Chapter 10
But now Lucia didn’t have to do that anymore..
The future she’d once been forced to endure—one stained by tears and regret—vanished like a mirage. All she had done was decide not to endure it anymore. And yet the future had changed.
…Which meant this wasn’t hell after all.
‘Then… time really has turned back?’
Lucia was still frozen in stunned realization when Mrs. Lancaster, consumed by rage, sprang to her feet and raised a hand to strike her.
“So, you’ve finally shown your true colors.”
Seeing the woman’s arm lifted high, Lucia instinctively turned her head and squeezed her eyes shut, just as she always had.
Then—
Bang!
“Aaaah!”
“An intruder! There’s an intruder in the estate…!”
Just like on the hotel rooftop, another gunshot echoed through the air.
* * *
“Who are you?!”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“This is the Lancaster estate! You can’t just barge in here like— Aaagh! Stop pushing! I said stop! Where the hell are the guards?!”
The ground floor dissolved into chaos.
Some tried to block the stranger’s advance, while others fled in panic at the sound of gunfire. A few trembling servants even hid behind marble statues.
An armed intruder had forced his way into one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods, a place where only the wealthy could afford to live.
It was something no one had ever imagined could happen.
Outside, the estate’s guards had already been subdued by the man’s subordinates. Amid the pandemonium, only one person remained completely at ease.
The man casually surveyed the room. His expression seemed indifferent, but his sharp blue eyes quietly examined everyone present.
“Yeah, I know. The Lancaster… whatever.”
His gaze paused briefly on one spot—
Then he deliberately looked away, pretending he hadn’t noticed anything at all. A slow smile spread across his face.
“…Found you.”
“If you don’t leave immediately, we’ll call the police!”
“The police?”
The threat was so trivial that he let out an amused chuckle.
“Ah…”
“Life’s been getting pretty entertaining lately.”
By then, the entrance hall had filled with his men, while every telephone nearby had already been smashed, cutting off communication with the outside world.
Even so, he appeared generous enough to offer them a chance. He gestured toward another phone farther away, almost inviting them to call.
“Go ahead. Though I can’t promise the police will be on your side.”
Gulp.
His words immediately sent everyone’s imagination spiraling.
Have the police been bribed? Or does he know them personally? Could he actually be working for the government…? They said Terrinica has some kind of special investigation unit…
No one knew the answer. And because they didn’t know, not a single servant dared move, despite the opportunity he had so graciously offered.
Just then, Mrs. Lancaster and Lucia descended the staircase.
“What’s going on?! Which lunatic is firing a gun inside my estate?!”
“Madam! You need to get somewhere safe!”
Even faced with an armed man, Mrs. Lancaster showed no fear.
People who had spent their entire lives within the boundaries of common sense rarely understood what someone beyond those boundaries was capable of.
To her, he was simply a young man around her son’s age. Nothing more. Her mind was still burning with fury over Lucia’s defiance, leaving little room to grasp the danger before her.
“Aha. A lunatic, huh?”
The intruder didn’t waste a second thinking. He simply raised his gun and fired at Mrs. Lancaster.
“…!”
“Aah!”
“You called me a lunatic. So I figured I’d act like one.”
The maid screamed.
Mrs. Lancaster’s necklace snapped as the bullet struck it, falling to the floor with a sharp metallic clatter.
Clink… clatter… It was an unbelievably precise shot. The bullet had grazed the side of the necklace’s chain, severing it cleanly without touching her.
But as the necklace spun away, the broken chain sliced across her neck, leaving behind a thin crimson line.
“I-I… Y-You just fired… You shot at me… Ahhh! Aaaah!”
Convinced she’d been shot, Mrs. Lancaster clutched at her throat, shrieked hysterically, then collapsed unconscious.
It had been a warning.
“Nobody try to stop me. I’m not exactly in the mood to show restraint today.”
The moment the mistress of the house hit the floor, every servant rushed toward her.
“Well. That takes care of the biggest nuisance.”
The man’s eyes settled on Lucia. He looked at her face in silence. She looked far younger than she did in his memories.
A broad grin slowly spread across his lips.
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“You…”
Lucia stared blankly at the man who had blasted through the estate’s front gate.
The instant she appeared on the staircase, he headed straight for her without the slightest hesitation.
Backlit by the crimson glow of the setting sun, he looked less like a man and more like a demon returning from a battlefield drenched in blood.
“I’ve missed you, sweetheart.”
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