I was just glad the performance we were going to see wasn’t ballet. I’d seen every kind of show back on Earth, but ballet had never really been my taste.

Anyway, since I had accepted the invitation, I went looking for a ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ suit to wear.

The problem was that I’d lost muscle, so all my old suits had become too big.

A truly tragic story....

While I was wallowing in despair, the subordinates who had heard the news came to visit.

Igor spoke first.

“Use my money, Captain.”

“You can’t even buy a single dress shirt with your money.”

Yoow muttered sullenly,

“Spitfire isn’t just some nobody anymore. He’s one of the highest authorities in Center Core now.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“I’ll gift you a suit.”

Beside the baffled Igor, Kairos smiled.

“I know a place that does good work.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like Erich would care that much if I showed up in a suit that’s a little loose.”

“How about just winning them over with your face? You said it doesn’t seem like that important an invitation anyway!”

“That’s true. Though I’m not exactly sure what you mean by winning them over with my face....”

“Captain!”

Rose enthusiastically cut in.

“May I make your suit for you?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I do have suits already, Rose.”

“I worked in the fashion industry for a while.”

At Rose’s shocking declaration, my mouth fell open.

The subordinate who had just said something astonishing paid no attention to my reaction and instead studied me intently.

“I’d be so happy if I could tailor something that fits you perfectly, Captain. Please? Captain, would it be difficult? I absolutely won’t overdo it. Something that suits you best, neat without being dull, black, something that brings out the color of your eyes....”

“You worked in fashion?”

I stared at Rose in disbelief.

“When?”

Rose smiled sweetly.

Then she shut her mouth.

Again.

Left speechless, I could only stare at Rose, who never once answered the questions I actually asked.

Kairos had explained it a few days ago, but it still felt strange.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand his explanation, but my relationship with Rose wasn’t exactly the same as the relationship between Kairos and his fans, was it?

Maybe I really did make her uncomfortable....

As if he had read my thoughts, Kairos gently stepped in.

“Everyone spent the time you were gone doing one thing or another. Before I became a driver, I even worked at a zoo.”

“What?!”

Now what was this?

“A zoo?!”

“Nothing grand. Just a small place on the far southern-northern outskirts of Center Core. I wasn’t even full-time, just contract staff. It’s probably closed by now.”

“Wow. That really does sound like you.”

Deltei reacted to Kairos’s casual answer.

“It’s interesting, but not surprising. And somehow, I can totally picture you being amazing with animals.”

“Haha. Is that so? Thank you.”

“If you were at a zoo, why’d you go into racing? Were you running low on dopamine?”

“It was around the time I was starting to get a little bored.”

“If you wanted adrenaline, you should’ve become a pilot instead.”

Yoow, who had been listening to Deltei and Kairos talk, grumbled.

“Why go all the way to becoming an F1 driver so dramatically?”

Kairos only smiled at Yoow’s complaint.

His sunlike orange eyes curved.

“I wasn’t all that curious about flying.”

With his arms crossed, the tamer looked at Yoow.

“I’d already flown on the most beautiful thing there was.”

Yoow’s eyes widened.

Mine probably did too. Everyone in the cabin fell silent at once. Except for Rose, who was staring straight through me, everyone examined the tamer’s face.

For a moment, the cabin went quiet.

Kairos quickly changed the subject and eased the atmosphere.

“But Hilde, are you sure it’s alright for you to go that far?”

Why are you steering it this way?

I looked at the tamer with a pout.

“I may not be in any condition to swing a sword properly, but I’m not going to collapse just from walking. I’ll be bringing a cane too.”

“A cane?”

Deltei’s eyes widened in surprise.

“So you’re still not fully well. Do you really have to accept this invitation? Can’t you rest?”

“It’s a new world again.”

Thinking of the title of the classical piece, I let out a faint scoff.

“They probably want the new Elders who haven’t properly seen me yet to look at my face. A reminder that I’m alive just as the rumors say, so they shouldn’t entertain pointless thoughts. Hearing someone is alive and actually seeing it are different things.”

“You said there was nothing to worry about!”

“Not yet.”

Seeing the concern in Deltei’s eyes, I smiled.

“And if I attend this performance, the period where there’s nothing to worry about will probably last even longer.”

In that sense, I should accept Rose’s offer.

If I was already going out holding a cane, having an oversized suit on top of that would really make me look pathetic.

***

“Jaeyeon.”

Seeing the familiar face in the concert hall, I smiled faintly.

“It’s been a while.”

Jaeyeon didn’t answer.

All he did was let out a sigh heavy enough to sink the ground.

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, then turned his gaze away, showing off his flashy jeweled nails. Jaeyeon was currently in a woman’s form, dressed in a dizzyingly red gown that drew the eyes of every passing man.

Ruby earrings glittered between strands of blond hair.

“So they even bring Jaeyeon out now?”

When I asked while looking at the sullen, silent Jaeyeon, Erich smiled.

“Only when she’s calm like today. If she says she doesn’t want to come, I don’t force her. But this conductor and orchestra happen to be performers even she finds satisfactory.”

The man answered leisurely, then tilted his head with smiling eyes.

I knew exactly what the Elder was indicating.

A switch was hanging from Jaeyeon’s wrist.

At first glance, it looked like an unusual keyring. It even reminded me of the keycap charm Shu carried around. There was a transparent lid, and inside sat a round red button. A fishing-line loop had been threaded through a hole in the corner.

So that was the button.

Jaeyeon probably believed pressing that would send Colton’s head flying.

At once, old memories flooded in.

Playing poker with Colton. Jaeyeon’s red dress and sharp heels. Olivia. The intelligence agents he had introduced me to, and Eve.

Those glittering, exhausting days as gaudy as a five-star hotel in New York.

I want to snatch it away.

Looking at the dangling switch, I thought it calmly.

If I did, Jaeyeon would definitely roll his eyes back and lunge at me.

In my current condition, I wasn’t confident I could handle Jaeyeon’s tantrum, but that only made me want to steal the switch even more.

Before I could act on the impulse, Lee Seunghyun read right through me.

“Restrain yourself.”

The man who had been standing there soundlessly muttered with his hands clasped behind his back.

“It’s not as if you’re in any condition to deal with that right now.”

Smiling faintly, I turned.

Lee Seunghyun was wearing an immaculate black suit without a single pattern.

Didn’t you say you were only contracted to work from nine to six?

“I negotiated overtime pay.”

The moment I looked at him, he answered before I could even ask.

Then, instead of continuing, he briefly glanced at the cane in my hand. An unspoken reminder that I still needed it.

Smiling lightly, I slowly walked forward.

The concert hall echoed with sound.

There were many people, but getting to our assigned seats wasn’t difficult. People quietly stepped aside for us as we headed toward the very front row.

Stepping onto the plush carpet, I quietly called his name.

“Seunghyun.”

Instead of answering, Lee Seunghyun simply closed the distance a little.

“Looks like counseling is going well. Thank you for actually following through.”

He didn’t reply and only continued walking behind me.

“How’s your hand?”

“How long are you going to keep asking me that?”

“Probably every time I see you?”

I answered coolly while scanning the people taking their seats.

“There’s no way you don’t still have phantom pain or discomfort. That’s a debt I owe you. It may be annoying, but let me keep worrying.”

No answer came.

Knowing that silence was his tacit agreement, I smiled and sat down.

This was the seat to Erich's right. Jaeyeon sat to his left, while Shashinsky and Lee Seunghyun took the row directly behind us.

I’m even getting used to sticking close to Erich Erhart instead of Colton now.

It’s easier this way, since he doesn’t get worked up like before—

“You truly are....”

Ah, damn.

“...captivating no matter when one sees you.”

“So your master’s taste hasn’t changed, I see?”

I muttered in an exhausted voice.

I hadn’t included a subject, but I had meant it for Shashinsky, and the red-haired man understood perfectly.

“If that changes, he dies.”

“What a truly disgusting bastard.”

Jaeyeon spoke for the first time.

Flipping blond hair back primly, he muttered,

“He doesn’t have a shred of refinement.”

We hadn’t come only to enjoy the music.

As I entered the hall, I had already seen all the faces I wanted to see. Just like the time after I lost my memories, when I attended the social gathering under Forden’s nominal invitation, the ones who had taken the vacant Elder seats stood out immediately. I could distinguish them even without Erich pointing them out.

A swarm of new faces.

Two of them came over to greet me.

The new rank two and rank three.

I had only meant to study the third rank carefully, but the second-ranked Elder who approached first was fairly memorable too.

She was a woman, but not the Olivia or Yekaterina type.

“Oh my, it’s such an honor to meet you like this!”

Soft pink hair that flowed to her waist swayed.

“You’re every bit as handsome as the rumors say. Such a shame. I wish I’d been born a little earlier!”

She was beautiful like a doll.

Rather than the Elder council, she looked like someone I’d expect to meet at one of Erich Erhart’s art-world networking parties. Most people would mistake her for a celebrity. Partly because of her polished beauty, but also because of her clothes and the way she carried herself.

How should I even describe this?

Charm? Star quality?

Either way, even someone like me with no interest in celebrities could tell she would have shaken Center Core if she had debuted.

And yet, she still carried the coldness unique to high-ranking Elders.

That strange contrast made her eerie.

The fact that she looked absurdly young for an Elder was something to be wary of too.

“I’m Clarence. Let’s see each other often from now on!”

Without replying, I smiled and took the hand she offered.

I didn’t rise from my seat.

She looked down at me for a moment, as if expecting an answer.

But perhaps realizing none would come, Clarence soon smiled sweetly, gave Erich a polite greeting, and left.

I rolled my eyes toward Erich.

“You don’t seem that interested.”

“She’s more entertaining than Yekaterina.”

Erich answered lazily.

“That’s about the extent of it.”

“She’s young.”

“Yes. Skilled too. If you knew how many foolish men and women she charmed and climbed over to get there, even you would be appalled.”

“Ugh!”

Jaeyeon snapped irritably.

“She’s wearing a perfume that reeks of dead elegance.”

It was a little strong.

The scent lingering in the seats was somewhat aggressive. Not the kind of fragrance people in power usually preferred.

But I had no time to think further about the perfume. Before Clarence’s lilac scent had even faded, the Elder who had seized third rank appeared.

Together with my subordinates, I quietly watched the man approach.

“I didn’t know you enjoyed performances like this.”

The man who stopped in front of me spoke first.

One hand remained shoved into his pocket.

“I’m Bradley Stowe. I hope you recover quickly.”

His gaze lingered on the cane leaning against the adjacent seat, then lifted away.

Even when he extended his right hand, he didn’t remove the left from his pocket. Once again, I only shook his hand without speaking.

But Bradley was different from Clarence. The moment I let go, he turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

This guy too somehow...

“He gives off the impression of someone who climbed up while running a drug cartel.”

When I muttered that, Erich burst into a bright laugh.

“That’s not entirely wrong.”

So my guess was at least somewhat accurate.

“He also came up from the bottom. Perhaps that’s why both of them still feel raw. In Bradley’s case, he still hasn’t managed to erase that particular vulgarity.”

“Doesn’t look like he plans to.”

“He has a rebellious streak.”

“You’ll handle that yourself.”

I made my position clear in a roundabout way.

“I don’t particularly like people like that. It’s not about whether they pretend to be refined or not—types like him usually use dirty methods.”

“Quite far from art.”

Erich agreed.

“I already have eyes on him. No sparks will fly toward the people around you.”

That satisfied me.

I truly didn’t want to step back onto the game board any more than this. People in power were usually vile; the moment they saw even the slightest weakness, they lunged. So I knew I had to show my presence like this from time to time.

But I wanted everything to end at about this level.

I didn’t even remotely expect Bradley Stowe to know his place on his own.

I just hoped Erich Erhart would take care of it neatly.

Even if they were equally vile, in the past I could at least expect a certain amount of rational judgment.

“That seat really was better with the old fixture.”

As I sighed and muttered, Erich laughed.

“What an honor.”

The performance was excellent.

***

Staying out too long in a place where I had to keep my nerves taut definitely drained my stamina.

Leaning more of my weight onto the cane, I slowly crossed the opera house hall.

The performance had ended without incident, and we had blended into the crowd flowing out of the venue.

It hadn’t been a completely private performance.

In other words, it wasn’t a recital attended only by Elder affiliates. Most of the seats had simply been invitation-only, so everyone was impeccably dressed, and quite a few famous figures could be seen.

Accessories gleamed in the chandelier light.

Quiet voices echoed through the hall.

I should take Lee Seunghyun’s car back to the cabin and sleep....

I was walking slowly with Erich’s group when a familiar voice reached me.

“Hildebert?”

I whipped my head around.

And found a pair of familiar green eyes.