I ignored him and used my toe to open the box left beside the mattress. Inside were three or four pistols, two cell phones, several neatly folded outfits, and a first‐aid {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} kit.Squatting before the box, I picked up one of the handguns. The magazine was loaded… and I looked back at Jerome.“Like James Bond? Using something like a PPK.”“It wouldn’t satisfy someone with a U.S. military background….”Jerome, who had been leaning against the doorway the whole time, finally strolled over at a leisurely pace. He took the gun from my hand and spoke softly.“It’s classic.”With the pistol in his hand, Jerome naturally trained its muzzle on my head. Still squatting, I looked up at him. The cold barrel pressed against my forehead.“You…”“…”“Of course you fell in love with me.”I had no words; the absurdity of it even stole my ability to laugh. Seeing the twisted expression on my face, Jerome continued as if nothing were wrong.“I understand why you came to rescue me.”“No, you idiot, you don’t.”Jerome pretended not to hear.“A white-knight prince is nice and classic too, but your princess isn’t in any danger yet.”“Think carefully which princess you’re talking about. Does a prince even save anyone these days?”I coolly slid the barrel off my forehead.“I’ll shoot.”Jerome answered calmly.“If I shoot both your legs, you won’t be able to move for a while.”“Go ahead and shoot.”As always, Jerome didn’t hesitate. In the blink of an eye, he kicked me in the shoulder, knocking me to the floor, then fired twice at my insteps. As I crumpled, the box overturned and its contents spilled chaotically.“Classics are easy to see through, aren’t they?”I leveled my gun at Jerome, whose face had rarely shown a serious expression.“Learn anything from this incident?”When he had first checked the magazine, he’d already removed the bullets. As I fell, I’d grabbed the overturned box’s loaded gun. In an instant, the situation had completely reversed. Jerome clicked the trigger a few times experimentally, then sighed and let the pistol drop to the floor. Holding my weapon steady on him, I slowly stood.Though I appeared calm, Jerome must have been quite surprised by my sudden entrance. Anyone familiar with firearms knows their weight. Especially with a small pistol like a PPK, one would notice immediately if the magazine were missing. Unexpectedly quick to give up resistance, Jerome looked at me with his usual awkward smile. I had no intention of indulging his coyness. Pressing the muzzle against his chest, I gave a firm command.“Put your arms behind your back and kneel.”Without a word, Jerome obediently dropped to his knees. I removed the handcuffs from his belt. He turned his arms behind him and stayed perfectly still. He was alert, all right. Had he resisted even slightly, I would have put holes in both his legs, as he himself had threatened. After cuffing him, I set the box upright and sat on it.“I have a few questions. Let’s start with those.”Smugly, Jerome nodded with a docile expression.“What’s wrong with your arm?”He grinned broadly.“You worry too much….”Before he could finish, I struck him on the head with the butt of my gun. His forehead split open at once, blood flowing freely. Unfazed, I asked again.“I said, what happened to your arm?”Jerome spoke with a wounded expression.“I got injured.”“Who didn’t notice? Why did you get hurt?”“I slipped up during the infiltration. At the held at Timothy’s Rellium estate.”“Why did you go there? To rescue Christopher?”At that, Jerome laughed out loud.“Who said that? Lady Stella?”He blinked a few times at the trickle of blood down his face.“That was her wish, I suppose. I had no intention of saving Christopher.”“Then why did you try to infiltrate the ?”Jerome narrowed his eyes and fell silent. Blood ran down his pale cheek. He said nothing. I held his gaze insistently.“You didn’t stop Lady Stella from blabbing. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”Instead of answering, Jerome just stared at me.“You handed me over to Lady Stella yourself, yet you thought she wouldn’t say a word? Impossible. At first, I thought you pitied me. That you had no choice….”“….”“But no. You wouldn’t do that.”I watched Jerome’s face. On his pale skin, reptilian green eyes glowed strangely. At that moment, he was burning with desire. He wanted something—something I had to uncover.“You wanted to ruin my revenge, didn’t you, Jerome? You thought I wouldn’t notice?”Silence followed. It lasted only a few seconds. Then came a light knock at the front door and a woman’s voice.“It’s me. May I come in?”It was a voice I hadn’t heard in ages, but I recognized it instantly. Jerome, too, noticed that I had recognized her. He jumped to his feet, but I ruthlessly struck his injured shoulder with the muzzle, sending him crashing to the floor. The bandage turned crimson with blood in an instant. I heard the lock click open. Planting my heel on Jerome’s prone arm, I leveled the gun at the door. Anna froze in place as she stepped inside.She looked far older than when I first met her at Bluebell. Once a young woman working at the school, she was now middle-aged—her body frailer and her face lined with wrinkles. She recognized me and went pale, unable even to scream. I nodded at her with the gun. Jerome lay beneath us, groaning softly as he struggled with the pain.Unable to move—or perhaps with another intention—Anna stood rooted to the spot. Jerome tried to speak, so I stomped his wounded shoulder again. I crushed the bandaged shoulder and arm several times with my heel, turning the white gauze a vivid red. Jerome clenched his teeth, stifling a groan. I motioned at Anna again with my pistol; terrified, she staggered a step backward.I spoke to her coldly.“One more step and I’ll put a bullet in his head.”Her eyes cleared as though doused in cold water. She stumbled into the apartment and slammed the door shut. I motioned again with the gun. Shaking uncontrollably, she crept toward me step by step. When she was close enough, I swiftly moved behind her, wrapped my arm around her slender neck, and pressed the muzzle to her temple.Jerome, barely regaining his strength, wheezed as he tried to sit up. Cuffed, he couldn’t balance properly and collapsed again. Seeing the gun aimed at Anna, he frowned slightly. He tried to speak but turned away, spitting blood onto the floor.He was still handcuffed, Anna was in my grasp, and I was the only one armed. For the first time, I held the upper hand. Eight years ago, the roles had been reversed: on that van from Denver to Labradorham, I was the one handcuffed, Anna had the stun gun, and Jerome commanded the situation.“I’ve always wondered who you really are.”I whispered into Anna’s ear. She trembled like someone thrown into a winter lake, her teeth chattering.“From the day I arrived at Bluebell, you sent me to them. At Labradorham, you cooperated with them. What grudge do you hold against me? Why did you do it?”Anna only trembled more. The memory of her jabbing me with the stun gun remained vivid, so I doubted the sincerity of her shaking.“Well, now that we’re all here, let’s solve these damned mysteries.”“Anna is just my secretary.”Jerome interjected.“She’s not an ordinary secretary. A typical secretary carries a schedule, not a stun gun.”I kicked Anna’s calves, sending her to the floor with a short scream. From the first-aid kit, I pulled gauze and tied her wrists tightly. Sitting on the box, I surveyed the bound pair. I hadn’t expected Jerome to act alone; this was a surprise.“Anyway, let’s get back to our original conversation, Jerome.”I rested the muzzle on the floor and asked casually.“Why did you let Lady Stella speak out of turn?”Jerome blinked as if calculating something, his expression unreadable. I hadn’t expected an answer here. Tapping the floor with my toe, I continued.“Did you suddenly develop self-destructive urges? You tried so hard to put on a show in front of Timothy. It seemed odd. You knew I’d interfere if I learned your plan, didn’t you?”“….”“Even on the way here, I wondered about that. It left a sour taste in my mouth. But after seeing you, I think I know why.”“Why?”Jerome asked with a gleeful tone. His eyes sparkled as he looked up at me, ignoring the blood dripping from his head and arms.“You intended to sell me to Timothy. You planned to trade me.”“Ah, good theory. Continue.”“When Lady Stella tells me everything, you knew I wouldn’t let it go. So you expected me to come here willingly, package me nicely, and hand me over. That’s why you tried to shoot me in the feet—to immobilize me for delivery.”Jerome grinned as if hearing the correct answer.It wasn’t an overreach. Whatever scheme he and Christopher had hatched, once Timothy caught wind of it, he’d need a backup plan. I was a wildcard who could both sabotage and serve his purposes. Perhaps Jerome had intended to sell me from the start, ever since the chase involving helicopters and cars. Yet… still… a doubt lingered in the back of my mind.If he truly meant to trade me, why entrust me to Lady Stella? Why reveal my entire past? He risked unpredictable variables. What if I hadn’t come here? What then? My theory had too many gaps. What unsettled me most was Jerome’s calm laughter, as though everything I said were correct.Even in this situation.Though my body was bound and I held the gun, his composure never faltered. When Timothy called, he didn’t utter a word that could paralyze me. At Stella’s house, when I choked him, he only pretended resistance, letting me kill him if I chose. No matter what I did, I couldn’t ruffle his life’s surface.“I thought you’d be innocent as before.”Jerome’s forehead, stained red by the blood trickling down, curled into a smirk. I folded my arms and stared at him without a word.“Excellent. Truly excellent… so, Raymond, will you go quietly to your new owner?”Perhaps my long–held dread had come true. For Jerome, Bluebell was merely a chapter, and Raymond—a man he’d once been intimate with—just a figure from his past. What meant everything to me was at most a memory to him. After all, for eight years, Jerome hadn’t pursued me. He had calmly pursued his own revenge and lived his life fully.Only now did I understand this truth: to Jerome, I was but one puzzle piece among many.“If my proposal offends you, feel free to shoot me right here.”Spitting blood, Jerome laughed, revealing teeth stained red.“Let’s finish what we couldn’t at Lady Stella’s house.”“Well then, Jerome, why do I feel you’re desperately trying to provoke me elsewhere?”Jerome seemed momentarily at a loss for words.“As if you want to distract me.”“Because you have the gun in your hand.”Jerome quipped indifferently. I said nothing, simply gazing at him. In his game, I was destined to be a chess piece—if his aim lay elsewhere…

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