So he had finally reached the top.

As the thought crossed my mind, I struggled to endure the splitting headache and nausea. Too much was flooding back at once, making me physically ill. Yehyeon laid a hand on my arm, his face full of concern, but even that felt distant.

I frowned, crushing the cutlery in my grip. The memories would not subside.

["Are golden eyes a trait of your kind?"]

Refined diction. Movements imbued with a distinctive, inimitable grace. Behind my eyelids, I saw him impeccably dressed in the suits that so perfectly complemented his sculpted face. Whenever we spoke, he would regard me with cool blue eyes.

["And white hair?"]

["Our hair colors vary so much."]

I had answered him from the sofa.

["Quite a few of your kind have white hair too, don't they?"]

He was also the most brilliant person I had ever met. Even in his youth, that brilliance could not be hidden. From our very first meeting, he had been on the quintessential path to success. He crossed every stepping-stone without missing a single one, far faster than anyone else. That was how he had come to meet me.

Me... Us.

["You spend a lot of time with him."]

Kyle's voice struck my ears.

["Do you like that human? He's clever, I'll give him that, but he's not someone worth growing fond of."]

["I doubt he's looking for affection either."]

I smiled as I answered Kyle.

["We simply can't afford to ignore each other."]

Earth, at peace. An outdoor café bathed in pleasant sunshine. People wore sunglasses against the merciless sun and held melting ice creams in their hands. Their movements slowed in the hot air. The rich scent of summer enveloped me.

A languid afternoon spent watching the deep blue sea and waves breaking white. The memory of that day swallowed me whole. There had been a time so peaceful it was almost dull. For a while, the returning memory left me unable to move. Yes. There had been such gentle days, days when I could almost fool myself into believing we could go on like that without anything going wrong.

And, surprisingly, that peace had lasted quite a long time.

I had watched Colton age. Watched a young man brimming with ambition become a seasoned man of immense standing. His power had grown at a frightening pace with the years. Outwardly, he called his relationship with me a "friendship," though he had no idea what friendship was.

["Hildebert."]

I recalled a time when he had looked much as he did now.

["Have you made your decision?"]

["Yes."]

And the way my heart had broken as I answered.

["It was bound to happen eventually anyway."]

What was?

I couldn't remember that much. I clenched my fist hard, a splitting pain pounding on one side of my head. Was this a defense mechanism?

Perhaps I was instinctively resisting those unhappy memories. I couldn't remember why that peace had ended, or why I had betrayed my own kind. I couldn't even properly remember how I differed from humans.

Stupid brain. Remember.

Stop looking away from what you did and remember.

Remember!

Someone shook me hard.

"Snap out of it."

Yun's cold voice roused me.

"Hildebert."

That icy voice opened my senses.

My senses returned to the present. Gasping for breath, I took in the two senior officers peering at me. Yun, gripping my arm hard, his eyes narrowed. Yehyeon, studying me with concern.

Noise once again filled the reception hall. Colton seemed to have disappeared into the crowd. I couldn't see him anywhere. I blinked several times, trying to steady my ragged breathing. Beads of sweat fell from my lashes.

"Should I call a doctor?"

Yehyeon whispered, his voice full of worry. Seeing the anxiety and concern in his large eyes, I shook my head.

"I'm all right."

"You're drenched in cold sweat. You look... Hilde. Let's step outside for a moment."

"I'm fine," I insisted again.

Then I lowered my eyes to avoid their unwavering stares. Ignoring the sharp pain in my head, I tried to steady my breathing. I couldn't leave now. Not after these memories had finally returned. Not after I had finally encountered a human from my past.

I had something to say to him.

Something I had to say...

Yun spoke coldly.

"I'll drag you over to where Ami is. Stay there and rest."

"I'm really all right."

"Like hell you are. It'll be more trouble if you collapse, so do as you're told."

"Just give me five minutes."

I really didn't want to leave.

"I'll be fine in five minutes."

They waited in silence for five minutes. I remained utterly still, focusing solely on my body. Some extreme defense mechanism seemed to have kicked in. But Yun was right. I couldn't pass out here. I stopped digging through the past and listened to my heartbeat.

Listening to my heartbeat always helps me calm down.

Five minutes later, I raised my head with an even breath.

"I'm all right now."

They stared at me. Ignoring their sharp scrutiny, I craned my neck. The crowd was bustling again, and I couldn't see Colton.

Where had he gone?

"Where is..."

"Not now."

Yehyeon answered before I had even finished speaking.

I turned to meet the commander-in-chief's eyes. Concern still lingered there, but it was a different kind now. He spoke in a low voice.

"Wait until he summons you."

A faint laugh escaped me before I could help it.

"Yes. That's the sort of man he was. I remember. I imagine he's only gotten worse."

"You seem to know him better than I thought."

Yehyeon half lowered his eyes, murmuring almost to himself.

"All I know is that you and he were acquainted. I don't know the details."

"I don't remember everything either. Just the friendly times I spent with him."

"Friendly?"

Yun arched an eyebrow as though he had never heard anything so bizarre. I gave a short laugh. It was an understandable reaction. Colton Wiseman was a colder man than even Yun.

Cold and cruel by nature. Far worse than Yun in his hunger for power. A dangerous human, with the innate grace and charisma to conceal his true nature and the keen intelligence to fulfill his ambitions. At least Yun cared for Yehyeon and Ami. Colton saw everyone as a pawn.

With one single exception.

Though I wasn't certain even that person was truly an exception.

I lifted the eyes I had lowered to suppress my nausea.

"He called it friendship, but I think we were really just on terms where it did neither of us any harm to be civil and meet regularly. Why we had that sort of relationship, I'm not quite sure. So much came back at once that I can barely think."

"You look like you're about to throw up."

"I do feel a little sick."

"What do you think? Shall I knock him out and drag him outside?"

Yun put the question to Yehyeon as casually as anything.

How could he say that when his trainee had just told him he felt sick? I gave my training officer a look of reproach, but he ignored me. Yehyeon regarded me worriedly, then slowly shook his head. Closing his eyes with a sigh, he chided Yun out of habit.

"You can't treat someone who's ill like that, Yun."

"You can when they won't listen."

"There's someone else I need to find, too."

I leaned back, resting my arms on the chair's armrests. I blinked several times, my eyelids beaded with cold sweat. My blurred vision cleared again. At first glance, the reception hall looked just as it had before, but on closer inspection, its atmosphere had changed completely since Colton's arrival.

I scanned the glittering room and its peculiar atmosphere. There was a face I was looking for. Not Colton, whom I had just seen, but the person who had been standing beside him, whom I hadn't had a chance to notice properly.

"Jaeyeon."

No sooner had I spoken the name than I found its owner. He lounged at a table in a corner of the hall, beside Colton, who sat with impeccable poise, conversing with a prominent politician across from him. Jaeyeon was staring at me, a crooked smile on his lips and an elbow slung lazily over the back of his chair.

Foxlike, upturned eyes and a well-shaped nose. Black curls and a black suit with white pinstripes. He looked like a smartly dressed model, his vulpine good looks unchanged.

Yes. Those eyes and that nose had been his distinguishing features. Whether female or male, Jaeyeon had always possessed those long eyes and that handsome nose.

And his eyes had always burned with vicious hatred. A hatred no one had ever managed to extinguish, one that ruthlessly consumed everything around it. But why did he hate me more than most? I couldn't remember that either. Judging by the barrage of texts he had sent, I certainly seemed to have done something.

Without taking his gaze off me, Jaeyeon curved his long eyes into crescents. Then he blew me a kiss.

Ugh.

Looking at Colton Wiseman's sole exception (probably), still as fervently insane as ever, I muttered to myself.

"Just seeing his face makes me want to throw up."

"Exactly," Yun agreed.

"One look and you gag. Finally, some common ground. Now I see how you survived meeting him."

"Jaeyeon is building me a cabin."

Remembering that fact made my stomach turn.

"Can't we blow it up?"

Yehyeon heaved a deep sigh. I turned and saw that my pale superior had grown even more ashen than usual. He looked worse than I did now. His complexion made me marvel that he could possibly lose any more color.

My handsome superior lowered his eyes and let out a long breath.

"So you did know Jaeyeon, too."

"Yes. Though I haven't remembered much... Are you all right, Commander? You look absolutely awful."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Yun's cold voice cut across Yehyeon's husky one.

My training officer glared at Yehyeon, brow deeply furrowed.

"You've never been fine when that bastard was involved."

Come to think of it, I'd been told Jaeyeon particularly hated Yehyeon. Why Yehyeon? Well, I wanted to ask why me, too, but still. Why Yehyeon as well? What had happened between him and that fox demon of a man?

Of course, it was easy enough to earn Jaeyeon's hatred without anything happening at all. He had enough hatred inside him for all of humanity, with plenty to spare. But there must have been some reason he hated a person "particularly" more than everyone else.

There was so much I wanted to ask, but I knew this wasn't the time. Besides, I could barely cope with the memories pouring out of my own head.

Darjeeling tea and buttered bread sat cooling on the table. Yehyeon had been silently looking down at the cup before him when he spoke in a near whisper.

"His master is right beside him. If he does anything, it won't be until after the gathering."

"How reassuring."

"Hilde."

I quietly met Yehyeon's gaze. He studied me, narrowing those eyes that always seemed tinged with sorrow.

"He came to see you."

"Yes. I imagine he did."

"Whatever you let slip, you won't be killed. We agreed that you would not be killed under any circumstances."

So they had made that agreement. Was that why he no longer needed to hide what he knew from me? Was it also why he had brought me back inside the core and hadn't expelled me again, despite Jaeyeon's hatred of me?

I thought my guess was probably right, but I didn't ask. Instead, I nodded slowly.

"Thank you."

"But be careful. Just because he can't kill you doesn't mean he can't cause you pain."

Yehyeon's bitter smile seared itself into my vision. His eyes, always so full of pain, now held an uncharacteristic look of weary resignation.

"Be careful. He's at the top now."

* * *

An hour later, Colton Wiseman, my old friend, summoned me in a characteristically smooth fashion.

He had Forden bring me to his table. Good Lord. I had forgotten about Forden. Completely and utterly forgotten him. But now that I thought about it, yes. This was the man who had sent me the invitation.

He stood stiffly before the elderly gentleman, who wore his cold charisma like a mantle. After observing Forden, rigid with discomfiture, I turned my gaze to Colton, seated at the table. With his eyes lowered and his face expressionless, he was lifting his teacup.

"Mr. Wiseman."

Hello.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Hildebert Taleb."

This was how I had greeted him when we first met, long ago.