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The cloudless May sky was as blue as the sapphire-colored sea spread out beneath it. The weatherwas perfect, and the sea was calm—an ideal day for departure.
People bustled between the passenger ship and the pier, though it was mostly porters and sailors.The doors to the immigration checkpoint remained firmly closed.It was still early, before boarding had begun for the ship bound for Columbia.
A line of vehiclespulled onto the dock where no passengers were yet allowed.A luxury sedan came to a stop right in front of the first-class entrance to the passenger ship. As soonas the waiting sailor opened the door, a little girl, who looked to be about three or four years old,hopped out.
The child, wearing an oversized straw hat, clutched a worn-out dolphin plushie in her arms.
"Wow! It's huuuge!"
The child, craning her neck back to look up at the ship, exclaimed in awe. Grace gazed at theexcited child with nostalgia.
"When we came here the first time, no matter how much I pointed things out, she just sat thereeating her scone."
Ellie had been too young at the time to remember that day. Back then, they had to push her in a stroller, but now she proudly walked up the ramp on her own two feet.So much time had passed, and only after many trials and tribulations were they able to return here.
The thought made Grace's eyes well up.
"Ellie, don't go ahead by yourself. Wait for me."
"Hurry uup!"
But Grace couldn't follow right away because they still had to go through immigration. Thanks tothe man seated next to her, there was no need to stand in line at the checkpoint.One of Winston's attendants approached the waiting immigration officer and handed over severalpassports.
Without properly checking them, the officer stamped their approval. The attendantreturned the passports to Grace before heading toward the car where Joe and Martha's family were.Grace glanced at the opened passport, then shot a look at the man beside her, clearly displeased.
They were all starting fresh with new names. That was to be expected, so she had no complaintsabout that.What annoyed her was the new name.The man had unilaterally changed Ellie's name from Elizabeth to Eloise.
Perhaps he thought itwouldn't matter since both could be shortened to Ellie, but the child didn't see it that way.
"Then Ellie wouldn't be a princess anymore!"
After all, Elizabeth was the name of a princess.
In the end, the man had to buy Ellie a storybook featuring a princess named Eloise to earn herforgiveness.
Grace had managed to keep her first name, but she'd lost her middle name. The man hadwhimsically changed her original middle name, Anne.To Daisy.Grace had no complaints about the accommodations the man had arranged for them, though.
It wasa first-class suite, after all.The three of them entered the largest room, naturally following the servants and maids who weremoving their luggage.
"Bring out the muffins and jelly,"
Ellie begged, and one of the maids started opening several boxesone by one. Watching the maid struggle, Grace shot a look at the man standing next to her.Just two days ago, the luggage had been half the size it was now.
Yesterday, on Ellie's birthday, theamount of luggage had doubled.The man had literally dropped a bomb of gifts. Ellie had been so exhausted from unwrappingpresents that she had to take a nap in the middle, and there were still some left to open when shewoke up.
"The real gift I want to give you is across the sea," he had said, as if all the presents weren'tenough.
Ellie, who had been sad about leaving the "palace," had begun eagerly looking forward to themoment of departure after hearing that. They were going far away, on a ship, to an even betterplace. That was all the child understood.
Whatever the man had told her, Ellie hadn't asked why her father wasn't coming along. Even now,as she said goodbye to her father while being held in his arms, she didn't ask.
"Don't forget that Daddy loves you very much."
"I love you too, Daddy,"
Ellie replied, her lips pouting as if she were about to cry.
But after herfather whispered something in her ear, she nodded bravely. After holding her a little longer, he sether down and turned to face Grace.Now it was time for Grace to say her goodbye.He looked at her with calm eyes, as tranquil as the sea.
Those two eyes, colored like the shallowsea, hid more than the deepest waters.
When will I ever be able to see everything clearly that's hidden in them?
Still, she could tell he had something to say.
"What is it?"
For the first time, his stern gaze softened as he opened his mouth.
"There's something I really want to hear before you leave."
Was it an invitation to come with him? Or perhaps a declaration of love? She was wrong on bothcounts.
"How did you escape from the basement of the annex?"
The laundry chute.
Oh my god, he still hadn't figured that out.Grace let out a light laugh as she moved closer to him. She whispered in his ear, and he chuckled.
Stepping back, Grace smiled at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes, just as he often did. Helooked at her with an expression that seemed both annoyed and amused.When the laughter faded, silence resumed.
What is he thinking?
He stared deeply into her eyes for a long time, and then, unexpectedly, thecorners of his mouth lifted slightly as he said something she never thought she'd hear him say in herlifetime.
"Goodbye, Grace Riddle."
He lingered for a moment, as if waiting for her response, then smiled faintly before turning away.
He put on his sunglasses and walked out of the cabin, leaving Grace staring after him in surprise.
I was waiting for you to say something.She had thought he was going to tease her, just as he had in the past, by saying
"Nice to meet you,Grace," but with her new last name attached.
But he didn't.And just like that, Leon Winston said his final goodbye to Grace Liddell.Even after his silhouette disappeared, Grace couldn't take her eyes off where he had stood.
"I'm not going to chase after you anymore."
She thought back to the confusion she had felt when she heard those words.
Yes, you're not going to chase me anymore.
But you know exactly what that means, don't you?
Youknew that's what I was waiting to hear.She couldn't understand.Then, all of a sudden, she realized that the man's recent incomprehensible actions were not thewhole picture.
The documents about Sinclair.
The scandal he spread himself about the government and hisillegitimate child. The date of his marriage to the Grand Duchess, which was announced as soon ashe urged her to leave. And finally, bidding Grace farewell.
That man, he was deliberately causing fatal damage to himself.
What kind of game are you playing?
Her instinct told her it was all part of some scheme, but the countless pieces didn't fit with thelargest piece: Leon Winston. She couldn't see the full picture of what he was trying to achieve.
Her head throbbed.
"I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse that you know me so well."
Thanks for the compliment, but I have to admit, I don't know everything about you.
Yet, Grace didn't ask him what he was scheming. Strangely enough, she had developed an oddsense of trust in him.
All these actions pointed toward their separation, but Grace was certain that he wouldn't truly leaveher. He was doing things no one who loved her would do, yet she had no doubt that he would loveher forever.
So Grace stopped wracking her brain to figure it out.Not having to think is the privilege of the loved.Fine, I'll wait and see what kind of game this is.Thinking is for those who want to be loved.I'll watch where the waves you're stirring will take me.
The ship finally set sail in the afternoon. Grace stood on the balcony with Ellie, overlooking thedock.They were slowly leaving the pier behind.
Finally, she was escaping the cycle of revenge.Overwhelmed with emotion, she felt on the verge of tears.Only then did Grace begin to savor the long-suppressed joy of looking at her homeland, where shewould never set foot again, for the last time.
To hell with this wretched land.Hell doesn't deserve a goodbye.
"There's Daddy!"
Swallowing her tears, Grace turned in the direction Ellie was waving.
Standing in front of a sedanin a secluded area of the dock was the man. Whether it was because of the distance or his darksunglasses, it was hard to gauge his feelings as he waved.
Grace waved back at the man who remained trapped in the cycle of revenge. As she did, she silentlysent him the words she thought she'd never need to say.
Goodbye, Leon Winston.
And so, Grace Riddle said her farewell to Leon Winston.
---
It had been three months since she last faced James Blanchard Jr.
The last time she saw him, his face had been so battered by her that he was barely recognizable, butnow, it had mostly returned to its original shape.
However, he looked even thinner than before. Hisface, now gaunt, with only skin and bones remaining, made the rage in his eyes burn all the brighter.
"Your Majesty."
Sitting with his legs crossed, he only raised his hands slightly to feign respect for the king.
LittleJimmy gritted his teeth, and it was clearly visible.
"Have you heard the news of the coronation? You're finally going to place that long-coveted crownon your head and sit upon the throne. This pitiful pig of a royal subject was so overwhelmed withemotion that I could hardly sleep."
When Leon referred to the throne, he meant an electric chair, and when he mentioned the crown, hewas talking about a helmet with electrodes.The coronation, or rather, the execution, was scheduled for tomorrow.
If he didn't act now, Blanchard's execution might be postponed. So he used all his connections andmeans to secure the execution order.
"Your subjects, who have already established a kingdom in hell, will greet you face down on theground. Hmm, I should have made sure they hadn't already installed another puppet king on thethrone..."
The one who had been glaring at him while sneering now bared his teeth and demanded,
"Youpromised to commute the sentence to life imprisonment if I revealed the location of Hetty Fisher'shospital."
"How foolish."
Of course, it was the kind of foolishness he had expected.
"That deal was never finalized. Didn't I declare that the deal had fallen through before youconfessed?"
"You deceitful scoundrel!"
Is it the prospect of death that makes one lose all sense?
The man, his eyes bloodshot, began tospew violent and vulgar words with unprecedented ferocity.
Leon, observing him with indifferenteyes, asked:
"Are you afraid of dying, or are you afraid of dying painfully? If it's the latter, I can offer help."
Leon then proceeded to describe in detail the experiences of a recent death row inmate who hadfaced electrocution.The execution failed to kill him outright. Despite numerous attempts, the man's life was notextinguished, causing the execution to be halted and resumed the next day.
Subjected to currentsseveral times above the standard, he endured a day of excruciating pain while his body was onlyhalf-cooked before he finally died.The man, who had initially cursed Leon when he first suggested sparing him the agony of a painfuldeath, grew increasingly quiet.
The internal conflict was clearly evident in his troubled eyes.Leon then took out from his jacket pocket and placed on the table an item.
"This will allow you to end your life before you even feel the pain."
It was a wooden box the size of a matchbox. The man visibly flinched as he seemed to recognize itas something Leon had previously given to Grace.
"...What is this supposed to be?"
"Revenge?"
Leon replied as if the answer were obvious.
"It's revenge for ordering the death of the woman I love. I wanted to see you meet a satisfying endby swallowing what I gave to Grace."
"......"
"So, what do you think? Isn't it a deal that's not bad for either of us?"
The man forced a bitter smile. It was becoming clear that, cornered as he was, he had abandonedrational thinking and even his life.Finally, as the man reached out to take the box, Leon stopped him.
"There's a condition."
He opened the box, took out what was inside, and threw it in front of the man.
"Read it out loud."
It was a letter Blanchard had left for Grace.
"Exclude the last line."
His presumptuous declaration of love for her was only repulsive.The man, who had been glaring at Leon, soon began to read the letter in a resigned voice.
"G, Grace, I thought you would recognize my handwriting..."
Ah, yes. This passage was just as repulsive.
"I am devastated to have received such news when I was only waiting for your return. I hope youunderstand my position of having to send something like this when I should be inquiring about your well-being. Though the path to a world of equality is arduous, I never expected to impose such aninevitable sacrifice on my beloved..."
Afterward, what followed was not the death of Grace due to her extensive knowledge but a torrentof self-pitying justifications.
"...I will achieve our cause and follow after, so let us meet in heaven."
"Grace has already gone to heaven. And the one who will follow after is not you, but me."
The author could not possibly understand the meaning. As Leon took the letter from the confusedman and set it alight with a lighter, it quickly turned to black ash and crumbled.Only then did he present the box containing the capsule.
The man, perhaps thinking Leon mightsnatch it back, quickly tossed the capsule into his hand but did not put it in his mouth.It seemed that he had learned something from being tricked by Leon multiple times. Blanchardilluminated the capsule with the light to confirm that it contained white crystals.
His expression,after confirming, was far from that of someone who had obtained what he wanted.A long hesitation began.
What was he clinging to in this life trapped in a mouse hole-sized cell?
Theman's hands trembled visibly as he held his forehead.
Moreover, what could be so sorrowful and unjust?
The man even ended up tearing his hair out andcrying.It was supposed to be satisfying, but for Leon, it was painful.The thought that Grace had been forced to endure such suffering made his blood run cold.
The emotion was anger, not pain. What had caused his pain was none other than himself.
"You said that not everything would be granted just because you begged! You've never granted any of my pleas! Just kill me!"
The desperate cry from long ago echoed in his mind. Leon shut his eyes tightly.He had encountered the desperation of the woman who didn't want to be trapped again in a mousehole-sized prison, begging to be killed, in an unexpected place and from an unexpected person.
He wanted to kill.
Even if Grace forgave him, Leon would never forgive himself for the rest of his life.After more than an hour of hesitation, Blanchard finally swallowed the capsule. Along with a glassof water, which Leon presented as his first and last act of kindness.
As soon as the man swallowed the capsule, he burst into tears. The pathetic act gradually subsided.Blanchard buried his head in his arms on the table and remained motionless.Leon, who had witnessed the farce from beginning to end, smiled bitterly.
The author still does not know me.From abilities to innate qualities, he was unfit to be a leader. Had he been born into an ordinaryfamily rather than as the son of a rebel leader, he might have lived an average life. In that sense, hissorrow and injustice were somewhat understandable.
The one thing he and Blanchard had in common was that they were raised as puppets to satisfy thegreed of adults.However, there was a fundamental difference between them.
The difference between someone whobroke free from the strings that bound them and someone who did not. If one cannot achieve that,they become a mere tool for others' greed, discarded in the end.
Nevertheless, there was no sympathy for the author.He had plotted treason, instigated crimes, and led the exploitation of others. The world mightconsider these greater sins, but in fact, that was not his concern.
"Your greatest fault is depriving Grace of the chance to be the sole love of my life."
Though he tried to approach it with a heart as generous as Grace's, this was something he could notforgive.
"The nature of your crime is extremely bad."
He had never said the capsule contained cyanide. Inside was barbiturate. By morning, Blanchardwould awaken to the realization that he must sit on the 'throne' and despair.
Perhaps then he would finally understand what kind of person I am.