Episode 43

The tension in the room thickened. As always, whenever Noel and Raymond were in the same space, they clashed. The unfortunate third party caught in the middle could only suffer.

Nina banged on the table.

“Alright, calm down, everyone! Let’s focus on the mission, okay?”

It wasn’t that she particularly wanted to stop their fight—she was just eager for someone to acknowledge her contributions to the operation. Her craving for recognition was well-known within the Order of the Holy Cross.

Noel gestured toward a newspaper spread out on the table. Among various articles and opinion pieces, there was a report on a murder case. Nina leaned in.

“Look at this! A grotesque killing. Clearly the work of a vampire, but those fools don’t see it yet.”

“Looks like your poison is working well.”

“I told you, it’s Modified Lycan-Beta! I adjusted the formula to make the effects kick in faster, just like you asked.”

“It’s not making waves yet, but soon, it’ll be front-page news. It’ll turn into a serial murder case. Even those who laughed off the existence of vampires will start to believe. That’s when we strike.”

Ruby’s growing popularity was part of a carefully orchestrated plan. While it was true that the desserts were delicious, their success had been accelerated by strategic word-of-mouth marketing from external collaborators of the Order.

With the store’s growing customer base, more vampires had unknowingly consumed Lycan-Beta, gradually losing control one by one. Some were hunted immediately by unaware vampire hunters, while others, if lucky enough not to be discovered, attacked humans instead.

It wouldn’t be long before a series of corpses drained of blood began appearing. The killings would be linked together as the work of a single serial murderer. The human world, always prone to hysteria, would spiral into panic.

That moment was what Noel was waiting for.

At the peak of fear, they would tie in the Dandy Horse Incident and the illegal blood trafficker’s corpse they had kept hidden, framing Rosanna as the culprit. The ultimate goal was to have the Elders’ Council turn its back on her, stripping away any protection she might have had.

Once that happened, capturing even a high-ranking vampire would be easy.

“…This is different from the original plan,” Raymond finally spoke after listening in silence. “Weren’t we just supposed to provoke them? The goal was to expose their existence so people would start believing.”

“That wouldn’t be enough. The Elders’ Council would just cover it up. A little scandal? They’d bury it in a day.”

“So?”

“We need a shocking event. If we turn this into a serial killing case, even the Council won’t be able to sweep it under the rug.”

“You’re willing to create casualties just to make your narrative work… There’s no way Breeder would allow—”

“He approved it. It’s time for sacrifices to be made for the greater good.”

Raymond stiffened.

Endangering civilians or allowing vampires to kill indiscriminately—that wasn’t the way the Order operated. And yet, Breeder, a high-ranking officer, had approved this mission? It didn’t make sense.

But Noel wasn’t stupid enough to tell blatant lies that would be easily exposed, nor would he dare invoke Breeder’s name falsely.

That meant this plan had been genuinely sanctioned.

Did the higher-ups know?
Or was this a rogue move by Breeder?

Either way, it put Raymond in an uncomfortable position—one that made him question even his benefactor.

“How long are we doing this? How many more people need to die before we reach ‘the right moment’?”

No one wanted to address the most disturbing part of the plan, but Raymond couldn’t ignore it.

Because he was the one on the ground.

When vampires lost control, he was the one hunting them down. And in that process, he had to witness innocent people die.

So far, he had only come across the aftermath—corpses left behind. But the day would come when he would see it happen in real-time. When he’d have to make a choice: save the victim or prioritize the mission.

Raymond clenched his fists.

“Find another way.”

“You’re too soft. This is why you’ll never move up.”

Noel sneered.

“Or maybe you just want to act like a decent human being? News flash—you’re still a half-blood. That won’t change.”

“Enough,” Raymond cut him off.

“This is a waste of time.”

Pushing his chair back, he stood and strode toward the door.

There was no reason to stay. There never was. If this hadn’t been an official mission meeting, they wouldn’t even share the same air.

As he reached the exit, he threw one last parting shot.

“You think that was enough to provoke me? I’ve been hearing that crap for longer than you’ve been alive, kid.”

BAM. The storage room door slammed shut behind him.

* * *

The sun had set, and the lamplighters were out on the streets, lighting the gas lamps. The carriage moved through the evening roads illuminated by their warm glow.

“It’s beautiful,” Kyle murmured, his gaze drifting from the scenery to Rosanna, who sat beside him. She leaned against him like a climbing vine that couldn’t stand on its own.

“Thank you,” she said. “For spending the whole day with me.”

“A surprise visit wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I enjoyed it. Though… picking out clothes was a bit exhausting.”

Kyle glanced down at his outfit, feeling awkward. The children at the orphanage had told him he looked especially handsome today. It was proof that the expensive clothes were worth their price. A luxury he wouldn’t have had without Rosanna.

“…I feel like I’m just taking. It’s shameless.”

Rosanna smirked.

“Then give something back. There’s something I want.”

“What is it…?”

“You said you’d tell me why you were acting strange. Back at the charity bazaar, you said you’d explain later. Remember?”

“…I did say that.”

“Well, I’d like ‘later’ to be now.”

Kyle exhaled faintly. It wasn’t easy to confess to Rosanna herself why he had been avoiding her. At least in a confessional, there was a partition in between.

“That’s…”

“That’s what?”

“…Because I’m an idiot. I want to look good in front of you, but I just end up acting weird. I can’t control my emotions, and when I’m with you, all I see are my own shortcomings. It makes me wonder… if I should even be by your side.”

Rosanna had always been open about her feelings to reassure him. She had told him she liked him. That he was the only man she cared about. But that didn’t change how Kyle felt about himself. It wasn’t something Rosanna could fix.

“I know I’m being foolish. Even when you give me certainty, I… I can’t help but feel dissatisfied with myself. And then I’m afraid that if I admit that, you’ll think I’m pathetic.”

The entire time he spoke, his heart felt like it was plummeting. It wasn’t the first time he had voiced his flaws, yet this felt worse than any confession he had made before—worse than a real confession.

Unlike God, humans could change in an instant. They could leave at any moment.

Kyle knew this fear intimately. He had been abandoned at birth.

So he had spent his life hiding his flaws, packaging himself as a good person. That was why, deep down, he wasn’t truly good. The kind and gentle Kyle Mason that people admired was a carefully crafted illusion. A deception.

A pathetic hypocrite.

And every time he was forced to confront his true self, it made him sick.

At the same time, he wanted answers. Could someone as insignificant as him still be saved? Could he be loved? Did he deserve it?

That was why he had turned to the clergy. Yes, there had been encouragement from parental figures, and he had believed it was the only path for him. But the real reason he became a theology student was because he was searching for faith.

To believe that his very existence was not a mistake.

But then, he found his answer—not in God’s grace, but in a woman.

That was why, when he decided to leave the clergy, he felt relief instead of regret. Because he had found his answer.

And that was why he wanted to show Rosanna only his best self.

“…You worry too much.”

Rosanna’s voice was gentle, and her hand reached out to cup the side of Kyle’s face.

“You must’ve struggled a lot. Poor thing.”

She pulled him into an embrace, resting his head against her.

It was nothing cunning or seductive—just pure comfort.

The real problem was the dress.

With her gown’s wide neckline exposing her shoulders, his nose was now pressed directly against the swell of her chest.

The soft sensation, like being buried in cream, sent Kyle into a panic. He hurriedly pushed Rosanna away—the only defense a young, inexperienced man could muster. A strained groan escaped from between his tightly sealed lips.

“You keep doing this on purpose… I get it now. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“I won’t deny that your reactions are entertaining. But this time, I was just comforting you.”

“I’m already struggling because of my dreams as it is…”

Kyle ran a hand through his hair and muttered to himself.

“Dreams? What dreams?”

“…It’s a secret.”

“Tell me. Please?”

Rosanna clung to his arm, her blue-gray eyes shimmering like a lake catching the morning light. That look—one that dismantled all resistance.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just keep staring at you.”

“…Using that kind of expression to beg is cheating.”

A heavy sigh filled the carriage. In the end, Kyle gave in to her relentless gaze.

“You… showed up in my dream. You climbed in through my dormitory window.”

“Through the window? So that’s your taste? Noted.”

“No! It was just a dream!”

“Deny it all you want. Dreams are manifestations of the subconscious.”

“Says who?”

“A psychologist. I don’t know which one. I heard it from my brother.”

Rosanna shrugged, unconcerned with the details.

“So, what did we do in this dream of yours?”

Kyle shut his mouth. The way his face flushed was enough of an answer.

Rosanna recalled the nights she had watched him sleep, basking in the quiet pleasure of observing him. Though… simply watching had felt like a waste. She had lightly toyed with parts of his body—nothing too daring, never anything too inappropriate. But even those brief touches must have stirred something in his subconscious, leading to these delightfully amusing dreams.

“…Alright, I’ll stop prying. I get it.”

“Don’t smile like that as if you know everything.”

Kyle turned his head to the side, shifting his gaze out the window. They were already near the road leading to Ingdberry Cathedral.

 

 

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