After they finished eating their favourite biscuits,

Night came too quickly.

The Aethelgard estate that had been filled with evening light was now swallowed in black shadows.

The wind coming through the window gap felt colder than usual... as if carrying something that shouldn’t have returned.

Inside her room, Olivia stood stiff in front of the window.

Her eyes were fixed on her wrist.

That thread was still glowing. No longer like an ordinary red... but a deep dark red, almost black. That light pulsed slowly, in time with her unstable heartbeat.

"...why now..."

She whispered quietly then looked out the window. For seven years, those threads had never reacted like that and as bright as now.

Maybe because I didn’t care too much about this thread for six years.

She whispered quietly. But tonight, it felt alive. That thread’s pulse felt stronger and faster than all the other threads.

Olivia’s eyes went wide. Curious... she tried to touch the thread that was different from the others. Closer.... and getting closer to that thread. But before Olivia touched that thread. Suddenly, one

But before Olivia touched that thread.

Suddenly, a strong pulse snapped at her wrist.

"Ah!"

Olivia startled backward. Her breath stopped for a moment. That thread seemed to be warning Olivia not to touch it. Her eyes went wide, fixed on the dark red thread that was now trembling without stopping.

That thread... was moving. Not just pulsing. But as if it was pulling something from far away.

Or...

pulling her toward something. Olivia’s breathing went up and down. Her hands trembled faintly. She tried to pull her hand back, but that strange feeling didn’t go away.

"...this feels strange..."

she whispered quietly. Her eyes slowly lifted toward outside the window. Toward the thick darkness of the night. And at that moment...

she felt it.

A movement and a presence far from this estate. Olivia tried to squint her eyes to see clearly. But that figure was covered by black shadows behind the trees around her.

Limiting her sight. But strong enough to make her whole body freeze.

Her heartbeat grew faster.

The thread on her wrist pulsed in time with it. As if... they recognised each other.

Olivia’s eyes went wide.

"...that person..."

That word stopped at the edge of her lips.

Without realising, her feet took one step forward. Then one more.

Until her forehead was almost touching the cold window glass. Her gaze darted, trying to find something among the dark shadows in the yard outside. But... nobody was there.

Only the night wind blowing slowly, moving the leaves like whispers that couldn’t be understood.

"...impossible..."

she whispered again. But that thread didn’t stop trembling. That thread didn’t stop. It grew brighter. Stronger.

As if screaming without sound. That what she was feeling was not just an illusion. Olivia stood upright, as if standing to do something beyond what she had expected. Her feet started stepping out of her room. Following the direction of that glowing thread.

She didn’t want to sit and just watch without doing anything. Then, that thread didn’t stop pulling her.

Olivia’s steps grew faster, almost running without realising. Her chest was beating hard, every pulse felt all the way to her fingertips. That pulse felt like her hope... hoping that it was the person she had been waiting for so long.

The corridor she was passing through grew quieter and quieter. The cold wind brushed against her smooth white cheeks.

Her black hair that wasn’t tied up followed the rhythm of that night wind. But deep in her heart, her heartbeat was beating fast. She didn’t know what kind of person she was going to meet.

Until finally she stopped in front of a large door. Her eyes went wide. That room was the first room ,she entered when she first came to the Aethelgard estate, that she knew so well.

Duke Herold’s room!!

"...why here..."

she whispered quietly, almost not believing it.

The thread on her wrist tightened, pulsing hard as if forcing her to keep moving forward. Her feelings at that moment were doubtful, but she was determined to see what was behind that door.

Then,

Her hand slowly lifted toward that door knob. Cold spread through her whole hand. Her breath caught. Just one more step,

But, a voice from inside that room stopped her.

"...we don’t have much time."

Olivia startled. Her body froze. That voice wasn’t just one voice that could be heard, there were two. And one of them

A woman’s voice. Very quiet, but enough to make her heart beat harder.

That voice....

Before she could finish the sentence in her mind...

Suddenly, a hand pulled her backward roughly.

Mmm....

While another hand covered her mouth tightly. Olivia startled hard. Her body felt stiff and tense. Her breath was trapped inside her chest. She tried to scream, to call for help but her voice was stuck inside the palm of the man behind her.

"Shhhh, be quiet"

He whispered quietly, low right at her ear. That voice spread through Olivia’s whole body. Cold and firm. Olivia opened her eyes wide, panicking. She tried to open that hand but unexpectedly, the hand that if pressed against her face would almost cover her entire face.

But that man didn’t budge at all. Instead, he pulled Olivia into the dark corner at the side of the corridor. Hidden from sight.

Then,

Click.

That room door opened, and stiff footsteps could be heard coming out of that room. Olivia froze. Through a gap in the shadows, she saw two figures.

Duke Herold stepped out calmly as usual. Beside him, a woman. But that woman’s face was hidden by shadows. Only her silhouette was clearly visible. Olivia held her breath.

Who is that woman.....?

Olivia whispered in her heart. Then,

That woman’s voice was heard quietly..

"...make sure nobody knows" that tone felt very familiar. But Olivia couldn’t catch who it was. As time passed, the sound of their footsteps grew further and further away. Until the surroundings went quiet again.

Only the sound of the night wind passing through that empty corridor could be heard. And a few moments passed, the man behind her still hadn’t let go of his palm.

Now, Olivia snapped back to reality, her heart was still beating fast. Without thinking long, Olivia bit that man’s hand with all her strength.

!!

That grip loosened. Olivia immediately turned to see the face of the person who had pulled her roughly. Then her eyes met with a tall man in front of her. His face was covered, only his eyes could be seen.

But because the surroundings were dark, she couldn’t see fully. But strangely... she felt the man in front of her didn’t feel unfamiliar. Olivia went quiet for a moment.

Observing the figure in front of her. Her body was still ready to fight and on guard. But something caught her attention. On that man’s wrist there was a thread... the same thread that had been pulsing together with her all this time.

And for the first time that thread went calm. No longer trembling hard like just now. But its colour stayed the same.

As if finding something it had been looking for.

Her eyes went wide.

...isn’t this....

Without realising,

a strange feeling appeared inside her chest. Hope. But her mind immediately rejected it.

...impossible...

She shook her head slowly. That man gave absolutely no reaction, stiff and not moving. In the darkness, his eyes stared at the woman in front of him, not believing. As if... frozen in time.

Behind that black fabric... his eyes never left Olivia’s face.

...she...

But his whole body was stiff, not stepping forward.

Not moving closer and unable to say anything. Just silence.

Olivia furrowed her brow.

"...who are you?"

Olivia asked but that man didn’t answer. Only silence surrounded the two of them. She stepped slightly forward, trying to see more clearly.

"...eh..."

Her hand lifted. She tapped that man’s arm slowly.

Once.

Twice. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But No reaction.

"...that’s weird..."

she whispered quietly.

That strange feeling was still there. But she pushed it away. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Maybe she was overthinking. Without saying anything more. Olivia turned her body. And stepped away. Leaving that man standing alone in that dark corridor.

Before she moved away she managed to turn back.

"Maybe he’s in pain?" she said quietly. She shrugged her shoulders. But in just a few seconds she turned back again. While pouting.

"Damn, I hate feeling guilty" Olivia said quietly almost inaudibly. That man was still standing in the same place. Without realising, her feet had already chosen to trust that man.

If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it just now

She whispered in her heart. Without hesitation, she pulled that man’s wrist. But that man didn’t freeze at all like just now.

"Weird" said Olivia then took steps walking toward her room slowly. Throughout the journey, neither of them said a word. In Olivia’s mind she wanted to put medicine on that strange man’s palm then let him go.

When they arrived at her room, for some reason the wall lamp in her room couldn’t be turned on at all. Olivia was stunned then told that man to sit on her chair.

Olivia only shook her head when that man didn’t ask anything at all and didn’t say anything about it. Olivia took her medical kit then started treating that man’s palm.

When that man opened his palm, she startled seeing many old wound marks... and what looked like old cut scars on his palm. And the newest wound, her bite mark.

Olivia went quiet. Her eyes looked toward that man’s face, but the candle light didn’t fully reveal that man’s face.

"...what have you been through..."

she whispered quietly. But it was still heard by the man in front of her. But he didn’t answer, instead he just sat quietly staring at Olivia.

Shortly after that wound was cleaned and wrapped neatly, Olivia drew in a slow breath.

That room went quiet again.

The dim lamp light fell on the table, reflecting the shadows of two people who didn’t know each other... but at the same time felt too close.

Olivia wiped her own hands before standing slightly.

"...Done."

Her voice was quiet, almost as if trying to end something that had gone on too long.

That man didn’t move. His eyes were still fixed on his wrapped hand. As if that wound wasn’t the main thing he was looking at... but something else.

Olivia started to feel uncomfortable with that silence.

"...you can go now."

She said while turning her face away, trying to return to her own safe distance. But that man was still silent. As if those words hadn’t reached his ears. Olivia furrowed her brow.

"...Hello?"

Only then did a slight movement happen.

That man slowly closed his wrapped hand. His movement was slow, heavy... like someone who had just returned from somewhere too far away. He stood slowly as if there was no energy left inside him.

"...you really are strange."

Olivia sighed quietly while looking toward the door. She didn’t know why, but her heart still hadn’t settled since just now. There was something about this man... Something too unfamiliar... but at the same time it felt like a painful deja vu. Olivia turned back again. But that man was still standing in the same place. Olivia exhaled slowly. Then,

"...I don’t know who you are."

She stopped for a moment, then continued more quietly.

"And I don’t know what your purpose is coming into this estate.....

She said... then looked at him with an empty face.

"I know this is rude, but please leave now..."

Olivia said while turning that man’s body around then pushing him out of her room. That man startled.

"Strange... I don’t know why that thread goes calm when you’re near."

Olivia added while glancing toward the man in front of her. Silence. Only the sound of wind outside the window.

That man finally lifted his head slightly.

Under that black fabric, his eyes still weren’t clear... but something changed. Like... something that was almost breaking. Olivia didn’t wait long. She stepped toward the door.

"...And good luck."

Click. The door shut tight. Outside in that empty corridor, that man was left alone.

He was still standing frozen in front of Olivia’s door.

His wrapped hand moved slightly.

And this time, clearer than before...

"...Olivia."

That whisper fell slowly while holding Olivia’s room door. Gently. Like someone who had lost something for a long time... and finally found a small piece of it again.