Colton set down his teacup.

“Pleased to meet you.”

It was the kind of pronunciation that cut clean and sharp. That polite and imposing tone that always stuck in the ear. His calm, charismatic voice never wavered.

Even when a bomb exploded right in front of him, his steady voice would never shake. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

But this was not “nice to meet you for the first time” or “long time no see.” It was “pleased to meet you.”

The message was clear. While Porden greeted him in a tense voice, I studied Colton. He was a man who hid his intentions masterfully, so whether Porden’s greeting carried weight meant nothing to him.

But I knew exactly what my own attitude at this table had to be.

Colton remembered me.

But here, we would not acknowledge each other.

Obvious enough if one thought about it. The gazes flying across the banquet hall toward our corner table. Distinguished figures from every field had their eyes on us. In such a public space, there was no way we could have a real conversation.

“It is an honor to finally meet you.”

Porden sat down and bowed politely.

He had apparently forgotten I was sitting beside him. Well, who could afford to glance away with Colton Wiseman before them?

“Please forgive me for starting with a boring subject.”

“Far more rational than making meaningless noise.”

Colton accepted Porden’s attitude as if it were a royal audience.

The elegant old friend even gave him a compliment, lifting his cup with grace.

“Better than wasting time with unnecessary chatter, is it not?”

He is pleased.

Porden is pleased at being praised. Even though it was nothing more than a perfunctory courtesy from Colton.

Still, Porden lit up like a child praised by his parents and immediately brought up his main point.

As expected from the owner of a corporation, he had a slick tongue. I half-listened to his business talk.

Something about new construction, something about profitability.

Nothing worth paying attention to. I pretended to listen, my eyes rolling idly.

A white, dazzling venue. People pretending to chat while straining to overhear Colton and Porden’s exchange.

A few steps behind Colton stood Jaeyeon.

Jaeyeon shot me a glare filled with hate.

‘He can’t speak now.’

Memories stirred.

Jaeyeon. Colton’s first right hand. The only one Colton Wiseman gave special treatment to across many fronts.

I had seen this arrangement countless times. At public occasions like this, Jaeyeon would stand behind Colton like a shadow. Guarding him, dirtying his hands in Colton’s stead.

Others did the same, but Jaeyeon alone held the right to kiss Colton’s hands and feet.

That did not mean he could flap his mouth freely while Colton was at work. Colton never permitted that.

The old friend managed people with fear, mixing in just a drop of mercy.

“Hildebert.”

While I was lost in recollections of Jaeyeon, the conversation must have ended.

Colton’s voice pulled me back to the present. I dragged my gaze from Jaeyeon and turned to the man sitting across from me.

Porden looked at me in disbelief. I ignored him and met the pair of blue eyes.

“Yes?”

“What do you usually do after training ends?”

Polite speech really did not suit him.

I wanted to say, ‘Hey, that honorific tone doesn’t fit you at all. It’s creepy, so drop it.’ But I knew better.

So I forced down the impulse and smiled.

“I play games.”

Porden dropped something.

A few people listening in failed to hold back laughter. Others glanced back at me as if they had misheard. Some gaped with open mouths.

Even Jaeyeon looked at me with contempt.

“Computer games?”

“Yes.”

Why ask when you already know?

“Usually, yes.”

As if I’d ever waste time on something “refined” like poker like him. I didn’t hate cards, but nothing compared to the stimulation of computer games. And he knew full well that nagging me would be pointless.

But none of those thoughts made it out of my mouth.

I just smiled faintly at Colton’s expressionless face.

“I like console and phone games too.”

Several people gasped.

Stop persecuting games already. Yes, I gave a “worthless” answer before the peak of power. Stop looking at me like that.

Is reading “noble” while gaming is “base”?

Not that anyone here had time for gaming. These were people whose own work devoured all twenty-four hours of their days. I ignored Porden’s look of regret — “I was insane to invite this guy as a special guest” — and focused on Colton lowering his teacup.

Colton lowered his eyes and kept silent.

A strange silence settled over the surroundings. I ignored the stares stabbing into my nape, ignored Porden’s irritated glare, and waited for Colton’s reply.

After all, my dear Porden — I got this invitation to the social club through Colton’s back channels. You will never know.

Colton had always been a genius at dirtying other people’s hands.

After a long pause, the troublesome friend finally broke the silence.

“Then, in return for saving my business partner, I’ll have a game center built on a floor of the tower we’re rebuilding.”

...What? Really?

That’s why there’s nothing like an old friend.

I couldn’t help but beam with genuine delight, until Colton continued.

“However, I have no knowledge of games. In one hour, meet my subordinates in the third-floor reception room and give them guidelines. It will not take long.”

“Ah.”

So this was the real point.

Amid the widening eyes of the others, I kept my smile fixed in place and answered.

“Of course.”

This was how social clubs worked.

“It would be an honor. I’ll be there in one hour.”

Useless formalities. A performance for the audience of dignitaries. Today, we showed all these clueless notables that Colton and Hilde had “met for the first time.” And we also showed them that, for trivial reasons, we now knew each other. To hide the truth, to move freely behind the mask of lies.

So it would no longer be strange if we met again, though the impression would be that our future conversations would remain equally trivial.

The real talk would be one hour later in the third-floor reception. The message was clear, so I left the seat at ease.

***

“Will the Commander be coming too?”

Ten minutes before the promised time, as the social gathering was dissolving, I asked Yehyeon.

The pale superior blinked at me, then lowered his gaze.

“Yes. They said it’s a mini-meeting.”

“I see.”

Guilt pricked me as I saw him sulking over the sudden private meeting.

It was obvious this meeting had been called because of me. I sincerely apologized to Yehyeon, who sipped coffee with a sour face.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Like a sulky panda, indeed.

Next to him, Yun rolled his eyes with displeasure as Yehyeon muttered wearily.

“You’re the one suffering, going into that reception room with them. Let’s go. They’re probably already gathered.”

“Already? They don’t seem the type to arrive early and wait.”

“They have plenty to talk about with each other. Haven’t you noticed? All three of them disappeared half an hour ago.”

Ah.

I should have realized sooner why people were slipping out of the hall one by one. Another lesson learned. I shook my head at my own slowness.

The hall felt hollow now that its center had left. Following Yehyeon, I rose from my seat.

“If I’d known there’d be a meeting, I’d have worn a black suit,” Yehyeon muttered.

“What does it matter,” Yun answered dryly.

Our lazy superior, sprawled in his chair, glanced up at us as we turned toward the third floor.

“Call me when it’s over.”

He was speaking to Yehyeon.

“All right.”

Yehyeon agreed easily.

“I’ll be right back.”

We headed for the third floor.

Passing people gathering coats and leaving, we climbed the stairs.

After two flights, the atmosphere changed. A silent corridor where footsteps sank into soft carpet. The carpeted hall led to the reception room at the far end.

A door carved with delicate grapevines sealed the room. Yehyeon’s long stride carried him forward, and he pushed the door open.

The creak of hinges.

Without thinking, I followed him inside.

And at once, the air shifted.

A tension sharp enough to cut.

Bodies turning in an instant, eyes fixed solely on me. I couldn’t breathe properly, their stares piercing through me.

At the table filling the reception room sat three figures.

On the left, Erich Erhart. On the right, Yekaterina.

In the middle, Colton Wiseman.

Behind the Elders stood their right hands, motionless as shadows, their eyes warning me I’d be killed if I made a wrong move. Even just rolling my eyes earned me their silent threats.

A slaughterhouse.

And not a creature or weapon in sight.

It was more suffocating than being outside the Core.

Uneasy, I studied the retainers.

Colton’s was Jaeyeon.

Behind Erich Erhart stood a pale redhead with half-tied hair, and a blond with curls. Both strangers. Judging by their placement, the redhead outranked the blond. Either way, both glared at me °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° with killing intent the moment I entered.

The redhead’s hollow eyes bored into me; the blond smiled faintly, as if to say, stay put.

“Ah. On time.”

Their master, Erich, greeted me with a bored face.

“Come in. Still such a dull man.”

“Close the door behind you.”

Yekaterina scolded coolly from across Erich.

“How long do you plan to stand there?”

Like Colton, she had only one retainer.

I shut the door and moved to the obvious seat meant for me, eyeing her subordinate as I sat.

An East Asian man in a black suit. His frown seemed permanent. His gaze, sharper than anyone else’s in the room, stabbed into me.

Short black hair, cold black eyes.

A hard, irritable impression — yet a face of fine lines, almost delicate. Handsome, but strangely gentle-looking. I blinked at his features. Handsome, yes, but in a sharp, fretful way that bordered on pretty.

And oddly...

Familiar?

What? I felt like I’d met him before.

The faint headache said so too. But Yekaterina herself was clearly new to me. Why, then, did I feel I knew her retainer? And why didn’t the memories come flooding back immediately, like with Colton or Jaeyeon?

Where had I seen him before?

My thoughts drifted until the click of Jaeyeon lighting Colton’s cigar snapped me back.

Focus. This wasn’t the time.

I turned my eyes to the center.

My old friend, lazily biting his cigar, Yehyeon sitting between Colton and Erich like an outsider.

It looked like a mafia summit.

I waited for my friend to speak.

The man cloaked in an aura of burying people exhaled smoke, leaned back in his chair, and fixed me with eyes devoid of warmth.

Until he spoke with a voice stripped of courtesy, heavy with authority.

“Hildebert.”

Smoke curled thick from the cigar.

“You still waste your time as ever.”

“Give it up already.”

Still chiding me after all this time.

“Opera or games, both are equally unproductive.”

“Your rough tongue hasn’t changed either.”

Colton murmured with eyes closed.

“My old friend.”

The one who had shared countless years. Who had watched the flow of time, the changing world, the shifts in each other. Among all the things that had changed, he remained the same.

Hearing that unchanged voice, I smiled long.

My dear friend.