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LOS 7
Meanwhile, Celeste didn't even seem to recognize Giles. Giles froze for a moment, pinning her down as she resisted, letting out a shriek he had never heard from her before.
But even that moment of hesitation was a luxury. His subordinates were rushing toward them from a distance. He had to make a decision. Giles pressed the muzzle of his pistol against his sister's forehead.
Then, the world around him slowed down. The subordinates were no longer running to help him. They were watching him. This entire operation was a massive trap centered around Giles.
Only now did he understand why his men had wasted so much time failing to capture a single woman. It was because she wasn't just any woman; she was Celeste Hessen. The target Giles had to kill personally. The core reason he had been sent on a journey to Mainhebach leading subordinates he had never met.
Preventing fugitives from crossing the border was a secondary concern.
This mission had been meticulously designed to gauge Giles's value. Could he actually kill the sister he loved?
For the sake of his own survival, Giles had arrested and executed countless members of his own kind. It had been for his own survival, and for the survival of his sister, Celeste. Up to that point, the choice hadn't been difficult. There was no doubt that their two lives were far more precious than a hundred others.
But what about the leadership of the revolution and his sister?
Now, he had to make a new choice.
Would he survive, or would he sacrifice himself for his sister?
Shivering from the cold, Giles glared at Celeste's broken face with bloodshot eyes. Something—whether sweat or tears—streaked down his face.
I have to pull the trigger. No, don't.
Time was running out. The subordinates, the witnesses who would prove Giles's loyalty, were watching. He regretted removing her scarf.
Would it have been better if he hadn't seen her?
Celeste, too, did not wait for him long. She grabbed Giles's hand and bit it with all her might. While he screamed, Celeste flung him off and attempted to flee again.
Giles pinned her down with his entire body before she could rise again. A familiar voice echoed in his mind.
This mission could change your destiny.
But... what did any of that matter now?
"I can't do it," Giles whispered into the ear of the struggling Celeste beneath him.
"I can't. Celeste, please..."
Half-sobbing, he suddenly felt Celeste's movements stop and lifted his head. She was no longer moving. Giles hurriedly rolled Celeste onto her back.
A small knife she had been holding was plunged into her abdomen. Giles looked down in devastation at Celeste, who had chosen death herself.
The worst possible ending, one that no one had desired, brought the curtain down on the finale.
She had been a quiet girl. Rather than enjoying parties or social gatherings, she preferred to shut herself in her room and daydream; she was the kind of person who reacted more passionately to a fine fountain pen than to a dress, shoes, or jewelry.
Giles had hoped his sister could be free. He believed that as long as her freedom was guaranteed, she could fly anywhere.
He thought the same would apply to him. Freedom for one life, a future for one life, the dawn of tomorrow for one life...
Had he truly not known that, after countless victims sacrificed to let him live one more day, his sister would eventually return?
As he sat slumped in a corner, chain-smoking, his adjutant, Charlie, approached. Giles shot him an unwelcome look, but as always, Charlie remained unfazed.
"You did the right thing."
He ended up grating on Giles's already shredded nerves. Giles exhaled a cloud of smoke in silence.
"Since the leadership had made their decision, she was a woman destined to die anyway. If you hadn't ended it yourself, she might have died more miserably..."
"I want to be alone."
"You cannot."
"...Charlie. I'm tired."
"But General Harrington ordered me to stick close to the Captain. He said you'd be alone thinking all sorts of things."
Did the General send Charlie knowing full well? If he spent even one more second thinking about the leadership's decision and the previous operation, he felt as though his head would truly explode. Giles closed his eyes and struggled with desperate patience to avoid losing his temper.
After returning from Mainhebach, he scrubbed his hands until the skin turned raw and red. No matter how cleanly he washed, he felt as though his sister's blood remained clung to him, refusing to wash away.
In front of the bathroom sink, he muttered to himself. I didn't kill her. I didn't do it.
I did.
"By the way, this is something General Harrington mentioned... and I thought it would be good for the Captain to know."
Giles irritably put a cigarette in his mouth.
"The higher-ups are very suspicious of the fact that the Captain didn't use his gun."
"..."
"According to a report filed by another subordinate, you were clearly aiming the gun at the target, but upon inspecting the body after death, the cause of death was a stab wound. To me, it doesn't seem like something to find that strange. You just switched weapons during a scuffle, after all."
Giles, who had been staring blankly into the air, finally couldn't take it and stood up. Without a word, he walked away from his adjutant.
"You did kill her, right? That's what I believe!"
Charlie shouted the question from behind, but Giles ignored him.
Giles thought it would be better if the leadership simply ordered someone to blow his head off right now. It wasn't that he had lost his will to live, but rather that his head throbbed with such an agonizing ache.
His life had been a series of errors and wrong choices. Even the result of what he thought was his best choice had ended up like this. He felt as though he should no longer make any judgments at all.
However, if there was still one 'right choice' left.
There was one person who came to mind.
'I'm Lily Belmore. Please take care of me.'
Lily. Lily Belmore. His sanctuary and his living paradise.
Thoughts of her swelled uncontrollably, swallowing Giles whole. He had vowed never to visit again, thinking that frequenting the abandoned manor in Salisbury would arouse suspicion. But at this moment, he felt as though he would lose his mind if he didn't see Lily's face immediately.
He had to see Lily. He wanted to meet her, see her face, and confirm with his own eyes whether she was alive. Giles's mind was paralyzed. The Mainhebach operation had pushed his psyche to its limit. He was at a point where he could no longer endure.
He felt that if he saw Lily, he could forget everything. He could dismiss the events at Mainhebach as a brief nightmare. That was what Lily was to Giles.
The existence that finally allowed him to forget what kind of person he was.
Giles got into the car and barely managed to start the engine with trembling hands. He thought of nothing while driving. He had only one goal.
The manor he arrived at, like a half-mad man, remained the same. There was no sign of people, and the derelict house looked as if ghosts might emerge at any moment.
He headed straight for the room with the piano. The door was closed. Without thinking, he pounded on the door. After a moment of silence, the large door opened slightly.
"Giles!"
Lily, who had been peeking through the crack in the door, approached him with a smile. This time, she was wearing the coat he had given her loosely over a white chemise.
The moment he saw Lily smiling, looking far healthier than when they first met, Giles felt his heart settle, yet simultaneously felt an unbearable tightness in his chest.
"Lily."
Unable to find words or even return her smile, he could only stare at her like a man possessed. Lily approached him hesitantly and then opened her arms to embrace him.
It was a brief moment, but he felt her warm body temperature fully. It was a great comfort. When he didn't react, as he was unable to think rationally, Lily stepped back, seemingly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry. I was just happy that you came again."
"...Would it be okay?"
"Pardon?"
"Could I hug you?"
His voice trembled unintentionally. Whether she was surprised by his unusual demeanor or the impulsive request, Lily studied his expression for a moment and then nodded.
Giles hesitated, then carefully reached out his arms. However, he couldn't bring himself to actually embrace Lily. Unlike him, Lily was a pure and untainted being. He felt that if he held her in his arms, the filth he had accumulated until now would rub off on her.
"...Next time, I'll bring you some clothes."
"You already gave me one."
"Not that. Proper clothes."
"I like this one because it's warm."
Lily pulled the front of the coat closed, as if worried Giles might take it back.
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. In the end, it was Lily who spoke first.
"Giles, do you know how to play the piano?"
"A very long time ago."
"So that means you've played before? I knew it. You can tell from a person's eyes if they have a deep appreciation for music. I have a favor to ask... would you play the piano for me today?"
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