In the late afternoon glow over Atiazen Flo Marina's temporary office, the sun dipped beneath the snow-capped mountain peaks, casting a warm golden reflection across the tranquil lake.
Serena and Eiser sat together on a wooden bench along the stone promenade. Serena, her dark hair wrapped neatly under a floral patterned headscarf, looked out at the water with a soft, wistful smile.
"I'm sad that today is already the last day," Serena murmured softly, leaning back against the bench. "Shall we hang out a bit later into the night?"
Eiser sat beside her in his dark suit, his gaze resting quietly on her profile. "There's no need to overdo it. We can just come back again."
Serena turned to him, her bright eyes wide with stubborn affection as she pouted playfully. "No! Then is then, and now is just now! Let's go inside and rest for a bit, then go to the beach tonight."
Eiser couldn't help but chuckle softly at her insistence.
"Just try falling asleep~!" Serena teased with a sweet, triumphant grin.
Later that evening, inside the dimly lit bedroom, moonlight spilled through the grand window, painting the room in cool shades of blue.
Serena lay fast asleep under the heavy white duvet, her long black hair spread across the pillow, her breathing slow and peaceful (sigh... sigh...).
Eiser sat on the edge of the mattress beside her, dressed in a loose white shirt. He stared down at her sleeping face with a tender, unreadable gaze. Reaching out, his broad hand gently brushed a stray strand of dark hair away from her forehead, his touch as light as a feather.
A sudden, quiet knock (knock, knock) echoed at the door.
Eiser's blue eyes flickered toward the entrance, his gentle warmth instantly replaced by a sharp, composed focus.
He stood up silently and opened the door (click). Standing outside in the warmly lit hallway was an aide in a tailored brown suit.
"Yes, what about Ms. Serena?" the aide asked softly, stepping forward to deliver his report.
Eiser glanced back into the dim room where Serena lay sound asleep, stepping out into the hallway to ensure her rest remained undisturbed.
Outside the bedroom door, the aide spoke in a low, disappointed tone. "In the bedroom. She fell asleep. Haa... Already~? Ah, it's a pity. It's been a while since I saw her, so I wanted to chat a bit. Even though I personally brought breakfast right up to her~!"
Eiser listened calmly, his expression steady. "She must be tired. After traveling from the kingdom to Atiazen, she had a schedule lasting several days, so it's only natural she'd avoid it. I'm just going to let her sleep like this today."
"Come inside for a moment," Eiser added, leading the aide into the adjacent drawing room.
Once inside, seated comfortably on the sofa, the aide's demeanor shifted to serious business. "First, just as you predicted, ever since Victor's trial ended, it has been figured out that he was searching for Dustin's private safe in Atiazen. Thinking the safe was in Santoria Blue, he's been lingering around that area continuously lately."
The aide added quietly, "Because he moved so secretly, tracking his whereabouts wasn't easy either. And Raul asked me to pass this along. Because of the safe, right? It seems contacts keep coming in. What are you going to do? Anyway, it's something we can no longer postpone."
The aide handed over a sealed white letter bearing a wax crest. Eiser took the letter, his gaze dropping to read its contents.
Ever since Dustin mentioned the existence of the private safe, I had been guessing that considerable wealth would be inside it. But after he died, the actual scale I heard from the safe's manager was beyond what I had expected. And thanks to that, matters grew a layer more complicated. I couldn't pretend not to know, nor could I leave it to fall into Victor's hands like this.
A heavy silence settled in the room as Eiser's hand clenched tightly around the paper, crumpling it slightly with a sharp rustle.
"The thing I asked for?" Eiser asked, his blue eyes sharp with quiet resolve.
Here is the novel expansion based on the latest panels provided:
Chapter: Looming Shadows & Quiet Resolve
Inside the warmly lit drawing room, Eiser sat leaning forward, the crumpled letter held loosely in his hand as he looked at his aide.
"The thing I asked for?" Eiser inquired, his low voice steady and quiet.
"Ah, here," the aide replied, reaching inside his suit jacket. With a soft tak, he placed a sleek, matte-black handgun onto the wooden tabletop between them.
The aide observed Eiser's calm expression, his eyebrows furrowing slightly in concern. "What about the one you were carrying around?"
"I just needed one more spare," Eiser answered smoothly, his gaze lowering to the weapon on the table.
"...A spare. Is it by any chance because of Victor?"
"..."
Silence stretched between them for a moment. Eiser reached out, his long fingers wrapping tightly around the grip of the handgun, feeling its heavy weight in his palm.
"Yeah. Somehow-" Eiser murmured, his blue eyes sharp and calculating as the steel reflected the room's soft light. I have a bad feeling about it.
Miles away from Atiazen, rain beat relentlessly against the tall glass windowpane of a dark room, the sound drowning out the silence of the night (shaaaaa...).
Standing quietly in front of the storm, the mysterious, long-haired woman gazed into the dark rain, her thoughts drifting across the distance.
diah pov:
It's a fortunate thing.
I stand quietly by the tall glass window, watching the rain pour relentlessly against the pane. The cool blue darkness of the room enfolds me, matching the heavy stillness in my heart.
Across the distance, life moves on for everyone else. The gloomy girl who once lived confined to her room has now become the proud master of a household. The boy who only wished to escape from that house is forging his own new name. And Frederick, who was bound so tightly to the past, will also gradually reclaim his freedom now.
But me... how can I remain so unchanged?
I think of Serena standing brightly beside Eiser in the light, moving forward into their future. I think of Victor, lost in his own dark pursuits. While time transforms everyone around me, I feel stranded in this quiet shadow-losing direction, simply continuing an empty life.
I don't even know how long it's been since Victor vanished, or since he stopped coming to see me. Reaching out with a slender hand, I let my fingers rest against the heavy glass of liquor on the table. The sound of a soft tak echoes through the quiet room as I pick it up, turning my back to the rain once more.
I lift the glass to my lips, letting the sharp burn of the alcohol settle in my chest as I gaze blankly into the blue-hued darkness of the room.
Perhaps he is already dead. Whether he took his own life or was done in by someone.
A weary sigh escapes me (haa...). There is simply no way this would be happening unless Victor died. No matter what happened in the past-no matter how bitter or twisted things became-he always ended up coming to find me in the end.
I tilt my head back slightly, a faint, cynical smirk forming on my lips.
...Right. If so, that's a good thing. If you died without me soiling my hands, then my wish that I've hoped for my whole life would finally be fulfilled, after all. Then now, an end will come for me too, wouldn't it? Right, Victor?
My mind involuntarily strays back to the days of our youth. I remember sitting beside him in the quiet corridor, carefully bandaging his bruised and scarred hands after another brutal struggle. He had looked at me with those intense, dark eyes, bound to the same inescapable weight of our names.
If the Grayan family ends, De Laurent won't be safe either, after all. We always shared the same destiny, didn't we?
I stare out at the rain washing over the window, but inside, a strange emptiness settles over me.
But it's really strange. Why do I... not feel even a tiny bit liberated?
I clench my jaw as the realization slowly dawns upon me in the dim blue light. What I lost long ago, what I wanted to reclaim so badly was definitely not freedom. So at least when Victor vanished, I thought this long pain, at least, would come to an end.
That something I lost long ago... what on earth was it?
A sudden tremor runs through my hand. My fingers lose their grip (slip...), and the heavy tumbler slips right through my fingers.
CRASH! (jjang-grang!)
The glass shatters violently upon impact against the floor, splashing amber liquor and sharp crystalline shards all around the hem of my robe. I stand frozen over the mess, staring blankly down at the broken pieces with hollow, sorrowful eyes.
What on earth should I be feeling right now, should I be sad?
I look down at the shattered glass spilling amber liquor across the floor, my mind drowning in questions I cannot answer.
Should I hope you are alive, or hope you are dead? Should I keep waiting for you like this, or forget you forever?
Now I don't even know... what I want. It feels as though I am plunging into an endless, bottomless abyss where my entire body shatters, even at this moment trapped in a darkness where I cannot distinguish front from back.
Suddenly, a soft click (dal-kak) echoes through the quiet room. The heavy double doors creak open, spilling a warm beam of hallway light across the cold, blue-lit floor. A polished leather shoe steps into the room.
I lower my head slightly, my heart sinking into my chest as I recognize the looming shadow. Standing in the doorway, framed by the dim light, is Victor-his sharp, piercing eyes fixed on me, the scar on his lips catching the faint glow.
Why am I still... unable to escape from you, Victor?
As the warm light from the open doorway cuts through the dark blue gloom of my room, I slowly turn my gaze toward him.
Half of my face remains bathed in the cold, rain-streaked darkness, while his sudden presence casts a warm, golden glimmer into one of my eyes.
I offer no words or dramatic reaction-only a solemn, unreadable expression as I look straight into his dark eyes. The long blonde strands of my hair fall quietly around my shoulders, catching the faint glint of light as the heavy silence stretches between us, confirming that despite everything, the shadow of Victor Grayan has returned.
DUSTIN GRAYAN PERSONALLY HANDWRITTEN ALL OF HIS RECORDS. HE WAS ALSO AN EXCEPTIONALLY SKILLED CALLIGRAPHER, WITH A HANDWRITING STYLE THAT WAS UNIQUELY HIS OWN.
더스틴 그레이언은 자신의 모든 기록을 직접 손으로 썼습니다. 그는 또한 매우 뛰어난 서예가였으며, 독특한 필체를 가지고 있었습니다