Thud-. The feeling of losing Rosa, whom she thought was a sanctuary for her heart, was devastating.

Grace clenched her fist. It was difficult to speak as if her throat was blocked.

But if she cried now in front of that cold face, she would be the only fool.

“You, really…”

Grace quickly changed her expression, closing and opening her lips once. The tears that had welled up disappeared instantly, and her dry face smiled coldly.

“You’re a son of a bitch I can’t associate with.”

“I hope you hold onto that thought this time.”

The sarcastic voice was low. The vice commander’s room, which she had thought was her own space until now, felt suffocatingly small. Grace turned around. A languid voice followed her.

“Are you going to leave alone like that? It could be dangerous.”

“Don’t worry about me!”

With nothing left but a deeply wounded pride, Grace rushed out of the room. The young maid of the Count, who had been anxiously standing outside the room, was worried about the Count. Johnny felt the same way.

It seemed as if the Count was at the center of everyone gathered here. Feeling disgusted, she passed by the maid and went out through the vice commander’s private passage. She was about to go outside following her mood when.

At that moment.

Rumble-. With a thunderous sound that seemed to tear the sky apart, it suddenly started to rain. One drop, two drops, the falling raindrops grew larger and larger until the sky was completely gray.

“Of all times, it has to rain now.”

.

.

.

The rain poured down. It was the busiest time for the trading company. When Grace disappeared among the staff running about in perfect order.

Alejandro clicked his tongue inside his mouth. He detested rainy days. Meanwhile, the knight was looking far into the rain.

“Come inside, sir. It’s raining.”

“You should do that. Even though she left like that, Grace isn’t a complete fool. Her guards will follow her. Above all, she’s not one to lose easily to anyone.”

Johnny shrugged and added behind Alejandro. The rose of the social world wasn’t called that for nothing. Grace, surrounded by poison and thorns, was more than a match for one or two grown men.

Above all, she always carried sharp and heavy weapons.

Johnny, who had been on the receiving end once, shuddered. Of course, the knight didn’t know this, so he seemed to be worried.

But even so, Nerea didn’t take her eyes off the rain. Seeing her rush out without any plan…

“Alejandro, it’s just like when you used to run away.”

“When was that?”

A faint smile appeared on the knight’s lips. Seeing the face that didn’t seem like it would answer, Alejandro frowned and said uncertainly.

“Was it the day I was caught rubbing sand on the armor?”

“…”

“Or was it the day when the supply corps gave us strange blankets?”

There were too many days when he had run away, so he couldn’t gauge which day the knight was talking about.

As Alejandro listed one by one, the knight, who had been saying “That happened too,” slowly spoke.

“The day you brought the peddler to me.”

For a moment, Alejandro couldn’t say anything.

If it was the day he brought the peddler, it was exactly one day, the day he realized that the herbs received from Helen were eating away at the knight. He had barely managed to bring a peddler who knew herbs well to the battlefield where there were no doctors.

“Since she left like that, we should bring her back. I’ll go, so wait inside.”

“But sir, it’s raining like this…”

“I have a hat, so I’ll be fine. As you said, since it’s raining, there won’t be anyone on the streets.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Seeing Alejandro determinedly holding an umbrella, Nerea snorted.

“You stay here. It’s dangerous. Okay?”

It’s always the adults’ job to soothe the children.

Nerea gently patted Alejandro’s cheek.

As worry overlaid with trust in his eyes, Nerea took the umbrella. And she walked towards where Grace had run off to.

The hem of the navy dress got wet and turned black in the rain. Alejandro watched that leisurely back for a long time.

Meanwhile, Johnny belatedly leaned against the wall. And he doubted his ears.

“Wait, did the Count just worry about your safety?”

“…”

“You of all people?”

* * *

Why does everyone always take Nerea Esteban’s side?

The heavy rain made it difficult to see ahead. The hem of the luxurious dress absorbed water and sagged.

“I see the vice commander. It’s raining heavily, would you like an umbrella…!”

“Don’t anyone follow me.”

The guard’s voice was heard intermittently through the fierce sound of rain. But she couldn’t stop. What was important to Grace now was getting out of this trading company.

Grace Lancaster made a mistake out of anger to the point of losing her mind. A small but fatal mistake that she wouldn’t normally make.

She realized that mistake when she left the trading company and turned the corner.

Ack-!

Grace couldn’t even scream as a hand suddenly grabbed her neck. As she was thrown against a solid wall, the impact reached all the way to her lungs.

Coughing roughly, she glared ahead, but Grace suddenly swallowed her breath. Her whole body froze when she saw the face of her opponent.

“Finally, we meet. Grace, my sister.”

Trevor Lancaster. Unbelievably, her brother according to the noble registry.

“Not bad. How did you persuade Father? He always said sons were best, but he’s completely changed.”

Shaggy hair, sparse beard, and a musty smell. He looked exactly like a vagrant. In normal times when she would be riding a carriage or have escorts, someone with this appearance wouldn’t even be able to get near Grace.

“Yesterday, he even compared you and me? He must have gone senile. Just because you sit in that vice commander position”

She had sworn that if they met again, she would half kill him. She wanted to kick him hard in the solar plexus so he couldn’t even breathe, just as he had done to her.

But when those bloodshot eyes met hers, all Grace could do was tremble, trying to move even a part of her body.

“Grace, you damn girl. You’ve been unlucky from the moment you were born. Because of you, only Mother died.”

“Rather, since she’s quite pretty, we should send her away when she’s at her best age if someone asks for her. There might even be those who would give us a dowry.”

The memory of Trevor’s brute strength from ten years ago came to mind. Before that, she was the powerless Grace Lancaster who could only be helplessly victimized.

The skill that had easily taken down Johnny disappeared in an instant. The secret weapon she had proudly prepared for just in case vanished from her mind.

The memory of being beaten until her body felt crushed made her shrink. The killing intent felt from the hand gripping her neck spread throughout her body.

She felt like she couldn’t move an inch even though she wasn’t tied up. Because once upon a time, Trevor was bigger than a mountain to her.

The only thing that invaded her blank mind was the sense of helplessness that no one would help her now.

Was it because of the rain? The day ten years ago when she couldn’t open her eyes came to mind.

The day when flower petals rained down like a blessing slowly blurred and disappeared before her eyes, and Grace recalled seven years ago, which had seemed like her last stroke of luck. Back then, at least she had a doll, but now there was no one.

Soon she would have to leave Rosa and return to the mud. It felt like despair was waiting for Grace with its jaws wide open, ready to suffocate her.

Suddenly, Nerea Esteban came to mind. Whether out of envy or hatred, she couldn’t tell.

“Why don’t you just disappear, ack-!”

Suddenly, Trevor’s hand fell away. Feeling the raindrops falling heavily, Grace took a deep breath.

She was alive. Wiping away what might have been tears or rainwater, along with a sense of relief, Grace felt like she was dreaming when she looked ahead.

“See? I told you it would be dangerous.”

The person who had last appeared in her blank mind just moments ago.

“I clearly saw when I came to the trading company.”

Not even minding the fallen umbrella and getting soaked in the rain, she completely broke Trevor Lancaster’s arm as if it was very easy.

As the white hat on her head fell off, a terrible scream pierced through the sound of rain.

Red hair that had been tucked into the hat cascaded down like a waterfall. The rainwater soaking her hair seemed as if it might turn blood-red.

A calm voice that didn’t match the situation at all pierced through the sound of rain.

“Someone who looks quite similar to the young lady.”

Nerea Esteban. Her usually dull, watery eyes flashed eerily.

“You should always be careful if you have enemies.”

“…”

The voice that commanded attention spread slowly. In her rain-blurred vision, Grace asked before she knew it.

“Will you… kill him?”

“What should I do?”

Looking into those inorganic eyes, Grace felt a chill. The atmosphere that seemed as if she would really kill if Grace wished for it weighed down on Grace’s shoulders.

Nerea smiled a little at the completely frozen Grace. Johnny and Alejandro didn’t know.

That even the strongest person can freeze in front of a small trauma. That it’s difficult to overcome that trauma unless you face it directly.

That’s why she wanted to give Grace a special opportunity to overcome it.

“Or do you want to do it yourself?”

Nerea nodded towards Grace’s skirt hem.

“That heel. Isn’t it made sturdy for times like this?”

“How did you know?”

“I’ve heard that sound many times before.”

Every time Grace stepped on the ground, there was a click-, click- sound. It was a slightly different sound from when Brianna’s dizzying heels hit the ground.

But Grace neither took off her shoes nor looked at the enemy who was choking and gasping, instead speaking towards Nerea. As if at this moment, in this space, she was the only savior.

“…Why did you help me?”

“You may only have resentment towards me, but my chivalry can be above even resentment.”

For a moment, Grace bit her lip. The energy condensed in those eyes speaking of chivalry made Grace’s heart race.

Those strangely dull eyes in Castarty where clarity was a virtue. The firmness she had seen briefly was chillingly intense.

Ah. Nerea belatedly added one more thing.

“Of course, I’d like to ask for a favor too.”

Grace gritted her teeth under those words that were hard to tell if they were a joke or serious.

Is this why? The reason why Johnny, that young maid, and Alejandro blindly follow Nerea Esteban?

That hope that captivates people at once also reached Grace in a rush. She wasn’t the type to act impulsively like this. Grace’s impulse was only aligned with Nerea Esteban.

When buying the doll, when betting on herself, and now too.

Every single movement of her brushing back her wet hair was vividly imprinted in her eyes. The dress soaked in the pouring rain gradually turned black. It was like a scene from a Russeau painting.

In this rain, Nerea Esteban was the most leisurely predator and a cold-blooded one who could take Trevor’s or her life in an instant.

So.

“Get up. How long are you going to stay like that?”

She couldn’t take her eyes off that casual speech and expression.

I want to be with this person. As soon as she made the decision, Grace took that hand.