try begging

She stuffed the magazines and newspapers into her handbag without even looking at them. Then she sat down in the empty seat and turned her head out the window.

Grace smiled at the woman reflected in the car window. With her blonde hair, red lips, and thick eyeliner, she still looked like a different person.

Well, it's still pretty.

If I go to the department store this weekend, should I buy some new earrings?

Grace muttered to herself as she looked at the teardrop-shaped pearl earrings hanging from her earlobes in the window. It might be fun to try something a little fancier and bigger.

I didn't wear sunglasses. I couldn't work with my eyes covered. And now I don't wear them outside of work either. It would be more suspicious to wear sunglasses all year round anyway.

It's been over two years since I've seen that guy, so he's become a bit lax. I haven't seen any missing person flyers lately.

Are you really giving up now? Yeah, I was getting sick of it last time.

Her fingertips nervously tapped the newspaper sticking out of her handbag.

Because I'm getting married soon.

If you're planning on getting married, that means you won't chase me anymore. Then I'll take Ellie and leave. Get married quickly.

The tram stopped in front of a huge movie set in the middle of a field. People working at the film studio rushed out, and Grace also got off the tram and entered the tallest building.

As I took the elevator to the top floor and opened the antique door, my boss, who had already arrived, greeted me from behind his desk, pouring me a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Anna."

"Good morning, Mrs. Tate."

Grace walked straight to the guest sofa in the middle of the room and opened her handbag. She took out the magazines and tabloids she had bought on the way here and laid them neatly on the coffee table, but another office worker who had just arrived tilted his head.

"Huh? Isn't it Anna's turn to buy a magazine?"

"Uh... I was just being humble..."

"Gossip?"

Mrs. Tate looked at the tabloid in Grace's hand and smiled meaningfully.

"I guess Anna wanted to read."

"No, that's not it, haha... ."

Grace smiled awkwardly. She folded the tabloid paper so the man's face wasn't visible, placed it on the table, and quickly sat down at her desk.

There was a note on the desk, apparently left by the boss the night before. With instructions to type this letter and send it by mid-morning scrawled in bold letters at the end, Grace took out a piece of high-quality paper with the film company logo engraved in gold and put it in the typewriter.

Grace worked at a film studio. She originally got a job as a typist on the second floor below. But a month ago, she happened to catch the eye of Mrs. Tate, the president's secretary, and was promoted to an administrative assistant in the president's office.

The pay was much better, so I didn't refuse. There was no way a secretary or anything like that would ever come across that man.

It was my first time getting a job with the pure purpose of making money, but as expected, I had to use an alias. Just in case, I gave a strange address.

[Blackburn Heroes: The Last Winner]

Grace stared at the movie poster for a moment, then lowered her gaze to the typewriter.

[Tea Time with Count Winston]

Grace tilted her teacup, glaring at the magazine cover in Mrs. Tate's hand as they sat across from each other at the lounge table. I don't know what the magazine reporter had fabricated, since I haven't read it, but as someone who has forced myself to have tea with that man countless times, it wasn't the kind of time I would recommend.

If that was a porn magazine, it would be closest to the truth.

Mrs. Tate, who was reading a magazine while eating lunch or not, was impressed while he was grumbling to himself.

"Really, you're cool. You're a natural movie star, aren't you?"

A natural born protagonist. Unless you're a natural born villain.

Grace took another bite of her sandwich, grumbling.

A movie based on the Blackburn operation was about to be released. Grace, who had been hiding in the slums and raising her child, did not know much about the world, and only after signing her employment contract did she realize that she had been hired by the production company for that movie.

'Evil relationships are so persistent.'

It was good when I didn't know what was going on in the world. Back then, I didn't have to see and hear that guy on the newsstand and radio every day. It's been three years since I became the 'Hero of Blackburn', but why is he still a hot topic? If I were a soldier, I would just quietly do my duty, why would I be arguing with the press? It was so annoying.

"I can't believe how talented you are at such a young age."

Grace took a big bite of the apple and crunched it as Mrs. Tate heaped praise on the bastard again.

Whose ability was it that made the purge successful?

But in another way, it was also thanks to that man's ability. After all, it was that man who made Grace betray those she had considered her family and devoted her entire life to.

"And he's handsome too."

Mrs. Tate waved her hand at the other clerk's remark.

"He's just handsome, not to this extent. Better than in the picture...."

The woman turned the magazine over, showing Grace a familiar face, then pointed to a movie poster on the wall.

"He's even more handsome than the actor who plays him. It's breathtaking to look at."

It doesn't take my breath away.

The boss added, misunderstanding why Grace's face was somber.

"That's because Anna hasn't seen the real thing."

The only person who saw the man in person, naked and all, just bit his lip and held back laughter.

Mrs. Tate, who had met the man while accompanying the president when the film production was under discussion two years ago, blushed again today and began to praise him beyond praise.

"She has a natural elegance. Her attitude seems light, but she also has a sense of weight, and her speech is also very good. She's refined and elegant, really."

Grace's insides were twisted, knowing all too well how that seemingly noble man could turn into a vulgar beast in front of her.

"He's full of charm. From that day on, the definition of charm in my dictionary is Count Leon Winston."

Grace, who had lost her appetite, put down the apple she was eating. It was the moment when she was taking a sip of tea to calm her churning stomach.

"He is an ascetic soldier, but he is actually a dirty man."

"Phew... ."

I spit out the tea I was drinking.

"are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah."

The colleague next to her held out a napkin, and Mrs. Tate's eyes widened. Grace quickly wiped her mouth, grabbed her teacup, and stood up.

Ascetic... well, on the surface it seems like that.

As she rinsed the teacups in the sink, Mrs. Tate teased her, not knowing what it was like.

"Oh my, Anna, you don't seem to know that even though you have a child. How dangerous it is when a man, the embodiment of celibacy, turns into an uncontrollable beast in bed."

I know. It's a problem because you know too much.

Grace's dream from this morning replayed in her head as she wiped her teacup with a tea towel, chewing her lips nervously.

This is crazy, really.

"Before I die, I want to shoot that guy's gun at least once...."

Mrs. Tate whispered the word "pistol" secretly and laughed like a mischievous teenage girl.

"I have to try it out."

The back of her knees tingled as she remembered everything the man had swung at her, from the 'pistol' Mrs. Tate had mentioned to the real gun. Grace frowned and tilted the teapot over her cup.

Seriously, that damn lunatic... .

Mrs. Tate's useless remark about a pistol brought back memories of the last time we met.

The man bit the end of the gun that Grace was aiming at, smiled with the corners of his eyes wide, and licked the muzzle with the tip of his tongue, just as he would caress her body.

Damn... .

Just like that time, the space between my legs felt tingly again.

Why am I doing this?

I closed my eyes tightly and placed my hand on my forehead when my colleague shouted from behind me.

"Anna! Overflowing!"

"Ah, gasp!"

The tea was overflowing from the teacup and flowing down the sink drain.

"Why are you so screwed up today? Huh?"

"Ah... My daughter wakes me up at the crack of dawn, haha."

Grace eventually gave up on drinking tea and sat down at the table empty-handed.

"By the way, I got to see Count Winston in person again at the premiere."

"Be jealous."

Mrs. Tate's boast made her colleague sullen. Grace calmly cleaned up what she was eating. Fortunately, there was no need for an assistant at the preview that was to be held a month later.

"You're coming with the Archduchess, right? Aren't we really an odd couple?"

Grace's eyes met the front page photo as her colleague opened the tabloid in front of her, and she looked away as if she had been burned.

"Compared to the Count, the Archduchess has a very plain face. But is appearance really that important in a loveless political marriage?"

"But it didn't seem like a marriage without love."

Grace's hand, which was sweeping up the bread crumbs that had fallen on the table, suddenly stopped.

"...What does that mean?"

The two women seemed completely unaware that Anna, who had been indifferent to Count Winston's stories until then, was showing interest for the first time.

She stuffed the magazines and newspapers into her handbag without even looking at them. Then she sat down in the empty seat and turned her head out the window.

Grace smiled at the woman reflected in the car window. With her blonde hair, red lips, and thick eyeliner, she still looked like a different person.

Well, it's still pretty.

If I go to the department store this weekend, should I buy some new earrings?

Grace muttered to herself as she looked at the teardrop-shaped pearl earrings hanging from her earlobes in the window. It might be fun to try something a little fancier and bigger.

I didn't wear sunglasses. I couldn't work with my eyes covered. And now I don't wear them outside of work either. It would be more suspicious to wear sunglasses all year round anyway.

It's been over two years since I've seen that guy, so he's become a bit lax. I haven't seen any missing person flyers lately.

Are you really giving up now? Yeah, I was getting sick of it last time.

Her fingertips nervously tapped the newspaper sticking out of her handbag.

Because I'm getting married soon.

If you're planning on getting married, that means you won't chase me anymore. Then I'll take Ellie and leave. Get married quickly.

The tram stopped in front of a huge movie set in the middle of a field. People working at the film studio rushed out, and Grace also got off the tram and entered the tallest building.

As I took the elevator to the top floor and opened the antique door, my boss, who had already arrived, greeted me from behind his desk, pouring me a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Anna."

"Good morning, Mrs. Tate."

Grace walked straight to the guest sofa in the middle of the room and opened her handbag. She took out the magazines and tabloids she had bought on the way here and laid them neatly on the coffee table, but another office worker who had just arrived tilted his head.

"Huh? Isn't it Anna's turn to buy a magazine?"

"Uh... I was just being humble..."

"Gossip?"

Mrs. Tate looked at the tabloid in Grace's hand and smiled meaningfully.

"I guess Anna wanted to read."

"No, that's not it, haha... ."

Grace smiled awkwardly. She folded the tabloid paper so the man's face wasn't visible, placed it on the table, and quickly sat down at her desk.

There was a note on the desk, apparently left by the boss the night before. With instructions to type this letter and send it by mid-morning scrawled in bold letters at the end, Grace took out a piece of high-quality paper with the film company logo engraved in gold and put it in the typewriter.

Grace worked at a film studio. She originally got a job as a typist on the second floor below. But a month ago, she happened to catch the eye of Mrs. Tate, the president's secretary, and was promoted to an administrative assistant in the president's office.

The pay was much better, so I didn't refuse. There was no way a secretary or anything like that would ever come across that man.

It was my first time getting a job with the pure purpose of making money, but as expected, I had to use an alias. Just in case, I gave a strange address.

[Blackburn Heroes: The Last Winner]

Grace stared at the movie poster for a moment, then lowered her gaze to the typewriter.

[Tea Time with Count Winston]

Grace tilted her teacup, glaring at the magazine cover in Mrs. Tate's hand as they sat across from each other at the lounge table. I don't know what the magazine reporter had fabricated, since I haven't read it, but as someone who has forced myself to have tea with that man countless times, it wasn't the kind of time I would recommend.

If that was a porn magazine, it would be closest to the truth.

Mrs. Tate, who was reading a magazine while eating lunch or not, was impressed while he was grumbling to himself.

"Really, you're cool. You're a natural movie star, aren't you?"

A natural born protagonist. Unless you're a natural born villain.

Grace took another bite of her sandwich, grumbling.

A movie based on the Blackburn operation was about to be released. Grace, who had been hiding in the slums and raising her child, did not know much about the world, and only after signing her employment contract did she realize that she had been hired by the production company for that movie.

'Evil relationships are so persistent.'

It was good when I didn't know what was going on in the world. Back then, I didn't have to see and hear that guy on the newsstand and radio every day. It's been three years since I became the 'Hero of Blackburn', but why is he still a hot topic? If I were a soldier, I would just quietly do my duty, why would I be arguing with the press? It was so annoying.

"I can't believe how talented you are at such a young age."

Grace took a big bite of the apple and crunched it as Mrs. Tate heaped praise on the bastard again.

Whose ability was it that made the purge successful?

But in another way, it was also thanks to that man's ability. After all, it was that man who made Grace betray those she had considered her family and devoted her entire life to.

"And he's handsome too."

Mrs. Tate waved her hand at the other clerk's remark.

"He's just handsome, not to this extent. Better than in the picture...."

The woman turned the magazine over, showing Grace a familiar face, then pointed to a movie poster on the wall.

"He's even more handsome than the actor who plays him. It's breathtaking to look at."

It doesn't take my breath away.

The boss added, misunderstanding why Grace's face was somber.

"That's because Anna hasn't seen the real thing."

The only person who saw the man in person, naked and all, just bit his lip and held back laughter.

Mrs. Tate, who had met the man while accompanying the president when the film production was under discussion two years ago, blushed again today and began to praise him beyond praise.

"She has a natural elegance. Her attitude seems light, but she also has a sense of weight, and her speech is also very good. She's refined and elegant, really."

Grace's insides were twisted, knowing all too well how that seemingly noble man could turn into a vulgar beast in front of her.

"He's full of charm. From that day on, the definition of charm in my dictionary is Count Leon Winston."

Grace, who had lost her appetite, put down the apple she was eating. It was the moment when she was taking a sip of tea to calm her churning stomach.

"He is an ascetic soldier, but he is actually a dirty man."

"Phew... ."

I spit out the tea I was drinking.

"are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah."

The colleague next to her held out a napkin, and Mrs. Tate's eyes widened. Grace quickly wiped her mouth, grabbed her teacup, and stood up.

Ascetic... well, on the surface it seems like that.

As she rinsed the teacups in the sink, Mrs. Tate teased her, not knowing what it was like.

"Oh my, Anna, you don't seem to know that even though you have a child. How dangerous it is when a man, the embodiment of celibacy, turns into an uncontrollable beast in bed."

I know. It's a problem because you know too much.

Grace's dream from this morning replayed in her head as she wiped her teacup with a tea towel, chewing her lips nervously.

This is crazy, really.

"Before I die, I want to shoot that guy's gun at least once...."

Mrs. Tate whispered the word "pistol" secretly and laughed like a mischievous teenage girl.

"I have to try it out."

The back of her knees tingled as she remembered everything the man had swung at her, from the 'pistol' Mrs. Tate had mentioned to the real gun. Grace frowned and tilted the teapot over her cup.

Seriously, that damn lunatic... .

Mrs. Tate's useless remark about a pistol brought back memories of the last time we met.

The man bit the end of the gun that Grace was aiming at, smiled with the corners of his eyes wide, and licked the muzzle with the tip of his tongue, just as he would caress her body.

Damn... .

Just like that time, the space between my legs felt tingly again.

Why am I doing this?

I closed my eyes tightly and placed my hand on my forehead when my colleague shouted from behind me.

"Anna! Overflowing!"

"Ah, gasp!"

The tea was overflowing from the teacup and flowing down the sink drain.

"Why are you so screwed up today? Huh?"

"Ah... My daughter wakes me up at the crack of dawn, haha."

Grace eventually gave up on drinking tea and sat down at the table empty-handed.

"By the way, I got to see Count Winston in person again at the premiere."

"Be jealous."

Mrs. Tate's boast made her colleague sullen. Grace calmly cleaned up what she was eating. Fortunately, there was no need for an assistant at the preview that was to be held a month later.

"You're coming with the Archduchess, right? Aren't we really an odd couple?"

Grace's eyes met the front page photo as her colleague opened the tabloid in front of her, and she looked away as if she had been burned.

"Compared to the Count, the Archduchess has a very plain face. But is appearance really that important in a loveless political marriage?"

"But it didn't seem like a marriage without love."

Grace's hand, which was sweeping up the bread crumbs that had fallen on the table, suddenly stopped.

"...What does that mean?"

The two women seemed completely unaware that Anna, who had been indifferent to Count Winston's stories until then, was showing interest for the first time.