Clang.

The sound of a falling cup shattering loudly rang out. Startled, Ansi stared at the floor with wide eyes. She was worried that someone might have woken up due to the late hour.

As expected, the door soon swung open.

“Are you okay?”

Derl alternated his gaze between Ansi and the broken pieces, then brought in a broom.

“I dropped it by mistake. I’ll take care of it.”

“What happened? You don’t usually make mistakes like this.”

Derl spoke with concern as he cleaned up the cup fragments. It was a rare mistake from his always precise younger sister.

Of course, even such a person is bound to make mistakes occasionally, but lately, unlike before, his sister often seemed absentminded. And Derl was not unaware of the reason why.

Though he was desperately pretending not to know.

“Go to bed now.”

After cleaning up the broken cup, Derl laid Ansi down and turned off the lights. Caught off guard, Ansi closed her eyes as she lay in bed.

Seeing as she had made an unusual mistake, she obediently followed Derl’s words, thinking that perhaps she really was tired.

Even with her eyes closed, the sharp sound of the shattering cup lingered, tormenting her ears. An ominous feeling enveloped her.

Her chest felt heavy for some reason. The area around her waist, where she shared a mark with that man, seemed to throb painfully. She couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination or if it truly hurt.

After tossing and turning in bed for a while, Ansi finally fell asleep.

And after some time had passed.

〈The international situation seems unusual…〉

〈When did you arrive at the capital, Your Majesty…〉

〈To seize this opportunity, we must speak to His Majesty now…〉

The voices of numerous people surrounded her ears, gradually becoming clearer. Ansi, who had been frowning with her eyes closed, slowly opened them.

In that moment, her eyes wavered.

A luxurious banquet hall. People wearing all sorts of masks freely roamed the venue.

‘Where is this place…’

Ansi, who had unknowingly muttered to herself, closed her mouth. Her voice dissipated like foam. It was a sensation she had felt countless times before, one she wished to never experience again.

‘It can’t be.’

Ansi slowly surveyed the banquet hall.

And then she spotted a man.

In that instant, Ansi’s heart sank.

A white mask covering only the eyes. Neatly slicked back platinum blond hair. A man wearing a well-fitted suit on his sturdy frame.

Damion de Orphe.

Ansi’s ex-husband was present there.

Damion moved through the crowd of people. His gaze was fixed on a single point.

Towards Ludkaos, the Emperor of Belgader.

Ansi could not understand. Wasn’t this supposed to be a ball where no threat would occur? So why was she seeing this scene through a prophetic dream?

Regardless of her confusion, Damion continued walking towards the Emperor. There was no hesitation in his steps. Nor in the motion of him reaching into his coat to take something out.

The moment Ansi saw the object Damion had taken out, her mouth fell slightly open.

What Damion was holding was a gun.

He aimed the gun at the Emperor.

The moment everyone’s attention focused on Damion and the Emperor.

Bang!

A gunshot rang through the hall.

〈Ugh!〉

Ludkaos’ groan spread through the venue. People screamed in panic and pushed each other as they fled the hall.

Blood flowed from the Emperor’s arm. Guards who had rushed out aimed their guns at Damion.

Damn it, Damion cursed as if things were not going his way. The moment he tried to shoot the Emperor again, several guards from behind shoved Damion down.

He was disarmed all too easily.

Lying face down with only his head raised, Damion glared at the Emperor and shouted.

〈Someone like you who doesn’t know the grace of House Orphe should have been dragged down long ago. Don’t think this is the end. There’s a lot more in store than just me.〉

Ludkaos, his face contorted, gave orders to the guards.

〈Don’t kill him. Capture him alive so we can find out the full story.〉

Then, surrounded by guards, he took steps to leave the hall.

Ansi watched the scene unfold, her face ashen.

Why? That question filled her mind and refused to leave.

Damion’s actions were clearly treasonous.

But it was strange.

He had no justification for staging a rebellion. He had never coveted the throne, nor had he ever expressed any resentment towards the Emperor.

Moreover, the bullet he fired had only grazed the Emperor’s arm. Given his marksmanship, he could have easily pierced through the head at that distance.

‘Could it be…’

A possibility reared its head in Ansi’s mind.

The words Damion had spoken before they parted squeezed her.

〈I’ll drag Orphe down to the ground. Damn it, that’s all it takes, right?〉

Ansi slowly shook her head.

Shooting the Emperor, uttering the name of Orphe at that place…

It was all what she had wanted to do.

Damion was taken away by the guards. Nobles who had been holding their breath and observing the situation from the wide open doors and windows outside stepped back.

‘Wait. Wait, just a moment…’

Ansi felt like she would die from the impatience of watching that scene unfold.

This was not simply because Damion was being dragged away with the crime of treason.

The reason Ansi had this dream. The situation had not yet played out.

She would not have had this dream just because the Emperor was injured or Damion was being taken by them.

Damion’s death.

She was having this dream because he was clearly going to face that danger.

‘Damion…!’

Ansi ran towards Damion as if she would collapse. The guards had not yet put away their guns aimed at Damion. Ansi shoved the guards and reached out her hand to grab Damion.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out at that moment.

Ansi’s eyes widened.

Before she could even use her hands, the area below Damion’s neck turned red. Screams erupted from the surroundings again. The Emperor, startled, took a step towards Damion. The one who had fired the gun lowered his hand in a hurry with a panicked expression.

It was an accidental discharge.

Ansi flailed her hands to stop Damion’s bleeding. But the blood did not stop. Damion, who had collapsed to his knees, blinked slowly a few times. And gradually, he closed his eyes that would never open again.

‘No…’

Ansi shook her head wildly.

The moment she saw his expression, her face stiffened.

In the last moment of his life, a smile lingered on Damion’s lips.

As if he felt relieved.

“Hah!”

Ansi sat up from her spot. She looked around with wide eyes. It was her room. But she could not calm her heart.

Ansi, drenched in cold sweat, got up and ran outside without thinking.

As the dim morning light touched her, a chill ran through her body.

But she could not stop. Ansi ran barefoot down the street like a madwoman. No, she was indeed mad. Wouldn’t it be strange not to go insane after seeing such a scene so many times?

She thought Damion was living well.

She judged that Ansi was no longer in his life and that he was enjoying such a life.

After all, Damion was someone who had wanted to possess Orphe from the beginning. So she thought he was acting like this as a faithful Orphe.

But that was not the case.

The words she had thought were naturally blurted out in the heat of the moment, the words she thought were said to reassure her. He had been moving to keep that promise of taking revenge in her stead.

“Damion!”

Ansi, who had been walking unsteadily with unfocused eyes, shouted towards the sea. As the seawater touched her injured feet from running barefoot, pain surged through her. But it was not enough. She needed more pain.

Ansi submerged her entire body into the sea, up to the top of her head. She was suffocating. It was dark underwater. Fear and dread took hold of her. Only after reaching her limit did Ansi raise her body.

“Hah, hah…”

She gasped for breath roughly.

She wanted to die.

But she could not die.

Now, she had something she had to do.

Roma, who had been reading a book while sitting in the store, stopped turning the page. She let out a deep sigh. It was because she realized that an unpleasant moment had arrived before her eyes.

Roma closed the book and stood up.

At that moment, the door opened.

“You’re here?”

The person who entered the store lowered the hood of the robe they were wearing. Before her eyes was a girl with hollow eyes that still shone transparently.

Standing at the entrance of the store, Ansi abruptly asked.

“You know, don’t you?”

“Know what?”

Even though she knew what Ansi was asking, Roma played dumb. Then Ansi rummaged through her pocket and took something out.

It was a small hand mirror.

Roma’s eyebrows rose.

Ansi walked over to Roma with firm steps, tightly clutching the hand mirror.

“Are you trying to sell it?”

Roma asked as usual. But Ansi slowly shook her head.

“I found this mirror in a secret underground space at the Rubel estate. It was a place that held objects related to Amor, the god of love. This mirror must be… the same.”

“What an interesting story.”

“Do you know? What this object is.”

Ansi questioned while staring intently at Roma. The corners of Roma’s mouth remained upturned throughout. But her eyes were no longer smiling.

“What do you want to say?”

“I’m curious. What your reflection in this mirror would look like.”

Ansi slowly raised the mirror. Roma’s image was reflected in the small hand mirror. Upon seeing that image, Ansi’s eyes shook uncontrollably.