?? : Filming a Spy Thriller in a Ropan
?? : Filming a Spy Thriller in a Ropan
The first one to react was Emiline. At first, she was shocked that someone who had been a commoner was actually the son of a Count, but soon, a lingering doubt surfaced.
"A-Ah, no. So you're saying that the Edom Rivan from the Academy is... Count Iden-nim?"
The teacup in her hand trembled slightly. The tea rose to the very edge, barely managing to stay within the rim without overflowing.
"E-Ey. That's... that's impossible. The joke has gone too far."
Iden sat there without saying a word.
Vivienne lowered her eyes for a moment, then, feeling Emiline's gaze, she slowly nodded.
That single, tiny movement was the finishing blow.
"R-Really...?!"
Emiline gasped sharply. She leaned back so far that her back hit the chair's backrest.
"It's... it's really true...?!"
Her eyes scanned Iden. She took in everything—his vibrant hair and eyes, his sharpened jawline, and even his nape where a faint scar was visible.
"That Edom Rivan... looks like this?"
She muttered with a dazed expression.
"It's not just like he's wearing a different mask... he's a completely different person."
The Edom Rivan in Emiline's memory was a gloomy young man who followed Vivienne around like a shadow. He was the one who waited outside classroom doors, kept his gaze fixed from the end of the hallway, and gave a creepy smile whenever his name was called.
Yet, the man before her now didn't have a single trace of that person, no matter how hard she looked.
Setting down her teacup, Vivienne asked quietly. The desire of a seeker naturally bloomed within her.
"Just... what happened?"
Her fingertips slowly rubbed the handle of the teacup. Her question was calm, but it held layers of tangled emotions.
It was a feeling where curiosity and doubt were stacked upon each other.
Iden brought out the answer he had already prepared.
"I suddenly realized it."
He let his gaze drift out the window for a moment before turning back.
"What a pathetic and foolish fool I was."
His calm tone continued.
"Once I realized that, I could no longer stand in that mansion under the name of Rivan. So... I threw it all away."
Vivienne narrowed her eyes and stared at him.
Her voice dropped lower.
"Even so, how could you disappear overnight... there were all sorts of rumors that you were imprisoned by your family, or that you were murdered."
Her finger, touching the rim of the teacup, applied a bit of pressure.
Iden took a short breath.
"Once I made up my mind, I wanted to put it into action immediately."
He picked up a silver spoon from the table with his fingertips and stirred his tea. The metal made a very faint clinking sound.
"Even if I were to die, I wanted to die as a man, not as a weak noble brat. Not on a path someone else paved, but on a path I forged through my own choices."
Silence fell. The faces of the three women listening to a man's determined resolve were more serious than ever.
Emiline tilted her head cautiously.
"Then... did you detain Erica Riban-yeongae even after recognizing that she was your sister?"
Iden's gaze wavered for a split second.
"That is correct."
A short affirmation. Vivienne added to it.
"Actually... Erica-yeongae came to me and told me something."
She took a breath before adding.
"She said she gave flowers to Count Iden-nim."
Immediately after, the cup Erwin was holding hit the table with a tak.
"What?"
Her wariness flared up fiercely, but at Emiline's following words, she was forced to realize the truth.
"Huh? Sh-she confessed to her own biological brother?"
That Erica and Iden were blood relatives who could never be lovers.
Aha?
Erwin's misplaced wariness chuckled awkwardly and made its exit.
Iden swallowed a dry laugh. It was an absurd situation no matter how many times he heard it.
"I rejected her, but she kept approaching me."
Iden leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers.
"I was in the middle of a mission, and there was constant interference. It was difficult to judge whether her intentions were personal greed or if there was another purpose mixed in."
He lowered his gaze and added.
"So I simply detained her. Using my authority as the leader of the Special Task Force."
Emiline took a quiet breath.
Vivienne swirled her cup once more with her fingertip.
Erwin stared intently at Iden, then shook her head and downed her tea in one go.
She thought it was a huge relief that the first confession Iden received was from his own sister.
Emiline also scrutinized Iden before sipping her tea.
She still looked like she couldn't believe he was Edom Rivan, but it didn't matter.
It wasn't something to find fault with; rather, it was something to be celebrated.
Vivienne also scanned Iden before finally looking away.
The reason he changed, the catalyst that caused his transformation, remained an itch she couldn't quite scratch, but this was enough.
No, rather, she thought it was even cooler.
Usually, change requires a catalyst, but he seemed impressive for walking the path of transformation solely through his own realization without any such catalyst.
Silence settled in the room.
One person's past was stripped away, another's confession was twisted, and the name of a family hung in the air, all entangled.
The steam rising from the teacups slowly vanished.
**
The air on the final day of the exhibition was as calm as the first.
Iden stood a step away from the center of the exhibition hall, maintaining his guard while greeting the nobles. His dress uniform, adorned with subtle embroidery, was perfectly tidy, and his black-gloved hands were clasped behind his back. However, as usual, his consciousness was never fixed in one place.
Above the ceiling structures, inside the pillar decorations, beneath the canvas stands.
The Summoning Circles he had drawn himself were connected to his senses. The faint scent of residual mana, unnatural vibrations, and intentionally suppressed black energy. His nerves were spread thin so he could react instantly to even the slightest tremor.
Just then, a very low breath brushed past him.
"B1 Section clear."
The whisper was soft, but the content was as rigid as something out of a spy thriller.
Without moving his head, Iden confirmed her through the corner of his vision.
It wasn't the blonde, short-haired Erwin, but Vivienne with her vivid red hair.
Vivienne had her neat red hair half-pinned up and held a thin fan in her hand. Holding the blue-tinted fan, she looked like a graceful noble lady, but hidden within the hand gripping it was a black magic detector she had crafted herself.
The scene from the morning the second day of the exhibition began flashed through his mind.
《If the power Endermit deals with is black magic, it will be much easier if we have a detection device.》
Vivienne had brought a small device.
And instead of just handing it over, she declared she would help with the Special Task Force's mission, saying that since it was still a prototype, she had to handle it herself to manage the operating principles and minute errors.
Iden hesitated for a moment, but in a situation where he lacked 'trustworthy' surveillance personnel, there was no reason to refuse the offer.
Thus, Vivienne temporarily joined the Special Task Force, and just like the second day, she was scanning the exhibition hall zones with the small device hidden in the hand holding her fan.
"No abnormalities here either," Iden replied lowly.
Vivienne nodded, slightly folding her fan as she spoke again.
"Moving to B2 Section."
Then, as if nothing had happened, she slipped into the crowd like a spy in a thriller. Standing beside nobles admiring the paintings, she smiled and conversed, sometimes tilting her head as if examining a work, all while her fingertips constantly checked the detector's response.
Iden watched her back for a moment.
To think the original heroine of the story was ultimately performing the same mission by his side.
They say you never know how life will turn out, but seeing Vivienne, who went from a Ropan heroine to a field agent in a spy thriller, was somewhat amusing.
Vivienne Elindis, who should have been having sweet, lovey-dovey moments with the male lead Cale in a Ropan, was instead filming a spy thriller in the center of an exhibition hall, at an official event held under the Wintel family's announcement.
The hem of her dress brushed the floor as she moved, and her red hair glowed softly under the lights. Her boldness, taking risks without hesitation, was evident.
She was quite skilled and hardworking, so Iden didn't add anything further.
Instead, he expanded his senses again. The resonance circle vibrated minutely once and then stabilized. No threats were detected.
As the sun slowly set and the light coming through the windows began to turn from gold to a reddish hue, the exhibition prepared its final farewell. Emiline stood on the podium to give her thanks, and the applause lasted a long time. The paintings remained, but with today, this stage would come to an end.
With today, the tension of the Special Task Force would be released.
However, Iden surveyed the surroundings until the very end.
Now, only one thing remained.
It was time to wrap things up with Erica, who had been detained on charges of launching a confession attack on her own flesh and blood.
After asking Erwin and Vivienne to check for any remaining risks, he made his way along the outer corridor of the exhibition hall. The marble floor was quiet now that the daytime noise had drained away, and the wall sconces cast long, stretched shadows. Two soldiers were stationed in front of the secret room.
"Any special signs?"
"There were no abnormalities."
Iden nodded. He raised his hand and opened the door, the iron hinges letting out a low groan.
The air inside was stagnant, unlike the outside, and a single small lamp flickered dimly in the windowless room.
Erica Riban, who had been sitting on the sofa with tentacle shackles wrapped around her ankles, looked up.
The light brushed across her face at an angle.
The brilliant smile seen at the exhibition hall, the calculated gaze, and the haughty attitude had all vanished. Instead, faint shadows were cast under her eyes, and her blue hair flowed down her shoulders, unkempt. Her lips were dry, and her eyes stared into the distance as if they had lost focus.
Iden standing at the threshold, and Erica trapped inside the secret room.
The gazes of the two slowly met.