← The fallen count's daughter enters into a contract engagement with the cold-hearted duke.When morning sunlight filtered through Karen's window, she was already awake.
Sitting on the bed, she picked up the journal resting on her lap. Last night in the darkness, she had only managed to turn a few pages. Her fingers had trembled, and her mind had been too anxious for the words to register properly. But now it was different. The sunlight was clear, and her mind was calm.
She examined the journal's cover again. The leather was worn, but well-maintained. Evidence that someone—her father—had preserved it carefully. Inside the cover, small handwriting was inscribed.
*"Dominic de Monterosa. Year One Observation Records."*
Year One. Observation.
Karen's eyes narrowed. Her father had passed away three years ago. That meant this journal had started four years ago. Four years ago... that was when the social circles first began whispering about "abilities." It wasn't officially acknowledged, but rumors had spread among the nobility that someone could do things beyond human capability.
Her father had been recording this since then.
She turned the pages slowly. The first entry began with a date.
*"March 15th, Four Years Ago. Countess Estella Santos allegedly gathered broken glass with one hand at a ball. There were no signs of injury. The maids did not witness it. But three nobles did. They kept silent. Why?"*
Karen's breathing quickened. The Santos family. Violeta's family.
The next page.
*"April 2nd. Prince Marcus's swordsmanship has suddenly improved. He used to lose to opponents he faced regularly. Now he wins. Has something changed? Or was he hiding it from the beginning?"*
And the next.
*"April 18th. More than three people are changing. But not everyone is. Only certain individuals. What makes them different?"*
Karen picked up the journal and set it down repeatedly. Her father's handwriting was filled with curiosity at first, but as time went on, it shifted to tension. The letters became shorter, the margins wider.
*"End of April. I can no longer ignore this. This is not coincidence. It is systematic. Like... a game."*
A game.
Karen's finger lingered on that word. She remembered what Adrian had said last night. *"Truly fascinating."* And beneath those words, the cold gaze that seemed to measure her.
She turned more pages. Now the writing was more organized. Like a report.
*"Pattern Analysis from May onwards:*
*1. Individuals undergoing change experienced extreme circumstances.*
*- Estella: Marital discord with her husband, facing divorce*
*- Marcus: Pressure from his brother and inheritance disputes*
*- Others: Each had their own desperation.*
*2. After the change, they reportedly see numbers.*
*- Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Will, Perception.*
*- Like a game interface.*
*3. They grow. Very rapidly.*
*- What takes ordinary people months, they accomplish in days.*
*- This is not natural."*
Karen's breathing became rapid. This was not a rumor. Her father had observed it directly. Recorded it directly.
The next several pages were filled with diagrams and names. A list of people who had awakened abilities. Their backgrounds, the timing of their changes, behavioral patterns after awakening. Her father had truly studied this like a scholar.
But as she turned further, the tone of the writing changed.
*"End of June. I have changed too."*
Karen's hands trembled.
*"I cannot say exactly when. But at this ball, I could hear the Duchess Maria's heartbeat. She was three steps away from me."*
The next page.
*"July 3rd. I can no longer hide this. This means I too have entered the game. Then what is this game? Who created it? And why?"*
And the following pages were no longer organized. As if written in anxiety.
*"Mid-July. I met Duke Castellano. Dominic, he said. You've changed too. When I asked how he knew without me saying anything, he laughed. The laughter was not warm.*
*He said we are standing at the entrance of something great. We must now realize that this game is not a real game.*
*I asked what I should do.*
*He answered that he cannot tell me yet. But a choice will come soon. And then I must decide. Whether to protect my family, or to protect something greater."*
Karen's face went pale. It was the same thing her mother had said. *"Something greater."* No one had said exactly what it was, but her father had known. Her father had also stood at the same crossroads of choice.
When she opened the next page, Karen held her breath.
There was a drawing. Drawn with a pen, with many parts erased and redrawn. It looked like a crack. No, it was definitely a crack. As if part of the world had been torn, a form of darkness flowing through it.
And around that crack, words were written.
*"A crack. First saw it on June 22nd. Eastern outer forest. It is real. You can touch it with your hands. And there are things coming out of it. I don't yet know exactly what they are, but they are not human."*
Karen gripped the journal tightly. The eastern outer forest. She knew that place. It was where she had walked with her father in childhood.
*"July 15th. I keep returning near the crack. I don't know why. It's as if that place is calling to me. There is something inside it. I can sense it. I... know."*
She turned the page. The next entries were repetitive records. Observations of the crack. Descriptions of what came out of it. She wasn't certain if calling them "monsters" was appropriate, but they clearly had intent.
And an entry from one day.
*"August 1st. I met Adrian. The Duke's son. That boy knows. He knows the same things I do. We didn't speak long, but in that brief conversation, I realized something. That boy seems to have died once already. And now he is living again.*
*I asked him why he entered the game.*
*He answered that he was already in the game, not entering it. And now he is looking for a way out.*
*I understood. That boy is trying to break a curse. And I... what am I trying to do?"*
Karen's eyes darkened. Her father had hesitated. Then what had he ultimately chosen?
She turned the pages more quickly. The spacing between lines grew wider. Her father's handwriting also became weaker.
*"September. I met Adrian's father. The Duke. Isabella was there too. We made a promise. If the game progresses, about what our next generation must do."*
*"And I made my choice. To protect something greater."*
Karen breathed. Her father had chosen something greater over his family.
*"But the price was steep. The moment I made my choice, I felt it. Something flowing out of me. It was not my ability. It was... time."*
The last page.
*"To Karen. If you are reading this, then I am already gone. I am sorry. And I ask that you accept what I have left behind. You are now part of this game. What your father and Adrian's father promised—that is your burden.*
*If you wish to protect your family, protect it. But if you do, you will lose something greater.*
*Or choose as I did, and complete what we sought to protect.*
*Inside that crack are things I have encountered. They are not evil. They are simply different. If you understand them, you will know.*
*I love you, Karen.*
*—Dominic"*
Karen set down the journal. Her hands trembled. Her chest trembled.
Her father had not died. Her father had chosen. And the price of that choice was time.
Then where did she stand now?
She looked toward the east through the window. Sunlight passed over the forest. The crack is there. Something her father left behind is there.
Karen slowly rose. She held the journal to her chest.
"It's today."
She murmured to herself.
This evening, she had to go there. Before finding out what Adrian wanted, there was something she needed to know first.
Who she was.
And whether the game was truly a game, or something greater as her father had said.
Karen looked in the mirror. The person reflected back was different now. Not a countess's daughter. A player in the game.
No, more precisely.
"One preparing to break the game."
When she murmured this, something glimmered outside the window. As if someone was watching her.
Karen opened the window. Wind blew in. And in that wind, very faintly, she heard a voice calling her name.
A familiar voice.
Her father's voice.
Violetta had arrived at the café before Karen.
Brilliant afternoon sunlight streamed through the glass windows. Violetta sat in a corner of the table, in a spot untouched by the gaze of other patrons, her appearance flawlessly elegant. A pearl-adorned handbag, her hand resting casually upon it. Yet her eyes remained fixed on the café's entrance.
When Karen entered, a smile bloomed at the corners of Violetta's lips. But it was not the conventional smile commonly seen in high society. It was something deeper—the kind of smile shared between conspirators.
"You came alone. You didn't bring a servant. How bold of you."
Violetta spoke first. Karen sighed as she took her seat across from her.
"I thought it would draw less attention if I appeared to be alone."
"Right. You always do that. Always choosing the correct answer."
Violetta pushed a teacup toward Karen. It had already been prepared. Karen didn't pick it up. She looked at Violetta instead.
"You must know quite a lot about Adrian."
It was direct. Violetta liked that. She nodded.
"The Duke, you mean. That man is the most dangerous person in high society."
"How so?"
"Not in a direct way, but in another sense. Adrian de Castellano was nothing more than a cold-blooded aristocrat until six months ago. A cold-hearted duke, a man uninterested in women—that was his reputation. Everyone avoided him. At least Lucian acts like a human being, but Adrian was so emotionless that one doubted whether he had feelings at all."
Karen listened quietly. Violetta continued.
"But he changed six months ago. Very subtly. As if he were searching for someone. Until then, he focused only on ducal affairs, but suddenly he began appearing frequently at social gatherings, observing noblewomen."
"What do you mean by searching for someone?"
Violetta took a sip of her tea. Her eyes sparkled.
"Don't you already know? How was that man when he met you?"
Karen didn't answer.
"From what I've observed, when Adrian saw you, he had the expression of someone who had found something. Like the look of discovering something you've been searching for long. And after that, he completely began ignoring other women and started taking interest only in you."
"That doesn't make him dangerous, though."
"No, that's exactly what makes him dangerous. Karen, that man is moving toward some greater goal. This isn't simple romance."
Violetta leaned forward. She lowered her voice. The appearance of a high society information broker faded, replaced by that of Karen's friend.
"Strange things have been happening in aristocratic society since the middle of last year. Some nobles suddenly became stronger, or conversely weaker, or became very strange... People who speak of it call it an 'awakening.' They say abilities manifest like in a game."
Karen's hand went cold and stiffened.
"And as you already know, Adrian is one of those people. Or more precisely... it seems Adrian already knew that such things were happening. As if he had designed it himself."
"Designed?"
"Well, that's the feeling I get. After Adrian moved, the people around him began to change. Lucian too, and several other nobles. As if... awakening someone."
Violetta paused for a moment. She looked out the window. Then she met Karen's eyes again.
"And the most important thing is this. Adrian's father died around this time last year. Officially, it was said to be a sudden illness, but high society thought something was amiss. Because a few weeks before that man died, he seemed to have made some kind of agreement with other nobles. With your father as well."
Karen's heart stopped.
"Your father also passed away around the same time. Very suddenly at that. And after that, your family..."
"Collapsed."
Karen finished the sentence.
Violetta nodded.
"I think you're a strong girl. And you must have figured something out. Whether it's your father's legacy or something else. That's why I'm telling you this. Adrian de Castellano is not a simple man. He is moving toward something great, and he is thinking of you as part of that plan."
Karen picked up the teacup. Her hand trembled. She didn't drink. Simply holding the cup was enough.
"Then why are you telling me this? You're close to Lucian too. Your brother would be more beneficial."
"Lucian?" Violetta laughed. It was a truly elegant laugh. "That man is his brother's shadow. Whenever Adrian makes a move, Lucian just follows a step behind. Ah, that man has ambition. He has plenty of ambition. But it seems he doesn't know what he truly wants."
Violetta reached across the table and brushed the back of Karen's hand.
"And I... I think you're different from Adrian. That man seems to be trying to obtain something from it, but you're just trying to survive, aren't you? Trying to save your family. I like that about you. That's why I'm telling you."
"So what do you want from me?"
It was a direct question. Violetta didn't stop smiling.
"I don't want anything. Instead, I want to give you advice. Whether you become engaged to Adrian or whatever you do, you must always stay one step ahead of that man. He's intelligent, calculating, and cold-blooded. If you fall behind that man's moves, you'll become nothing but a tool."
Karen drank her tea.
"And one last thing. There's another person observing Adrian in high society right now. A man called the Dungeon Guild Master, Marcus de Valencia. He's a scholar who studies the awakening phenomenon, and he's very interested in Adrian. You need to be careful. That man seems to be searching for something as well."
Karen's eyes narrowed.
"Marcus de Valencia?"
"Yes. Do you know him?"
"No. Just... I've never heard the name before."
It was a lie. But Violetta didn't ask. Violetta already knew that Karen knew enough.
Karen set down her teacup and looked out the window. The sunlight still illuminated the eastern forest. There was a rift there. There was a trace of her father there.
"Thank you, Violetta."
"Don't mention it. We're friends."
Violetta said. And both Karen and Violetta knew it was true.