The fire that had fallen here and there on the branches was carried by the wind to other trees and the ones next to them endlessly. Michael's eyes, filled with flames, were excited like arsenic. Like an arsonist who had started a fire for pure pleasure, he looked at the forest where the fire was spreading quickly.
Louis Dunst stared at Michael from a distance, motionless. Her eyes were filled with amazement, shock, and some kind of realization.
"Mom!"
Laura's green eyes, similar to Angie's, sparkled brilliantly. Before they completely lost their light, the two eyes shed their last brilliant colors and disappeared. As if that was a signal, heavy rain began to fall.
“Oh, Mom! Dad!”
Beyond the gray horizon, dusk was approaching. A tearing scream tore and shook the middle of the desolate hill. A quiet chaos was unfolding on the usually peaceful and quiet coast. It was not because of the untimely heavy rain and thunder. It was a moment when the boundaries between life and death, existence and non-existence collapsed in an instant.
The sky was changing its course again. Raindrops fell like hail and lightning rumbled again. Angie slowly turned around. Tears dripped down her chin as she turned her head, soaking her collar. She was drenched from head to toe anyway.
“Angie.”
Kyle dismounted and slowly approached her. A pair of wall eyes were fixed on her, not moving away for a moment.
“Stop.”
He stopped about ten steps away. It was Angie's order, or request.
“Don't come.”
A teardrop fell down her neck. It seemed as if the teardrop was settling on the scarf wrapped around her neck, but it soon disappeared. It was the man in front of her who had once personally wrapped his hand and given it to her as a gift.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Angie continued her order. Her voice was so calm and unfamiliar that she could not even believe it. She read somewhere that if you are too shocked, you can become cold and frozen, and it seems that is indeed the case.
You killed my parents. Right in front of me. Mom and Dad. Why? Because you thought they would get in the way of taking me to the capital?
Angie's lips quivered in extreme fear. Her whole body trembled. It felt like the fierce rainwater was piercing her flesh and hitting her bones.
Kyle killed them both without blinking an eye. Then the child in my stomach too...
“Calm down, Angie.”
Thunder roared again. Even under the rain, the man looked like a painting. He was soaked from head to toe, but he looked perfectly natural and unruffled as if he had been wet all along.
He lowered the gun he was holding in one hand while staring straight at Angie. He then hid it behind his waist and returned it, empty. I won’t hurt you—it was a clear, unspoken message. But there was no sign of relief on Angie’s wary face.
She blinked slowly. The rainwater that kept filling her eyes blocked her vision. She couldn’t turn her head because she was scared. She was afraid of seeing her parents’ bodies which were already cold. It was also terrifying to see the puddle of blood that was being washed away by the heavy rain. All the strength drained from her body and she couldn’t even breathe because of the pain.
“I’ll explain everything, Angie. Just listen to me first. Trust me...!”
The man who killed her parents right in front of her spoke without a moment's hesitation. He wasn't as calm and composed as usual. An urgent and desperate feeling was flowing out of his whole body.
He was definitely shaken. Why? Was it because he didn't intend to kill his parents in front of her? Or was it because he already guessed what Angie was thinking? Angie slowly backed away without even wiping her tear-filled eyes.
“No. I don’t trust you.”
The sound of waves crashing behind her shook her ears.
“How can I believe the words of the murderer who killed my parents?”
“Angie!”
The sobs between her sobs were intermittent, buried in the sound of the waves. Even as her tears continued to flow, Angie barely moved her lips. Her clouded eyes still had the afterimage of her parents’ last moments of being shot and falling.
“If I can get away from you like this... I’d rather... This would be better..."
God. If I am in a terrible nightmare right now, please wake me up. If this is not a dream... If you are really here on earth... Please put everything back where it belongs. Where everything belongs.
“Angie!”
A terrible premonition came over him. He stretched out both arms toward her. But her movements were a little faster than Kyle's. It happened in the blink of an eye, so he had no time to do anything. Angie's body, which had been shaking slightly, fell over the cliff that formed the peak of the hill in an instant. The wind and rain blew fiercely as if to encourage the fall.
“Angie! Ann...! No!”
A blood-spitting scream began to shake the entire island. Kyle sat down on the cliff and looked down at the rough waves of the sea. There was no sign of Angie. There was no sound of lightning, nothing. The roaring thunder was in rhythm with the howling screams.
Angie! Angie- Aaaah!
Kyle jumped straight into the water. The angry waves swallowed his body as it plunged a second time. He floated on the surface and searched frantically for Angie. A fervent prayer from his soul flowed from his lips for the first time in his life.
Oh my God, please.
The waves no longer listened to his pitiful cries. With a crash, a huge wave came crashing down and hit his weak body hard. His desperate cries calling out to someone were no longer heard.
The fire, which had been spreading rapidly from the forest on the cliff, was finally reaching the villa. A large eagle was circling over the two bodies even in the rain. It seemed to be considering whether to peck at the fresh flesh before the blood congealed or before the fire spread there.
There were two continental wars. Immediately after the first war, epidemics and bacterial diseases spread all over the world, and half of what was called Europe was left in ruins. As a result, the nobles of the Old Continent left the wasteland behind and ventured into adventure.
While they were busy sailing to the New World and driving out their original masters, John Fitzroy, a large landowner in Trieste, spent a large sum of money to purchase the title of Duke of Blackwell.
Since then, he has continued to rise steadily even in the chaotic times of war. He has amassed enormous wealth by traveling between the Old World and the New World and numerous small countries that became colonies. He was only a Viscount, the lowest class of the aristocratic society, but he has become incredibly wealthy and has risen to the highest class. It was a laundering of status through the power of money, but no one dares to mention it.
His mind was always full of two thoughts: a new link to another fortune, and the most effective way to hide his private property that was increasing by the day. In John's eyes, there were materials connected to money all over the world. Why were there so many ways to make money, but people couldn't see them?
So the world is divided into two groups. Those who can see money. Those who can't.
And the world was in turmoil. Duke Blackwell welcomed the outbreak of the Second Continental War and the turbulent times it brought more than anyone else.
Previous Next
Louis Dunst stared at Michael from a distance, motionless. Her eyes were filled with amazement, shock, and some kind of realization.
The young man standing before the ashes of John Fitzroy Blackwell, the former Duke, was not the Michael Randall they had seen before. He was a completely different person.
Kyle knew he had arrived at a critical moment. He pulled hard on the reins and stopped his horse as he approached the North Shore cottage. Through the living room window, he could see Laura Ridsdell and Angie.
The moment Laura tipped the vial into the bowl and handed it to Angie, he pulled the revolver out of his bosom. There was no time to think or say anything.
He couldn't let Angie be ruined. The Ridsdels were out of their minds. They were incapable of thinking and judging the violence and tyranny they were about to commit. They were trying to destroy her and take away her precious memories with him by arbitrarily erasing her memories in the name of protecting her.
You say you grew deeply attached to her and loved her as if she were your own daughter? That's nonsense. Real parents would never have the heart to commit such a terrible atrocity.
Kyle raised his gun in a fit of rage and pulled the trigger. He fired as far away as he could without hurting Angie, but only towards the Ridsdels, missing. He rode his horse towards the back door of the cottage where the three men had run.
“Let’s go down the cliff shortcut! Come quickly, Angie!”
“Dad, just a moment...”
Luckily, Angie was a few steps behind. In the brief moment it took Kyle to pick up one of his shoes that had come off in his haste to run away, he pulled the trigger again, aiming at his target.
A gunshot rang out. Winter birds flew up, kicking branches. Even the crows that had not flinched at the sound of thunder screamed and flew away somewhere. A cold metallic clang followed. The third bullet from the revolver was ready for the next target. Another shot rang out.
In exactly two steps, Laura and Patrick fell one by one before Angie's eyes. Her mother's pupil met Angie's head-on as she slowly collapsed forward, one arm extended toward her.
“An.. An... Gie... An..."
***
Kyle knew he had arrived at a critical moment. He pulled hard on the reins and stopped his horse as he approached the North Shore cottage. Through the living room window, he could see Laura Ridsdell and Angie.
The moment Laura tipped the vial into the bowl and handed it to Angie, he pulled the revolver out of his bosom. There was no time to think or say anything.
He couldn't let Angie be ruined. The Ridsdels were out of their minds. They were incapable of thinking and judging the violence and tyranny they were about to commit. They were trying to destroy her and take away her precious memories with him by arbitrarily erasing her memories in the name of protecting her.
You say you grew deeply attached to her and loved her as if she were your own daughter? That's nonsense. Real parents would never have the heart to commit such a terrible atrocity.
Kyle raised his gun in a fit of rage and pulled the trigger. He fired as far away as he could without hurting Angie, but only towards the Ridsdels, missing. He rode his horse towards the back door of the cottage where the three men had run.
“Let’s go down the cliff shortcut! Come quickly, Angie!”
“Dad, just a moment...”
Luckily, Angie was a few steps behind. In the brief moment it took Kyle to pick up one of his shoes that had come off in his haste to run away, he pulled the trigger again, aiming at his target.
A gunshot rang out. Winter birds flew up, kicking branches. Even the crows that had not flinched at the sound of thunder screamed and flew away somewhere. A cold metallic clang followed. The third bullet from the revolver was ready for the next target. Another shot rang out.
In exactly two steps, Laura and Patrick fell one by one before Angie's eyes. Her mother's pupil met Angie's head-on as she slowly collapsed forward, one arm extended toward her.
“An.. An... Gie... An..."
"Mom!"
Laura's green eyes, similar to Angie's, sparkled brilliantly. Before they completely lost their light, the two eyes shed their last brilliant colors and disappeared. As if that was a signal, heavy rain began to fall.
“Oh, Mom! Dad!”
Beyond the gray horizon, dusk was approaching. A tearing scream tore and shook the middle of the desolate hill. A quiet chaos was unfolding on the usually peaceful and quiet coast. It was not because of the untimely heavy rain and thunder. It was a moment when the boundaries between life and death, existence and non-existence collapsed in an instant.
The sky was changing its course again. Raindrops fell like hail and lightning rumbled again. Angie slowly turned around. Tears dripped down her chin as she turned her head, soaking her collar. She was drenched from head to toe anyway.
“Angie.”
Kyle dismounted and slowly approached her. A pair of wall eyes were fixed on her, not moving away for a moment.
“Stop.”
He stopped about ten steps away. It was Angie's order, or request.
“Don't come.”
A teardrop fell down her neck. It seemed as if the teardrop was settling on the scarf wrapped around her neck, but it soon disappeared. It was the man in front of her who had once personally wrapped his hand and given it to her as a gift.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Angie continued her order. Her voice was so calm and unfamiliar that she could not even believe it. She read somewhere that if you are too shocked, you can become cold and frozen, and it seems that is indeed the case.
You killed my parents. Right in front of me. Mom and Dad. Why? Because you thought they would get in the way of taking me to the capital?
Angie's lips quivered in extreme fear. Her whole body trembled. It felt like the fierce rainwater was piercing her flesh and hitting her bones.
Kyle killed them both without blinking an eye. Then the child in my stomach too...
“Calm down, Angie.”
Thunder roared again. Even under the rain, the man looked like a painting. He was soaked from head to toe, but he looked perfectly natural and unruffled as if he had been wet all along.
He lowered the gun he was holding in one hand while staring straight at Angie. He then hid it behind his waist and returned it, empty. I won’t hurt you—it was a clear, unspoken message. But there was no sign of relief on Angie’s wary face.
She blinked slowly. The rainwater that kept filling her eyes blocked her vision. She couldn’t turn her head because she was scared. She was afraid of seeing her parents’ bodies which were already cold. It was also terrifying to see the puddle of blood that was being washed away by the heavy rain. All the strength drained from her body and she couldn’t even breathe because of the pain.
“I’ll explain everything, Angie. Just listen to me first. Trust me...!”
The man who killed her parents right in front of her spoke without a moment's hesitation. He wasn't as calm and composed as usual. An urgent and desperate feeling was flowing out of his whole body.
He was definitely shaken. Why? Was it because he didn't intend to kill his parents in front of her? Or was it because he already guessed what Angie was thinking? Angie slowly backed away without even wiping her tear-filled eyes.
“No. I don’t trust you.”
The sound of waves crashing behind her shook her ears.
“How can I believe the words of the murderer who killed my parents?”
“Angie!”
The sobs between her sobs were intermittent, buried in the sound of the waves. Even as her tears continued to flow, Angie barely moved her lips. Her clouded eyes still had the afterimage of her parents’ last moments of being shot and falling.
“If I can get away from you like this... I’d rather... This would be better..."
God. If I am in a terrible nightmare right now, please wake me up. If this is not a dream... If you are really here on earth... Please put everything back where it belongs. Where everything belongs.
“Angie!”
A terrible premonition came over him. He stretched out both arms toward her. But her movements were a little faster than Kyle's. It happened in the blink of an eye, so he had no time to do anything. Angie's body, which had been shaking slightly, fell over the cliff that formed the peak of the hill in an instant. The wind and rain blew fiercely as if to encourage the fall.
“Angie! Ann...! No!”
A blood-spitting scream began to shake the entire island. Kyle sat down on the cliff and looked down at the rough waves of the sea. There was no sign of Angie. There was no sound of lightning, nothing. The roaring thunder was in rhythm with the howling screams.
Angie! Angie- Aaaah!
Kyle jumped straight into the water. The angry waves swallowed his body as it plunged a second time. He floated on the surface and searched frantically for Angie. A fervent prayer from his soul flowed from his lips for the first time in his life.
Oh my God, please.
The waves no longer listened to his pitiful cries. With a crash, a huge wave came crashing down and hit his weak body hard. His desperate cries calling out to someone were no longer heard.
The fire, which had been spreading rapidly from the forest on the cliff, was finally reaching the villa. A large eagle was circling over the two bodies even in the rain. It seemed to be considering whether to peck at the fresh flesh before the blood congealed or before the fire spread there.
***
There were two continental wars. Immediately after the first war, epidemics and bacterial diseases spread all over the world, and half of what was called Europe was left in ruins. As a result, the nobles of the Old Continent left the wasteland behind and ventured into adventure.
While they were busy sailing to the New World and driving out their original masters, John Fitzroy, a large landowner in Trieste, spent a large sum of money to purchase the title of Duke of Blackwell.
Since then, he has continued to rise steadily even in the chaotic times of war. He has amassed enormous wealth by traveling between the Old World and the New World and numerous small countries that became colonies. He was only a Viscount, the lowest class of the aristocratic society, but he has become incredibly wealthy and has risen to the highest class. It was a laundering of status through the power of money, but no one dares to mention it.
His mind was always full of two thoughts: a new link to another fortune, and the most effective way to hide his private property that was increasing by the day. In John's eyes, there were materials connected to money all over the world. Why were there so many ways to make money, but people couldn't see them?
So the world is divided into two groups. Those who can see money. Those who can't.
And the world was in turmoil. Duke Blackwell welcomed the outbreak of the Second Continental War and the turbulent times it brought more than anyone else.
Previous Next
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