‘I’ll be right back.’

Hidden in the dark, Eclette raised her hand and looked down at her watch. The hour hand was pointing towards 9:55.

I tapped my wristwatch lightly. As soon as I thought it was time to come, the long-awaited target appeared.

‘9:57. That’s accurate.’

The dagger she had near her chest was hidden inside her sleeve so that she could take it out immediately. She approached his back slowly and carefully, so as not to cause a loud commotion.

The moment the target took a step to enter the mansion, she held a dagger against his neck.  The man, feeling the cold blade, stopped.

“Shh.”

She was going to slit his throat.

However, the situation did not go as expected. The moment she was about to slit his throat, the man grabbed the blade with his bare hand without hesitation. Surprised, Eclette, without knowing, loosened her grip on the knife and stepped back.

‘Why……?’

The plan was perfect.

At 9:57 tonight, the man was destined to die at her hands.

Eclette glanced at her watch.  The time was already 10 o’clock.

It was already time to kill the man, but she wasn’t able to.

“Welcome?”

The man thoughtlessly looked down at his cut palm and turned back.

It was a relaxed and drowsy voice for a person who was almost assassinated.

Red hair stood out through the hood. As soon as she saw the hair color, Eclette realized that the guy standing in front of her wasn’t her target.

‘Something went wrong……!’

She bit her lips slightly and looked around.

The assassination failed.

Before he can find out who she is, she must escape quickly from this place.

Eclette decided to move quickly on the escape route she had planned. It was at that moment when she stepped back to distance herself from the man.

A strong hand grabbed her wrist. She struggled in surprise, but only more strength went into the hand that held her wrist.

While struggling roughly, the man’s hood came off.

In the bleak darkness, cold eyes shone. The red hair protruding out of the hood caught her eye.

The man smiled faintly and slowly reached out. His fingertips touched her head.

“I waited.”

For a long time.

It was a deep and cool voice, as if it would swallow her up at any moment. She encountered blue eyes that flashed dangerously like a hound hunting for prey.

Eclette swung the dagger in her hand. Hurriedly, she stepped back and ran away without missing a beat.

She heard the sound of rapid running from behind her. Even if she didn’t look back, she could tell that the man was coming.

‘Why are you following me?’

Immediately, she climbed the wall.

It’s annoying that she couldn’t get rid of her target, and instead received a chase in the middle of the night.

Running through a labyrinth of alleys, she gritted her teeth violently.

The target was Marquis Kimberly, who was sponsoring the emperor.

‘But why was there someone else instead of the Marquis?’

It was all in vain whether she intentionally moved diligently even in the morning. Eclette checked Kiris’ schedule in advance, for fear of a possible mischance, and knew he was coming back to the mansion tonight at 9:57 p.m.

‘What changed the plan?’ Eclette, who found a dump, quickly hid herself in it. Immediately, a man’s harsh breathing was heard.

Slow but heavy steps echoed through the dump. Eclette curled up and covered her mouth with her hands.

Eclette’s heart was pounding because she thought she would be caught if he heard sounds of breathing.

‘Please get the hell away from here’

Eclette, hiding behind a closet made up of nothing but abandoned things, begged earnestly in her mind. She hoped he would pass by and never come back.

As the sound was coming closer to her, Eclette crouched more and more and more. When she stole a glance, she could see the back of the man searching around.

‘What if he comes all the way here?’ She gulped down and held her dagger tighter. She thought she’d stab him and run away.

‘But what if I fail?’

If she fails, it is best to run away without hesitation.

“I’m missing everything I see here.”

Right next to me, I could hear all the man’s words. Standing still, he suddenly kicked the trash can. As if that wasn’t enough, he trampled on it and threw it against the wall. ‘Isn’t that crazy?’

Eclette, watching him from behind, gulped down her saliva. At that moment, she heard footsteps coming her way.

‘Oh, please…!’

I begged and begged like a priest at church.

Soon the man banged his fist at the closet full of trash as if he couldn’t contain his anger. Leaning and breathing, Eclette could feel the echo around her. If she hadn’t been covering her mouth, a scream would have leaked out.

‘Go away, please!’

She prayed with the dagger in her hand.

Since she had never failed a mission, she was not prepared to decide what to do in a time like this. Running away would be the best option, but that madman was still hanging around and she couldn’t do that.

When Eclette was not seen, the man moved to another place. She lifted her head to the distant sounds of footsteps.

She could only feel relieved when she saw his back getting smaller.

“Ha… I thought I would be caught.” She could still feel her heart pounding in her ears. ‘That’s a relief. Things didn’t get too out of hand’

She put her hand on her chest and tried to calm herself down.

But she was also worried about how to report this for a while.

“I’m dead now…”

Eclette leaned against a wall. Her clothes were covered with dust, but it was not the time to care about it.

“What unfortunate timing.”

She was annoyed and swept her hair back.

The hood came undone and her silver grey locks of hair flowed over her shoulders. Eclette covered her face with her hands and wondered how to explain this situation.

‘It’s not the time for me to do this.’

First of all, she had to get out of here.

She opened a black bag disguised as a piece of trash. The hood she was wearing was hidden from view and she took out a brown wig and black lenses.

Eclette, wearing a detailed wig and lenses, looked around carefully.

‘There’s no one here, right?’

She looked at her clothes to see if they were weird. It was a simple knee-length dress. She looked like she was an ordinary passerby.

Eclette walked out of the alley as if nothing had happened.

‘If I tell the Disposal Team and the Cleaning Team what I left in the dump, they’ll get rid of it.’

All she has to do is safely go back to Anatolia.

Now she could go back in peace, however there’s still another problem left.

‘If I say I failed to assassinate him… it is the man’s law to reward success, and punish failures.’

Eclette bit her lips. The punishment was confirmed because the neck marker was not removed.

‘Let’s get back to work. If I’m late and don’t want to offend him, then I’ll get an even more severe punishment.’

As I walked fast, a languid voice that passed by whispered in her ear.

[Waiting.]

Her walking came to a halt. Eclette turned around. In the alley, she had a bad illusion that a shadow was watching her.

‘Did they wait?…what?’

‘Are you saying that you waited for me?’ The man with red hair was clearly seen in the deep night. The blue eyes that were looking at Eclette, were right before her eyes.

‘No way.’

It was a ridiculous delusion. Eclette shook her head hard because she thought it was ridiculous. ‘It’s not a big deal, is it?’

But somehow the back of my head stung. So Eclette kept going unknowingly.

Eclette, who was strolling around, did not kill the target, or she thought it was a good thing she couldn’t.

For this reason, she was doomed to be punished by her master.

My head was throbbing at the thought of being punished already. As I walked with a deep sigh, I arrived at the meeting place.

‘It’s already started. I could hear loud noises and bumping glasses from outside. As soon as Eclette entered, she took off her brown wig on her head.

‘You got the right place.’

It seemed like he rented a mansion, not a bar. The building, made of high-quality wood, was much more luxurious inside than on the outside. Eclette looked up at the colorful chandelier on the ceiling, with a bitter smile.

“Why are you so late?”

It was the moment that she was about to sit at a seat in the corner. Hugh, who found Eclette coming in, dragged her to the middle seat.

“I’m comfortable in that position…”

She didn’t really want to drink, she just wanted to sit on the blind side of her work.

As Eclette tried to go back, Hugh quickly put her in her seat.

“You’re the star of this drinking party. Can’t leave you out.”

Anatolia held a drinking party to celebrate the great success of the project with Count La Chapelle. Hugh, who sat next to her, poured a drink and handed it to Eclette.

“When will you enjoy it again? Hurry up and drink.”

The amber colored liquid shown over the clear glass.

It was useless to show that she didn’t want to drink. Eclette was forced to drink with a slight frown.

After drinking a glass or two, the scene of devastation unfolded before her eyes.

Before Eclette knew it, bottles of alcohol were lying on the floor and drunk people were snoring and asleep on top of it. Hugh, who was drinking with her, had long falled on the table.

“You can’t even drink.”

Bottles of alcohol rolled on the floor and a gentle but cool scent pierced her nose.

“I came back from work early. But is the company dinner over already?”

Unlike his expression of regret, she sat in an empty seat with an expression of discomfort.

Immediately, Eclette said

“Would you like another whiskey?”

“Is there any warm tea in this cold weather?”

“I’ll be right back.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Eclette went to the main room and began to boil water. While preparing the teacup, Eclette was still on duty.

She was worried about how to tell somebody about her failure.

Eclette was glad she didn’t kill the man. But she was afraid to think that she would be punished for being crafty.

“Drink and warm yourself up.”

When she put down her favorite hibiscus and her favorite chamomile in front of him, Eclette sounded envious.

“Thank you for the drink.”

“Yes.”

As if to answer quickly, she opened her mouth as she swallowed dry saliva.

“The mission failed.”

“What?”

“I failed.”

She felt her fingertips trembling, so Eclette squeezed the teacup. She couldn’t make eye contact, so she looked at her face reflected in the tea water.

My face, scared of being scolded, seemed clear.

“Look up.”

It was a gloomy voice that dropped her heart to the bottom. She couldn’t move her body as if it was frozen. She trembled like a rabbit lying under a ferocious beast.

But, with a careless expression, Kires grabbed Eclette’s chin roughly.

“Mr. Ki-Kires-.”

“Shall we have a serious conversation?”

Red eyes, darker than blood, shone more creepy than a blade.

“All of this business is built on four, Eclette.”

He said, sipping the hibiscus with a strong scent.

“I’m glad it helped.”

Eclette smiled gently.

However, when she noticed that something was a little uncomfortable, she asked as if he was questioning something.

“What’s going on?”

“Eclette.”

********