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LOS 42
I hated that Giles had to act like a sinner. I knew all too well what that feeling was like. The sense of alienation one feels upon realizing that, while they may seem to be accepted as a member on the surface, they are actually nothing more than an outsider...
Giles seemed to hesitate for a moment, then soon nodded.
“...Alright. Let’s dance.”
Hand in hand, we took our place beside the other partnered couples. They were dancing the waltz. The waltz is one of the most popular dances. Perhaps because it is a simple dance where one only needs to step to a three-beat rhythm, it is said that it's hard to find a country that doesn't dance the waltz.
I, too, had learned the waltz. It was a very basic dance. I remembered practicing diligently while listening to the corrections of my dance teacher.
Giles wrapped his arm around my waist. We slowly moved our bodies to the beat. Giles was quite a good dancer. He was wearing a military uniform, but looking at him now, he was every bit the young nobleman.
Giles, who had seemed uncertain just moments before when stepping in among the male-female partners, did not take his eyes off me for a single second once the waltz began. His black pupils scanned my face, as if caressing it. It seemed as though no one else entered his field of vision.
Only then did I realize. This was the first time we had stood this close, looking at one another.
“You dance well.”
“Do you like it?”
“Except for the fact that you didn't ask me to dance first.”
He laughed. But like a drawing on a sandy beach being washed away by the tide, his smile gradually vanished. He was captivated by me. Or was I the one captivated by him? I couldn't tell.
Giles was looking at me. I simply couldn't tear my eyes away from him. It felt as if some unknown force was holding me fast.
“Anna.”
He called my name in a voice slightly lower than usual. I found myself spellbound, discovering the intense emotion flickering within his gaze.
Giles's voice seemed to make even the music stop for a moment.
He whispered into my ear.
“I love you, Anna.”
I didn't answer. It wasn't a confession that required an answer in the first place. Many thoughts flashed through my mind. Should I reject him? Should I keep some distance from him for a while? Can I truly trust a person like him?
But before those inner voices could branch out any further, they all came to a halt.
“I love you.”
With those words alone, I became unable to think of anything. Giles no longer hesitated. He kissed me. He parted my lips, and his softly overlapped with mine.
Just as we had once done while playing the piano together in a corner of the vast Salzburg mansion. It was the same as then, yet different.
His lips were warm. It was an intense warmth I had never felt in my entire life. After a brief moment of hesitation, I ultimately did not push his kiss away.
I just... thought that maybe, just once, it would be okay to do this.
-
Vincent Monagan stood among the soldiers with a bored expression. His comrades were giggling like drunks, exchanging trivial chatter. No, in reality, they were gradually becoming drunks. There was plenty of alcohol, and plenty of time.
He was not one to enjoy banquets. What he wanted was not to engage in foolish chatter, but to spend this time interrogating more of those Beldam bastards. They were Vincent's enemies. Until the moment he joined the Revolutionary Army, there had not been a single second that he did not hate them.
Hate, hate. Words he had engraved in his mind over and over again. Emotions that had permeated every aspect of Vincent's life. Vincent hated Beldam.
Beldam had twisted him until he reached this state. He hated them for that, but thanks to it, Vincent had become a monster with a heart made of blades, capable of paying them back in kind.
When he was finally able to sear the skin of a Beldam bastard with a branding iron, how satisfied had he been? His job was to drag out the nobles who had fallen from the high tower of power to the ground and become the executor of violence. He listened to their screams. He made them beg.
It was nothing short of a delight.
To actually be able to do the things he had only pictured in his head... Could anything be more satisfying than this?
He wanted for nothing more. He had achieved what he had longed for his entire life, and a smooth path forward was guaranteed. Because the depth of his hatred was so profound, he had contributed greatly to the revolution. While they screamed, Vincent hummed a tune as he walked the underground corridors of the headquarters.
In doing so, he would often encounter the owner of a familiar silhouette.
Giles Hessen. A man who wore the same military uniform as he did, but who possessed the bloodline of a precious young master from a Beldam landowning family. A soldier who had once been a Captain in the Beldam Defense Force. Giles would often scan Vincent with inscrutable black eyes.
Every time that happened, Vincent could not suppress his unpleasantness. Someone who should have been barely breathing inside a cage was wearing the same uniform as him. He gave orders, and he called him by name. 'Hessen.' Bearing that disgusting surname, he had the audacity to act as a hero of the Revolutionary Army.
Vincent felt a sense of antipathy every time he saw Giles's polished face. Yes, it was true that he had arrested and executed numerous Beldam nobles. But in the end, Giles had been a Beldam young master, just like them.
Giles did not know hatred. One could tell just by looking at his face, where not a single trace of hatred could be found.
Hypocrite! Vincent called Giles that inwardly. Aside from the fact that he had defected, how was he any different from the other nobles? He was the only Beldam man Vincent had not been able to torture. Normally, he should have been kneeling at Vincent's feet, begging for his life.
But reality was not so. Rather, Vincent was in a position of receiving orders from him.
His stomach churned.
Instead of listening to his comrades' meaningless chatter, Vincent scanned the room for any sign of Giles. He must have attended. Knowing his place, Giles usually tucked himself away in a hard-to-find corner whenever such events occurred.
However, surprisingly, Vincent spotted him right in the center of the ballroom. Giles was dancing with a woman. Rather than dancing, it would be more accurate to say he was simply moving his body while embracing the woman.
Vincent focused his gaze on him. She likely wasn't a partner brought along out of mere formality. Because he... looked truly stable and happy.
The Giles Vincent knew was a man like a colorless void. He was always expressionless and indifferent to everything. Yet, at this moment, he was entirely different. Giles was smiling.
He whispered something to the blonde woman and wore an expression he had never shown before.
Giles Hessen was happy.
Because of that woman.
Had he fallen in love? Vincent couldn't believe it. For Giles Hessen to fall in love. That man who usually looked like he was walking toward his death? Just who was that woman? Who was she to make Giles Hessen's face flush with such warm colors?
A twisted smile appeared on Vincent's lips. He couldn't just stand by and watch this. He drained his glass in one gulp and silently moved his position.
He was curious about Giles's woman. No, beyond curiosity, a strange possessiveness surged within him. He wanted to steal that woman away. If doing so could give his superior even a small amount of humiliation, that would be enough.
Vincent stood in a position where Giles's gaze would most easily reach them and watched. Giles, who had been preoccupied with the woman, felt the gaze and looked over. His movements stiffened for a moment.
Watching the face that had been overcome with happiness turn cold, Vincent wore a cunning smile.
-
I saw Giles's expression turn cold. His gaze was fixed on one spot. I turned my head toward where he was looking. A soldier with dull blonde hair was staring at us. He was so tall that he was easy to find even among the crowd.
I whispered in Giles's ear.
“Who is that person?”
“Vincent Monagan. He's my subordinate. He's not someone you'd enjoy running into. If possible, don't make eye contact and pretend you don't know him.”
I wanted to look back one more time, but I refrained after hearing his words. It was a moment lasting less than a second, but Vincent's impression was that strong. He was glaring at us. Even though we were strangers, his eyes were so persistent that my heart sank.
Giles continued to be wary of him. From the looks of it, Vincent had no intention of leaving his spot either.
“You said he's your subordinate. Then why is he like that? Do you two not get along?”
“He's naturally dangerous and doesn't particularly like me. It seems he's looking to pick a fight. It would be best to avoid him, Anna.”
He led me away from the people. However, it seemed Vincent had no intention of letting us go. The man's voice stopped Giles's footsteps.
“Captain Hessen.”
Since it had come to this, Giles had no choice but to face Vincent. Holding Giles's hand, I turned to look at Vincent.
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