Chapter 7

“If I said I’d never considered that option… that would be a lie.”

“But even so.”

The man’s gaze caught on the faint smile that had surfaced on the woman’s face. She slowly closed her eyes, and a breath like wind slipped from her lips.

“Perhaps I’m getting too old. I don’t even have the strength to fight anymore.”

“You?”

Killian let out a dry laugh. Lucia replied in a voice as calm and still as a quiet lake.

“Appearances aren’t everything, you know.”

True enough. By any measure, Lucia was young and beautiful. But her eyes held the weariness of a flower already on the verge of wilting.

“When I was in my teens and twenties, there were so many things I wanted to do… but somehow I made it to this age without achieving any of them…”

That same look of being drained and exhausted. He’d seen it before, in people who’d been ground down by life. Even in this city where the night view sparkled brightest, her eyes remained dim.

“Now, even when I try to do something… I’m just too tired. All I want is rest.”

Her head drooped pathetically, like a withered petal sinking toward the ground.

Like she was remembering a day from long ago, her clouded eyes drifted as she touched her face. Upon closer look, Killian noticed a scar on her cheek, like it had been cut with a blade.

Maybe it was makeup, or just the low lighting, but to him it looked faint. Still, she touched it obsessively, fingers brushing the mark again and again.

“I don’t care about wearing nice clothes anymore. I just want something comfortable…
I’m tired of meeting people… and the dreams I once held as a girl…”

She stopped. Her hand, still touching the scar, dropping away as if letting go of an old regret.

“Maybe becoming an adult… is just time gradually shaving me down.”

Her gaze drifted toward a theater in the distance.

<Emilia Florianne’s Upcoming Feature, the Flower of the Film Industry!>

A familiar face adorned the billboard. A blonde beauty in the spotlight.

Lucia once dreamed of seeing her own face up there…

‘You? An actress? How many times do I have to tell you? Your job is to bear children!’

‘We’re married now, and you want to work? Hmm… Lucia, must you take on something so hard? I just don’t want you to struggle. You’ll get pregnant again soon anyway… you need to take care of yourself.’’

‘She’s useless, doesn’t know how to do a thing, and yet she’s always trying to sneak out of the estate. Every time she leaves, Master Ian gets all worked up.’

Bit by bit, the words of others had worn her dream down until it had completely vanished. Becoming something that had nothing to do with her anymore.

The weight of each day had grown too heavy to wish for anything more.

“I’ve even forgotten who I used to be. I don’t think I was always like this…”

Time had been cruel. So cruel, it led her toward death without her ever realizing she was dying. A quiet kind of killing. Slow, but all at once.

And a person who’s forgotten who they are can no longer hold light in their eyes.

“Maybe that’s why…”

“…”

“I’m just too tired now. I want to rest.”

A resigned smile touched her pale face.

Yes, this wasn’t some grand story. She just wanted to rest. So there was no reason for him to look at her like that.

Lucia’s body teetered on the edge of the railing.

A breath away from life and death. The wind howled behind her, as if it too understood her decision to let go.

Unfeeling and sharp, the breeze pushed against her back, like it might carry her off at any second. She looked like she could vanish at any moment, and it unsettled Killian more than he expected. Without thinking, he reached for her.

And then—

BANG—!

The gunshot tore through the night. Killian’s eyes flew wide.

“Hey!”

His shout came a beat too late. He whipped his head around, and there stood a stranger, aiming a gun straight at Lucia.

A blinding pain ripped through her with a thunderous roar, and in that moment, light sparked in Lucia’s eyes. Time seemed to slow.

“Ah…”

Was it her heart that got hit? No, maybe just beside it?

But who shot me? She couldn’t make out the face. It was too blurry… Was it someone holding a grudge? No, maybe they mistook her for someone else…

‘I’m not even worth killing… I can’t even go outside unless I’m given permission…’

As quickly as the blood poured out of her, her thoughts raced just as fast, but so did her vision. Reeling from the impact of the bullet, it flipped upside down, revealing a sky full of stars above.

In the moment of death, Lucia saw a world glittering before her eyes.