The bell rang, signaling the end of the six-day-long prelude to the inauguration ceremony and the arrival of the final day.
At Ina’s signal, the people hiding in the underbrush scaled the mansion’s walls. The unguarded perimeter was effortlessly breached, and in an instant, they reached the mansion where the banquet was taking place.
“See you at the declaration ceremony.”
Ina held out a fist toward him as she spoke. She was forcing a smile, but the tension on her face was obvious. He let out a small chuckle and lightly bumped his fist against hers as she wanted.
Ina then led the group to search for Joshua somewhere within the mansion. Once everyone had disappeared, leaving him alone, he opened the bag he had brought and began to disguise himself.
He put on a wig to conceal his striking hair and wore dark glasses to obscure his eyes. After quietly preparing to infiltrate the banquet hall, he slipped inside through one of the mansion’s windows.
Passing through the silent corridors, he naturally blended into the flow of people wandering about the mansion. With the red concealed, no one paid him any attention.
He had considered countless contingencies for unexpected situations, but he made it to the banquet hall without any difficulty. It was so lax that it was almost laughable.
Taking a glass of champagne from one of the attendants moving about the hall, he cast a glance at the vacant seat of the District Chief. By now, the newly appointed chief should have been occupying that seat, but naturally, it remained empty.
—I’m not exactly sure why Jeremy is trying to keep Joshua hidden, but it’s probably because he’s in bad condition. A flawed Shining can’t become a District Chief, after all.
Just how severe the flaw was would become clear once Ina brought Joshua. Until then, all he had to do was remain hidden and wait for the right moment.
The moment Ina brought Joshua into the banquet hall, Vincent Shining—presumed dead—would appear and reclaim his rightful place. A perfect conclusion.
Just need to get through today.
Once this long-prepared performance was over, he would hand the district over to Ina and return to Seo-yul. With him and Joshua gone, Ina would naturally be next in line, and assuming the role of District Chief would be no trouble for her.
The opposition from the central district elders would be blocked by those from the outer districts who supported Ina. The political struggle that followed had nothing to do with him. By then, he would have already left this place and returned to Seo-yul.
I just want to go back already.
He settled into a corner of the banquet hall, keeping his eyes fixed on the still-empty seat of the District Chief. As time passed, murmurs began to spread among the attendees.
The declaration ceremony was set to begin soon, yet Joshua, the next District Chief, was nowhere to be seen. It was already a half-complete inauguration with the previous District Chief absent, and now, with even the appointee missing, rumors were inevitable.
“He’s not attending today either—”
“Skipping the declaration ceremony as well? How does that even make sense?”
“At this point, I don’t know if this is truly an inauguration or just a party thrown on a whim.”
“Besides, wasn’t there a Shining purge recently? I heard that was all Joshua’s doing too…”
The hushed whispers among the guests were growing louder. He took a short sip of champagne when a faintly unfamiliar scent brushed past his nose.
Lifting his head, he looked toward the staircase leading from the upper floor to the banquet hall. There, descending gracefully, was Joshua, clad in a pristine white uniform that gleamed coldly like moonlight.
The murmurs died down as the gathered guests turned to look at their long-awaited next District Chief, greeting him with a round of enthusiastic applause. Beaming brightly, Joshua waved at the crowd in response to the warm reception.
Guided by his attendants, Joshua reached the seat of the District Chief and turned to address the hall. The crystal-clear light streaming in through the glass ceiling accentuated the striking mystery of his red hair.
“I extend my gratitude to everyone gathered here today.”
The seat of the District Chief was placed on a slightly elevated platform. To see him clearly, the guests had to lift their heads slightly. Under the moonlight, the only thing that truly stood out was the brilliant red of his hair.
That’s not Joshua.
In District 1, during festival days, people would dye their hair red in imitation of the Shining. It was the one time when everyone could share in the color associated with them.
However, it was strictly forbidden for anyone else to match the intensity of a District Chief’s red. As a result, commercially available dyes only produced murky, impure shades of red.
Yet the man standing there now, deceiving everyone by pretending to be Joshua, had hair as vividly red as the real thing—Jeremy.
Since there was no way to alter eye color, he was keeping his distance from the banquet guests. This deception was only possible because, aside from the color, the two were identical twins.
The others might not notice, but he could tell immediately that the person before him was not Joshua. Even identical twins couldn’t mimic each other’s pheromones perfectly, and there was a subtle difference. Joshua’s pheromones had always been far more overwhelming.
Ina Shining better not be late.
He glanced toward the banquet hall’s entrance, but it remained silent. In the meantime, Jeremy had finished his greeting, and an attendant stepped forward, declaration scroll in hand.
***
Separated from him, Ina moved swiftly through the mansion, searching for Joshua. Based on his memory, the room was somewhere in the eastern wing, but unfortunately, the estate was far too vast.
We have to find him in time.
If they were to reach the banquet hall with Joshua as planned, they had barely enough time left. And if, as suspected, all the mansion’s guards had been concentrated there, breaking through wouldn’t be easy either, making it even more urgent.
But the more rushed they felt, the less progress they made. No matter how thoroughly they searched the eastern wing, there was no trace of Joshua. All they were doing was exhausting themselves while time slipped away.
“Stop for a moment.”
At Ina’s signal, everyone came to an abrupt halt. Taking a deep breath, Ina closed her eyes and focused all her senses on her nose. She had to track down Joshua’s scent, lingering somewhere in this place.
Remember. What did Joshua’s scent smell like?
The only times she had ever encountered Joshua were on Shining Day. She could count on one hand the number of real conversations they had shared, so her memory of his scent was faint and faded.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. As the seemingly meaningless moments passed, a sudden surge of pheromones exploded into the air, overwhelming her senses.
“There.”
She couldn’t be entirely certain it was Joshua’s, but right now, she had no choice but to seize even the smallest possibility. As Ina followed the scent, the others trailed behind her.
How far had they run toward the eastern wing? Ina raised her hand, signaling for everyone to stop. Then, she drew her gun and loaded it. Click. The sound of the safety being disengaged was followed by the sharp pull of the trigger aimed at a distant, flickering silhouette.
Bang!
The shot echoed through the air, sending a tremor through her shoulders. The silhouette she had targeted collapsed, and in the distance, hurried movements erupted in response.
“Found him.”
The others behind her quickly loaded their guns as well, and without hesitation, they opened fire on the growing number of figures in the corridor. The relentless barrage of gunfire threw the distant guards into chaos.
Ina gave them no time to retaliate. Closing the distance step by step, she continued shooting without pause. The passage filled with thick white smoke, the deafening noise of gunfire pressing against her eardrums.
“Move!”
Sensing that all signs of life had vanished, Ina halted her fire and sprinted forward. As expected, the corridor was now littered with the bodies of fallen guards.
While her subordinates stayed behind to eliminate any remaining threats, Ina pressed deeper into the mansion, searching for Joshua. At the end of the passage, an overwhelming, nose-stinging pheromone seeped out from behind a closed door.
Lowering her gun, Ina cautiously pushed the door open. Inside, a group of terrified attendants and a physician bowed deeply the moment they saw her.
“P-please spare us!”
Ignoring their desperate pleas, Ina strode further into the darkened room. Brushing aside the thick smoke obscuring her vision, she approached the bed.
“It’s been a while, Joshua.”
Her greeting was met with silence. Joshua lay there motionless, his wide, unblinking eyes making him seem more like a corpse. No—his faint breathing confirmed he was still alive.
Grabbing the front of his shirt, Ina yanked him upright. He was alarmingly light, like a bundle of dry twigs, but at least that would make transporting him easier. She found that satisfying.
Her subordinates, having finished their cleanup, entered the room. Without hesitation, Ina threw the limp Joshua over to one of them before giving her next order.
“We’re heading to the banquet hall.”
