After returning to Korea, she forged Sonia’s medical test results to keep the child out of American hands.

Maybe it was true—suggestion worked more powerfully on young brains. Even in a new environment, Sonia’s eyes stayed unfocused. She remained dazed and hollow.

During that time, Ju Seolheon began treating her. The child’s body—only ten years old—was riddled with old scars. Rotten teeth. Twisted bones from untreated fractures. She began correcting what she could.

Damon ordered that Sonia be sent not to a regular household, but to an orphanage. He said that for a future operative, being rootless—being an orphan—was far more useful.

Ju Seolheon scoured every orphanage in the country with painstaking scrutiny, and finally sent Sonia to one run by her estranged siblings—the very same ones she had once abandoned. There had been far better facilities, but she had no clear reason for her choice.

She had to climb to the very top. Every day was a tightrope walk, not knowing when Damon might use Operation Red Veil as leverage to demand Sonia back.

On top of that, managing and monitoring Sonia securely cost a fortune. Backed by the U.S., Ju Seolheon rose through the ranks at lightning speed—but still kept delivering results. She had to reach the summit. Only then would she gain the authority to design classified operations and control the budget.

Like waking from hibernation, Sonia’s mind suddenly grew clear. Slowly, she began to adjust to her new world.

Under the guise of a “sponsor,” Ju Seolheon continued to receive regular reports while she, once again, drank alone. Russian vodka.

“...What? They locked her in a storage room and starved her for three days?”

“It’s because she attacked the other children, ma’am...”

“How badly could a kid possibly attack someone?”

“One had their arm fractured, another can’t walk after a hip injury. One was choked, another has a hairline crack in their leg...”

“......”

Ju Seolheon pressed her fingers to her forehead and sighed. Only then did the memories return—the horror of that final ordeal in Winter ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Castle. The way Sonia had been treated. What it had taken to survive.

Whenever young trainees in uniform came to the annex, she and Ligai had lain awake all night. Ju Seolheon knocked back the vodka.

“And it’s not that we starved her... Sometimes she behaves strangely. She’ll suddenly refuse food or hit herself. Even when we try to dress her in the nice clothes you sent, she always finds the oldest, most worn-out ones...”

“......”

Ligai... Even if you buried her childhood memories, maybe you couldn’t erase Sakhalin completely.

She had given Sonia the surname of the mother she had once despised. Chose characters meaning “bright” and “sunlight.” And still... she locked herself away in dark rooms.

What do I do, Ligai. I’m not strong enough to do this alone.

Her stomach burned. Sonia was still physically light, hardly felt pain, and showed little emotional reaction. The staff said they were concerned about her psychological development. Ju Seolheon scheduled a consultation immediately.

In a way, it was fortunate. She had wanted to find Sonia a gentle, accepting adult. Now was the chance.

Exhausted from work, Ju Seolheon came home and played one of Sonia’s video logs. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“—I like things that are mine. When I grow up and find something really precious, I’ll give it everything I have. I’ll treat it well. I’ll cherish it a lot.”

“That’s wonderful,” said the psychiatrist softly.

That’s wonderful.

Ju Seolheon repeated the words to herself. That’s wonderful.

Unconsciously smiling, she stared at the girl’s face—slowly starting to fill out. Then, with a jolt, she touched her own sagging breasts.

Hard to believe, but milk used to leak from them constantly. Now, they were just loose, shapeless.

She smoked until dawn, watching Sonia’s bright, sharp eyes on the screen. Living alone in such a large apartment felt strangely cold, strangely humiliating. That pathetic man kept coming to mind.

Even after returning from Russia, one habit never left her. She recorded Sonia’s every development by hand.

But she could never bring herself to watch Sonia perform in her gymnastics competitions.

“She’s at risk of expulsion?”

“Well...”

“The other parent has influence in the sports community. Their daughter was already a rising star, and she broke her leg while practicing with Seoryeong. Their relationship had already been rocky...”

“Ha... Influence? Influence? And what about me—what am I?!”

She felt the blood rush to her head. Even to herself, the emotion felt strange, irrational.

“The problem is... Seoryeong doesn’t care. She has no desire to clear her name.”

That had always been Sonia’s issue. She never formed attachments to anything.

Even so, Ju Seolheon couldn’t show herself in front of the child. She couldn’t give even the faintest clue about Sonia’s origins. To burden her with that kind of shame... was something they must never, ever do.

In the end, Ju Seolheon filed a report to the National Tax Service. The rival parent’s illegal wealth was confiscated. That was how she vented her anger.

Considering the current NIS director was already seventy, Ju Seolheon’s promotion to Deputy Director at fifty was abnormally fast. Meanwhile, Sonia had earned her certifications, found a job, and seemed to be living a stable life.

Then came a message from Damon—now Deputy Director of the CIA.

Russia had released Ligai.

A thunderbolt.

“We want custody of Sonia.”

“......!”

The fear she had carried her whole life had finally materialized.

“Our plan is to capture Ligai and recover the research data he left behind. As Viktor Ligai’s daughter, she’ll be the perfect leverage to force his cooperation.”

He must be killed—before he’s captured. That despairing thought was all that filled her head.

Too much time had passed to rely on any promises.

He had vanished under the strict surveillance of the Russian state. Not a hair had been seen. And he had always been fragile. There was nothing to be certain of.

“Zoya. Use Sonia to capture Ligai.”

Ju Seolheon received full CIA support to plan Operation Birdbox.

But secretly, she moved in the opposite direction.

The U.S. wanted Ligai alive.

Ju Seolheon wanted him dead.

Ligai and Sonia must not meet. The hypnotic trigger must never be broken.

Sonia needed someone to protect her. Someone who could hide behind the word “mission” but would still stand by her if the U.S. or Russia turned on them.

And that person had to be someone Sonia would never suspect.

That meant a husband.

“He’s your next target. Temporary codename: Owl.”

Large, beautiful eyes. A bird that moved through the dark. No other codename came to mind.

“Does he screw, too?”

...Lee Wooshin. The Solzhenitsyn family’s only remaining heir.

The boy who once wandered foreign war zones had joined the Korean military the moment he came of age. Ju Seolheon had dragged his broken self into the NIS.

There were countless nameless black agents under her command, but Lee Wooshin was by far the best.

At first, he was just a contingency card.

If, one day, she lost Sonia with no way to get her back—she had vowed to trade in this heir of the Solzhenitsyn family, whose whereabouts had become untraceable since the fall of Russia.

The inheritance Maxim Solzhenitsyn left behind was enormous. The Russian government still hadn’t recovered the hidden Swiss accounts. They were searching for the heir.

So at the very least, it put her on equal footing at the negotiation table.

And if she remembered Ivan and Yani—who had risked their lives for the Sakhalin children—then surely Lee Wooshin could look at Sonia without prejudice.

What Lee Wooshin wanted... was the final record of Winter Castle. And the face. And the name.

She gave a bitter smile. How did you become my card? Ju Seolheon lit a cigarette.

What was that expression?

She stared at the photo for a long time. A smile—wide enough to show teeth. Was that really Sonia?

Since the wedding, Ju Seolheon had never seen her smile like that.

“......”

Only then did she realize—the girl who once hung lifeless in the air had finally become happy.

That’s... wonderful... Ju Seolheon mouthed the words from long ago.

Ligai... you should’ve seen the way Sonia’s eyes curved like a rainbow.

Ligai had attempted suicide.

“Abort. There’s a personal threat to Viktor Ligai’s safety.”

Should she say it was a relief?

The CIA’s attention toward Ligai and Sonia had notably lessened.

And that gave her a perfect excuse. Sonia’s ophthalmologist had delivered an unexpected warning.

“If this continues, she could go permanently blind.”

The operation had to be halted.

Even with defense-research-backed technology, Sonia’s eyes had begun to reach their limit.

She couldn’t really let Sonia go blind.

She suddenly remembered that injection—that suggestion didn’t work on adult brains. Her nape prickled.

A choice had to be made.

Ligai believed more in an invisible god than in a flesh-and-blood woman like Zoya. He was consumed by obsession. Listened to no one.

For Han Seoryeong, her god was Kim Hyeon.

The less visible he became, the more unreachable he was—the more she chased him, possessed by madness.

Even if the dam broke and memories came rushing back... Sonia would choose Kim Hyeon over Sakhalin.

She wouldn’t fall for it.

“Continuing the mission at this point is a waste of budget. Pull out while you can. If a construction site misses even one day, that’s a two-billion-won loss. Let’s do this the cheap way.”

She edited information for her benefit. Told lies so elegant, so subtle, she lost count.

She always did, when dealing with Lee Wooshin.

At some point—she had become just like Damon.