result.
Haineo wrapped his head in both hands. His breath hitched and welled up. Unable to endure it, he finally let it out. The man curled up in the corner sobbed soundlessly.
From afar, the sound of a piano rode the wind.
He cried for a very long time.
***
Year AU 703, Seodeorein Island.
Thud.
Thud.
Inside the warehouse filled with hazy cigar smoke, dull impact sounds rang out. A boy curled up on the ground was surrounded by several people.
Watching the boy who had not let out a single groan, one of the assailants spat.
“Such a stubborn bastard.”
“Feel good sucking up to the supervisor? Because of you, goddammit, even my name got put on the list.”
As if still not satisfied, he kicked the boy’s stomach with all his might. The boy’s upper body curled into a ball.
It was absurd. Despite being in the graduating class, it was not his fault that their names had been put on this survival training list.
It was simply because they had been compared to a boy who was only in his third year. The supervisor had put them on the list, calling them guys who were worse than a child.
“Hey, we should get going.”
A woman who had been sitting on a chair smoking a cheap cigar while chatting with a friend sprang to her feet.
“We’ll get beaten if we’re late.”
The woman tapped off the ash and crouched down in front of the boy. Her brow furrowed as she checked his face.
“Ah, shit! I told you not to touch his face!”
“Why are you bitching about him again?”
“He’s handsome! Don’t leave scars on a face like this!”
“Hey, hey, shut up and come on.”
The woman clicked her tongue regretfully and tapped the boy’s cheek before standing up.
“I didn’t even want to hit you that much? Do better.”
The boy lay there as if dead, eyes open. The woman blew out a puff of cigar smoke and soon turned to leave. A voice telling her to come along followed.
Bam. The warehouse door closed. Silence fell over the dark interior.
The boy slowly raised his upper body and dragged himself toward the wall. Collapsing against the wall, he coughed violently.
His gray training uniform was wrinkled and dirty. As the boy straightened his waist with difficulty, the name tag on the right side of his top was revealed.
「Haineo Baldemareu」
Haineo spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. His whole body throbbed, but thankfully nothing was broken. It seemed they had beaten him carefully among themselves to avoid giving the instructor any excuse.
Lynching was a frequent occurrence here. Groups had formed even among the trainees, and they used one excuse or another to relieve stress or eliminate rivals.
Usually, lynchings had no just or reasonable cause. They simply hit if they wanted to. If you died from it, so be it.
At least Haineo was an outstanding trainee in the supervisor’s favor, so they had to be mindful.
Haineo checked once more to see if anything was broken, then slowly rose.
“Ugh.”
A groan he had held back the whole time escaped. He clenched his teeth and forced strength into his legs. Missing class meant losing points.
At this Seodeorein Island training facility, there was survival training once every three months. It was called ‘survival training,’ but it was murder training. In practice, murder was sometimes overlooked inside it.
In survival training, weapons were assigned based on score. If the score was low, one would be thrown into the forest completely bare-handed.
Haineo moved his feet with difficulty. When he lifted his training top slightly, dark bruises were visible on his stomach.
Haineo started to take out painkillers from his inner pocket but stopped. He had to become accustomed to the sensation of growing dull to pain. Torture training would be coming up soon anyway.
He exhaled a breath and then moved quickly. His whole body seemed to scream, but at least it did not show on the outside.
However, Haineo ended up being late to class that day and losing points.
***
The Seodeorein Island training facility was an institution under the Royal Army. The facility focused on intensively nurturing spies and informants.
Among them, outstanding individuals sometimes entered the formal army. Of course, to do so, they had to first prove their loyalty to the royal family by surviving life-or-death crises in various operations.
Those who entered the training facility were mainly teenagers, divided into two types: criminals or orphans.
From over a decade ago, the royal family had systematically removed the homeless and orphans from the streets for appearances. The homeless disappeared to unseen places, and the orphans were sent to training facilities.
Haineo was one of them. He had lost his parents at a very young age and grew up in a poorly equipped orphanage until he was twelve. After that, he boarded a ship bound for Seodeorein Island.
The children confined to the island received brainwashing education to be loyal to the royal family. Then, after completing a course of about six to seven years and graduating, they worked in the shadows under the military.
The survival rate until graduation was about 30%. It was a low number, but since orphans were overflowing, the military considered even that to be plenty.
“Haineo.”
The candle flickered at the approaching presence. Haineo looked up from organizing his royal history textbook. It was Edan, who shared the same room.
“Are you feeling any better? The day after tomorrow is survival training.”
“……So-so.”
The truth was, he was far from okay. Those guys had continued to torment Haineo persistently after that. He could not move like he normally did.
“Your score?”
“Not high.”
“Ah, I see. Um…… so what I wanted to say is, even if we end up on different teams tomorrow…….”
Edan hesitated for a moment. He was a year younger than Haineo.
“Let’s just spare each other.”
“…….”
“We both don’t want to end up with some new roommate we don’t know, right?”
Candle wax dripped down. Haineo glanced at the two empty beds that had not yet been filled and asked.
“What about Yugo and Seutepan?”
“I made a deal with them too. So, are you in or not?”
Haineo pondered for a moment.
His physical condition was not good—rather, it was quite bad—but he could sufficiently fight and win against two or three of them. Of course, that was premised on them wielding the same weapon.
But with his current score, the chances of not getting a good weapon were high. Accepting the proposal did not seem like a bad idea.
“……Fine.”
“Oh, good choice. No backstabbing, okay?”
Edan, his face brightening, clapped Haineo on the shoulder. Haineo nodded expressionlessly.