♚Chapter 6: Entangled Threads of Fate

 

 

 

♚Chapter 6: Entangled Threads of Fate

 

AS a tailor, Rock had helped many people dress up, but she never truly appreciated the importance of “dressing up” as much as on this night.

Ladies and gentlemen flocked around her and Ebel as he led her farther into the ballroom by the hand.

“Which family does this beautiful young lady hail from?”

“What an innocent-looking young lass. Is tonight her debut into high society?”

“What a magnificent gown! A distinguished tailor must have designed it.”

Inundated with compliments and questions, it took Rock’s full concentration to keep her eyes from spinning. The nobles gathered here would’ve never normally taken an interest in Rock. Rather than be fascinated by her, they would scowl and shoo her away. A beautiful dress seemed to have the magical ability to make even an insignificant little girl look like a noble lady.

“She’s the daughter of a distant relative on my mother’s side. I am serving as her chaperone, as she is currently in the midst of receiving etiquette lessons.” Ebel smoothly made up stories to suit the situation. “As you can see, she is not used to high society events. Please refrain from teasing her.”

The ladies and gentlemen laughed as a group, though their curiosity only grew stronger as they bombarded Ebel with questions. He continued to evade each inquiry with a witty response that the guests tittered over.

Thanks to his swift countermeasure, Rock had no need to expose herself to them beyond opening up to their surprise, envy, and compliments. The experience was far from comfortable, as she had no immunity to the resplendence in the air, much less to the high society mannerisms around her. She wanted to at least memorize the guests’ outfits for future reference, but the bright light cast by the chandeliers was too blinding to commit anything to memory.

Moreover, she needed to find an opening to inform Ebel about Guido before it was too late. The hostess and her older brother were blocked from view by a wall of noblemen and women.

She had succeeded in catching Guido off guard. But that may only make him fly into a worse rage. Explaining things to Ebel should come sooner rather than later.

She gently tugged on the sleeve of his frock coat between conversations. When he looked over his shoulder at her, she signaled him with her eyes, and he nodded.

“You must be thirsty, Roxy. Allow me to pick out a drink for you.” Ebel used that excuse to break free of the chitchat and lead Rock to a corner of the ballroom.

People tired of talking appeased their thirst at the several long tables where an arrangement of alcoholic beverages and finger foods were laid out. Rock never drank a lick of liquor, but the labels attached to the bottles indicated they were some of the finest in the imperial capital. Buttery biscuits, honey-dipped cakes, pomegranates, figs, and an array of luxury foods unavailable to commoners made up the comestibles.

“Do you drink?”

Rock didn’t miss the hopeful expectation in his voice, but she shook her head anyway. “I’ll refrain, thank you.”

“What a shame. Then I will order squeezed grape juice for you instead.” He placed the order with the waiter, who poured grape juice into a silver goblet. The juice, which was the same color as her hair, was diluted with water and had just the right balance of sweet and sour to quench her parched throat.

“This is the first time I’ve downed something this bloody tasty,” Rock said, raising her voice in awe and earning a small chuckle from Ebel.

“Perhaps you should use a more ladylike tone in this environment?”

“Ah! This is the first time I have tasted something so exquisitely heavenly?” She tried rewording her statement, but she had a hard time getting used to the polished words she never used.

“You are the center of attention tonight. You never know who could be listening,” he said reproachfully, then swept his eyes over her appearance again. “Setting that aside, your beauty is more than I ever imagined…” His golden eyes blazed like torches, as if he were drunk before he had even sipped his drink. “You deserve to be called the dawn goddess right now.”

When he whispered in her ear, the heat in his eyes spread to her earlobe. She felt it burning.

“Oh, come on. You exaggerate.” Rock bashfully twirled the goblet in her hand.

“I’m not exaggerating. Everyone fawning over you is the greatest evidence.” Ebel showered her in romantic lines. “If it pleases you, dear goddess, I wish to gaze upon the real dawn with you.”

Because her innocence was the only thing about her that was just as it appeared, Rock was easily bowled over by his advances. She averted her eyes from his formal attire and rushed to change the subject. “W-We have more important things to discuss! Shouldn’t you be more concerned about something else?”

“What else deserves my attention more than my radiant goddess?” Ebel asked without a concern.

“A whole bloody lot! I—”

“Language.”

“…Something of grave importance does,” she rephrased. “I want to tell you why I am even here.”

She was reluctant to tell him the whole story. Guido was the bane of her existence, but that wasn’t the case for Ebel. The guilt she felt for tattling on him came back in full force.

Before she even began explaining, Ebel frowned as if he had already guessed it. Without waiting for her next words, he whispered, “Guido’s doing?”

She slowly nodded. “Yes.”

Because he’d arrived at that conclusion by himself, she shared the circumstances surrounding her attendance at this party. She didn’t spill her guts about everything as she had with Phoebe, but she covered every detail: coming to drop off the gown only, being ordered to wear the dress she had made for Michaela, and Guido’s objective being to change Ebel’s mind. She kept to herself the vicious words he’d disparaged her with.

As it was, her story already elicited his outrage.

“…How dare Guido treat you in such a way,” he gritted out between his teeth, exhaling a shaky breath as his plucked brows snapped together. “And somewhere out of my sight, of all things. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

“Don’t apologize. A lot happened, but I’m safe for now.” Rock forced a smile for his benefit, and his face contorted with the mental anguish he endured.

“Your strength is my saving rock. At this juncture…” Did his finely chiseled features twist out of grief over being betrayed by a friend? His sorrowful profile, with his eyes closed, was hardened like marble, and it captivated her. The next second, however, his eyes snapped open, and resolve replaced self-torment. “…He is no longer my friend.”

What could she say in response to that? The curse inflicted upon him during his sensitive boyhood had robbed him of many things. Now that he was on the verge of losing the old friend he’d shared his pain with, his mental anguish was nearly palpable.

“Ebel…” Words escaping her, Rock said the only thing she could—his name. He turned toward her for comfort.

Waves of commotion rippled through the crowded ballroom just then. They looked behind them to where the throng of people naturally stepped aside to let the hosts—Michaela and Guido—through.

Michaela answered their birthday blessings with a sweet smile as she ran her eyes over the crowds in search of someone. Her innocent face radiated brighter than the morning sun upon spotting Ebel and Rock.

“There they are, Brother!”

Rock didn’t hear Guido’s response, but she glimpsed his furtive look of disgust. Unaware of her brother’s venomous heart, Michaela guided him by the hand straight to them.

Rock had every right to be nervous. Sensing her dismay, Ebel swiftly stepped forward, hiding her behind his reliable back. Though Michaela raised her eyebrows at this peculiar reaction, she was all smiles by the time she arrived before them.

“I knew that was you, tailor,” she exclaimed with delight, trying to get a good look around Ebel at Rock. “Ebel has a beautiful lady no one has ever seen before as his partner tonight. Everyone has been busy gossiping over who she might be, but I knew it was you after close inspection.” She spoke with the excitement of a child solving a mystery. “I remember saying how you didn’t seem like a male tailor during my fitting. So this is why!”

Under normal circumstances, her bubbly personality and cheerfulness may have been pleasant to the ears. But her perkiness felt superficial and imprudent in this moment when Rock was cowering behind Ebel, whose own expression was harder than ice.

“You both kept it quiet to surprise me, didn’t you? That’s so mean! I was so looking forward to wearing this finished dress before we switched tailors.” She looked over her shoulder at her brother, whom she had dragged there. “Can I still have it, Brother?” No sooner did she direct a moue at her brother than her sulking eyes spread wide with surprise.

Guido’s stern face seethed with loathing and chagrin. “…Why did you hide it?” he accused, a shaky edge to his voice. His dispassionate, frigid black eyes saw only Ebel. “Why did you deceive me into believing that woman is a man?”

Ebel answered his accusations in a stony voice. “I regretfully only just found out the truth for myself.”

Rock nodded behind his back. Anger flushed Guido’s face regardless. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying. And when it comes to deceit, Guido, what do you have to say for yourself?” Ebel’s tensed back muscles betrayed his desperate attempt to remain levelheaded. Rock rested her hands on his back to give him strength. “I heard of your wicked deeds from her. Want me to expose the whole truth here in front of your beloved Michaela?”

His threat shook Guido, but Michaela was even more rattled by it. “B-Brother…? E-Ebel? Whatever are you talking about?” Suddenly concerned, she looked from her brother to her former fiancé. Neither of them was in a state of mind to coddle her.

“Michaela, go to the other side of the room,” Guido snapped, trying to send his sister away.

Her whole countenance changed, and she clung to his arm. “Why? I don’t understand any of this—”

“I’ll explain later. I must speak with Ebel.”

“Is that how you plan to varnish over your shame and mistake? With fabrications?” Ebel criticized, a provoking bite to his tone.

Guido’s eyes bulged out of his head. “Shut up!” he barked in a loud voice that echoed through the ballroom.

As a matter of course, that angry shout surprised many people, halted the orchestra’s performance, and drew the attention of the guests. Even the gaiety of the party chilled as if everything had been submerged under water.

Ebel stood there unflinching, Rock cringed behind him, and Michaela covered her mouth.

“Brother, stop this fight…!” she demanded, curling her hand into the folds of her skirt.

Guido whipped his head back and forth. “This is for you, too, Michaela. We have to bring Ebel back to his senses.”

“But, Brother! Today is my birthday!” The sound of Michaela’s sorrowful cry plunged the room into an uproar.

Eyes from every direction stabbed into Rock, making her shift uncomfortably. These were judgmental stares, not curious ones. Of course, the party guests were the uneasy ones, having their festivities soured by an unfriendly argument.

Sensing the mood, Ebel lowered his voice. “Out of respect for Michaela, I’ll hold my tongue while the party is going on.” He spoke emphatically to make it clear to Guido. “Take my word, though: my friendship with you ends tonight.” His serious tone proved this wasn’t an empty threat.

Guido, for the first time that night, looked dumbstruck. He stared blankly at Ebel as if he’d never considered that to be possible. “What—”

“I warned you before that I wouldn’t tolerate you insulting her a second time,” Ebel asserted decisively.

That dealt a considerable blow to Guido. The color drained from his hawklike face, turning him whiter than paper. He suddenly spun on his heel, gently removed Michaela’s hand from his arm, and staggered away.

“Brother…!” Michaela reached out to grab him, but promptly dropped her arm.

The room still buzzed with conversation. Nobody spoke to Guido as he skulked by, though they turned pitying eyes on him, all wondering about the fate of the party. He swept through the doors, leaving the ballroom and ocean of prying eyes behind.

Neither Rock nor Ebel nor Michaela moved a muscle. It was Ebel’s uncomfortable sigh that broke the silence first. “I’m sorry for causing a scene at your important birthday party, Michaela.”

A sad smile painted her lips. “Don’t be… It wasn’t your fault, was it?” Unable to stand there without knowing the truth, she said, “Tell me, Ebel. Did my brother do something horrible? What did Brother do?”

“You won’t like the answer…” Exposing the truth to the girl he viewed as a little sister wasn’t easy for the lionhearted count. He left a long pause before eventually answering her with a steely expression. “I can’t discuss the particulars here. But he did something unforgivable.”

In that moment, Michaela did not look surprised. Her slender shoulders trembled, as if her bad hunch had been proved true. She hugged herself and slammed her eyes shut. “I am sorry…”

As far as Rock knew, Michaela was always the picture of naiveté next to her brother. And Guido strove to put on a good big-brother image in front of her. Yet had she, as the person closest to him, sensed something off about the brother she looked up to?

Michaela lifted her head and spoke to Rock, who was poking her head out around Ebel’s back. “My brother hurt you, didn’t he? I apologize on his behalf.”

“Um, you don’t have to apologize for him…” Rock didn’t know the right thing to say. Guido had put her through hell, but Michaela had no part in his crimes.

But for the first time since Rock met her, mature anguish filled the younger girl’s cherubic features. “To tell you the truth, Brother has been acting strange recently.”

“Strange how?” Ebel asked.

Michaela sifted through her memories as she answered, “He strangely can’t ever relax, and occasionally I find him brooding alone in the dark… Guests coming to see him have increased dramatically these days, but he won’t let me see them, much less greet them.”

It was through those signs that she had vaguely become aware of the change in her brother. Did she say nothing of it until it came to light because her closeness with him blinded her?

“I can’t explain it well, but I have had a bad feeling about it for some time.” She stopped there before squeezing out her next words, as if she still couldn’t make up her mind. “Ebel, I won’t ask you to forgive him.” Ebel silently arched an eyebrow. She pressed forward with her request. “But please…won’t you stop him if he is going down the wrong path? You are the only person who can reach him.”

If Guido’s attitude before he stormed out of the ballroom was anything to go by, Ebel stood no chance of reaching him now either. Rock was doubtful, but Ebel gave an instant answer anyway.

“I will do whatever is possible.”

Relief eased some of the creases in Michaela’s brow as she smiled, some traces of regret left in her expression. “Thank you, Ebel. I wanted to be the one to stop him, but alas…I failed.” She turned away from them. “I must return to my hostess duties. I need to go make sure that this party will end peacefully,” she said with uncharacteristic strength.

Holding back her no-longer-trembling shoulders, Michaela boldly marched into the tumultuous fray of displeased guests.

She managed to ride out the worst of their reactions, repairing the party with all the skill of the lady of the house. The mood couldn’t be brought back to its former heights, but the guests were considerate of their young hostess, and the party went on amicably.

Ironically, Michaela becoming the center of attention freed Rock and Ebel from that role. They quenched their thirst and hunger in a corner of the ballroom, quietly seeing out the rest of the evening.

As the party was drawing to a close, the waiter called Ebel over and whispered something in his ear. Ebel’s expression darkened, but he didn’t tell Rock what was said until later.

♚♚♚

“…GUIDO sent word that he wants to speak with me alone.” When they stepped into the Linus Manor’s garden after the party had finished, Ebel shared the message the waiter had imparted.

Guests could be spotted here and there walking along the night promenade through the grounds on their way home. Rock walked alongside Ebel on the path illuminated by stained-glass garden lamps, both still attired in their formal wear.

“You can take my carriage home. I already informed Iniel to take you,” he said, leading her through the garden to where his carriage awaited.

Two reasons prevented Rock from accepting his offer. The first being Phoebe—she hadn’t seen her inside the manor since they parted ways in the storage room. Rock had entrusted her with her work clothes and worried about how Phoebe had spent the rest of the evening. Of course, it was needless worry, if she really was a talented mercenary.

The other reason justifiably lay with Ebel and Guido.

“Have you agreed to meet him?” she asked while they walked the cobblestone path to the carriage.

He gave a melancholic reply. “Yes. He said he wants to talk at my manor.”

“At yours?”

“He apparently doesn’t want to risk Michaela overhearing.”

What conversation were they going to have that it required changing locations to Mateus Manor? Even Rock could guess it wouldn’t be a conciliatory moment between friends. Quite the contrary.

“Can’t I be with you?” The words left her before she knew it. Ebel seemed surprised too. He stopped and blinked at her.

“You want to be with me?”

“Well, I know I won’t be of any use to you, but I can’t stop worrying… How about I bring Phoebe along?” They stopped walking as Rock made that fervent plea.

He let out a small chuckle, unable to hide his joy. “I never imagined you would worry for me in this way.”

“This is nothing to laugh about!” Rock cried out. Ebel’s eyes widened, but she continued speaking over his surprise. “I really am worried about you. But that isn’t the only thing eating away at me.”

The look she saw in Guido’s eyes back in the storage room had burned vividly into her mind. The madness blazing in his eyes was several steps beyond insanity. He had committed the unforgivable against Rock, but she had glimpsed a man involved in something much worse.

What that was, she couldn’t say just yet. But an unsettling apprehension writhed inside her, for she’d seen her fair share of people with those exact same eyes in the slums and knew where that led them.

“…All you need to know is that it worries me. Please let me join you.” Unable to bring herself to bad-mouth Guido in front of Ebel, she appealed to him with a shortened explanation.

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he stared down at her with a surprisingly warmhearted, earnest gaze. These were the eyes of a man who believed everything she said without digging for more information. “Thank you, Roxy. I’m blessed to have met you,” he said eventually, quickly adding, “And that is precisely why I can’t drag you and Phoebe into this.”

“Why not?!”

He cut her short with a pointed look and placed his hand over his heart. He explained his decision with a smile that trembled from the pain he fought to keep inside. “I confided in Guido as soon as I was cursed. I had to tell someone. I couldn’t stand keeping the secret by myself. He didn’t shun me, but accepted me without fear.”

To Rock, it sounded like the story of a friendship more fleeting than a dream. She had only just seen that friendship shatter into pieces. What had changed them so much that they went from having a bond so strong that a werewolf curse did nothing to shake it, to where they were today?

Who had changed? Ebel? Guido? Or both?

“Guido said I was still me. His opinion didn’t change even after I showed him that supernatural form. Instead, he cheered me up by saying I had gained the power to protect Michaela. To the bitter end, he was the only one to oppose the annulment…” Ebel shook his head to rid himself of the bittersweet memories. “…So this, too, is my burden to bear as the cursed.”

He had steeled his resolve—pestering him wouldn’t change his mind now. Her heart drumming to the beat of her bad premonition, Rock was left with praying for his safety as her only option.

“Please tread extra carefully, Ebel.”

“I will. I have to, with you worrying after me.” A single word of concern from her brought a joyous smile to his tormented face. Seeing that smile only amplified the unease stirring in her chest. Her whole being truly worried about him.

The pair slowly walked through the garden in silence. Cold winds blew on this late night. The colorful garden lamps wavered over the grass, swaying in the dark like ocean waves. Other guests hugged themselves against the chill, speeding up their gait through the promenade. Several groups passed them, and before they knew it, scarcely a person was around.

The blueness of the little alkanet flowers also looked like the color of the grass in the middle of the night. Whereas the promenade was illuminated, the end of the garden was completely swallowed by the dark of night, so Rock couldn’t see what was ahead even if she strained her eyes.

So she walked close to Ebel. Saying she wasn’t afraid would be a lie, and more than that, a horrible foreboding ate away at her. The silk gown provided no protection against the chilly breeze, and she didn’t want to part from the warmth right beside her.

Ebel kept walking at her side, his hand on her back to give her strength the same way she had given him earlier that night.

Eventually, carriages came into view at the garden edge. Ebel stopped there and, with a little more cheer in his voice, pointed out, “Your guardian awaits.”

“Oh? Phoebe is waiting?” Rock squinted, but they were too far away to see her or to tell which of the carriages belonged to the Mateuses.

“I can see your guardian waiting from here,” Ebel assured her. “I shall take my leave of your company now.”

The werewolf count’s vision excelled in the dark as usual. Feeling impressed and not wanting to part, Rock took another look at the young man standing beside her.

His swept-back hair accentuated his handsome face, and the expression there was a tender one. His golden eyes, supposedly a mark left by the curse, shined bright like the stars when he returned her gaze.

After Rock had turned her stargazing eyes to him, Ebel’s expression faltered. “It’s hard for me to leave when you’re staring that much…”

“Ah… S-Sorry. Please don’t mind me.” Self-conscious, she quickly averted her eyes. Though she didn’t forget to remind him: “But please be careful.” Thinking that wasn’t enough, she lengthened her goodbye. “I am going to put my heart into making the cloak you ordered from me, so please be sure to pick it up.”

Her second attempt was just as terribly tactless as the first. She ran out of ways to wish for his safety, and she feared showing too much worry might rudely imply that she didn’t believe in him. Those were the feelings she managed to squeeze out.

So she didn’t mind if he laughed at her, but Ebel didn’t laugh. Instead, he suddenly hugged her to him.

“Ehh! Wah! Ahh!” Coherent words failed to form when he pulled her into his chest and squished her tightly in his arms. She was about to utter another sound as his embrace took away her breath, but his lips covered hers.

In his human form, Ebel’s lips were soft.

“…I keep my promises, and I promise to visit you again,” he whispered, his breath caressing her before he gently released her. “Now go. And…see you later, Roxy.”

Rendered incapable of responding with more than a shaky nod, Rock robotically walked toward the carriages alone.

The night breeze was warm. Her chest hurt. Wearing a gown wasn’t the only reason why she was unsteady on her feet. She couldn’t bring herself to look back at Ebel watching her go.

With wobbly steps, Rock arrived at the carriages by herself. There she saw Phoebe leaning with her back against one of the many carriages. She recognized that berline and spotted Iniel sitting in the coachman’s seat.

Phoebe was wistfully looking up at the starry sky, still in her leather armor and with her hair pulled back. She turned at the sound of Rock’s shoes, and relief washed over her face.

“You’re late, Rock.”

Phoebe’s expression was full of life, and she didn’t appear hurt anywhere. Confirming her safety relieved Rock too.

“They didn’t find you, huh? What a relief…”

“That level of security couldn’t find a mouse.” Phoebe returned to speaking like her normal self. Though she sheepishly mentioned, “I saw you were the shining star of the evening in your gown.”

“Where were you watching from?”

“Obviously from the shadows,” she answered vaguely, then puffed out her chest as if boasting about herself. “You were the belle of the ball. I was so proud of you sweeping all those nobs off their feet with your enthralling beauty.”

“Only worked because of my beautiful gown.”

“And because your cuteness added to it.” Phoebe sounded more satisfied than anyone else about the night’s success. Rock gasped at her smooth compliment. Phoebe jubilantly grinned away. “You outwitted the duke’s twerp too. I’m going to sleep well tonight.”

“You saw that part too?”

“Yep. I watched from the beginning up till the point he skulked away after being rejected by His Excellency.” For all she boasted about sleeping well later, Phoebe grimaced. She dropped her voice and anxiously said, “But…I don’t think things will end at that. Not for that toff.”

Rock thought so too. That was why she was so worried about Ebel. He’d said it was his burden to bear. How many more heavy burdens must he take on his cursed shoulders? The curse wasn’t even his fault.

“…So? Where is His Excellency? He’s not with you?” Phoebe asked after Rock had become lost in thought.

Instantly recalling their parting exchange, Rock answered with flushed cheeks: “N-No. His Excellency told me to take his carriage home because he had to speak with the duke’s son.”

“I see…” The creases in Phoebe’s brow deepened. She quickly shrugged it off and cheerily said, “Well, he’s no weakling. He’ll beat the crap out of that bastard if he has to.”

“Yeah. I’m sure…he will,” Rock agreed to convince herself.

She looked back at the garden and didn’t see anyone who looked like Ebel there. Lots of light spilled from the windows of Linus Manor, which rose above the vast darkness dimly lit below. Now that the glamor and the lights were far away, the time she had spent in the manor started to feel like a passing dream.

Returning was no longer an option.

Phoebe had rightly pointed out that Ebel wasn’t weak. Rock couldn’t think of another person aside from Phoebe who could stand their ground against the werewolf count. He was going to be just fine—or so she repeated to herself, placing her hand over her rollicking heart.

“Come now. The wind is getting stronger. Let’s make our way home.” Phoebe’s push forced Rock to tear her eyes away from Linus Manor. Phoebe’s smile slipped, and she suddenly inspected Rock’s face. Then she commented, “Your lipstick came off.”

Rock swayed back on her heels and flew into a flustered panic. “What?! Ah! N-No! It’s not that! It’s something else!”

“What else could it be?”

“You know, it’s because I had a drink inside! That’s how it came off!”

Her unnatural panic gave it all away.

“…I’ll be the one to beat the snot out of that fancy toff the next time I see him,” she growled, voice so deep that cold sweat covered Rock’s hands.

It wouldn’t be pretty if Phoebe and Ebel fought for real. Rock hoped she wasn’t serious, because if she was, she would have to intervene.

“The coachman knows where to take us. Get in.” Fuming, Phoebe jerked her finger toward the berline carriage next to her.

Iniel looked over at them, thinking they were talking to him. Seeing Rock’s appearance tonight took him by complete surprise. He forgot to greet her as his eyes spread wide, his jaw dropped, and a dumb sound came out.

“Uh… I hope this isn’t a rude question, but are you…Master Rock?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for startling you.” She shyly apologized and, picking up the sides of her dress, boarded the carriage. Phoebe followed her inside, shutting the door behind them and taking up her spot on the opposite seat.

Inside the moving carriage, Rock studied the person in front of her. Decked out in her formidable armor, Phoebe was still a beauty even without makeup. As long as she didn’t open her mouth, she would look like a strong woman who worked out, while also appearing like a good-looking androgynous young man. Since Rock had treated her as a woman all this time, she had never asked her age.

I don’t know if we look alike. But if I do share the same blood as this person…then I can understand why so many people showered me with compliments tonight.

“I have something to ask you when we get back,” Rock announced, her blue eyes fixing on Phoebe. Accepting Rock’s gaze and everything behind it, the eyes that shared the same blue softened with resignation.

“I’m down for that. I just so happen to have a good bottle of wine.”

“I don’t drink.”

“Neither do I. Some occasions call for it, though.”

Was she implying she couldn’t speak about this sober?

“Besides, you should learn how to hold your drink soon. Before a naughty man makes you drink too much,” Phoebe ribbed, making Rock squirm in her seat. She made it sound as if she’d overheard her whole conversation with Ebel too.

Thinking back on it, Rock had dined with Phoebe innumerable times, and not once did she drink in front of her. She just thought Phoebe wasn’t a drinker, but if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t keep a good wine in reserve. Surely she had put it away to bring out on days when a conversation needed liquor to help it along.

Too much had happened to Rock tonight too. She wanted to thank Phoebe and had many questions to ask. Mayhap alcohol’s strength needed to be borrowed on nights like this.

“I’ll join you for a glass, then,” Rock answered after thinking it through. Phoebe beamed at her.

“Good girl. Come to my room once we get back.”

Rock marveled at Phoebe speaking as her usual self even after all they went through today. It was truly a mysterious thing that the person whose shadow she had been chasing all this time had been right next to her all along.

The carriage continued to race through the imperial capital streets submerged in night. During their conversation, the carriage had left the aristocrat district and was currently passing through the shopping district. The streetlights brightly lit the way for the many people still out at this hour in this neighborhood. She saw some of them rushing by from the carriage window.

One of the young men’s attire suddenly reminded Rock of her own appearance. “Oh yeah, Phoebe, do you still have my clothes?!”

“Of course, I took them with me. What’s wrong?”

“I have to change before we get to the slums. We’ll have trouble on our hands if anyone sees me.” She accepted the stack of clothes from Phoebe and stressed, “…Can you look the other way?”

“You stripped without a word in front of me earlier,” Phoebe pouted, self-consciously turning her face aside.

Rock did that only because she had always thought of Phoebe as a woman. But things were going to be different after what she had learned today, so she didn’t want Phoebe watching her change.

♚♚♚

ROCK and Phoebe disembarked from the carriage at the entrance to the slums. By then, Rock had removed her makeup and donned her usual disguise as a male tailor.

“I must return to His Excellency now. Please be careful on your way home,” Iniel said politely in parting.

They saw him off before heading shoulder to shoulder to Market Street. Phoebe’s place was located down a maze of streets that way.

When they neared Market Street, they noticed there was a lot of activity going on for this late at night. On the normally deserted streets, Rock saw groups of people whispering here and there.

“I wonder what all the commotion is about.”

“Maybe some drunks got into a bad brawl.”

Rock and Phoebe started whispering about the alarming mood too.

“Oh! Rock!” Justia ran over from the other end of the street. She stopped in front of them, her face burning red. “Where did you go?! I’ve been worried sick about you…!” she panted out between ragged breaths.

“Uhhh—”

“We had a girls’ night out. Did something happen?” Phoebe answered, stepping in when Rock didn’t have a good excuse.

Justia bent over with her hands on her knees as she caught her breath, and Cargus, who finally caught up to her, rubbed her back. “Burglars broke into Lady Trilian’s shop,” he answered for her.

“Burglars?!” Rock cried, and Phoebe’s brows snapped together.

The slums weren’t the safest neighborhood, but few were gutsy enough to attack the shops for fear of bringing street justice down on them.

“When did that happen?”

“Tonight. Several men broke in. The storefront is a wreck.”

Finally catching her breath, Justia took over the explanation from her normally taciturn husband. “Don’t you live just above that shop? That’s why I went to check on you, but then you weren’t there or in your shop, and even Phoebe was away from home. We were worried sick about you…!”

Both husband and wife had searched all around the slums out of concern for their young friend.

“Thank you, Justia and Cargus. I’m sorry I made you worry so much.” It felt nice to be fretted over, but Rock’s own fears lay elsewhere.

Phoebe must’ve been thinking the same thing, since he (Rock now viewed Phoebe this way after learning the truth) asked first: “By the way, is Lady Trilian safe?”

Justia exchanged looks with Cargus, and then she told them the difficult truth. “No… The burglars hit her. She has a head wound.”

Rock and Phoebe exchanged worried looks next.

They hurtled into the alleyway and found a crowd formed outside of Lady Trilian’s shop. The constable had only just shown up.

“Scat! This isn’t a show!” He was trying to drive away the onlookers with his haughty attitude. The wall of people began scattering, and Phoebe plunged his way through the opening. “You there! Stop! Don’t go inside!” The constable ordered them to stop but didn’t physically try to stop them, so Rock was able to slip into the shop after Phoebe unimpeded.

Cargus wasn’t exaggerating—the antique shop’s thick wooden door had been knocked completely off its hinges, and the interior looked like a storm had passed through. Shelves had been flipped over, and broken shards of chinaware, gilded pieces, and other curios littered the damaged floors.

There Lady Trilian sat, dazed, on the floor in the back of the shop. Bright-red blood oozed through the bandage wrapped around her head, her gray hair sticking to it. Rock’s heart plummeted at that gruesome red.

“Lady Trilian! Are you all right, dear?!” Phoebe rushed over to her. The older woman jerked her head up.

“You! I told you not to use your bloody feminine wiles around me!”

“Hah?”

“Your manliness stole my heart all those years ago, so why are ya speaking and acting like some woman?! Come back after you’ve fixed your speech!” Those old sunken eyes sharply speared Phoebe from underneath the bandage.

The tension eased from Phoebe’s shoulders. “…Looks like they didn’t knock the spunk outta you yet.”

Relief settled over Rock as well. Shrewd as Lady Trilian was, Rock still worried how she would fare against the burglars after they wrecked the place this bad. Her wounds weren’t pretty, but with her sharp tongue working this well, she would recover.

“How badly did they hurt you? Will you be okay?” Rock asked for confirmation. Lady Trilian’s eyes shifted to her, and her expression twisted.

“It ain’t too bad. I just went through hell because of that bloody statue.”

“What statue…?”

“The wolf statue you plundered from me.” She exhaled so deeply Rock feared her soul departed with that breath. “Someone in the same trade brought another one to me. He told me I could have it for free, so I happily accepted, planning to sell it to ya later. But then those thugs came sniffing ’round the place for it the same day.”

With her head down to endure the horrible memory, she didn’t notice Rock’s and Phoebe’s frozen expressions and clenched fists. “Those blighters told me to name my price, so I tried to overcharge ’em by a pinch. Then they suddenly slammed their fists into me. The rest is as you can see. They wrecked the place and made off with the statue.” She clicked her tongue and spitefully hissed, “That thing really is cursed, isn’t it? I hope it curses all those blighters to hell.”

If what they stole was another werewolf statue, then its curse was real. Worse yet, not only did they just discover the existence of a third statue, they didn’t even know whose hands it had been passed to.

Rock gulped and looked searchingly at Phoebe. Gritting his frustration out between his teeth, he tousled her hair in a display of concern. “…Let’s go inform His Excellency,” he whispered in her ear. “The sooner the better. As in, right now, Rock.”

Lady Trilian was a tough old woman despite her injuries. “I didn’t utter a peep ’bout selling ya the other statue.” With that declaration, she stood tall and proud. “Don’t think I’m just some miserly old woman. I stick to my guns when it counts.”

Rock hadn’t even considered the possibility until she mentioned it. When she thought of how her room and shop could have been torn apart, too, she realized this wasn’t just Lady Trilian’s problem.

No, this was my problem the moment that statue became involved.

Just as Ebel had called this fate, she, too, was connected and caught up in the cause and effects of fate. Now was the time for Rock to put an end to the misery caused by the statue her father had brought out of the ancient ruins.

“I wouldn’t expect any less of you, Lady Trilian,” Rock complimented, her heart and mind set on what she had to do next.

“They could drag me to hell and back and I wouldn’t say anything, all to protect the man who captured my heart.” All the more vigorous in her old age, Lady Trilian directed a flirtatious glance at Phoebe.

On the receiving end, he gave an exasperated, ladylike smile. “You’re forever young, aren’t you, dear Trilian?”

“I keep telling ya to stop acting like a woman ’round me!” she shouted and then held her hands over her aching head. She didn’t act like a shopkeeper who just had a run-in with burglars.

Not wanting to worsen her injuries, Rock and Phoebe made sure she had everything under control before taking their leave.

They immediately went to check on Rock’s room on the second floor. It wasn’t that Rock didn’t believe Lady Trilian, but there was no telling what the burglars might’ve done after they wrecked her shop. Fortunately, there were no signs of forced entry, and her room looked just as she had left it that morning. If nothing else, the information about Rock buying one of the statues hadn’t been leaked.

“Well, it’s not like I have it on my anymore anyway.” Rock rolled the tightness out of her shoulders.

But Phoebe’s expression grew graver by the moment, and he promptly asked, “Rock, I need you to tell me if you know the answer to this.”

“What is it?”

“Does Guido Linus know that His Excellency is a werewolf?”

Rock was astonished that Guido’s name was brought up here. Sure, she loathed the cretin, but it never occurred to her that he might be involved in this crime. Without a doubt, he was the closest to Ebel’s secret and was one of the very few people privy to that knowledge outside of his father and direct servants.

“He knows. Ebel said he showed him his werewolf form when they were boys,” she answered through her hesitation. At the time, Guido had saved Ebel with his kind acceptance.

“…Then we can’t discredit the possibility he knows about the statues too.” Phoebe, on the other hand, had already narrowed down the culprit to Guido. “One more question. Did His Excellency ever tell you under what circumstances that statue casts its curse?”

“No. I never heard.”

Ebel never mentioned it, likely to prevent from dragging Rock in too deep. Someone out there wanted that information bad enough to hurt others. Did the person who hired the burglars know the secret?

“Why do you suspect him, Phoebe?”

Phoebe rubbed his chin. “Didn’t he threaten you with the constables he said he had patrolling the manor?”

“He did.” Remembering his remark about how easy it was to throw a street rat from the slums into the gallows ticked her off even now.

“Those useless curs were actually there. I spotted them while I was roaming the manor,” Phoebe cursed, blue eyes narrowing into slits. “The whole thing is strange when you think about it. I can’t believe that toff would bring in the might of the constables just to make your life miserable. On the other hand, that was some heavy-duty security to have around during his precious, precious little sister’s birthday.”

“You mean he’s involved in some other bad business?” Rock interjected.

Phoebe laced his fingers together and nodded. “That’s the only logical thing. For instance, he knew some has-been mercenaries were going to drop by, and he wanted the constables around to toss them out if things went south.”

“Now that you mention it, Michaela alluded to the same thing. Guido has had an influx of unusual visitors but won’t let her see them, much less greet them,” Rock said, remembering what Michaela had told her and Ebel at the party. The information strengthened Phoebe’s suspicions.

“These are still just marks against him. We don’t have enough evidence to draw a line connecting him to it yet.” Contrary to these words, Phoebe’s blue eyes were already making the circle for Guido’s noose. “That said, not many people in this vast capital check both boxes for possessing enough money to motivate those curs into working and for knowing His Excellency’s werewolf secret. Of that select few, I’m hedging my bets on His Excellency’s ex–best friend.”

Phoebe had plenty of reason to suspect Guido. As one who had glimpsed his insanity up close and personal, Rock feared he was liable to do anything at this point. Deep down, she secretly wished it was just paranoia on her part. After all, Ebel would be heartbroken if he knew Guido wanted that statue so bad he nearly had a woman killed for it.

“Let’s say it is Guido. Why would he want the statue?” Rock muttered aloud as they hurried through the dark streets after leaving her room.

Still decked out in full armor, Phoebe’s face turned grim as he answered, “Your guess is as good as mine. Whatever the reason, it will become something he can threaten His Excellency with.”

“I want to believe…he wouldn’t go that far,” Rock lamented.

Phoebe shook his head reproachfully. “You’re a real softy if you can say something like that after what that nob did to you.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I trust the pickpockets on the streets more than Guido.” She wanted to believe in him for Ebel’s sake. Rock didn’t want to see Ebel hurt again. She also had no intention of averting her eyes from reality either. Pressing her lips into a flat line, Rock tossed another doubt at Phoebe. “By the way, we aren’t going to walk our way to the count’s, are we?”

They were racing through the shadowy streets at a fast pace, but their legs would give out before they made it by foot to the aristocrat district. Dawn would break before they arrived even if they ran through the night.

Phoebe grinned. “Leave our ride to me. I’m a master at these things.”

“…And what things would that be?”

Instead of answering Rock’s third question, Phoebe sped up with a spirited bounce to his step.

They eventually arrived at the stables located on the outskirts of the slums.

The imperial capital was built around the emperor’s castle as its center, and the slums, as the farthest district from that center, was an impoverished residential area that had sprung up along the walls protecting the capital. Located at the edge of the slums, these stables lent and sold horses to people traveling outside the capital’s walls. These stables also boarded and took in horses belonging to people traveling to the capital.

By the time Phoebe and Rock ran into the stables, it was so late at night the date was about to change. Several of the horses tied up outside looked as if they were asleep on their feet. The stable master greeted them reeking of alcohol, already having knocked back a drink or two.

“You’re back again, Phoebe?”

“Yes. You really helped me out earlier,” Phoebe said in relaxed reply. He whispered behind his hand to Rock, “I had him introduce me to a good wagon to follow you.”

So that was how Phoebe got to Linus Manor. Rock really respected Phoebe’s quick thinking and his ability to take action at the drop of the hat.

Are we going to catch another ride on a wagon, then? Rock wondered.

“I want to borrow a horse this time.” Phoebe held out several gold coins. The stable master was suspicious, though he accepted it.

“Where are you goin’ at this hour, she-man?”

“To the aristocrat district again. We’re going to pass through a number of districts, so give me a strong horse with fast legs.”

“Screw you. I’m not gonna lend out one of my horses for that!” the stable master yelled hysterically.

Rock was shocked as well. The imperial capital was divided into different districts, such as the aristocrat district, the holy church district, and the shopping district, and each one was connected by a large guarded gate. Citizens were free to come and go from any district, but only if they possessed citizenship. As a resident of the slums, citizenship was a pipe dream for Rock, and that was why she had never visited the aristocrat district until Ebel invited her there.

And to the constables charged with protecting each gate, residents of the slums were worse than plague-bearing rats. They were free to choose if they wanted to ignore them, chase them away, or arrest them and interrogate them on a whim.

Phoebe claimed he was going to take a single horse through not one but several of those heavily guarded gates.

“Relax. I’ll bring back your charge without so much as a tuft of hair missing. You know my talents.”

The stable master carefully studied Phoebe’s confident face. It was then that he noticed the man who always showed up in dresses was armed to the teeth. “Why the hurry? Don’t tell me you’re gonna launch a night attack on some unsuspecting fool?” he queried, presuming they were out for blood.

Phoebe didn’t even bat an eyelash. “A good friend is in dire need. Of course I’d hurry,” he asserted without an ounce of hesitation. Rock could tell from his tone that it wasn’t just an excuse to get through the moment—the truth lay in those words.

A good friend in dire need—Ebel held a different position in Rock’s heart than Phoebe’s, but either way, she couldn’t say nothing, so she got up close to the master and appealed to his better half.

“A friend who is very near and dear to us is in need! They may be in grave danger if we don’t warn them soon… Please, won’t you lend us a horse?!”

“S-Sure. If that’s what you need it for…” The stable master, overwhelmed by her plea, stared at Rock’s beseeching face. He returned his gaze to Phoebe and whispered loud enough to be heard, “You’ve got an awfully cute lady with you for a she-man. Is she your woman?”

“She’s my precious girl. I’ll beat you to death if you give her a dirty look.” Phoebe’s voice was oozing with barbs, but it rung sweetly in Rock’s ears.

She didn’t have to confirm what he meant by those words yet. Just having Phoebe come to Ebel’s aid with her was enough. She depended on him.

The stable master lent them a large black horse, claiming he was the best horse in the stable, with his stellar night vision and the ability to swiftly carry two adults on his back.

“I forgot to ask: Do you have horseback-riding experience?” Phoebe asked belatedly.

Rock answered with an unconvincing grin. “At a trot. I took a few rides when I lived in the village.”

“So practically zero experience. How about riding with someone else?”

“Never tried.”

“All you have to do is sit still, so it’s easier than riding alone.” Phoebe checked the condition of the saddle and stirrups before pulling a hood over Rock’s head. “Okay, I’m lifting you up. Stay still for me.”

“Wh-Whoa!”

He easily lifted her onto the front of the saddle. Then he hopped onto the back and reached under her arms to take hold of the reins.

“Sorry your first time riding with a man had to be taken by me.” Phoebe sounded awfully happy for someone who was apologizing. His voice lilted with excitement. “You can lean against me. Once you are holding on tight, you can relax from there.”

Rock timidly leaned against him. A trotting horse’s back wasn’t the most stable of seats, even with a saddle. Unused to horseback riding, Rock was a bundle of nerves until Phoebe secured her between his arms. For a whole second, she was filled with peace of mind. The warm body holding her upright felt nostalgic, and she trusted the person behind it with all her heart.

But that peace of mind lasted only until the horse broke into a gallop.

“Here we go. Hold on tight, because this is going to be a fast ride!”

“Okay… By the way, how fast is fast?”

“Keep your mouth shut. You’ll bite your tongue.” Phoebe kicked his boots into the horse’s sides.

The stable master’s best horse broke into a gallop and raced through the imperial capital’s streets at the speed of an arrow. Even with two adults on his back, he ran with such strength his hooves scraped the cobblestones. Carried at the speed of a rushing river, Rock, whose consciousness couldn’t keep up with her body, would have fallen off if not for Phoebe’s arms holding her in place.

Caving into her fear, she belted out what seemed like a never-ending scream: “WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

The horse galloped regardless of his riders’ fears. Rock’s hood violently shook and slapped against her cheeks. They made a mad dash through the imperial capital submerged in night, breaking through the headwinds that dried out her open eyes.

They passed through several gates along the way. At one of those gates, a bored constable on night duty tried to stop their passage.

“Halt! Where are you going at this hour?”

Phoebe neither panicked nor caused a scene with his straightforward reply. “We have an urgent message for Count Ebel Mateus. Please let us through!”

“No! Get off the horse!” The constable obviously didn’t believe them.

“We’re in a hurry, I said! Coming through!” Phoebe bellowed, spurring the horse back into a gallop. The constable’s barked orders and angry shouts whipped behind them and out of earshot with the wind.

Rock didn’t know what shortcuts Phoebe took or how he skillfully maneuvered the horse, but he succeeded in shaking the constables off at every gate. By the time they arrived at Mateus Manor, everything was so still aside from the sound of the horse’s hooves beating the ground.

“You held up well.” Phoebe stopped the horse and helped a wobbly Rock to the ground. He stroked the horse’s mane to thank him for his hard work.

Rock sank to the ground after that whirlwind of a ride and couldn’t stand back up. Even from the ground, she could glimpse the state of the manor before her. Lights shone in several of the windows—especially the ones on the second floor. She recognized one bay window as the one she had looked out of from Ebel’s study. For a second, she thought she glimpsed someone’s back through the window.

“Master Rock?!” The manor’s front door swung open, and Johanna fell out. Paler than the moonlight, she dashed over to Rock and dug her hands into her vest. “Aaah! It’s an answer to our prayers that you’re here! His Excellency—His Excellency is in trouble!” Tears spilled down her drawn cheeks, alarming Rock and Phoebe.

“His Excellency is? What happened?!”

“Lord Linus barged in right after His Excellency came home.” Convulsing with sobs, Johanna’s knuckles turned white as she clenched the fireplace poker still gripped in her hand. Did she intend to use it as a weapon? “I showed him into His Excellency’s study because His Excellency asked me to, but then Lord Linus suddenly started raving like a lunatic, and then His Excellency transformed into a werewolf against his will—”

Rock burst into action before hearing the rest. She rose on her formerly wobbly legs and stormed into the manor. She remembered that his study was located on the second floor at the end of the corridor straight back from the stairs. Though she had run off before anyone else, Phoebe outran her on the way, but Rock still managed to arrive just after he kicked in the door, and she tumbled inside the study behind him.

“Ebel!” Rock cried, the scene inside unfolding before her a second later.

Guido Linus was thrusting something into the face of the werewolf cowering on the floor. Gripped in his hand was none other than a cursed werewolf statue.

Werewolf Ebel slowly raised his muzzle. Once those golden orbs locked on the doorway, a strangled moan ripped passed his fangs. “Roxy…!”

Rock’s heart heaved at the sound of relief, surprise, and grief fluctuating in that single utterance. She had no way of knowing what had gone down before she showed up. But Johanna’s retelling was right about one thing—Ebel had been forced to transform against his will.

The ripped shreds of clothes scattered around him were proof of that. From the rich texture of the shredded fabric, Rock instantly knew it was the formal wear he’d been wearing at the party, and she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip.

Just how much did Guido have to ruin about this night before he was satisfied?

Guido turned toward the doorway too. The look in his eyes grew venomous when he saw Rock, and he viciously snarled, “You again, street tailor? What did you come for?”

“I could ask you the same question!” Rock snapped back. “Do you know what that statue is?!”

It didn’t take a detective to piece together that he held the very statue pilfered from Lady Trilian’s shop. The white statue carved out of limestone depicted a werewolf baring its fangs. Rock shuddered as the sensation of touching that smooth surface once before revived in her hands.

Guido’s lips curled up in mockery of her foolish question. “Of course I do. The power of the werewolf is hidden within this.” His eyes narrowed to slits as he fastened them on the statue he had thrust in Ebel’s face. “I’d heard there were more than two out there, but it was backbreaking work getting my hands on one.”

“Backbreaking work? Don’t you mean the work of bludgeoning heads?” Phoebe snarled.

Guido had the nerve to cock an eyebrow at him. “I just paid for the goods. I don’t know how it was obtained.”

Rock sharply inhaled at his heartless remark. His money had driven criminals to beat up Lady Trilian and wreck her shop.

“Keep your mouths shut, outsiders. I have business with Ebel.” Guido looked down his nose at Ebel hunched over on the floor. “Start talking already. Tell me how to become a werewolf.”

So he didn’t know how to unleash the statue’s curse either. What was he going to do once he found out?

“I can’t do that,” Ebel answered in pain.

Guido huffed like an upset child. “Why not? It’s not fair for you to keep it all to yourself.”

“I’m not trying to keep it to myself. I can’t tell you because I don’t want you to bear the weight of knowing.”

“Those who want the power of the werewolf should have it. Am I wrong, Ebel?” Guido began spewing words Rock never expected to hear from him. “I’m repeating myself here, but I want your powers.” Madness gleamed bewitchingly in his human eyes. “Ever since I first laid eyes upon that form, I found beauty in its unworldliness. The power to become a werewolf is miraculous! It hides infinite possibilities beyond human knowledge. What’s so wrong with wanting that?”

Full of passion, those delusional eyes were riveted on the completely changed appearance of his friend—not on the young man with burnt sienna hair, forest-green eyes, and the handsome face depicted in the portrait downstairs, but on the Ebel whose face was a wolf’s.

“As long as I’m in possession of such power, I can protect Michaela where you’ve abandoned her,” Guido said, drawing false conclusions. “I’ll protect her. I need the werewolf’s power to do that.” His voice carried the hopes of a man crazed with delusional ambitions.

“Don’t be a fool!” Ebel’s sorrowful cry carried the complete opposite emotion.

Guido’s desires made no sense to Rock. How could he yearn for the same curse after seeing his best friend tormented by it? Phoebe once said that these statues harbored the power desired by an oppressed people to fight back against their oppressors in ancient times. But what they lost in return was just as great. Rock felt disgusted by that story and questioned their motives. Even more so after hearing about the suffering Ebel went through.

Yet Guido still wanted that power.

“Are you insane?!” she interjected.

Guido’s face twisted with annoyance. “I told you to keep your mouth shut, outsider. This has nothing to do with you.”

“No, it does have something to do with me. I know how much Ebel suffers!”

That night Ebel stayed with her, she heard the feelings he kept buried inside. He told her of the previous Count Mateus’s mental breakdown and Ebel’s solitary night sleeping on the cold floor that first day he was cursed. That was but the tip of the iceberg for the disasters to follow as Ebel lost a great many things since. His grief-stricken father, his adorable fiancée, and now, the best friend he had trusted with all his heart.

The man who should’ve known that more than any other, the one who should’ve seen Ebel’s suffering up close, desired the very same fate for himself. Could that be anything other than insanity?

“You should know it well too! Don’t you understand just what burdens Ebel’s been carrying all this time?” Rock sharply accused.

Guido scoffed as if he were beyond reproach. “And what do you know of Ebel?” Before she could answer, he mocked her for her ignorance. “Ebel’s a strong man. He wasn’t crushed by the curse inflicted upon him, and he has taken on each day with positivity. Not only did he not succumb to the werewolf’s power, but he learned to control it!”

Guido certainly spoke of one side of Ebel. Unashamed and unbroken by being a werewolf, Ebel always acted cheerfully around Rock too. He continually used that power to rid the world of similar tragedies and to clear his father of the regrets that followed him to the deathbed. Those were facts.

But just as everyone masters different masks for different occasions in life, optimism didn’t define Ebel in his entirety. After all this time, Guido still didn’t know what was hidden beneath the masks he wore.

“You stand at his side pretending to be his sweetheart, and you don’t even know that much?” Guido sneered.

Rock took his contemptuous glare head-on. “Say whatever you like about me. But I can’t forgive anyone who hurts Ebel.”

Unleashing the curse for a second time would most assuredly be a knife to Ebel’s chest. And for Michaela as well. Rock had to do whatever it took to stop him before that happened.

“Roxy, stand back—it’s getting dangerous.” Phoebe stepped forward to protect Rock. He whipped the dagger out of his boot and pointed it at Guido. “This is what comes next when talk fails. Drop the statue if you don’t want to die.”

“Wha—?” Even Guido’s stubborn face twisted with fear in the face of Phoebe’s sharp blade.

“Don’t, Phoebe!” Ebel yelled in an attempt to stay his hand. Phoebe’s eyes bulged.

“Hah? Why—” He glanced once in Ebel’s direction, unnaturally stopping midsentence before sheathing his dagger. Grinding his frustration between his teeth, he slipped into a martial arts stance.

Rock watched them, not quite sure how to interpret that exchange. Why did Ebel stop Phoebe? And why did Phoebe listen without a fight?

She raked her eyes over the room and suddenly realized they weren’t alone in the study that had changed since her last visit. Ludovicus, the butler, stayed pressed up against the relief wall, and Iniel, the coachman, hid crouched in the shadow of the knocked-over mahogany desk. They appeared to be watching the course of events with caution, as if they were reluctantly remaining as passive onlookers when they wanted to take action.

Rock noticed Johanna had caught up to them and was standing behind her. Trembling, with her face whiter than paper, she, too, stood there unmoving with the fireplace poker clutched in her hands. Or maybe she couldn’t move.

Why? There must be a reason why they can’t go after Guido, Rock deduced.

Guido didn’t miss Ebel’s telling reaction either. “Why did you stop him, Ebel?” Guido stared down at him, a flash of insight crossing his face, ready to drive Ebel into the corner. “You have a reason not to let harm come to me. No?”

Ebel’s triangular ears trembled as he shook his head hard. “Guido! Stop this nonsense already!”

“Is it the dagger? Do you need a knife to unlock the werewolf curse?”

That sounded like the right answer. Ebel didn’t answer him, but Rock heard Johanna swallow her cry behind her. Instead of replying, Ebel loudly gnashed his fangs.

“I’m begging you, Guido—don’t do this. I don’t want you drawn into the misery of this curse!”

“I’m not being drawn into it by you. I’m going to obtain this power because I want it for myself!”

“Michaela will be heartbroken if she loses you to the curse as well!”

At the mention of his younger sister’s name, the blood rushed to Guido’s head, and a vein popped in his neck. “Ha! My sister will be overjoyed to have me protecting her! Especially now that you can’t be trusted!”

“What sister would rejoice over her brother being cursed?!” Ebel cried out, trying desperately to make him understand, but his words no longer reached Guido.

Guido slowly exhaled with an expression of mounting elation and disappointment. “You abandoned Michaela! Don’t speak as if you know her better than me…!”

In a sense, Guido was another victim whose life was thrown off course by the werewolf curse. As the man who rejoiced over his best friend and sister’s engagement, he believed Ebel would use his newfound powers for Michaela too. Maybe he just couldn’t get over them breaking off the engagement, but did it make sense for him to choose becoming cursed because of it?

Or was that another effect cast by the curse’s power?

What if it wasn’t all just coincidental that Phoebe obtained the statue, the previous Count Mateus unleashed its curse, the cursed Ebel confided that secret in Guido, and Guido, a future duke, became infatuated with its power?

Each was a separate dot on the paper, but Rock strongly believed everything was connected and entangled.

Rock shuddered as Guido drew a small dagger from his jacket. The beautifully ornate, jewel-encrusted dagger looked as if it had little value outside of being a decorative letter opener, but in this moment, it glinted with a bewitching light. Guido pressed the tip of the blade into one of the fingertips holding the statue and dragged his hawkish gaze over Ebel’s face.

“Is it blood?”

As he expected, Ebel didn’t answer. His golden eyes stayed riveted on Guido as he wrenched out a final appeal to his friend: “Guido, don’t do this. Don’t believe for one moment that being cursed is a blessing.”

“Save your bullshit for another sucker. Answer my question.”

“There’s nothing good about becoming a werewolf!” He spat out his true feelings as if it were poison on his tongue. These were the feelings he never spoke of to Rock and likely never uttered aloud before.

Guido’s eyes were too blinded by a lust for power to see it. “Fine. If you won’t answer me, I’ll just try it!” He twisted the blade into his finger.

“STOP!”

“You bastard!”

Ebel and Phoebe shouted and charged him at the same time.

Rock wasn’t sure if her eyes caught everything that happened next. It ended faster than it started. Ebel and Phoebe lunged at Guido and knocked the ornate dagger from his hand. It fell on top of the fancy study rug, and Ludovicus dove from the wall and snatched it up.

Guido was slammed against the floor with his right arm twisted behind his back by Ebel and the left by Phoebe. Phoebe wrenched the statue from his fingers and tossed it to Rock.

“Take it somewhere far away!”

“Okay!” Rock caught the statue and propelled herself forward to run from the room. But the next second, she experienced a shock so great she felt as if time had stopped forever.

The statue started crumbling in her hands. In a blink of an eye, it lost its shape and spilled through her fingers, forming a pile of white dust on the rug.

“N-No way…,” she gasped, then inspected the dust mound. There she spotted a few specks of blood in the white dust, and she spun around.

Rock saw Guido’s body swelling under his clothes as Johanna, Iniel, Phoebe, and Ebel tried to hold him down. His clothes exploded as if breaking him out of his shell, and a body covered in black fur appeared from the shreds. The mouth that was trying to yell something jutted out and split open, the teeth inside transformed into impossibly sharp fangs, and the black fur on his head parted for inhuman ears to sprout. His eyes flew open, revealing glowing golden orbs like Ebel’s, but his screamed death and hatred.

The second werewolf rose on his haunches.

Howling, wilder than from any healthy beast, echoed through the room as he brought his menacing head back. Saliva dripped from his large, yellowing incisors. He swung his meaty arms, sending the humans on top of him flying. Johanna and Iniel slammed against the floor, and even Phoebe, who clung on with all his strength, was thrown against the wall.

“No!” Rock screamed.

In front of her, werewolf Guido slammed his fist hard into Ebel. With less sanity than a wolf infected with rabies, he pounded his clawed fists into the other werewolf with enough strength to break his own shoulder.

“GUAH!” Ebel just managed to hold his ground despite a right hook to the side of his muzzle. The impact brought him to his knees.

Guido raised his bladelike claws up and was about to bring them down on Ebel’s face.

“EBEL!” Rock lunged at Guido’s back.

A weak woman was no threat to a blood-crazed werewolf. His hammer-like arm snapped out to meet her as if he were swatting a fly, and Rock arced through the air, until her back collided with something hard.

A dull pain that knocked the air out of her lungs coursed through her body and stole her consciousness.