Chapter 23
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 23
As a wan, pale light began to pool through the window, Oscar washed up with cold water. He gave his hair a rough towel-dry and was pulling on a crisp, freshly ironed shirt when the Wolves, ready to depart, began to gather one by one. Among them was Abel Sting, dressed sharply enough to grace a stage.
Soon, the early light stretched deep into the room.
Simon, who was coordinating the final details of the operation with Oscar and the other agents, pointed to the woman’s room and ordered someone to wake her. Oscar’s gaze, which had been fixed on the map spread across the large table, followed the agent’s back as he walked toward her door.
As the agent’s sturdy form moved away, the scene, which had seemed like a static backdrop, began to stir. The man stopped. From the slightly ajar door, a woman who looked utterly out of place slipped out.
Not only Oscar’s eyes, but the eyes of everyone in the room turned to her.
The woman, dressed in a beige trench coat, held a suitcase in both hands. Her gaze, uncertain as a hand fumbling beneath the water’s surface, swept over the Wolves stationed around the room before finally landing on him. She lowered her head.
Oscar forced his eyes back to the map on the desk.
“This should be sufficient.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
It was time. There was no reason to linger here any longer. Oscar picked up the jacket slung over a chair and walked toward the woman. He could feel Abel, who had been on standby, immediately fall in step behind him.
The woman, her face clear in the dawn light, bowed her head again.
“Good morning.”
Oscar stopped a few paces from her, gestured to Abel at his side, and spoke.
“We’ll have breakfast on the train. We should arrive in Luxen around noon.”
As he finished speaking, Abel stood right beside him. He saw her gaze, which had seemed submerged in thought, shift to Abel. Oscar smiled at her.
“From now on, he will accompany you wherever you go.”
In his wide field of vision, he saw Abel flash a charming smile. Oscar walked between the two of them, and the waiting Wolves opened the suite door for him. In that instant, Abel Sting’s operation began.
“Good morning.”
A voice that would make any man turn his head sounded from behind.
“Hello.”
“My name is Abel Sting. Please, feel free to call me Abel.”
“Yes. I will.”
“Shall we go, then?”
“…No, it’s all right.”
“Please, allow me.”
The Wolves’ gazes secretly converged on the pair, drawn by the smooth voice of Reinhardt’s top Gold Digger and their peculiar exchange. Among them was Oscar, the one who had given the order. While putting on his jacket, he glanced back and watched his subordinate extend a hand to the naive Outsider like a savior, a smile playing on his lips.
Seeing the two of them together, he figured he wouldn’t have to wait a month—he’d probably hear they’d slept together in two weeks.
But in the next moment, Oscar had to clench his jaw to keep from bursting into laughter.
“Then…”
The woman, who he expected would gently place her hand on Abel’s, instead hesitantly placed the handle of her suitcase into his outstretched palm.
“Thank you.”
Then, before Abel could react, she bowed her head in thanks, turned, and started walking toward Oscar. She consistently acted in ways he never anticipated.
The look on the face of the top Gold Digger, who had just been demoted to a porter, was a sight to behold.
While everyone but Simon clenched their jaws to keep from laughing, Abel flexed his now-empty hand a few times before shrugging. He then shot his amused master a relaxed expression, as if to say, Don’t worry.
Oscar looked at the woman standing demurely a few steps behind him. Surrounded by men as large as mountain ranges, she seemed exceptionally small. He caught a glimpse of her profile and the red ribbon adorning the ends of her hair. The unfamiliar always draws the eye, and the ornament was as eye-catching as its owner.
Oscar silently turned forward and started walking. The doors opened in time with his steps, and as he strode forward without hesitation, he heard the faint sound of footsteps following him.
Starting today, Abel would submit reports on the woman’s every move. Soon, those reports would detail how she was falling for him. After all, every report he had ever received from Abel had followed that pattern.
What will the woman in the report be like?
The light question wrapped around Oscar like cigarette smoke before dissipating with a sting.
* * *
The Reinhardt Wolves had their origins as a border army, so a closer look at the organization revealed a structure much like a military special operations unit.
Combat, search, intelligence, transport—each unit was built around its members’ specialties and moved as part of an organic whole. Beneath each of these units were even more finely divided teams.
The Intelligence Unit, for example, was diverse, ranging from a geographic information team that scouted terrain and enemy building layouts in advance, to a Spy Team whose main mission was to infiltrate deep into enemy territory and live among them.
And under that Spy Team…
“Young Lady.”
…were the Gold Diggers.
Seo-ah, who had been watching the scenery fly by the window, turned her head at the sound of a handsome voice from across the aisle. The first thing she saw was a flash of brilliant gold.
Abel happened to be sitting where the sunlight streamed in, causing his hair to glitter like spun gold.
Perhaps because of Oscar’s order that he always accompany her, he hadn’t left her side since they’d boarded the train, unlike the other men who were gathered in small groups, talking amongst themselves. Moreover, it seemed the role of an escort also included that of an attendant, as he kept offering her one thing after another.
“Aren’t you warm?”
“…”
“Why don’t you take off your coat? We still have a while before we arrive.”
Meanwhile, the Wolves watching from a distance let out sighs of admiration at the sight of Abel Sting, who looked as if he were bathed in a spotlight. The sunlight reflecting off his blond hair even seemed to brighten his surroundings.
“He sat there on purpose.”
“Look at that bastard, making his job look easy.”
“Senior, shouldn’t he be paid less for that? It’s not fair that we’re out here shedding blood while that bastard gets the same treatment for just flashing his pretty face in the sun.”
At the Wolves’ complaints, Simon maintained his cold expression and retorted.
“Then you try it.”
“Ah, that’s a bit much for me. How could I ever copy that smarmy look on his face?”
“Exactly.”
That’s his talent, Simon’s merciless reply implied.
The Wolves’ eyebrows twitched, but they just shrugged. Then, as if by agreement, they all turned their heads back toward the Outsider and the Gold Digger.
Oscar, leaning against the train wall and reviewing documents Simon had handed him, also glanced at them. Seeing his subordinate diligently at work, he had a thought similar to the Wolves’.
He didn’t even need to see her face—just her back was enough to guess her expression. That’s how dazzling Abel Sting looked, bathed in sunlight. Just as Oscar was thinking he might be able to open the vault sooner than expected and was turning his eyes back to his papers, Abel Sting smiled.
Abel, wearing a silk shirt no less expensive than Oscar’s, had deliberately left several buttons undone, revealing a glimpse of his firm, well-built chest. He had also rolled up his sleeves, revealing the powerful lines of his forearms. And in that state, he was focused solely on the woman across from him.
It was a scene that made it instantly clear how Abel Sting secured his targets in so little time.
Abel put on the unique expression he’d used to seduce a certain countess within a day of meeting her. He let his bright smile fade, the intensity draining from his eyes to be replaced by a look of utter captivation.
The countess, who’d claimed to love her husband so dearly, had blushed deeper and deeper, flustered by the way he looked at her as if he were completely bewitched. Eventually, she had asked him why he was looking at her that way.
It wasn’t just the countess. Ten out of ten of Abel’s targets asked the same question.
‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
And that was the end of it.
The haughty, the depressed who had lost their joy for life, those who passionately loved another—they all fell after that one question.
Abel, who knew all too well how he looked in the sunlight and the power of his adoring gaze, saw the sun pouring down on him and thought, This is it.
His plan was simple: call to her gently to get her attention, show her his sun-drenched reflection, and then gaze at her with eyes that promised love at first sight…
“Should I draw the curtain for you?”
“…?”
Seo-ah squinted against the glare and pointed to the curtain.
“You look warmer than I do.”
She had been bothered by the way Abel, who had shed his jacket the moment they boarded, kept undoing his shirt buttons one by one. A few more, and his entire torso would be exposed. It was awkward not knowing where to look, but since no one else said anything and he seemed so confident, she found it difficult to ask him to button up. She even wondered if going around half-undressed was the norm here.
In any case, he must have unbuttoned his shirt because he was hot. She figured if she blocked the sun and lowered the temperature, he might button it back up.
“The sun is a bit bright for my eyes, too…”
“…”
“I’ll just close the curtain, then.”
Seo-ah grabbed the edge of the curtain and pulled it shut. Then, glancing at Abel, she meticulously plunged him into shadow.
Shk, shk-shk, shk.
As Abel’s magnificent, sunlit form was plunged into darkness by Seo-ah’s deft fingertips, the watching Wolves collectively clenched their jaws or shut their eyes, trying as one to stifle their laughter.