One Night's Love
The metallic stench of blood was unmistakable.
Sayne looked down at the bloodstained dagger in her trembling hand.
Before her lay the Hero, collapsed and vomiting dark crimson from a mortal wound to his gut. Guilt and suffocating remorse crushed her chest. Yet she had possessed no other choice.
Over and over, silent apologies echoed endlessly in her mind, but she could not bring herself to give voice to them. The weight of her sin was so vast that her lips refused to part.
I'm sorry.
Though their first meeting had been rocky at best, they had grown close—and now she offered silent, futile apologies that would never reach him.
If I don't do this, my younger sibling will die.
Biting her lip, her face twisted in agony, Sayne raised the shuddering blade toward her own abdomen. As the blood-slick steel touched her skin, an eerie, hollow calm settled over her—far calmer than when she had driven the dagger into Einzel.
If she ended her own life with this blade, her sibling would become the sole remaining heir of House Luderan and live. Her father—that wretched monster of a father—would pour all his resources into the sole surviving heir whose value had just skyrocketed, abandoning the horrific "plan" he had originally concocted.
Yet to keep her sibling alive, she had slaughtered the Hero. She had committed an indelible, unforgivable crime.
She harbored no naive illusions of washing away her sins through death. True atonement was an impossibility in the mortal realm anyway—and besides, she had to die regardless.
Ah, gods above. If You truly exist, cast me down into the deepest abyss of hell and pass Your judgment.
Sayne gripped the hilt with both hands and drove the blade toward her stomach with sudden, ruthless speed.
My dear sibling... please, find happiness.
Einzel and Sayne put their heads together, scouring for any conceivable way to avoid the impending marriage. They spent days huddled in strategy, debating every possible countermeasure, until Einzel finally let out a weary sigh.
"...Isn't there anything we can use for blackmail? Some kind of dirt that could stop this wedding in its tracks...?"
"Ah!" Sayne gasped, her eyes lighting up. "There's an underground vault beneath the main estate. Access is strictly forbidden, so even I've never set foot inside. There might be some leverage hidden down there."
Einzel's brow cleared. Perhaps a path forward existed after all.
"All right. That means we'll have to break in... The real issue is the security. It's bound to be impenetrable."
"As for the guards... well, I have an idea that might lower their suspicion."
Einzel looked at her warily.
A few days later, an official missive arrived from Duke Luderan. It conveyed his profound satisfaction and delight regarding their engagement.
...Is this really the best we could do...?
The brilliant method Sayne had devised to disarm suspicion was none other than announcing their formal engagement—contingent upon the actual wedding ceremony taking place at a much later date.
"See? Perfect. Now no one will question you wandering through the manor grounds. You're my fiancé, after all."
"...I still can't wrap my head around this. Getting engaged just to dodge a marriage."
"What does it matter? It's purely temporary."
Sayne sat beside Einzel while he skimmed through the Duke's letter, speaking with breezy nonchalance before turning to look him straight in the eyes.
"In a few days, my father has business away from the capital and won't be returning overnight. The key retainers will be accompanying him too. That's our window to sweep through the basement, find the dirt, and blackmail him. Done! My uncle will be staying at the estate for a few days to celebrate the engagement, but you don't need to pay him much mind." She offered a bright, disarming smile.
"If only things went that smoothly..."
"Oh, come on! It's going to work out. Didn't you promise to be my miracle?"
Einzel let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah. I did."
He pushed himself up from his chair. "I'm starved. We might as well grab something to—"
Before he could take a step, Sayne caught his wrist. Her grip was firm.
"Listen to me." Her expression had turned deadly serious. "Even if we fail and I end up forced into this wedding, I might be sad, and I might mourn what could have been... but I will never regret this, and I will never resent you."
"What?"
Einzel's thoughts raced in silent disbelief. You literally killed me last time.
"What's with that look? Surprised? Afraid I'm going to eat you alive or something?"
Considering you already murdered me once, yeah, Einzel thought, staring back at her with a thoroughly unconvinced frown.
"Either way, no matter how terribly this goes, I swear I won't blame you. Not ever. I took a stand and fought back until the bitter end for my own peace of mind—and you're risking your own neck to help me do it." Her expression softened into a gentle smile. "I'm truly grateful. I mean every word."
Flustered by her own earnestness, she twisted a lock of hair around her finger, cheeks burning red, before raising her voice to break the tension.
"Right! Let's go eat! Can't pull off a heist without stamina!"
Watching her march out with forced bravado, Einzel was plunged into utter confusion.
Something didn't add up.
This attitude was entirely incompatible with the woman who had driven a dagger into his flesh. He had assumed she killed him out of despair over being coerced into marriage. Yet here she was, casually stating that she would accept the union if their plan collapsed.
Had there been another reason she stabbed him?
A suffocating frustration pressed down on him, like wading blindly through an endless fog. Every time he felt he had grasped a single truth, new mysteries branched out in its wake. When locked in combat with Genom, the terror and agony had been clear and distinct. But now, he felt sickeningly helpless, like a pawn toyed with in the palm of some vast, unseen entity.
Einzel inhaled deeply, letting the air settle in his chest.
Acknowledging what he didn't know and couldn't do—that had always been his greatest strength. So what if she had harbored a completely different motive for killing him? It made no difference. This time, there would be no reason for her to take his life.
Resolve rekindled in the Hero's gaze.
A few days slipped past, and the day of the operation finally dawned.
Einzel buckled his sword to his hip, slipping lightweight protective armor beneath his formal attire just in case. Even if the primary retainers had departed, this was House Luderan; an elite swordsman could leap from the shadows at any moment.
He arrived at the Luderan estate under the pretense of sharing a private tea with Sayne. Upon his arrival, the attendants informed him that the young lady was still preparing. Leaving an honored guest waiting was a severe breach of noble etiquette, but both Einzel and Sayne understood the game they were playing. She was undoubtedly scouting the guard rotations at this very moment.
Einzel settled onto a plush sofa in the drawing room, biding his time until she appeared.
Footsteps echoed across the marble floor. A man approached.
He possessed striking crimson eyes, paired with graying hair and a trimmed beard that retained a faint reddish tint. Einzel recognized him instantly. This was Sayne's uncle, the guest who had purportedly arrived to offer his congratulations.
"Greetings, Hero."
"A pleasure to meet you."
The two exchanged polite bows. In the span of that brief greeting, Einzel swiftly matched the man's features against the information he had gathered.
Rupos Luderan. That was undoubtedly his name.
Rupos curled his lips into a genial smile. "I traveled to the capital to celebrate my dear niece's engagement, and what an unexpected honor it is to meet the celebrated Hero in the flesh. Are you and my niece getting along well?"
"Yes. Sayne has a pleasant disposition."
"Haha, indeed! Sayne has possessed a mature head on her shoulders ever since she was a child. Quite unlike her wretched father, I might add."
A sudden, unfiltered jab at Duke Luderan. Einzel kept his mouth firmly shut.
"Ah, though I suppose they do share one wretched trait," Rupos continued casually. "Both Sayne and her father have been obstinate to the bone since youth. Her father, in particular, would push himself to the absolute brink of collapse in everything he pursued. I suppose that ruthless tenacity is how he seized the headship, after all."
"Is that so?"
"Still, I am relieved Sayne turned out differently from him. Her father was so thoroughly toxic that he treated everyone around him with open contempt. To him, every living soul was nothing more than an expendable tool. The only saving grace was that his loyalty to House Luderan was absolute. Had he pledged that fanatical devotion to any other cause, our family would have been reduced to ash long ago."
Einzel couldn't fathom what Rupos Luderan hoped to achieve by casually disparaging the reigning Duke before the Hero's face.
"Ah, forgive me. It seems I've cast an uncomfortable shadow over the conversation. Well, playing the son-in-law to my younger brother will surely prove an ordeal, but at least Sayne has a gentle heart, so count yourself fortunate."
A faint thread of clarity clicked into place. This man doesn't want this marriage to happen.
Under the guise of praising Sayne, Rupos was subtly painting Duke Luderan as a monster to dissuade him. Furthermore, the man had pointedly avoided speaking his brother's name even once, as though the mere mention left a foul taste on his tongue.
"Good grief. Aside from him, all our other brothers have already departed for the other side. To think my sole surviving sibling possesses such a vile nature... What a miserable hand fate has dealt me."
Einzel knew only that Duke Luderan's siblings had scattered and vanished into obscurity after losing the succession struggle. It seemed most had simply died off, which explained the lack of rumors. Not that it held any real consequence for today's mission.
Einzel deliberately averted his gaze, offering no opening for Rupos to press further.
Just then, a maid stepped into the parlor, curtsying deeply to announce that Lady Sayne was finally prepared to receive him.
The signal had been given. The operation was underway.