“Hmph! Hmph!” I tried to scream, but all that escaped my lips was a muffled cry.My heart pounded as I took in my surroundings—a small, suffog spao… it wasn’t just a room. I was inside a carriage. The darkness pressed in from all sides, with only the fairaces of light slipping through the gaps between wooden pnks. I struggled, but my hands were bound tightly with rope.Then, a voice—frantid desperate.“Mashiro!”With a loud crash, the carriage door burst open uhe force of a single powerful stomp. Light flooded in, and there she stood, a familiar figure, a witch’s hat atop her head, her presence radiating warmth against the cold darkness. She rushed toward me, ing her arms around me in a tight embrace.Her hands gently pried the wooden doll from my mouth, the thing that had kept me from speaking. The moment it was gone, a wave of saliva dripped down my , my jaw ag from being forced shut for so long. I gasped for breath, my voice trembling as I finally spoke.“Catherine…” My fingers grasped at her sleeve, needing to feel something real.She didn’t hesitate. With a flick of her wrist, the ropes binding my limbs fell away, severed in an instant. The sed I was free, she pulled me to my feet, guidi of the carriage.The se outside hit me like a shock of cold air. The carriage had crashed, its wooden frame splintered, its wheels sunk into uneven dirt. A lone horse bolted into the distas panicked whinnies eg through the dark.I sucked in a sharp breath, my pulse hammering in my ears. The carriage… the horse… I khem. They were the same ones from this m, the same ones I had seen when I reached out to give S the octopus skewers.I stumbled slightly as Catherieadied me, her grip firm yet reassuring. My wrists throbbed where the ropes had dug into my skin, but the pain was nothing pared to the fusion and fear still swirling in my mind.The night air was crisp, carrying the lingering st of burnt wood. My gaze darted toward the overturned carriage, the broken wheel still spinning idly in the dirt. The horse that had been pulling it was now nothing more than a silhouette in the distance, galloping away into the darkness.Catheriepped forward, her boots g against the dirt as she towered over him. Her usual teasing demeanor was gone, repced by something much colder. “Tch. Figures.” She nudged him lightly with her foot, as if testing whether he was actually unscious or just pying dead.A strained groan escaped his lips. So he was alive. But the way he barely stirred, his body limp and unresponsive, made my stomach twist with unease.I swallowed hard, gng up at Catherine. “What… what’s going on?” My voice was hoarse, raw from the gag.She clicked her tongue. “I should be asking you that.” Then, softer, “Are you hurt?”I shook my head, but the dizziness in my skull said otherwise.Lisa and Elise came running toward us, their breaths heavy, their eyes widening in shock at the sight of the overturned carriage and S lying motionless on the ground.Catheri out a weary sigh, then reached out to gently brush a few stray strands of hair from my face. “I was just about to head down to the restaurant when I noticed a butterfly frantically cirg me,” she murmured. “I asked both of them if they knew where you went, but…”Lisa’s lips quivered, her eyes gssy with uears. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know…” she whispered, guilt tightening her voice.Elise ched her small fists, her gaze dropping to the wooden doll in my hands. “Miss Mashiro, I’m so sorry. I should have paid more attention…”I held the doll closer, my grip tightening around it. Their words were heavy with guilt, but the truth was—I hadn’t seen it iher. None of us had.‘I followed the butterfly and I saw that guy stuffing you into a carriage. So I did what any good mentor would do—wrecked the damn thing.”Her words were casual, but there was a sharp edge to them.I turned back to S. His face ale, a thin yer of sweat ging to his skin. He looked sile, lying there in the dirt. A far cry from the flustered young man who had shyly offered me dinner just ho. I took a step forward.Catherine grabbed my wrist. “Mashiro.”I looked at her, unsure what she was trying to say. Was she warniellio stay back? Or did she just not wao get involved?But something deep inside me o know the truth. I o hear it from him. I pulled free from Catherine’s grip and k beside him, my firembling as I reached out.“S…” My voice was barely above a whisper.His eyes fluttered open—dazed, unfocused. Then, as his gaze settled on me, something flickered in his expressiret? Or was it something else entirely?I held the doll close to my chest, swallowing the lump in my throat. I turned my gaze back to Sy fiightening around the fabriy dress. “Why did you do this?!” I didn’t even know what I was asking. Why did he do it? Why did I trust him? Why was I so powerless?Catherine’s voice cut through the cold night air, sharp with anger. “Sortimer von Auchsach am Rhein. You’re one of the nobles who fled Thalradia after the truth about the sve trade was exposed. You thought hiding in this remote vilge, disguised as a mere bodyguard, would keep you safe. But the moment you saw Mashiro… you thought she’d fetch a good price, didn’t you? That you could sell her and make a fortuo live off?”Her words struck like thunder, shattering the fragile illusion of trust I had built. My stomach twisted. I felt sick.S sighed, finally opening his mouth—but not to deny it. Instead, a bitter smirk tugged at his lips. “So what if I did?”His words weren’t just an admission. They were drenched in something else—rese? Amusement? As if he didn’t even care about what he’d done. As if it didn’t matter.Catherine’s grip oaff tightened, her eyes burning with fury. “You bastard.”S let out a dry chuckle, his scowl deepening. “Hah. A rich fox dy like you doesn’t belong here. If you get caught up in things like this, it’s your own damn fault.”Catherine sighed, but her expression didn’t waver. Instead, she reached into her pouch, pulling out something small and cold. Without hesitation, she pced it in my hands.A knife.“Mashiro,” she said, her voice steady, “if you want to, you end it right now.”I stared down at the bde in my trembling hands, my mind bnk. S y there, his scowl twisting into something unreadable. Defiance? Indiffere was as if he had already accepted his fate.I swallowed, my throat dry. “Kill him…?”Catherine nodded. “You have every right. He tried to sell you like an object. If I hadn’t found you in time…” Her voice trailed off, but the unspoken words lingered in the air. Who knows what would’ve happened?Lisa and Elise stood frozen, their faces pale. Elise clutched the hem of Lisa’s apron, her small hands trembling.S let out a dry ugh. “What? Hesitating? Thought you’d be more decisive than that, Mashiro.” His golden eyes, once so gentle in the mplight of the inn, now gleamed with mockery. “Or do you still think I was your friend?”The word stabbed deeper than I expected.Friend.Had I really thought that? I bit my lip, my grip on the kightening. My hands trembled—not with fear, but with something heavier, something that ed deep in my stomach. I could do it. I could end this right now.A…“Why? Why aren’t you… scared?” I asked quietly, my voice betraying the chaos inside me. “Why aren’t you beggio let you live? I don’t uand.”I stared at the bde in my hand, uo fully grasp what was happening. Just days ago, I was living airely different life—going to college, w a part-time job, and spending my free time pulling for Mashiro’s banner in the gacha. I never imagined I’d be standing here, holding someone’s life in my hands, a… I was.S’s smirk didn’t falter, despite the weight of my gaze, despite the on in my hand. He leaned back, eyes dull and lifeless. "Why? Because I’ve always known how this ends. So, why bother with fear? It won’t ge anything." His voice was cold, detached, as if the cept of life ah had long since lost its meaning to him.I felt the trembling in my fingers as the knife hovered between us, its cold edge catg the dim light. The fusion in my chest only grew as I g the on, then back at him."Why aren’t you beggio let you live?" I repeated, my voice quieter this time, almost pleading for an answer I didn’t even fully uand myself.Catherine's voice cut through the silence, sharp and unfiving. “He thought this vilge was a stepping stone, a pce to hide while he caused destru. The mome you, he destroyed the Aegis Wardstone, expeg that the entire vilge would burn aake you—you—and sell you as a sve. No remorse. No fear.”She took a step forward, her gaze never leaving S. “And even if you don’t kill him now, the vilgers will. Ohey know what he’s dohere won’t be a pce left for him to hide.”