Lucy's Delusion
Lucy's Delusion
Daniel had left his office to meet the Security Bureau chief.
"......."
Lucy set down her documents and stared vacantly at the door Daniel had left through.
Lucy, who had been staring at the door with an unsettled gaze, shook her head.
She thought it best to set aside strange thoughts for now and focus on her primary duties.
Thus, Lucy picked up the documents and began her review, but she soon had no choice but to stop.
Because she couldn't concentrate at all.
It went beyond a lack of concentration—her mind was filled entirely with thoughts of Daniel Steiner.
'He's definitely under suspicion from the Security Bureau chief.......'
Lucy knew vaguely.
That it wasn't the Security Bureau that had wiped out the Palentia branch, but Daniel.
Since it was also Daniel Steiner who had attacked and uprooted the prince's secret organization in the past.
It was clear that he had smashed the Palentia branch in a similar manner this time as well.
Then what was the reason?
To Lucy, Daniel's attack on the Palentia branch seemed like wielding a double-edged sword.
If successful, he could cleanly root out the Allied Nations' spies from within the imperial capital, but the moment he failed, Daniel would lose his own private organization and, naturally, become the top assassination target of the spies.
Why on earth did Daniel risk such danger to attack the Palentia branch?
After deliberating over and over, Lucy came to one conjecture.
'......Could it be, because of me?'
This wasn't a baseless assumption.
Daniel knew that Lucy was from the experimental subjects.
'I don't know if he felt pity or sympathy from that fact.......'
In Lucy's eyes, Daniel was exceptionally kind to her.
Because he frequently took her to dessert shops and bought her all sorts of food.
On top of that, when the Security Bureau police barged in, he took the lead and defended her.
'Even though he knew I was a subject and a spy for the Allied Nations, Daniel always took care of me.'
There would be nothing to gain from treating her well.
Even knowing that such actions endangered him, Daniel didn't stop.
'If Daniel moved to protect me this time as well.......'
Then all these incidents became perfectly understandable.
From Daniel's standpoint, eliminating the Palentia branch would have been seen as more conducive to protecting Lucy.
In reality, Daniel had simply eaten a meal at a shop called Beer Heaven, knowing nothing, but Lucy had no way of knowing that.
And she had every reason to think so. Daniel was a person so deeply versed in intelligence work that not only did he run a private organization, but he also knew his own adjutant was from the experimental subjects.
Moreover, hadn't he recently turned a newspaper company into a government mouthpiece and formed a strange collusion with a religion?
It didn't seem likely that such a person would be ignorant about the Palentia branch.
If he had investigated the Palentia branch, he would also know that Lucy had turned her back on the branch after fighting them.
'......So he put it into action.'
To protect his adjutant.
As her thoughts reached that point, a sense of guilt seeped into Lucy's heart.
Her mind grew uneasy, thinking she had received help from Daniel yet again.
'I couldn't do anything for him.......'
Daniel went about his work silently, as if it was no big deal.
Even though he must have known it wasn't right to help a spy of the Allied Nations, adjutant or not.
At the attitude Daniel showed—one that could almost be called devoted—Lucy felt a pang in her heart.
'I want to repay the favor. Somehow.......'
She wanted to give Daniel Steiner more than what she had received so far.
Not just making him dessert or beet soup, but she wanted to be of practical help.
However, in the current situation, she had no idea how she could be of help to Daniel.
She thought about running away before causing Daniel more trouble than she already had, but soon shook her head.
Because she thought that disappearing on her own after receiving his kindness would be the same as betraying Daniel's efforts.
Then how could she be of help to Daniel?
Lucy, who had been racking her brain while neglecting her work, soon let out a low sigh.
'I don't know.'
She truly had no idea.
The information Lucy knew about Daniel outside of work was nothing more than that he liked desserts and was more mischievous than one would think.
'I can't tell what else he wants.......'
Lucy, continuing her thought, suddenly stopped short.
Now that she thought about it, there was one more piece of information she knew about Daniel.
'Kelly.'
The woman Daniel had been separated from by death.
If she could find out what that woman looked like, couldn't she dress up similarly?
Lucy, having entertained a somewhat unseemly thought, shook her head.
'No. He might dislike it instead.......'
He might think it's better to leave the past in the past.
Keueung─
A headache began to creep in for no reason, making her brow furrow.
Uncharacteristically tapping her desk, Lucy threw a glance at Daniel's seat.
'The coat.......'
The officer's coat Daniel always wore was draped over his chair.
Thinking that a photo of Kelly was in the inside pocket of that coat made her heart restless.
'I want to see it.'
She wanted to know what kind of woman had stolen Daniel's heart.
'But.......'
Thinking that Daniel would hate it, she couldn't bring herself to actually do it.
'Let's not. I shouldn't.'
Lucy, who had internally chanted the word 'patience,' grabbed her documents to return to work.
But her attention kept drifting toward Daniel's coat.
Her gaze kept moving to the coat as if drawn by a magnet.
Even when she squeezed her eyes shut to snap out of it, the photo that must be inside the coat flickered in her mind.
Lucy, thinking she simply couldn't stand it any longer, slowly rose from her seat.
'Just a little peek. Just a little peek will be fine.......'
Having made an absurd vow, Lucy walked toward the coat Daniel had taken off.
She hesitated for a moment in front of the coat, but eventually, Lucy reached into the inside pocket and pulled out a photo.
But there was no woman who looked like Kelly.
Because what Lucy had pulled out was a photo of Daniel smiling while surrounded by children from the orphanage.
It was a photo she had seen before.
Lucy's eyes, fixed blankly on the photo, became half-lidded.
It was an unknown emotion.
The tightly wound string of her rationality stretched long, and impulsive thoughts rose in her mind.
Also, fragments of feeling, somewhat melancholy and lukewarm, crashed over her all at once.
The cause was Daniel's kindness visible in the photo.
Strangely enough, Lucy was feeling jealous of Daniel's kindness.
'Daniel is a good person. So.......'
Even if she weren't Lucy Emilia, Daniel would have helped his adjutant.
Because the one Daniel was risking his life to help wasn't 'Lucy Emilia' but 'a pitiful woman from the experimental subjects.'
It was clear that even if someone else were in this position, Daniel would have shown the exact same response.
'Even when I met him in disguise at the park the other day.......'
Even though she must have been a woman he was seeing for the first time from Daniel's perspective, he took the lead and escorted her.
Not only did he speak to her more familiarly than usual, but he also told her inner thoughts that he hadn't revealed to her, his adjutant.
Quite ironically, Daniel had revealed his inner thoughts more easily to a person he met for the first time at the park than to Lucy, his adjutant whom he had known for nearly a year.
Lucy didn't like that.
She hated that Daniel was 'a person who is kind to everyone.'
Because she didn't want to accept that to Daniel, she might be nothing more than one among countless people.
Letting out a low sigh, Lucy put the photo back into the inside pocket.
But then she stopped short at a strange scent wafting from the coat.
It was a faint soap scent, slightly permeated with sweat.
The clean yet gentle smell was stirring her once low spirits back up.
As if entranced, Lucy bent down and smelled the scent.
'A nice smell.......'
It was similar to the scent she had noticed when she hugged Daniel in her quarters in the past.
Lucy, who had been savoring the fragrance with her eyes closed, flinched in surprise and opened her eyes wide.
Because she felt ashamed of her instinctive actions, whether consciously or not.
Her face reddening for no reason, Lucy cleared her throat and straightened up.
However, her gaze remained fixed on Daniel's coat.
It wasn't because she wanted to smell it again; she was recalling the photo inside Daniel's coat.
Because she thought it would be nice if her own image was added to the photos Daniel always carried around.
'I hate being remembered as just an ordinary person.......'
Lucy's eyes narrowed gently as she raised her hand and softly caressed the shoulder of the coat.
'But how can I.......'
How could she make Daniel see her as someone special?
Going further, she wanted to become someone precious to him.
Lucy, who had been lost in contemplation with such worries for a while, wore an awkward smile.
'Liking someone alone.......'
She realized it wasn't as pleasant a thing as she had thought.