Inevitable Encounter
It was an early weekend morning, and the Dolores family mansion was enjoying a peaceful moment. Abriham sat savoring a cup of coffee while reading the weekly newspaper. Ashily Dolores, her eyes half-lidded, was spreading jam across a slice of toast. She moved with deliberate slowness, pausing now and then to yawn widely. The fatigue from attending a banquet that had run late into the previous night still clung to her.
Even so, the reason she rose at dawn was likely the ingrained discipline of a noble daughter, a habit formed in childhood. In truth, she could not recall much else, but that hardly mattered. She was, after all, the undisputed young lady of the Dolores family—one of Westania’s most prestigious houses. Enjoying her youth and eventually marrying into a good family would be considered a perfectly successful life for a woman of her station.
If one were to find fault, it would be that her standards were so high she had never once met a man despite flitting from banquet to banquet. Yet even in the face of such misfortune, her father, Abriham, doted on her as fiercely as any friend of his might dote on his own child. He simply shrugged and let her be. Ashily, armed with boundless confidence that she could meet someone whenever she wished, continued to drift through banquets and relish her youth. After all, a suitable man would appear someday. Her optimistic nature helped matters considerably.
While the father and daughter were spending their usual leisurely morning together, the shrill ring of a telephone echoed from the distant living room. Soon afterward, a maid hurried over and whispered into Abriham’s ear.
…Your secret friend is looking for you.
At those words, Abriham’s eyes flew wide open. He bolted from his seat. Ashily merely shrugged and finally took a bite of the jam-covered toast.
“Mmm.”
Strawberry jam. Delicious.
For a while Ashily Dolores chewed contentedly, then took a sip of milk. She was reaching for another slice of toast to spread more jam when a sudden clatter made her pause. With an annoyed expression, she turned her head.
What she saw in the distance was the telephone rolling across the floor and Abriham’s rigidly stiffened back.
‘…What’s going on?’
With a few lazy swipes, Ashily finished spreading the jam, stuffed the toast into her mouth, and rose from her chair. She sauntered over to her father. It probably wasn’t anything serious, she thought. As long as the family wasn’t being torn apart on charges of treason, the Dolores house was resilient enough to recover from almost anything. At worst, it was likely just one of her father’s political schemes that had gone slightly awry.
With that assumption in mind, Ashily circled around his imposing frame until she stood face-to-face with him. The moment their eyes met, she froze. Abriham’s face was drenched in tears. Streams poured endlessly from both eyes. Even as he looked at his beloved daughter, his gaze was hollow and vacant.
The sight was so grave that Ashily Dolores stopped chewing mid-bite. She swallowed quickly, still chewing the remnants, and asked, “……What’s the matter?”
Her voice snapped Abriham back to his senses; his eyes regained focus. Still weeping openly, he stared at her. In a choked voice, he answered.
“……It seems your marriage partner has been decided.”
“Oh, and here I thought it was something serious.”
“What kind of remark is that! Choosing a lifelong companion for my precious daughter is the most serious matter in the world! Of course it demands the most careful consideration!”
“…….”
Watching her father suddenly grow heated, Ashily belatedly remembered something. Compared to the neighbor’s family, her own father was no less of a daughter-obsessed fool. She let out a small groan at that regrettable truth, then returned to the topic.
“So, who is this fiancé you’ve found?”
“Demian Cloud.”
“……Pardon?”
“The head of the Cloud family and chairman of the conglomerate, Demian Cloud, has declared himself your betrothed, my dear.”
Having spoken, Abriham Dolores forced a smile through his tear-streaked face. Ashily Dolores blinked rapidly, trying to process what she had just heard. After a long moment she lowered her gaze.
‘……Ellyse packs a mean punch.’
It looked like she had become the wretched woman who stole her best friend’s crush.
Bang!Bang!
The can placed on the table exploded with a deafening blast. It was not caused by a bullet. Ellyse stared at the ruptured spot with sharp, predatory eyes. She let out a long sigh and drew back the hand she had thrust forward.
“……It keeps exploding.”
Utterly displeased with the result, Ellyse frowned and clenched her fist tightly. Four weeks of recovery. She would not be confined to bed the entire time, but she had been strictly warned against overexerting herself. Both her duties at the Central Police Department and any intense physical training would have to be paused. Some people might rejoice at receiving legitimate time off, but for Ellyse Bertman—whose desire for growth burned hotter than ever—this was nothing short of a catastrophe.
Still, what could she do? She had brought the injury upon herself by pushing her body too far. For the duration of her hospitalization, her daily routine consisted of waiting for the day she could escape the ward. She prayed it would come soon so she could get away from the noisy superior in the next bed.
“What, that’s what you were worrying about?”
It was only then that Ellyse Bertman realized the person in the neighboring bed was not merely a noisy neighbor but also her senior from the Special Affairs Division. The primary source of the ward’s noise pollution—Ellyna Bastard. Within the division, she was regarded as a specialist in the use of magic power and Mystery, an evaluation that, with only slight exaggeration, placed her on par with a demon.
In exchange for enduring a week of Ellyna’s torment, Ellyse had learned rudimentary methods for training her newly awakened sense of Mystery. The so-called equivalent exchange. While her mind and body were left in tatters, she had begun to accumulate new knowledge. The rookie demon hunter who once knew only how to pour out every ounce of her strength had learned how to control it. She had grasped the technique of restraining her desires, channeling magic power, and manifesting them with precision.
And right now, that training involved learning to crumple an aluminum can rather than make it explode.
Bang—!
Of course, she still had a long way to go.
“……Is this even working?”
Ellyse Bertman sighed but moved her feet anyway. A headache was beginning to bloom, yet she had not reached her limit. She placed another can on the table, returned to her position, and aimed at it once more. She trained while dreaming of the brilliance she would one day attain, of the world she would soon stand within.
Crunch—!
She seized the possibilities before her eyes.
After repeating the training for an entire week, Ellyse could now crumple the cans with ease. Exploding them had become second nature; she had learned to control the sensation between the two extremes. Strangely, the faint scent of mint that lingered at her fingertips seemed to have grown slightly stronger.
And at last, the day of her return to the Central Police Department arrived. It was Monday.
—Beep!
The Central Police Department in Central City maintained ironclad security. The possibility that a returning officer might be possessed by a demon could not be overlooked. Detection devices were installed at the entrance, supplemented by numerous other verification methods. No demon could ever set foot inside.
Ellyse pressed her eye to the scanner. With the guidance chime, the doors slid open wide, and she stepped into the building. One hundred percent pure human Ellyse Bertman found her footsteps unusually light that morning. Perhaps surviving the large-scale operation had truly advanced her capabilities as an inspector. The thought lifted her mood even further.
Still, she walked briskly. The Special Affairs Division to which she belonged was located unusually deep within the building. Given the division’s nature—handling confidential cases and matters involving demons—it was unavoidable. Yet for Ellyse Bertman, who had overslept for the first time in a while, the long walk was a welcome excuse.
‘……The new recruit who used to arrive thirty minutes early suddenly showing up late would definitely get called out for slacking.’
Just as a person known for crazy behavior suddenly doing something good felt surprising and admirable, a model student like Ellyse being late felt like an unforgivable sin. At least that was how it seemed to her. Therefore, she hurried her steps without breaking into a run.
Seeing the elevator doors open ahead, she allowed herself a satisfied smile. Five minutes remained until her official start time. Although she still had to descend several floors and walk quickly afterward, catching this elevator would let her arrive on time.
‘I won’t be late.’
Preoccupied with that thought, Ellyse Bertman’s field of vision suddenly narrowed. As she hurriedly stepped forward to board the elevator, Demian Cloud passed right beside her. Their sleeves—one black suit, one police uniform—brushed together.
Only then did Ellyse Bertman realize who it was. She turned her head in a daze. At that exact moment, Demian was looking at her as well.
“…….”
“…….”
Thus, by pure coincidence, their eyes met.