UNDER the glittering chandeliers, a pair of beautiful man and woman were dancing to the tune of the music filling the dance floor. The man was wearing a white suit, giving him this pure and gentle atmosphere. He had long platinum blond hair and a pair of bright green eyes. 

The woman, on the other hand, was wearing a black dress with small white gems inlaid on it. Making the dress looked like the night sky filled with boundless stars. Her long ice-blue hair was tied up in a complicated knot and adorned by beautiful black pearls. Her pair of sapphire blue eyes were slightly bent into crescents. 

The people around them couldn’t help but praise them for being such a perfect couple. But some still couldn’t help but feel envy seeing the two.

“So, it’s true then, Lord Cecil is really going to marry the Grimaldi girl?” 

“What’s there to doubt? It had already been announced by both families.”

“Why would Lord Cecil pick a girl who’s barely out of school room?”

“Maybe he was forced by his father. No mater how young Lady Emmaline is, she’s still a Grimaldi. And you know how the Lancasters have always been known to pick the most advantageous of marriages.”

“It’s really lucky for Lady Emmaline to be picked. I also want someone like Lord Cecil.”

“Who doesn’t? Lord Cecil is one of the most eligible bachelors in the Empire. Any noble lady would want to marry him. But sad to say, not all of us have the same pedigree as Lady Emmaline.”

There were a lot of grumblings like these in the crowd. If they only knew what was going on inside the head of one of the protagonists of their discussion, then they would surely be surprised.

Unlike the happy expression she was showing on the outside, Emmy was feeling quite the opposite inside. She truly wanted to kick this man in front of him on the crotch and break his eggs. That’s not even enough for all the suffering he had caused to others. But she had to bear it. 

“I didn’t think that you would actually organize such a party just so people in our noble circle could know that we truly are engaged to be married,” Cecil said with the same gentle smile on his face. “And here I thought, you truly only wanted to see me on the day of our wedding. Can I take this party as you having a change of heart?”

[You dream.] – Emmy, of course, didn’t voice her thoughts. 

But truly, if she was just an ordinary citizen and she happened to see this person, she would also think that Cecil Lancaster was a simple gentle nobleman. Who would have thought that there was a monster hidden beneath this gentle façade?

He must have already perfected his M.O. throughout the years of him raping and killing people. And that included hiding evidence and making sure that his deeds wouldn’t be traced back to him. That incident with Gage’s adoptive mother where his video was accidentally taken must have been just a stroke of luck. But even that ‘luck’ was cut off by people that should have been protecting the people against such monsters. 

So, aside from his meticulousness while doing his criminal deeds, there were still his family that could cover up his crimes. Not for a second did she think that Cecil’s immediate family did not know how much of a monster he was. But they didn’t care about it and just protected him everywhere. Maybe in their eyes, the lives of those people Cecil ruined didn’t matter.

She scoffed inside. Did they think they were some kind of superior existence? As if. All of them were humans. Did being nobles give them the right to step on the life of those normal citizens?

Because they condoned Cecil instead of stopping him, a lot of people had suffered. Including Gage. Just thinking of the things he experienced, Emmy couldn’t help but feel a pain in her heart. As if it was being squeezed tightly. Her hate for Cecil just went to another level because of that.

“Trust me, this is not something I planned,” she said dryly.

Which was true in a way. Because she planned this together with Gage.

She remembered the conversation she had with Gage three weeks ago when they were making this plan.

=====

“Are you really sure about this?” Emmy asked, uncertain if their plan could really work.

“This is the fastest way. The longer we delay, the higher the possibility that someone from Simon Lancaster’s side would notice my movements and our secret meetings. This is the best time we can get rid of that bastard – Cecil Lancaster,” Gage said seriously, referring to the date in which they would execute their plan.

“But- you- if we succeed, there’s a high chance that this incident would be connected to you,” Emmy finally couldn’t help but say. She wasn’t even aware that her expression was already filled with worry.

Gage’s gaze suddenly became soft for a moment as he looked at her before it returned to his normal serious gaze. “I’m prepared. As long as we kill Cecil Lancaster, I don’t care what will happen to me. I’m more worried about you. Are you really ready to ‘die’?”

Emmy was surprised by the sudden question. But just as Gage was prepared, she had long been ready for the consequence of their actions. No matter how much it pained her to make this decision. 

“Yes. I’m ready to ‘die’.”

=====

Cecil’s chuckle brought Emmy back from her memories. 

“How cold of you,” he said. “But that’s what makes me like you more.”

Emmy stared at the man in front of her. [Let’s see just how long you can laugh like that, you trash.]