Translator: Nox

Chapter 6

Click.

As soon as she heard the door close, Seo-ah exhaled the breath she had been holding. Her own ragged breathing, scraping against her throat, felt as loud as thunder. Beyond that thunderous gasping, a heavy silence fell.

It was so quiet it felt as if no one was there. There was no sound of conversation, nor any sign of movement.

It meant that the person who had knocked and the person who had been called out were both standing frozen in front of the door, as if by some unspoken agreement.

Why?

“The moment you reveal that the key is in your hands, your life will be as precarious as a candle in the wind.”

Seo-ah rose as silently as a creeping shadow. She calmly tucked the Acquisition Confirmation Certificate and the key into her inner coat pocket. After securing the pocket so she wouldn’t lose them, she picked up her luggage and began to retreat, step by stealthy step.

Without letting even a faint breath escape her, she reached the customer exit and cracked the door open to peer outside. She could sense guards nearby, but they were nothing compared to the presence currently watching this room.

Confirming the hallway was clear, she slipped through the gap like a sliding snake. Then, moving as fluidly and quietly as a formless shadow, she navigated through the heavy security of Pelfe Bank.

If this many guards were determined to catch her… well, they probably would. However, as long as she wasn’t their target, she was confident in her ability to erase her presence and slip away, indistinguishable from the wind. Even an elite army guarding a castle might stop an armed enemy, but could they stop a single mouse squeezing through a crack in the stone wall?

Having slipped out of Pelfe Bank without being intercepted, Seo-ah hurried her pace, intent on getting as far away from the bank as possible.

The late hour, the deserted streets, and the utterly unfamiliar city felt like a form of violence in themselves.

Just as her mind was beginning to go blank, wondering where to go and how to get there, a dark shadow lunged out from the mouth of a dim street lit only by faint moonlight.

She couldn’t see his face clearly, but her intuition told her it was the man who had followed her since the train—the one she thought she had shaken off with the carriage. She saw his lips curl upward.

A mouse creeping through a crack in a stone wall must walk softly to escape the castle safely. But a mouse cornered in a dead-end alley will surely be caught if it only creeps.

Seo-ah grit her teeth and began to run. Her heavy coat and luggage pulled at her like a swamp, but she ran desperately, pushing herself further.

A mean, low laugh drifted from behind her.

“My, you’re fast!”

In the cruel darkness, the only sounds were his snickering laughter, her own ragged gasps, and the frantic thudding of her feet against the ground.

Isn’t there anyone? If there’s just somewhere to hide, I’m good at hiding. Please…

Just as her mind was about to succumb to panic, a carriage appeared out of nowhere—on the road, or perhaps from thin air.

“Ex—excuse me! Over here!”

Desperate to shatter the oppressive darkness, she called out at the top of her lungs.

Fortunately, the coachman pulled the horses to a halt at Seo-ah’s urgent cry. Shrouded in a deep hood, he clicked his tongue at the sight of the fleeing Seo-ah and spoke as if scolding her.

“A woman shouldn’t be out alone at this hour! Get in, quickly!”

She had told herself she shouldn’t take another carriage, but money wasn’t the issue now. Seo-ah scrambled inside and pulled the door shut, and the coachman immediately set the horses in motion. As Seo-ah peered anxiously out the window, the coachman called out loudly.

“Where to?”

Seo-ah pressed herself against the wall near the driver’s seat and whispered through the window.

“An inn.”

When Seo-ah whispered, the coachman lowered his voice as well.

“An inn?”

“Yes. Please take me to the most crowded inn.”

The most crowded inn.

The coachman gave the horses a flick of the whip and smirked. Beneath his low-slung hood, yellow teeth flashed.

“Understood, miss. Don’t you worry.”

Carrying the naive stranger, the carriage passed through tree-lined streets and began to race along the banks of the Daub River.

Seo-ah sat with her hands tightly clenched, staring out the window. Faint light leaked from the buildings lining the riverbank, and then they rounded a massive, beautiful stone mansion. A black carriage, imposing enough to be intimidating, was parked at the mansion’s entrance.

What kind of place was this, and what kind of person owned a carriage like that?

The idle thought evaporated the moment they passed the mansion. In its place, anxiety flooded back in.

She didn’t have much money. She hoped she had enough for the fare and the inn. What if that man was still following her?

As one worry followed another, the carriage slowed down significantly. Finally, as it came to a complete stop, the coachman shouted from outside.

“We’ve arrived!”

Seo-ah gripped her bag and the collar of her coat as she looked out the window. Standing there was a residence just as grand and beautiful as the stone mansion they had just passed.

---

“Have you still not found the vault key?”

Oscar did not answer the question.

He simply smoked his cigarette, and only when the exhaled smoke had turned transparent did he toss out a question of his own.

“Has there been any word from Pelfe Bank?”

I knew it.

The Grand Duke cheered inwardly. To have news that would pique the interest of this unsettling man in his hands—what a stroke of luck. What a blessing that such news arrived at this exact moment.

Instead of answering, the Grand Duke took another drag and blew out the smoke. Their gazes locked through the hazy veil. It was then.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

An eerily unsettling knock echoed through the room.

The Grand Duke looked toward the door, while Oscar repeated the same question.

“Is there news regarding Pelfe Bank?”

The Grand Duke’s gaze shifted from the door back to Oscar. The cigarette in his hand trailed a hollow wisp of smoke.

“……”

“……”

After a few seconds of silence, Oscar nodded a couple of times as if reaching a conclusion and rose from his seat. As his shadow stretched over the Grand Duke’s head, it created the illusion that the world had suddenly grown darker.

“Marquis?”

Was it because he was the only one fully dressed, or because he was the only one standing? Or perhaps it was because the Grand Duke was being swallowed by the shadow he cast?

An intimidating pressure descended like the dark.

His picture-perfect features curved into a soft smile. That smile made the Grand Duke feel as though he were being strangled.

“Since you said it’s interesting, I find myself curious.”

“No, well, I mean, that is…”

The Grand Duke stammered in spite of himself. Oscar had no intention of tolerating such pathetic babbling. As the Grand Duke fell silent at the sound of a dry chuckle, Oscar gave a small nod.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment.”

Meanwhile, the moment Simon saw Oscar step out of the room, he sensed that his master’s patience had reached its limit. He quickly relayed the news that had just arrived, and Oscar, who had been standing still like a shadow, went back into the room without a word.

When Oscar returned and took his seat again, the Grand Duke’s mouth went dry. Oscar put a cigarette to his lips, still wearing that same smile, and was soon enveloped in a grey haze. The smile vanished, leaving only those piercing blue eyes visible.

“Grand Duke Baden.”

Cold sweat broke out on the Grand Duke’s forehead at the chilling voice coming from beyond the smoke. The sight was so ridiculous that Oscar couldn’t hide a burst of laughter.

The deep, low laugh, sounding as if it rose from the very bottom of a mine, was colder than a wind whistling through an underground shaft.

The Grand Duke pulled the woman sitting beside him close as if she were a shield and faced Oscar.

“Ah! Your Highness…!”

Dogs bark, but wolves do not.

They simply lower their bodies in the silent forest of malice and wait for their moment. It was only when the lurking wolf finally revealed its true nature that the Grand Duke realized he was standing alone in the middle of a lethal forest.

“Pelfe Bank. What happened?”

This was exactly the third time.

Sensing there would not be a fourth, the Grand Duke shifted in his seat and spoke hurriedly.

“A—apparently, the person holding the key to Vault 5555 has appeared!”

“Is that so?”

“It’s a woman, and, well…”

“Then when will I be able to open that vault?”

“……”

“Is it not possible?”