HIFH | Chapter 38

Episode 38

‘Why am I feeling so annoyed?’

Whenever I think about Lu, my mood swings between feeling good and irritated.

— I like you, Charles.

— And I also dislike you.

I couldn’t understand myself for reacting so much to those words.

‘What exactly am I feeling?’

I ran my hand over my chest and muttered to myself, but I couldn’t come up with a clear answer.

Tsk.

Clicking my tongue briefly, I shook my head a couple of times.

Get a grip.

I wanted to think more about my feelings toward Lu, but I had more pressing matters to attend to.

It was late at night.

At a time when everyone was likely asleep, I approached the window.

Beyond the window, the dark garden stretched out before me. Past the walls, I could see the outline of the mansion swallowed by darkness.

After getting caught sneaking out last night, should I really be going out again today?

However…

The mysterious accidents happening to nobles.

And the modified aura.

Tracing everything back, there was only one possible answer.

‘Catacle.’

That’s why I had to check.

What exactly was going on inside Catacle?

Would it benefit the empire or harm it?

Honestly, whatever I found out wouldn’t change my actions.

I would follow the captain’s orders and move as Adrian wished.

But still.

‘I just want to know why.’

Why were these events unfolding?

What kind of storm had I been caught up in?

And so, I stepped onto the window ledge.

Finally,

I was heading to Catacle’s headquarters.

***

Charles stepped into the back alleys of the capital, specifically the slums—the area with the fewest people.

The streets were so filthy they made one frown just by looking at them, but Shaal walked through them without hesitation, as if she were used to it.

She arrived at an old tavern, where a faint light seeped through the cracks.

She flung open the door and called out,

“It’s been a while, everyone!”

The tavern was filled with people chatting and enjoying the lively atmosphere.

However, the moment Charles stepped inside, the mood turned ice-cold.

“What, Jenny’s here too? Oh, Garen! Long time no see.”

Completely unfazed by the heavy silence, Charles greeted people here and there.

But—

“Damn it, you just ruined my drink.”

The only response she got was a chilly retort.

The Catacle agents gathered in the tavern all frowned the moment they saw her. Some even stood up immediately.

“Hey, let’s go.”

“If I knew she was coming, I wouldn’t have come. Damn it, my mood’s ruined.”

Not only did they refuse to return her greetings, but they also cursed at her.

However, Charles—

“Everyone looks to be in a bad mood.”

—seemed completely accustomed to such reactions.

Ignoring their hostility, she instead made a playful remark to the stunned tavern owner.

“Ugh, this place is always so filthy whenever I come. Clean up a little, will you? No wonder everyone leaves so quickly.”

“……”

The tavern owner was speechless.

Who was she, after all?

Within Catacle, it would be easier to count the people who liked her rather than those who hated her. Almost everyone despised her.

And yet, she acted so nonchalantly.

That, too, with an infuriatingly bright smile.

She was someone whose true thoughts were impossible to read, the tavern owner thought.

Just then—

“Hey.”

A Catacle agent, sitting behind a pile of empty bottles, spoke up. Charles tilted her head.

“Are you calling me?”

“Who else here would I be talking to?”

He smirked and narrowed his eyes at her.

“Why are you here?”

He tossed an apple into the air and caught it repeatedly.

“No one here wants to see you, so why the hell did you come?”

He growled at her as if ready to pick a fight at any moment.

“Well, I came to see the captain?”

Charles grinned as she answered.

“You know how the captain always wants to see me. So I came for him. Why? Should I leave? Should I tell him I had to leave because of you?”

The man’s face twisted.

“She just won’t die no matter where she goes. I wish she’d just drop dead already. Hey. Finish whatever business you have and get lost. It pisses me off just being in the same place as you.”

Charles stared at him for a moment.

A cold energy hung in the air between them.

The others still in the tavern swallowed nervously, watching the scene unfold.

However—

“Oh my.”

Charles suddenly let out a carefree laugh.

“That was such a roundabout way of saying you missed me. How sweet.”

Completely unbothered, she shrugged.

“Alright, alright. I’m going down now, okay?”

She effortlessly jumped over the bar counter. A staircase leading underground was hidden there.

“Oh.”

As if suddenly remembering something, she leaned back out toward the man.

“By the way, Jin…”

She stared straight at him.

At that moment—

Swish— Thud!

A fork flew through the air, stabbing straight through the apple he had been playing with.

“Didn’t I tell you last time that if you ever spoke informally to me again, I’d kill you?”

Charles, the one who had thrown the fork, tilted her head and spoke coldly.

Then, she picked up another fork from the bar counter and gripped it tightly.

As if warning that the next thing to be pierced wouldn’t be an apple—but him.

“You… you…!”

Jin’s face turned bright red, and he trembled with rage.

“Pfft.”

Charles, as if reading his thoughts, let out another laugh.

“I’m kidding. Don’t be such a coward.”

She winked playfully at Jin before waving her hand and disappearing underground.

“Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!”

She left behind those parting words.

Ugh.

My stomach hurts again…

I knew the Catacle agents hated me, but knowing something in my head and seeing it with my own eyes were two different things.

‘Why do they hate me so much?’

At that thought, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Why else?

‘They just hate me because I’m me.’

From the moment I first joined Catacle under the captain’s wing, no one welcomed me.

They despised me, calling me a privileged outsider. They looked down on me for being young. They disregarded me for being a woman.

So I gritted my teeth and endured.

And when I did, they hated me even more, calling me ruthless.

That’s when I realized—people didn’t need a reason to hate me.

‘They just hate me because I exist.’

It was sad.

Sad and unfair.

I hadn’t done anything wrong. I hadn’t done anything at all… So why?

But no matter how much I grieved or resented it, nothing would change.

That’s why I clung even harder to the only people who cared for me.

Adrian.

And Esmeralda, who died because of me.

Finally—

Knock, knock.

I knocked on the tightly shut door.

A voice soon called for me to enter, and I gripped the doorknob, pushing it open.

The person who had cared for me.

The person who gave me a reason to live.

That person was—

“Charles! You’re here!”

—Captain Baylor.