HIFH | Chapter 50

Episode 50

Click.

After returning to my room and locking the door, I slid down against it.

“Heuuh…”

A groan escaped me.

I hadn’t done anything particularly exhausting, yet my entire body felt drained.

‘It’s because of Adrian.’

And…

‘It’s because of Lu, too.’

I clicked my tongue as I recalled Lu, who had remained silent the entire carriage ride, and how he had ignored me the moment we arrived at the mansion, heading straight to his room.

‘He must be angry at me.’

Lu was someone who, despite disliking me, was trying his best to like me.

I thought that maybe I had been too harsh with my words.

But…

‘I wasn’t wrong.’

We were colleagues.

We were moving for the sake of a mission, and personal emotions should not interfere.

Of course, Lu was someone who treated me well, who cared for me.

But at the same time, he was also someone who doubted me—someone who must never discover my true identity.

That was why I had no choice but to be even more firm.

To make it clear that he shouldn’t come any closer.

‘My stomach hurts.’

A deep pain rose within me, to the point where I wasn’t sure if it was my stomach or my heart that was aching.

I wanted nothing more than to collapse onto my bed and rest, but I couldn’t.

— See you in the evening.

Adrian had called for me.

***

Once again, I had to sneak out at night.

But today, I had no particular worries.

‘Lu is angry, so he won’t come into my room.’

Hmm. He probably wouldn’t.

‘The mood was good at least until dinner.’

I hadn’t expected to run into Adrian so suddenly.

‘Hah.’

I grabbed a black coat from the hanger, let my hair fall freely, and fastened my cloak.

Then, I approached the window.

Outside, the garden lay beneath the stillness of the night.

After scanning my surroundings, I stepped onto the window frame and pushed myself up.

Flipping midair, I landed on the ground.

Then, I quickly crouched and melted into the darkness.

I arrived at the address Adrian had secretly slipped me earlier in the day.

The place wasn’t quite grand enough to be called a mansion, but it was too large to be considered a simple house.

From outside, I could hear loud laughter and soft music.

‘A salon, huh?’

I knew well that Adrian frequently visited salons and often set up hideouts in places like these, so I didn’t find it strange as I walked toward the building.

A guard standing at the entrance blocked my way.

“I’m here to see Adrian.”

The guard examined my face beneath the hood for a moment before nodding and opening the door.

The first thing that greeted me upon entering was a group of young men with fresh faces.

All of them were laughing and chatting merrily, but something about them felt off.

As if they were drugged.

‘Did he use aura?’

Tsk. Clicking my tongue briefly, I walked past them.

I quietly made my way to a corner of the salon, away from everyone’s gaze, and lifted a red curtain.

Beyond it was another hidden door.

“……”

I glanced around.

No one seemed to be paying attention to me, but I could feel unseen eyes watching me beyond the aristocrats’ false laughter.

But I didn’t care.

I had my hood pulled low, so no one would recognize me.

I silently reached out and turned the doorknob.

Click.

The moment the door opened, a cold breeze brushed against my skin.

A world entirely different from the lavish one outside.

A silent, dark, and yet profoundly secretive space.

And within it stood a single person.

“…Adrian.”

The very person who had called me.

***

“Did you change locations again? What happened to the previous mansion?”

I deliberately walked into the room as if nothing was wrong.

“A drunken noble caused a ruckus, so I had no choice but to abandon it.”

“What exactly did he do that forced you to abandon the place?”

“He set it on fire.”

“……”

That was hard to brush off as nothing.

Avoiding his gaze, I sat down in the armchair Adrian gestured to.

“Why did you call me?”

Adrian stared at me.

His deep black eyes, as thick and dark as the shadows cast within the room, fixated on me.

Leaning against the armrest of my chair, he spoke.

“I figured you’d have something you were curious about.”

I looked up at him.

“Yeah, I do have something I’m curious about.”

Adrian smiled as if he had expected that.

He reached out, playing with the ends of my hair.

“Why did you do that?”

“What?”

“Why did you call me Charles in front of Lu Vantes?”

Adrian was the best agent in Catacle.

Some people claimed that he acted on impulse without much thought, but those were people who didn’t know him well.

Every action he took, every word he spoke—even the slightest flicker of his gaze—was calculated.

If Adrian had called me Charles in front of Lu, then he had done so with a clear purpose.

“Do you want me to get exposed and fail the mission?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why…!”

“Charles.”

Adrian tugged slightly at my hair.

The brief sting at my scalp made me flinch and shut my mouth.

“Don’t obsess so much over keeping your identity a secret. If it comes down to it, you can just kill him. Why are you so on edge?”

“……”

“Why that expression? Don’t tell me… you don’t want to kill Lu Vantes? As if you actually love him or something…”

His words trailed off in an icy whisper.

A chilling sensation wrapped around me as I parted my trembling lips to deny it.

“That would never happen.”

“Right? Then you shouldn’t be acting like it would.”

Adrian’s lips curled into another gentle smile.

“Anything else you’re curious about?”

There was something I had been wondering for a while.

No, to be exact, ever since the shipwreck incident, I had been unable to shake this thought from my mind.

“Don’t tell me…”

I steadied my breath, which was threatening to grow uneven, and spoke.

“Was it you?”

Adrian tilted his head.

“Were you the one who tried to kill me?”

At that, Adrian’s lips curled upward as if they might split.

He laughed, as if he had just heard something truly amusing, and wrapped his arms around my head, pulling me to rest against his chest.

“Why would I kill you? I really love you, Charles.”

It was Adrian.

Adrian had tried to kill me and Lu.

“I was trying to save at least you, Charles. Of course, that Lu Vantes guy or whatever his name is delayed things a bit.”

My eyes trembled slightly.

Should I be relieved that, at least, my expression was hidden in his embrace?

I clenched the hand that had been resting on my thigh into a fist.

“Why?”

Adrian moved his hand slowly. He grasped my chin and lifted it.

“If I say it was the captain’s order, will you cooperate?”

“Don’t lie.”

I replied firmly.

“The captain doesn’t know. He doesn’t know that you’re distributing aura, or that you’re recruiting noble heirs to your side.”

Adrian’s silver eyelashes fluttered slowly. I stared at him intently.

“Is all of this to go against the captain?”

Adrian smiled. A smile of affirmation.

That made it all the more incomprehensible.

Why on earth was he trying to go against Baylor, his own father?

If he simply stayed put, everything Baylor had built would eventually become his anyway.

“So, why?”

I bit out the words, and Adrian clicked his tongue before straightening up.

“Our Charles has become a bit too tame.”

Then, he placed both hands on the headrest beside my head.

Suddenly trapped within his arms, I instinctively held my breath and froze.

“Our Charles should have a sharper edge.”

“……”

“This is a bit boring, isn’t it?”

He chuckled and continued.

“You know, Charles.”

Adrian tilted his head slightly as he spoke.

“Do you know what’s most important when breaking someone?”

Then, he brought his face close to my ear.

“It’s holding onto the one thing they absolutely must have.”

I knew.

That was always how Adrian operated.

He always seized others’ weaknesses before making his move.

He would set traps, wait like a hunter, and once his prey was caught, he would control them at will.

“Charles. I have the one thing you absolutely must have.”

He exhaled softly against my ear. A sudden chill ran down my spine, and my shoulders trembled.

“What is it that I must have?”

“Freedom.”

Without realizing it, I bit down on my lower lip. I quickly shook my head.

“I believe I’m already free enough.”

At that, Adrian raised his head again. He looked down at me intently.

“A fish living in a tank believes swimming inside it is freedom. Even though there is an entire ocean—a truly free space—out there.”

The tank must symbolize Catacle, while the ocean represents the world beyond it.

I clenched my teeth.

“No matter what you say, I only listen to the captain.”

“That’s the thing.”

Adrian withdrew his hands, which had been trapping me, and took a half-step back. With his hands clasped behind him, he looked down at me.

“It’s because of your guilt over Esmeralda, isn’t it?”

“Adrian.”

“That’s why you cling to my father even more. Because you feel too guilty. Because you want to pay for what you did.”

I took a deep breath.

Among the many complex emotions I had toward Baylor, guilt was one of them.

To put it simply:

I failed to protect Baylor’s only daughter.

If it weren’t for me, Esmeralda might have survived.

I clenched my fists, trying to steady my ragged breathing.

“You know, Charles.”

Adrian furrowed his nose and smirked.

Like a mischievous child about to share a secret.

“Did you know?”

Then, he leaned in toward me again.

His warm breath and low voice against my ear tightened around my heart like a vice.

“Esmeralda was killed by my father.”