Chapter 002: Fireworks
“Handsome… very much so.”
This was the first thought that occurred to Emilia when she saw the Duke. It seemed ridiculous, but she thought it in spite of herself. She had assumed his features would be familiar because of the pictures she had seen, but the reality surpassed the imagination. His tall stature and sharp features made him appear far more attractive than the photographs had suggested.
But his hair was black…
Black as the color of the sky at night, as pitch-dark as if the night itself had been poured over it.
There was no doubt that he was from the town of “Beltaite.”
And Emilia made no effort to hide her hatred for the people of Beltaite.
In contrast, David’s gaze toward Emilia from the very first moment was suspicious.
“Is she from the Ghalen tribe?”
Since the war, he had begun to feel uneasy whenever he encountered people from the Ghalen tribes, such as the “Elan” or “Amil.”
And now, after his eyes met hers, his intuition quickly told him that she belonged to those tribes.
But the problem was that this feeling, no matter how strong, was not enough as evidence. It was merely a hunch.
What increased his confusion was that she was blonde, so he did not understand the cause of his agitation.
While he was pondering this, “Matthew” approached to greet him.
Matthew was one of those individuals around whom David never felt comfortable, which was why he always maintained a distance from him.
Matthew said:
“It has been a long time, Lord Duke.”
“Mr. Bright.”
“I have very much wanted to meet you, but you rarely attend parties… Allow me to introduce my sister, Rosalia Bright.”
When he introduced her, David and the men around him noticed the girl’s features. She was strikingly beautiful.
Quickly, Matthew added:
“She is an actress in the Light Theater troupe.”
The “Light” Theater is the largest in Beltaite, and joining it means you are among the most attractive men or women in the kingdom.
The men nodded their heads in admiration, and a hidden desire to possess that “jewel” recognized by the most famous theater appeared in their eyes.
Matthew noticed this and smiled with satisfaction, believing that David was likewise impressed.
But David looked at his watch coldly, as if he were unconcerned, which stunned Matthew.
Then suddenly, the Duke said:
“It was a pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Bright.”
“…Sir?”
“And it was a pleasure to meet you too, Miss Bright.”
He uttered the words of greeting politely, but showed no emotion, then withdrew from the party among the guests with long, swift strides, leaving Emilia and Matthew in bewilderment.
* * *
“Will I let this night go to waste so simply?”
Emilia wondered.
No, it was not possible.
For from the very beginning, she had joined the Light Theater troupe solely for his sake.
She wanted to see him even if he didn’t come to the parties; perhaps he would appear at one of the performances his theater sponsored.
But he hadn’t visited the theater even once in half a year.
And if today’s opportunity was lost, it might never be repeated.
She whispered to Matthew:
“Take care of things after I leave.”
Then she gently pulled away from the men who tried to entice her with their words, smiled with a feigned shyness, and began to move through the party with quick steps.
Her eyes scanned the place with focus, but she found no trace of him.
“He has left the hall.”
She exited immediately and went toward the large windows overlooking the back garden, taking a look outside.
She saw a luxury car parked in the most beautiful spot. It was the Duke’s car.
There was no doubt about it, for she knew almost everything about him.
Since the car was still here, it meant he was still in the house.
And so, she began searching for him throughout “Silverstein” Palace.
But what she encountered inside some of the rooms made her feel disgusted; she had come across men and women in inappropriate positions more than once.
“What am I doing with myself?”
She sought resistance, not to become a spy.
She did not want to pretend to love someone she did not love; that seemed to her like a form of vulgarity.
Vulgarity…
She remembered the insults she had received in the past, and her heart tightened.
Before she could give up, she spotted something at the end of a quiet corridor.
A balcony… its door was open…
Boom!
Boom!
The sounds of fireworks were coming from there.
She stepped forward as if something were pulling her, and when she reached the threshold of the balcony, she was struck with amazement.
She saw the Duke, staring at the sky, with a dreamy look on his face as he watched the fireworks.
She felt a sense of unease.
He looked innocent…
Even sad, as if he were missing something.
But the Duke she knew was a cold-blooded killer.
He had killed many Elanians in the war without mercy.
Even those officers she had known died at his hand.
So how could a killer look at fireworks with such tenderness?
At that moment, David sensed her presence and turned toward her.
“…Miss Bright?”
His gaze changed, shifting from warmth to an icy coldness.
She understood then why people nicknamed him the “Fierce Killer.”
Even her body recoiled involuntarily, and her back became drenched in cold sweat.
Then came his question, loaded with suspicion and hostility:
“Did you… follow me?”
Before she could try to respond, one of the most powerful fireworks exploded behind him.
It was so bright that her eyes narrowed.
She had to answer.
She said:
“I did not follow you, sir; I was only looking for a quiet place…”
“Lies.”
He interrupted her sharply, as if he had no intention of listening to any justification.
How did he know she was lying?
Was he testing her?
At that moment, he approached her with swift steps.
She retreated in fear.
But his steps and the reach of his arm were faster than her retreat.
She saw him reach his hand toward her head…
She felt as though she would be pulled by her hair, so she closed her eyes tightly and cringed.
But instead of pain, she heard a faint sound of impact.
“Clang!”
The sound of metal falling to the ground.
She opened her eyes and let out a soft sigh.
He hadn’t grabbed her hair; he had grabbed her “hairpin.”
And her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders in a chaotic mess.
Her hair was very beautiful, but… it was intensely curly.
As soon as its waves were exposed, her face turned red.
In the “Blair” palace where she grew up, the servants had always mocked her because of her curly locks.
“The curly girl is the daughter of a witch.”
“It is said that most prostitutes have curly hair, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps your real mother was a prostitute as well?”
Emilia, now having reached adulthood, knew very well that curly hair was not evidence of belonging to either the Celia or the Ghalen, and had nothing to do with either a witch or a harlot.
Nevertheless, whenever her curly hair appeared unexpectedly, her cheeks would flush automatically.
It was an instinctive reaction, similar in nature to what happens to someone who imagines the taste of a lemon and finds their mouth filling with saliva.
Meanwhile, David was searching through the strands of her hair, examining it from here and there.
As for Emilia, flustered by the unraveling of her hairstyle, she froze in her place, unable to move for a moment, before suddenly regaining her composure and pushing him away with a loud cry:
“W-what on earth are you doing?!”
David retreated slightly under the force of her push, but he soon approached her again, seized her shoulders, and pulled her toward him violently.
Emilia could not resist the difference in strength between them, so she was drawn toward him against her will.
Then, David plucked a hair from her head.
Emilia placed her hand over the spot immediately, an instinctive reaction, having felt the sting.
As for him, he took the hair to where the light emanated from a lamp in the corner of the balcony and began to examine it carefully.
Only then did Emilia realize what he was trying to do.
He was trying to confirm… whether she was truly of the Beltaite people.
