In one of the vast, elegant halls of the Lunar House mansion…
Catherine stood before an immense mirror, trying on a new, sophisticated dress with her personal designer. It bore the colors of the House, adorned with the finest gems from foreign lands.
Just then, Igor, the butler of the House of the Sun, burst in, visibly agitated.
"Lady Catherine!" he exclaimed, unable to stop himself from hunching over. "I've come to inform you that the Sol lords are meeting with…"
Igor glanced at the designer measuring Catherine's wide waist.
Catherine noticed this, looking at both of them before saying, "You can speak. She won't say a word."
As if she were more a mannequin than a person, the designer didn't flinch at their words, focusing solely on her work.
Igor swallowed hard and continued, "They're meeting with Willy Fox. They're dealing with… criminals…"
Catherine, still gazing at herself in the mirror, furrowed her brow slightly. But then, as if recalling something, her expression relaxed.
She even smiled.
Without sparing a glance at the hunched man in the doorway, Catherine let out a soft laugh.
"Perfect," she said, leaving Igor baffled as to why her news didn't faze her. "Don't worry, Igor. They're digging their own grave."
Igor trembled at her words.
"You see," Catherine continued, "once the duel is over, there will be no more House of the Sun."
◇◆◇
Mako decided not to tell Ana about the deal he'd made with Willy Fox.
In the training grounds of the House of the Sun mansion, Mako trained as if there were no tomorrow.
It was nighttime.
Under a gentle snowfall, Mako relentlessly struck a practice dummy with a training sword, over and over.
"Damn it, I haven't improved at all," Mako said, panting, feeling sweat trickle down his forehead.
'Since I came back, I've gotten stronger and more skilled, but I haven't progressed since then,' he thought, defeated, wiping his brow.
Though the sword was blunt, the practice dummy was badly battered, with parts of its straw stuffing spilling out.
"What am I supposed to do?" Mako asked himself, staring at the mangled dummy.
He was now alone and lost.
The fate of his House had never weighed so heavily on his shoulders.
"Oh, but you already know what to do," a distant voice said.
Mako snapped to attention, scanning his surroundings, startled, and raising his guard.
"Ana? Igor?" he called, seeing no trace of anyone. It was just him, the practice dummy, and the snow.
Then, through the snowy haze, Mako noticed a figure approaching as the snowfall grew more intense.
"Who's there?!" Mako demanded, pointing his training sword at the unknown figure.
As the dark figure drew within a few meters, for a moment, Mako swore he recognized who it was.
"Dad?" he murmured weakly to himself.
Slowly, he lowered the sword.
But as he rubbed his eyes, he could see more clearly who it was.
The fierce snowstorm that had begun to batter him calmed, revealing the shadow.
"Isn't it a bit reckless to train on such a cold night, little brother?"
It was Erick, brushing snow off his shoulders.
Mako didn't hesitate to show his disgust at seeing who it was.
"What are you doing here?" Mako asked, keeping his eyes locked on Erick.
"What am I doing here? This is my home, remember? After all, you didn't banish or expel me," Erick reminded him mockingly.
Mako wasn't sure what made him want to strangle Erick more—his future betrayal or what he did to Ana.
Then, Mako recalled Willy Fox's words.
Fox had warned him to watch his back.
"I won't let you near Ana or any member of the House," Mako said firmly.
Mako raised the training sword, aiming it at Erick's chest.
"I know what you're planning," Mako continued, his words laced with an unusual coldness.
Erick dropped his smug expression for a more serious one.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"A confrontation between the two of us, the last members of the House, would be the end," Mako said, beginning to circle Erick.
Erick followed him with his gaze.
"Not only would no noble or investor look at the House of the Sun again," Mako said, taking slow steps. Finally, he lowered the weapon. "It would ruin our family's legacy."
Erick furrowed his brow, catching the implication of what his older brother was saying.
"You're saying I haven't killed you with my own hands… because I can't, is that it?" Erick said.
Mako nodded.
Erick clicked his tongue, then let out a malicious chuckle.
"You're wrong," Erick said, his face eerily calm.
"What?"
"You heard me," Erick continued. "You have no idea what I'm planning."
Erick began pulling something from his suit. It was a piece of paper.
"See this?" Erick said, shaking the paper. "It's a copy of our parents' will."
A heavy silence followed those words.
"I always carry it with me," Erick said with a melancholic tone. "Unlike you, I always keep their final wishes close."
'That's what I thought too,' Mako thought, touching his neck.
'I always believed you did everything in their honor, but executing me… You're nothing but a selfish, resentful traitor,' Mako brooded bitterly, recalling his execution.
"Anyway, I came to give you information," Erick said, tucking the crumpled paper back into his suit.
"Information?" Mako asked.
"Yeah," Erick replied, now looking at the practice dummy. "And it looks like you're going to need it."
Erick scanned their surroundings.
"Your next fight," he continued, approaching the practice dummy, "will be against the leader of the Lunar House, naturally."
"Catherine," Mako deduced.
"Yes, but the problem isn't just who she is, brother. It's her ability," Erick said with a bitter tone.
His words didn't just sound like a warning—they sounded like something inevitable.
"No one's seen what she's capable of, but they say with a slight movement, she can make you writhe in agony on the ground for hours," Erick said.
"Agony? For hours?" Mako swallowed hard.
"Yeah. But they don't die," Erick finished.
The words sent a chill through Mako, a sudden vertigo gripping him.
"All her victims," Erick said, now looking at Mako instead of the dummy, "end up like vegetables, always bedridden."
Erick was surprised to see the terror in Mako's eyes. He hadn't expected him to take it seriously right away.
"What's wrong?" Erick asked, noticing Mako's distant gaze.
Mako snapped out of his trance, returning to his hostile demeanor.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"Pfft, I knew that attitude wasn't like you," Erick said, now walking toward the exit.
Before leaving, he answered, "If you lose the fight against Catherine, my oath to our parents will be shattered."
Without another word, Erick vanished into the night.
Mako's hand trembled, gripping the sword's handle.
"Oath?" Mako muttered to himself, once again completely alone.
Mako let out a guttural, rage-filled scream at the sky.
Without hesitating, he unleashed a barrage of blows on the practice dummy.
"Hypocrite! Hypocrite! Hypocrite!" he shouted with each strike.
Splinters and chunks of wood flew from the pole holding the dummy.
Fabric, clumps of straw, and cotton shot out with every hit.
The practice dummy was reduced to an unrecognizable pile of debris.
'Why did you betray me then?' Mako thought, exhausted and furious.
"If our parents' final wishes mean so much to you…!" Mako said under his breath.
"…Why kill me?!" he screamed, falling to his knees.
Tears streamed from Mako's blue eyes as he remembered better times. Times when he, Erick, and Ana were younger, and their parents were still alive.
The winter had never felt so cold.