However, Reinhardt took a break at the tempo to respond as if there was no rush, and slowly opened his lips. And explained in a soft voice.
"I'll admit that Miss and I were somehow entangled in a terrible relationship a long time ago. However, I don't think that's all in it between us. How about thinking in this way? That two of us can collaborate together as much as we want."
"Collabo… rate?"
Reinhardt smiled as if she was right.
"You're right. A collaboration between us. I help Miss, and on the other hand, Miss helps me. As long as Miss cooperates with me well, we'll make a very good pair. We will be bound by a thread of a bond that is stronger than any of my colleagues' relationship with me, who have been with me for a rather long time."
Eun-woo could feel her legs trembling with tension as if she was floating up in the air. She panicked and made the mistake of stuttering with her words.
"Wh, what are you talking about..."
Reinhardt smiled bitterly as if he understood.
"I will explain. Should we move on to a more practical agenda? Which is why I called Miss here."
Eun-woo narrowed her eyes at his actions that followed. He had pulled out a small watch from his pocket and showed it before her eyes. Under the gold frame, there separated the long gold line for the second and the minute.
He dropped the gold cord in front of her and smiled softly.
"Please use this watch for Miss's upcoming evaluation screening."
Eun-woo dazedly blinked her eyes. Then he let out a low lazy laugh from his mouth.
"You, too, must have heard the story of the first ordeal that Flora candidates must go through. Even before you can go to the first gate, Miss has to offer something to get permission to enter the White Cathedral. That's what I mean."
"Are you talking about submitting the chief's gold watch to the evaluation screening?"
Eun-woo asked in a doubtful voice, as if she couldn't believe it.
He nodded.
"That's right."
He touched his chin and opened his lips with a soft smile to proceed,
examination here is a very difficult process, in fact, the candidate who got the highest score would be the winner for the Flora Contest, unknowingly."
Eun-woo had to clench her molars so as not to open her mouth with the information she was hearing once again.
She hated to admit it, but what he said was all true.
In fact, the Flora Contest was a kind of fair event to see the wealth, personal connections, family, and status of candidates. Therefore, it was reasonable to conclude that the admission process, such as the process of revealing one is behind, determines the overall outcome of the competition.
The gold watch in her hand wobbled side to side like a pendulum.
"Miss, please present my gold watch."
Reinhardt opened his mouth in a hoarse voice like an enticement. The sides of his lips were hanging up.
Eun-woo realized that it was a smile only after a very short time passed.
"For what reason..?"
Eun-woo asked again, tensely like a mouse that found a trap with cheese in front of her.
"For what reason… are you giving this kindness to me?"
"It's kind of a bribe."
"… A bribe?"
At his short answer, she bewilderedly looked at him. He responded to her with a light smile.
"Hey…. Miss seems to prefer things that are certain?"
He clicked his tongue and continued.
"Well, that's not bad either. like. Since it's the way Miss prefers, I need to be a little honest. Let me straighten things up for you."
Reinhardt pulled his body out. Eun-woo felt his body approaching right in front of her face through the table and pulled her body back with a terrifying feeling. But his face reached right in front of her without any notice.
Eun-woo stiffened her lips as he watched his face resembling Tashian inching in front of her in a distorted shape. She somehow couldn't listen to his words, she was frozen.
Reinhardt opened his twisted mouth and spoke in a voice that was supremely gentle and kind.
"I don't think it looks good for Miss to hang out with him."
If he was referring to him, he was the only one.
Eun-woo was drenched in fear and nervousness in her body, unable to even think of refuting his words.
"Have you ever heard of shadows
Eun-woo heard a snap sound from somewhere like a drop of water falling on an iron plate. It was the sound of jays interlocking with each other. Recognizing it, she raised her hand to cover her lips, but even her fingertips trembled and did not obey her will. Watching her quietly, Reinhardt continued, his tongue clicking.
"Shadows are a long-standing tradition in Hellasium. It is a kind of puppet game in which an out-of-married person or a descendant of a collateral line is appointed as a proxy when there is no successor to the next generation."
It was very clear who he was referring to.
She looked at Reinhardt's hand, to his back where there was a lit candle, creating a shadowy figure. It looked like a bird.
Next to the bird he made with his right hand, he made another bird with his left hand.
"… But what if that shadow betrays its master and begins to move alone, Miss?"
Eun-woo witnessed the scene where the chief's hands crossed back and forth, and the shadows crumbled together.
Obviously, his hands remained in the shape of a bird. However, the shadows reflected by the candlelight created a completely different shadow shape by the changed distance and the direction in which his hands were located. It was the shape of a wolf this time around.
After completing the shadow play, the chief spoke with a meaningful voice.
"A shadow is just a shadow. The moment it moves against its master's will, it can no longer be called a shadow. It is a monster. It secretly grows the power that was momentarily bestowed upon him metallurgically and at some point eats even its master…"
A shadow monster created by tangled hands, neither in the shape of a bird nor a wolf, fluttered together as the candle blew up in the wind.
Reinhardt saw it and suddenly clenched his fists and slammed the table with a thud.
"… A heinous monster that doesn't even know kindness…!"
Eun-woo was startled by the sound and her body shook. Then, as if saddened, the chief hung his smile on his lips and held out his hand to her.
"You are trembling.. I am sorry, Miss."
Eun-woo couldn't help but avoid the big hand of him, who was approaching her cheek. Her whole body froze, as if it had stiffened, and she couldn't move even one of her toes.
He placed a finger on the tip of her chin, as smooth and quiet as a snake with his prey in front of him.
Her heart pounded like an earthquake at the touch of his cold fingertips against her skin.
The chief's fingers gently stroked her cheek as if in a swimming motion.
"He is a mere shadow. Miss, promise to me that you will never associate with him anymore, and take this watch."
His other hand, which was holding the gold watch, grabbed Eun-woo's two hands and locked them. His eyelids blinked with a wistful sigh as if he were looking at a lovely doll, holding a watch in her hand.
It was a terribly sweet voice, as if to soothe a child.
"An empty grain will always remain an empty grain. White doves must eat with grains…. I can lay a red carpet on the road in front of the Miss, more beautiful than anything else. I can even cover treasures with gold no one could imagine. I know that the Miss had gone through painful and difficult times. Now… just tell me that you want to rest."
His thumb was now caressing her lips, gently scratching her lips with his fingernails.
"By my side."
Eun-woo heard a moan bursting out of my lips as if sighing.
Surprisingly, as if his frozen body melted in an instant, she was responding to the seductive voice of Chief Reinhardt. At the same time, Eun-woo could feel another extreme heat flowing through her veins.
It was a feeling that was so hot and uncontrollable that even the coldness of his hand that came in contact with her face was swept away.
It was almost as if the veins in her eyes were about to burst out of the scorching warmth.
In the end, Eun-woo couldn't handle him and pushed this chest away from her, who was holding her hand and cheek, with all his might.
And shouted like a wild dog barking.
"Shut that filthy mouth of yours…!"
Eun-woo looked at Reinhardt's convulsions at the corner of his mouth for a moment and hardened his body. But she, too, had reached the limit of her handover point.
Eun-woo screamed out with her voice, wanting to grab her trembling chest that could not be controlled.
"I can't agree with your absurdity! Tashian is your shadow? A monster? I can't with this….! Tashian's life belongs to Tashian. He's not living for someone else, he's living for himself! Like me and you, every person dies for himself!"
Her voice shook as if she was a drunken woman. She had nothing to hold onto to ease her anger, so she held her skirt.
It was as if a fire had exploded from within her. Eun-woo threw herself into the anger she was feeling. She yelled at him so badly.
"Have you seen him fight with a sword before?! How did he do his best to manage the estate, build walls, and manage the land? How about fulfilling his responsibilities as a leader and maintaining his duties as a knight! Did he do all this for your glory? I can't believe it! To me, he is a complete person. And if we're talking about shadows, it's you, the shadow is you!"
Eun-woo gasped for breath like a person who had been driven off a cliff. A drop of sweat ran down her forehead and collarbone.
Eun-woo felt a tingling sensation inside her mouth and touched the tabletop with her staggering hands.
His gold watch, which had fallen from her hand, was thrown away in the center of the table, with its glass broken.
"… I can't accept this watch."
Eun-woo left the room moving her trembling legs as if she was running away from that room. Her legs, which shook as if they were broken, now walked smoothly like a wagon.
At that moment, the chief's gloomy voice was heard from behind. The sound came as loud as if it were ringing in her ears.
"I gave Miss enough chances… two, to be exact. Make sure to remember that whatever happens to you will be your own fault."
The chief's cold expression seemed to be drawn in front of her eyes without her needing to look back.
There was the sound of a heavy door slamming shut through the eerie silence.