Around the break of dawn.

 

Liliana slowly pushed her heavy eyelids open, waking from sleep as if entranced.

 

The surroundings were submerged in pale bluish twilight, so even with her eyes open, everything still felt hazy like a dream.

 

Perhaps because the surrounding scenery was completely unfamiliar.

 

Slowly sitting up, she quietly looked down beside her.

 

As if to prove that this wasn’t a dream, the man who had been with her until the very moment she closed her eyes was now fast asleep, face buried in the pillow.

 

As she gazed at the hair spilling over him and the glimpse of his profile visible through the strands, a sudden sharp ache bloomed in her chest.

 

For some reason, tears surged up to her throat, and she could no longer bear to look at him.

 

“Mm…”

 

She deliberately turned her head away sharply and bit her lip, but the hot emotion welling up inside refused to subside.

 

In the end, Liliana picked up Theodoro’s robe that had fallen to the floor, slipped it on, and fled the bedroom as if running away.

 

The lights were off inside the container, wrapped in complete silence.

 

They weren’t the only ones who had spent a night of pleasure, so even the dazzling lights of Demercy visible through the panoramic window seemed to have finally exhausted their life.

 

One by one, the neon signs went dark, and the city sank back into its original dull, ashen hue.

 

With a face on the verge of tears, Liliana stood before the glass window, staring at the reality left behind once the magic had faded.

 

Now, she could no longer pretend not to know the most honest feeling she had tried so hard to ignore.

 

Even though she’d had plenty of chances to refuse, she had once again spent the night with him.

 

This could no longer be called a one-night impulse, or a mere mistake.

 

‘I have to… admit it.’

 

Yes, she had to admit it.

 

That at some point, she had begun to see Theodoro as a man of reason, and that the feelings she held for him had grown far beyond simple fondness.

 

That was why, two weeks ago on that day, and yesterday too, she had willingly given her body to him.

 

Besides, that must be why she had been so wary of Judith, and why she had been completely out of it all day just from hearing the news that Theodoro was returning to Demercy.

 

Her pupils rippled deeply, matching the waves of the river she was gazing at.

 

If only the heart could be folded like a piece of paper. She knew it couldn’t. 

 

Even if she resolved to hate him, she knew she couldn’t suddenly start hating Theodoro from tomorrow onward. She knew exactly what kind of person he was. 

 

What he had done to her, and to Wayne… 

 

Despite knowing everything, her heart had still flowed toward him. There was no way she could easily turn it back.

 

In the end, tears must have spread, because her vision blurred hazily. Liliana roughly wiped the moisture away with the sleeve of her robe and forced strength into the corners of her eyes.

 

No, no. Don’t have weak thoughts.

 

She needed to distance herself even now. They had already spent two nights together, and during those nights they had shared their bodies countless times, but even so—even now.

 

There’s a saying that the moment you think it’s too late is actually the earliest. 

 

If she deliberately acted cold while ignoring his obvious sincerity, if she kept pushing him away like that… maybe her heart could be set right again.

 

Because the feelings probably weren’t that deep yet. Because this could never be ‘love‘ that would surpass what she felt for Wayne.

 

Yeah… that’s how it will be.

 

Liliana repeated it to herself like brainwashing, over and over. That she could definitely fix it. That she could cleanly sort everything out.

 

“…Liliana.”

 

“…!”

 

A sudden voice slipped through the gap in her thoughts, shattering the composure she had barely regained.

 

She turned around stiffly. At some point, the owner of the voice had lit a cigarette and was walking toward her.

 

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

 

“Ah, um… I just… couldn’t fall asleep.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Her heart tightened under the gaze that seemed to size her up. 

 

Afraid he might somehow see through all the thoughts she’d just been having, Liliana hurriedly turned her head to avoid his eyes.

 

“…Go inside and… sleep. You don’t have to worry about me.”

 

“…”

 

She had tried to sound cold, in her own way. But Theodoro didn’t even acknowledge it. He simply took a step closer and stood right in front of her. 

 

The persistent stare pouring down on the crown of her head made sweat pool in her palms.

 

“…Really, there’s no need to worry—”

 

“Liliana.”

 

“…Yes?”

 

“Look at me.”

 

She knew that if she wanted to avoid unnecessary suspicion, she should meet his eyes as if nothing was wrong… But she lacked the courage, so she could only bite her lip helplessly.

 

Theodoro reached out and lifted the tip of her chin. Her head was raised almost forcibly. When their gazes finally met, her heart plummeted with a heavy thud.

 

This was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to look at him. 

 

Because the moment she met those endlessly deep eyes, she felt like she would forget everything—her duty, her resolve, everything—and drown inside them.

 

As expected, the determination she had barely managed to gather scattered into the air as if her efforts had been meaningless.

 

“Ah…”

 

Theodoro simply gazed quietly into her wavering green eyes.

 

Right after they had shared a bed, what on earth had she been thinking about? What was she worrying over?

 

Even though he had every reason to ask, he didn’t question her at all.

 

When he finally spoke after a long silence, the words he offered were only three.

 

“Just do whatever your heart wants. Don’t think too deeply. I’ll do the same.”

 

Perhaps the very words she had most wanted to hear. Even if she couldn’t dare follow her heart, they were the words she had secretly longed for.

 

A hot rush surged to the corners of her eyes, and in the end, Liliana closed her eyelids.

 

If only I could do whatever my heart wanted too… how nice that would be—the reply she swallowed back deep inside her chest.

 

💫

 

The next afternoon. 

 

A meeting was in full swing in Theodoro’s office.

 

No, to be precise, it was more like a one-sided report. 

 

While Theodoro had been away in Pelfsro, Silvano—who had been tasked with keeping an eye on things here—had simply been rattling off everything that had happened in the meantime.

 

There hadn’t been any particularly noteworthy news, so Theodoro didn’t even lift his eyes from the towering stack of documents on his desk, offering only occasional grunts of acknowledgment. 

 

Paul, likewise buried in paperwork, was impossible to tell whether he was even listening.

 

After several dozen minutes of this one-man show that was finally nearing its end—Theodoro, who had only been responding with things like “Mm,” “And?” or “But,” finally spoke in something close to a full sentence.

 

“Anything else unusual?”

 

“Not really.”

 

Silvano, replying in a listless tone, suddenly let out an exclamation as if something had just occurred to him.

 

“Ah, there was one thing.”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s not exactly unusual, but… Lily went to take tango lessons. Did you already know?”

 

Only then did Theodoro, who had been staring down at the papers, lift his head. 

 

Although he spoke with Liliana on the phone once or twice a day, he had never once heard anything about her going to tango classes…

 

His thick, dark eyebrows—reflecting his mood—slowly began to rise.

 

“…Tango? Again?”

 

“Oh dear, looks like you didn’t know.”

 

“Haa…”

 

Theodoro rubbed his face in a weary gesture and muttered, barely audible.

 

“I thought I warned her enough…”

 

There was no way Liliana didn’t know that he minded the tango instructor. He hadn’t mentioned that guy just once or twice. 

 

He had thought that if she had any sense, she wouldn’t go to the lessons—but she went behind his back.

 

If she had at least mentioned it, he wouldn’t have been this angry. 

 

But even when he asked about her day, Liliana had completely left out any mention of tango. It almost made it seem like she was doing something she shouldn’t be caught doing.

 

Theodoro’s lips twisted into a savage sneer.

 

After all, he had only allowed the tango lessons in the first place for the sole purpose of building a connection with the John Bruno couple… and now John Bruno had been completely won over. 

 

There was no longer any reason for Liliana to keep attending those classes.

 

If tango is that much fun for you…

 

Then all he had to do was assign a more trustworthy instructor—one who wasn’t that guy.

 

“Paul.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Take care of it. Have the boys handle it or whatever.”

 

At the curt and chilling order, Paul’s hand—mid-signature on a document—faltered. Whether he had been listening to the entire exchange or not, his response came quickly.

 

“You mean to kill him?”

 

“What the…”

 

Theodoro frowned and added carelessly,

 

“Why would I kill a mere tango instructor? Just make sure that bastard disappears from Demercy without a single hair left behind. Roughly.”

 

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

 

From the side, Silvano snickered something about how scary he was, but the man himself remained calm and expressionless.

 

Theodoro had never once considered himself a good person. 

 

There was no need to bother refuting it.

 

If Liliana were to learn about this whole situation and shudder in horror, then too bad. This was his true nature, and it was simply part of doing things ‘however his heart desired,’ just as he had said.

 

In any case, none of the three of them took the matter seriously. 

 

As Theodoro had put it, the other party was nothing more than a tango instructor—a trivial task equivalent to sending some organization men to chase away a single little rat.

 

None of them realized that this was the act of opening Pandora’s box.

 

“Anyway, Silvano, let’s move on from that. How are preparations on the Lombardi side going? There’s less than a week left now.”

 

For them, the far more pressing issue was the assassination of President Findel, which was now right around the corner.

 

💫

 

One day before the operation.

 

Near the Demercy Chamber docks. In the area known as the lawless zone of outlaws, thunderous gunfire rang out again today.

 

It wasn’t anything new—one or two days of this—so the gang members puffing away on cigarettes didn’t even pay attention anymore…

 

But inside the wide warehouse where the gunshots were erupting, it wasn’t some ordinary gang brawl. It was the final firearms test being conducted in preparation for tomorrow’s hit.

 

Most of the gear had already been loaded into the cars. 

 

As soon as everyone finished checking their personal weapons, the hit teams were scheduled to move out to the target location—Camptonsi.

 

“What about Bucio’s side? What did they say?”

 

“They’re joining up in Gallas.”

 

And in one corner of the warehouse, Carmine and Theodoro were talking while watching the hitmen. Liliana was there with them.

 

Bang!

 

Another shot rang out, and she flinched, shoulders hunching. 

 

You’d think she’d be used to it by now after hearing it so much. But the brutal sound of gunfire slamming into her eardrums refused to become familiar; her startled heart felt like it was going to give out.

 

“…So on our side…”

 

Suddenly, a large hand wrapped around her shoulder. 

 

Liliana turned her head to the side. There was no need to check—it was Theodoro, speaking to Carmine.

 

His gaze seemed fixed in that direction, yet somehow he had noticed her at just the right moment.

 

Bang!

 

At the sound of another shot, the hand gripping her shoulder tightened with firm strength. Then his thumb gently stroked her skin in a touch that was surprisingly tender, enough to make heat rise to her ears.

 

Liliana bit down on the inside of her mouth and lowered her head.

 

Her resolve not to care was shattered so easily, every single time, by even the smallest of his actions.

 

“Let’s go outside and grab some coffee.”

 

He murmured to Carmine with a casual tone, guiding him toward the exit. The quiet way he pulled her shoulder along with him.

 

There was no way she could pretend not to notice.