try begging
It was a blessing that the remnants were on the rise again, as the King, who was trying to reduce Leon's power, secretly encouraged the disbandment of the First Special Mission Group. Leon, who had not yet been able to get Grace and the child back, needed the authority of the Special Mission Group leader.
But unfortunately, the rebel remnants and Grace showed up in the same city just a day apart. It was extremely ominous.
Maybe he had been held hostage by the remnants for so long that there had been no news. But that didn't make sense. If he were held hostage, he wouldn't be able to go to the department store and do Christmas shopping with his child.
And if he was really being held captive, there was no reason to steal the leaflets. It would have been wiser to get his help and escape from the rebels' hands. In the first place, there was no way the rebels would have let the hostage go to the police station.
Yeah, that doesn't make sense.
It also makes no sense that Grace would have planted the bomb. She wasn't so merciful as to grant him a quick death.
Leon looked up as he buttoned up his jacket. His face reflected in the glass window was far from that of a man who had been happy to hear news of Grace and his daughter for the first time in two years.
This is the first opportunity in two years. The next one might be in ten years. If there is a next one.
Leon warned himself in the window.
If you miss this one too, you will not be a living corpse, but a rotting corpse.
I've been living for three years with short bursts of hope followed by long bursts of despair. So hope no longer feels like hope.
The fact that he had taken the leaflet meant that he already knew that he was being tracked. Hoping that this time the child would slow down the woman's steps, Leon followed the attendants out of the bedroom.
"Send someone to the theater as soon as new information is available."
"Yes, Major."
He told Campbell to salute and walked out of the suite.
Half of the task force was currently searching for a check with a female issuer and a value that matched the price of a toy at a department store. The other half was assigned to the task force's original mission of tracking down the remnants of the rebels. It was not pleasant to have to use the manpower called in to track down Grace and the child to track down the rebels.
I've spent my whole life chasing someone. That thought suddenly occurred to me. Normally, I would have laughed, but now I couldn't even laugh.
Grace, standing in the corner of the theater lobby, stared at the entrance. She was still armed with sunglasses and a scarf. Her hand, shoved into her coat pocket, was gripping the pistol.
At the entrance, soldiers were thoroughly searching the bodies of those entering. Grace, who couldn't trust them, stood nearby and pretended to wait for the boss while checking the faces of those entering. She knew the faces of the rebels better than anyone else here.
Fortunately, not a single unwelcome face has appeared yet.
Why the hell did that son of a bitch come?
I've been holding back all day from wanting to call the hotel and warn them not to attend the premiere.
Do you have ten lives?
It was a time when I was secretly complaining to that man.
"Anna!"
Sally, who had just come in after being searched at the entrance, recognized her and approached her.
"You were waiting for me to come? From now on, I will be in charge of Mr. Grant's care, so Anna can go."
Grace shook her head, her eyes fixed on the entrance.
"I'm going to see a movie too."
"You want to see The Count, not the movie?"
Grace's brow furrowed.
"no."
That face, I see it every day at home. The face of an angel. So I don't need to see that devil's face.
At 8 o'clock, the PR team began to gather the press behind the barricades erected along the red carpet. With nowhere to stand, the two men climbed the grand staircase in the middle of the lobby to the second floor.
I was chatting nonsense with a colleague, leaning against the second floor railing and looking down at the first floor lobby, when suddenly flashes of light started going off all at once from the entrance.
"Huh? Is that a count?"
My colleague, who had been looking down with his head tilted forward, soon grumbled in a voice of great disappointment.
"It's Mr. Grant."
The president, who came up to the second floor arm in arm with his wife, recognized Grace and shouted.
"Anna, weren't you just getting off work?"
In fact, Grace had come back from work after dropping Ellie off at Lucy's house.
"I want to see a movie too."
"The Count?"
"I don't want to see you."
The boss burst into laughter at the quick answer.
"Enjoy the movie. When you're done, make sure to come to the party. You look great now, so be sure to come."
Just as the president was talking nonsense again, cheers were heard from below. Grace looked down and her face hardened.
Leon Winston walked into Grace's field of vision for the first time in two years.
With one arm extended to the Archduchess.
Looking at the stylish black tuxedo, I remembered the day that man had asked me to serve him on the day of his engagement to that woman.
It must have been like that that day too.
Grace suppressed the feelings that were bubbling up inside her that she shouldn't have, and searched for familiar ones.
In the midst of the incomparable amount of flashes from earlier, her platinum hair, which had been swept back with pomade without a single strand in a mess, shone even brighter. Since he was standing right below her, her face couldn't be seen properly, but it was obvious that she was smiling.
It was just as happy and perfect as it was portrayed in the media.
How is this happening? How can this happen?
The hand that was holding the railing trembled. The moment the man turned around the landing while climbing the stairs with the Archduchess, Grace turned her back.
"Oh my goodness, what Mrs. Tate said was true. If I were the Archduchess, I would have tripped and fallen by now because I couldn't take my eyes off her face."
Her colleague chirped, not knowing her speed.
"Your Majesty, please come this way."
Due to the events of the day today, the VIP seats were moved to the second floor. As Grant guided us to the center of the first row on the second floor, the audience on the first floor stood up and applauded Leon.
He stood in front of the railing, accepting the compliments with his usual easygoing demeanor, and sat down. And as usual, his mother, wearing the mask of a noble lady, whispered to him a complaint.
"A red carpet in a place smaller than the hall of our mansion? I've never been treated this way in my life."
He says this even after hearing from Grant himself why the red carpet event location was changed from outdoors to indoors. Is this dementia?
I thought she might get on my nerves again so I left my mom with my younger brother for the red carpet, but our seats were next to each other. I don't know who arranged the seats, but if they were trying to give him the worst time ever, they succeeded.
However, since he was a person who kept his manners on the outside, he would keep his mouth shut once the movie started, so Leon waited for the lights in the theater to go out.
But even after the fire went out, Leon did not find peace. The moment his mother closed her mouth, the king opened his mouth.
[Dear citizens, and Major Leon Winston, hero of Blackburn.]
I thought the King would send a congratulatory video.
Reporters from both sides flashed their cameras to take pictures of him, who was moved by the King's 'surprise gift'. Leon had no choice but to stand up and salute the King on the silver screen.
There was no clown.
He sat back down and watched the endless stream of hypocrisy pouring out of his disgusting face, silently envisioning the day when this damned kingdom would collapse.
From the beginning of the film's production, I heard from Grant that the king used his entourage to interfere with the synopsis and script. And then he even inserted his own image at the beginning of the film. The king was desperate to steal the spotlight from Leon.
[... I hope that this will be a meaningful time for all of you as we end the year and welcome the new year. May God's blessings be with you all.]
You pray to Grace for protection. Thanks to her, you are able to keep the throne.
Grace entered the theater only after the movie had started. She stared at the back of the man who was in the same room but in a different world from her for a moment before sitting down in the empty seat in the last row.
The film studio staff sitting next to me probably had no idea that Anna Snyder, the new assistant in the president's office, was actually the main culprit behind the fall of Blackburn. I laughed when I thought about that.
[father!]
The story of Major Richard Winston's happy days before his tragic death was being told, and Leon Winston appeared on the screen at the age of thirteen. He didn't look much like Grace remembered, so it was uncomfortable to watch. So she waited for the story of his childhood to end and stared at the back of her head instead of the screen.
I didn't want the few happy memories of my childhood to be distorted. It was funny and miserable.