Chirp, chirp. The sound of insects cut through the silence.

Did he not hear my question?

Jane had enough time to worry about that before Cain finally answered after a long pause.

“I remember there was only one question.”

“That’s…”

Jane bit her lower lip. The first question was a carefully considered choice, while the second one just slipped out.

“The choice is mine to make.”

Cain took his hands out of his pockets and uncrossed his legs. As the night breeze was slowly sobering him up, Jane’s question snapped him back to full alertness.

“You’re right. Our parents died because of Count Whitney.”

Jane covered her mouth with her palm.

Although she had known it, hearing it directly from Cain felt like being shot, leaving a gaping hole in her chest.

“I didn’t, know. I mean, I…”

Jane’s words trickled out between her fingers.

Cain looked at Jane, who had shrunk into herself.

He had once imagined pouring out his pain to Jane. In that imagination, Cain had resented Jane and felt vindicated.

But now that the imagined moment was happening, why did his chest ache?

“I’m, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Really.”

Jane apologized with slumped shoulders.

Witnessing Jane shocked and diminished, begging as Cain had once wished for, left a bitter taste in his mouth.

‘Why on earth.’

Why was he feeling emotions he couldn’t understand himself?

“But Jane, we can’t blame everything on Count Whitney.”

Why was he now shaking the facts he had believed in all this time?

Jane slowly raised her head.

“My parents died in an accident. Their carriage overturned on the way to a trip. They say someone from the Rose Faction tampered with the carriage. Even so, that probably wasn’t the cause of the accident. The Hastings family head’s carriage is thoroughly inspected morning and evening.”

Thus, there were aspects of the Hastings Duke and Duchess’s deaths that remained unresolved.

However, Cain’s situation at the time wasn’t good enough to dig into it. Above all, the person from the Rose Faction who caused the accident admitted to all charges.

“So in the end, it’s a problem that arose because our parents supported the Rose Faction. Because of that, you lost your parents, and I lost my life.”

And I lost you too.

Whenever she wanted to resent her parents, she convinced herself they had done the right thing.

But now, Jane even regretted the time she spent convincing herself.

What caused the change in her feelings wasn’t the truth about the previous Duke and Duchess’s death.

The deeds committed by the Rose Faction.

Jane shuddered as she recalled the Delphion bombing incident.

“I should go in now.”

Jane stood up and squeezed her eyes shut. It was as difficult to keep her balance as if an earthquake had struck.

Cain caught her. Come to think of it, he had always been unable to leave Jane stumbling.

He couldn’t ignore the daughter of the family that had dropped a bomb on his life, even though she was supposed to be his enemy.

“Jane, it’s an old story now.”

Cain was startled by his own words.

Until recently, he had resented Jane and Count Whitney.

But now he’s only worried about Jane, shocked by his answer.

Is it alright for a person’s heart to change so suddenly? Is it right?

“No, Cain. Now that I know, it’s just the beginning. You must have hated me a lot.”

Jane gave a bitter smile.

‘And here I was, thinking you were too cold-hearted, not knowing any of this.’

“Jane…”

Cain wanted to talk more with her, but Jane had no energy left.

Until now, what sustained her life was her faith in her parents.

The belief that her parents had at least acted according to their convictions, and at the very least, hadn’t harmed anyone outside the family.

As that belief shook, she could no longer endure. She wanted to escape from reality right now.

“I’ll go in first.”

Jane left her seat as if running away.

* * *

August, drunk and unsteady, stumbled into the tavern.

With a face as red as a boiled crab, he grinned and scanned his surroundings with bleary eyes.

“Hey, here you all are.”

After roughly wiping the drool that had leaked from his improperly closed mouth with the back of his hand, he spotted the Rose Faction people.

“B-Boss, you’re here?”

A man who had been eating thin soup stood up to support the unstable August.

“How can you eat this garbage?”

August, barely managing to sit on the chair without falling, picked up the soup bowl and put it down. The soup splashed everywhere with his rough handling.

“Hey! You there! Bring me meat, meat! And bring some booze too!”

August raised his voice.

The owner, who had been cooking in the back, craned his neck out. Upon seeing August’s face, he threw down the rag he was holding.

The owner approached, fuming.

“Finally found you, huh? Meeeeat? Pay your tab first before you talk, you nuisance!”

August, who had been giggling without noticing the owner’s approach, suddenly hardened his expression.

August, who had been sitting with his buttocks barely on the edge of the chair, abruptly stood up. The chair was pushed back and tumbled to the floor with a loud noise.

“Nuisance? Did you just call me a nuisance?”

His large body pushed the owner’s body back with a thud. The owner, pushed backwards, wagged his finger.

“You’ve been running up tabs for months, and every time you come, you yell at the top of your lungs. If that’s not a nuisance, what is? I’ve been giving you food out of pity until now, but no more. Either pay your tab or get the hell out!”

A vein popped on August’s forehead. He licked his lips and fumbled in his pocket.

“I don’t have money right now.”

Disappointment visibly appeared on the owner’s face, who had hoped August might pull out some money.

August glared fiercely at the owner.

The Adam’s apples of the Rose Faction members watching the altercation bobbed greatly with tension.

“But I do have a gun.”

As August pulled out the gun tucked in his waistband, gasps were heard from here and there.

“How about I put a bullet in your head?”

“Wh-what, such a th-threat… D-don’t try to bl-bluff.”

The owner spoke his piece even as he slowly backed away. August rubbed his chin with the back of his gun-holding hand.

“Let’s see if it’s a bluff or not.”

August aimed the gun at the floor. And without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

Bang!

With that one shot, the inside of the tavern became pandemonium. The customers fled, abandoning their food, and the owner collapsed to the ground.

The faces of the Rose Faction people turned pale as well. Only August remained calm. No, he was angry.

“Damn beggar bastards. We’re always running around like dogs, promising to save you from being squeezed dry by the nobles, and you make a fuss over one measly meal? Huh?”

August stomped his feet. The owner’s heart shrank to the size of a bean.

“Calm down, Boss.”

A Rose Faction man who couldn’t bear it anymore tried to stop August, but his excitement didn’t subside easily.

He shoved the gun back into his waistband and started smashing the tavern’s furniture.

“If I were a noble, would you have asked me to pay my tab? You’d have bowed and said, ‘Thank you so much for eating at our humble tavern!'”

August swept all the bottles off the shelf. The smell of cheap liquor permeated the shop.

“I’m going to shoot all those noble bastards dead for you! Then shouldn’t you at least give us food, if not money? Or become bullet shields yourselves!”

As August tried to pull out his gun again, the Rose Faction members who had been watching until now grabbed both his arms.

“Boss, please stop. I beg you.”

“You lot are the problem too, you bastards! It’s because you’re so soft that we get disrespected!”

As August violently shook his arms, the scrawny men fell off like autumn leaves.

“Mister, apologize. It’ll end if you apologize.”

A man who had gotten up, rubbing his bottom, said to the owner.

“Wh-why should I…”

“If you don’t, you’ll die. The boss has been in a bad mood lately.”

Public opinion against the Rose Faction had formed due to the Delphion bombing incident.

They even organized protest groups and took to the streets to turn public opinion around, but it had no effect.

This led to reactions within the Rose Faction as well.

The moderate faction, which had been dissatisfied with the hardliners’ extreme actions, raised issues. Naturally, the hardliners’ position weakened.

To make matters worse, as Hastings maintained a non-reactive stance to the slander related to Jane, August’s plans to use her also went awry.

And in succession, Cain raided the Rose Faction’s weapon storage. They lost half of the weapons they had collected over two years in just a week.

It was understandable that August was angry, the hardliners sympathized with him. But that didn’t justify the violence he was wielding against civilians.

“I, I can’t! Who asked you to fight for us? Huh? You fought because you wanted to!”

The owner was no pushover either. Well, he must have quite some experience, having run a tavern for 20 years in an alley where many rough people come and go.

“This is really!”

Just as August pulled out his gun again, it happened.

“That’s enough.”

The door burst open and Cedric appeared. Out of breath from rushing over, he panted with his hands on his knees.

“August, hah, you’ve had too much to drink.”

Cedric looked around the devastated shop and let out a dejected sigh.

As soon as he could breathe properly, he extended his hand to the owner.

“I’m sorry. If you’re injured, please use this money for treatment. I’ll send someone tomorrow to compensate for the property damage.”

Cedric handed over a heavy pouch of gold coins. After a quick check of the pouch, the owner’s excitement subsided considerably.

“A-alright, get out now!”

He waved his hand dismissively as he retreated to the kitchen on shaky legs.

August spat on the spot where the owner had been standing and glared at Cedric.

“Why are you interfering?”

August scowled fiercely.

“That’s enough, let’s go out.”

“Let’s go, Boss.”

With everyone chiming in, August reluctantly followed Cedric out.

“You, why are you really acting like this? If you behave so roughly, we’ll lose supporters. Our only strength, our supporters.”

“How can those who only support us if we coddle them be our strength? Strength is money! Speaking of which, Cedric. Do you have any money? There’s an amazing gun that’s hit the streets. We need to replenish our firepower, you know.”