Kiries, the boss of the criminal organization Anatolia, was a well-reserved man with silver eyes. He had the ability to quickly capture any poor person in just a swift motion. He was as elegant and as regal as a horse.

Everyone coveted him, but at the same time, he was dangerous, so no one confronted him.

“Look at me.”

As soon as she avoided his gaze, because she thought she would be eaten if she was facing him directly, Kiries grabbed her chin roughly.

It sounded like a friendly voice, but it was fierce like a beast with sharp teeth.

Eclette clenched her fists and looked up at him. His red eyes stared into hers pitifully.

“Remove the lenses.”

At Kiries’ words, Eclette quickly removed her lenses. Seeing that she listened to him, Kiries smiled with satisfaction and slowly patted Eclette’s head.

“Be good.”

Eclette’s odd eyes were beautiful and fascinating at any time. A golden eye that glowed as if it was holding the moon and a purple eye that felt strange but mysterious. Two different colored eyes. Others thought it was unusual, Kiries thought it was special.

His hand, which lightly touched just below Eclette’s eyes, slowly went down to her cheek. Her thin pale skin that rubbed against the back of his hands were fine and smooth like silk.

‘Forever mine.’

He thought that she was the only one who was more lovable than anyone else, so his heart overflowed with remorse.

But it was heartbreaking to hear that she had not been able to carry out her duties as expected.

“So you failed the mission?”

It was a friendly tone, but it gave off a cool air.

Eclette trembled at Kiries’ words.

“There was a man that wasn’t the Marquis of Kimberly.”

A man with blue eyes contrasting with his red hair.

“You think I didn’t expect that? “

“Y-Yes…!”**

(She hesitated and replied yes because she didn’t want to seem disrespectful to Kiries, so that it would look like Kiries knew everything.)

The big hand that stroked her cheek went to the back of her head and grabbed it roughly. In pain, she bit her lips to stop any sound from coming out.

Then Kiries touched her lips with his hand. It was incredibly gentle that it didn’t seem like the same one that held her hair roughly. As if touching something precious.

“If you bite so hard, you will bleed.”

Kiries always hated leaving marks on his subordinates. They were also included in not being able to inflict pain to themselves.

“I won’t…”

“Good.”

The eyes of Kiries, which fixated on her disheveled silver hair, shone coldly.

“Do it tomorrow.”

Kill him without hesitation tomorrow.

Eclette nodded while listening to the additional orders.

Then Kires smiled sweetly and gently stroked her hair. It was a hand that loved to pet the cat he cherished.  But the cat’s face was dark.

“What else happened?”

“……. .”

Eclette kept her mouth shut for a moment.

‘Should I say it? I think he knows it already…’

Eclette thought about it, but the hesitation did not last long. Anyway, he was like no human, and it would be over if the mission that failed today was completed tomorrow. So she decided not to talk.

“There was nothing.”

Contrary to her calm expression, it wasn’t the honest truth.

Kiries touched his chin and stared. Eclette deliberately held eye contact without avoiding him.

‘Please go on like this.’

My mouth was dry and my breath was rough.

His gaze aiming at her head seemed to read her mind.

It was only after a little time that Kiries moved on to another topic.

“Then shall we talk about the prize?”

“Yes..?”

“You’ve succeeded in this business, so I should give our golden girl a prize.”

Thanks to Eclette’s advice to work with Count Rashafell, Anatolia was able to attract a lot of money. Although it seemed like a charity project to save the poor, it was actually a drug deal called Nectar.

Nectar is a drug with an anesthetic effect that gives mental pleasure and relief which causes severe withdrawal symptoms when stopped, making it impossible to escape with just one touch.

“You don’t have to do that.”

The white hand on the table faintly trembled.

‘Is this supposed to be a prize?’

When she noticed her trembling, she tried to lower her hand under the table, but Kiries had already caught her.

“But tell me.”

“…….”

Kires ushered her to answer, trying to be as friendly as possible.

But Eclette’s mouth didn’t open so easily.

“Eclette.”

“… . ”

She couldn’t answer even though she heard her name being called.

He raised her like she was a stray cat he had taken from the streets. After being taken care of for 10 years, Raclette started to feel hurt when she couldn’t answer him.

**(Kiries’ Perspective)**

Even if you think you’ve tamed her, she will still try to run away. Every time I imagined it, it got on my nerves.

“You know I don’t like to ask twice.”

There was no way to hear it by speaking only once. One of the cat’s specialties was to be deceived when she wanted to listen well.

Again, at the moment I was thinking about what to do if she didn’t listen, Eclette answered quietly.

“I’ll think about it, I don’t think it’s good to mention it aloud.”

“…..”

To say that you don’t want the prize you receive was the same as saying that you don’t want anything.

So I was even more angry. How can I make that little child mine, who only thinks about running away if she can?

I wanted complete control of that cat that was slipping away from me like a grain of sand that I thought was in my hand.

****

Black and White. Silver and Gold. They were opposites yet they could also be great pairs together.

“Yes. Then be sure to think about it by tomorrow night.”

“I’ll be sure to think about it tomorrow.”

The leash came up to her nose and then vanished again.

Others think that Eclette was getting special treatment from Kiries. It was shameless if someone were to smile at Eclette, who seemed cold-hearted and cruel.

However, Eclette never thought that she would be given special treatment. Kiries was a very calculating and clever man.

There are good reasons for being nice, and entertainment is also valuable.

To Kiries, Eclette was just a high-value being.

After this conversation, Kiries took something he was holding in his arms and handed it to Eclette.

“And you and I have somewhere to go tomorrow.”

He gave her an envelope that was stamped with Count Rashafell’s seal. Eclette glanced at him as if asking if she could read it now, Kiries nodded lightly.

In a clean cut, the envelope opened. Plainly stated, Count Rashafell invited Eclette to a party.

“You mean you want to go to the party together?”

“I was told to bring a partner.”

“That means I’m participating as Master Kiries’ partner…”

“Kiries.”

“……”

“Just call me ‘Kiries.’”

To allow someone to call names without honor meant that they wanted to get closer. It also meant that they were treated specially.

Knowing that well, Eclette didn’t want to use his name without honor.

Eclette repeated Kiries’ name, unable to look at him without feeling pressure.

“Kiries….”

Kiries always got what he wanted by saying what people wanted to hear the most.  He was terrifying and afraid of no one, with a natural talent for reading and manipulating people’s hearts.

You don’t know when or how you’ll fly into his hand.

‘It’s suffocating.’

Once I replied, my saliva seemed to be making my throat feel uncomfortable.

Eclette struggled to open her mouth.

“So how are we doing this?”

“Since I will be attending the event with you, I will dress up as your sister.”

“Yes. Or would you prefer to be my date?”

“I’m fine.” (T/N: lmfao, she rejected him as being a date, ahaha) (PR/N: lol she’s doing her own kind of social distancing, hehe)

Shaking her head, Kiries rose from his seat. Before going, he lightly grabbed Eclette’s shoulder and put his lips close to her ear.

“Be quiet at the party.”

After whispering to little, Kiries’ went back to the Anatolia mansion first.

Eclette sat alone among the drunk and fallen people. She pushed the cooled cup to the side and poured liquor into the cup.

“I want to die….”

Holding her leash, Kiries used her to kill people whenever he could. It was not enough that he wanted her to be completely obedient to him.

‘When will the day come when I get out of that man’s hand?’

Her stomach became heavy and she started drinking at once. Eclette only felt the bitter taste and didn’t get drunk at all. She drank like a dehydrated person.

She desperately wanted to feel drunk and didn’t want to think about anything. But on the contrary, her mind became more focused and it only became more painful. She wanted to rely on the alcohol.

Everyday, Eclette did things differently from ordinary people. Because she mostly moved at night, she went to the orphanage during the day when there was no routine. First, she went into the toy store and bought a bunch of dolls and toys to give to the children as gifts. Walking with a gift was one of the joys of a dry life.

“Is the, is the teacher here?”

Upon arriving at the orphanage, a teacher named Mary greeted Eclette with a wide smile.

“Please give these to the children.”

With a soft smile, Eclette handed all the gifts she brought to Mary.

“I’m sure the children will like them.”

“I hope they do.”

“Of course they will! While you’re here, would you like to see the children’s faces?”

Mary asked, picking up the various items she received from Eclette. But Eclette shook her head.

“I’m tired today, so I think I will only go see the director’s face.”

“Then I will guide you to the director’s office.”

“It’s okay, I know where it is.”

“Then, I will tell the director that you have come.”

“Yes, please inform him.”

After leaving Mary, Eclette went to the director’s office and sat down on a chair, sighing deeply.

At first, it was a shabby orphanage. Eclette was told that the children were hungry because there was little money and no donations from the country. Nearly before closing, Eclette appeared and sponsored a huge donation. Because of it, the outside of the building was clean and children were no longer hungry.

‘Did I do the right thing?’

It certainly helped them. But it was dirty money earned from bad things.

Eclette would rather die than write checks for herself, so she wrote them for people who needed it.

Thanks to this, the orphanage was becoming a better environment. The children, who used to be dressed in sloppy clothes, have become neat and can now study. But,

‘It’s money at the expense of someone else’s blood.’

Eclette, sitting in a chair, looked down at her hands with a careless expression. They were white and neat, but they had the illusion that there was a lot of blood on them.

She got paranoid and smiled bitterly, and got up from her seat. She tried to go see the director, but she wasn’t in the mood for it anymore.

After leaving the orphanage silently, Eclette went to a classic dessert shop to soothe her mood. It was when she thought she should buy the strawberry shortcake and chocolate mousse cake that she always enjoyed.

‘Someone is watching.’

It was tenacious; an intense and dangerous gaze, like prey aiming for revenge. Eclette kept a constant pace and entered the dessert shop.

‘’Who is it?’

No one knows who Eclette is. She doesn’t know why she was being followed when she didn’t even do anything suspicious.

Eclette bought a piece of cake as usual and came out. The eyes were still on her, but now they felt so obvious that she became frustrated.

She had no idea whether she should pretend not to know or show concern.

She heard the sound of someone following her as she was wondering which action would make her seem more natural.

‘The cat’s out of the bag.’

Eclette took the dagger from her chest into her coat pocket. She was prepared to fight anytime and anywhere, and so she went into the alley as swiftly and easily as she could.

And the moment she turned the corner, she drove the man who was following her to the wall. Immediately she put the dagger against his neck.

“Where did you come from?”

In the bright daylight, the man’s face was not seen due to the hood covering his face. But somehow, Eclette felt a sense of dread.

The man took off the hood that covered his face. His hair red as a sunset and blue eyes resembling the color of the cold winter wind were revealed.

Apparently, the man who ruined her mission last night and was supposed to be out of her future was standing in front of Eclette.

“Hey.”

The voice sounded hoarse which didn’t match the casual greeting.