APML 02

Chapter 02

After about a second of silence, Jade put on a gentle smile and feigned indifference.
“What a peculiar woman. She openly warns of an attack—what could her identity be?”
“Well… she’ll probably reveal herself if we interrogate her.”

When Cain turned his head, Jade’s eyes sparkled again with curiosity and interest.
“Wouldn’t it be troublesome if something inconvenient came out during the interrogation?”
“What do you mean by ‘inconvenient’?”
“Well… we’ll find out once we investigate.”

Cain glared at the smirking Jade and shut his mouth.
When she persistently tried to tease him like that, ignoring her was the best course.
Cain knew very well that he and Jade were close beyond the usual superior-subordinate relationship.

‘Ridiculous.’

He had deliberately chosen a seemingly shabby back alley to quickly force the identity of whoever was targeting him to reveal itself.
Yet, some strange woman, seemingly useless, had fallen right into it.
Cain felt that discovering her identity immediately would bring him some peace of mind.

He turned on his heel and strode off in the opposite direction.
“Where are you going, Cain?”
“Back to the castle.”
“But our work isn’t finished yet.”
“Send the others ahead.”
“You insisted on coming out personally just a moment ago.”

Cain, walking ahead, snapped his head back at Jade.
Jade quickly adopted a neutral expression, hiding any reaction to Cain’s irritated look, and asked in a serious tone:
“Will you be conducting the interrogation personally?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, I see. You’ll handle it yourself. And… as for silencing her—”
“…”
“Of course, that wouldn’t be the case. I’ll prepare as soon as we return.”
“No need.”
“Excuse me?”

Cain smiled slyly, as if he had some secret plan.

The castle where Cain stayed was located in the northern Snowple region of the Adrian Empire.
It was more fortress than palace, often used as a military garrison.
Cain had led troops from the capital to quell a conflict with the neighboring Shuran Kingdom and was stationed there.
The war had ended in victory, and the postwar process—stabilizing the people, finalizing peace agreements, and receiving reparations—was underway.

“Lock that woman in the underground prison. Preferably among the roughest types.”
“To scare her?”
“That way she’ll confess willingly.”
“What if she faints from fear?”
“Why do you care?”
“Because if the interrogation is delayed, I’d be very curious. Oh, are you stalling on purpose?”
“…”
“I’ll carry it out immediately.”

Cain glared disapprovingly at Jade, who was scurrying to keep up, carrying a pile of documents, and headed to the office inside the castle.

‘Wow, I’m losing it. Isn’t this going to end badly?’

The silver-haired woman knelt on the floor, head bowed, eyes rolling nervously.
“…”

Cain sat on the sofa in the place of honor, legs crossed, chin resting on his hand.
His expression screamed arrogance, yet it suited him perfectly.
The woman stole glances at Cain, and whenever their eyes met, she quickly looked down.
She wished she could speak, but tension had her swallowing dryly.

“What’s your name?”

Cain finally spoke. His voice was cold, without a trace of kindness, but pleasantly deep.
“Evelyn.”
“Last name?”
“I have none.”

Her bravado, which had spoken nonsense when she was in the underground prison, had vanished entirely.
While her silence was welcome, her inability to even meet his gaze, bowing her head constantly, made Cain suspicious.

‘Why is she suddenly intimidated? I was planning to let her speak and be generous.’

“Excuse me?” Evelyn tilted her head, thinking Cain might actually spare her. When her eyes met his, the slight smirk on his lips froze her.
His faintly mocking smile, along with eyes that shone sharply red as if piercing through her, made her shrink instinctively.
As her violet eyes lowered in fear, Cain’s expression softened slightly.
Her silver hair flowing along the black robe and violet eyes reminded him of someone no longer in this world.
Though several years younger than the face he remembered, seeing such a similar face terrified unsettled him.

Jade cleared her throat and whispered to Cain, out of Evelyn’s hearing:
“Cain, if you scare her like that, she won’t be able to speak properly.”
“What did I do?”
“You look like you could devour her with your eyes. If you’re not silencing her, be a bit gentler—”

Cain frowned and turned to look at Jade.
“Ha. We’re used to it, but she’s not. She’s already seen things and heard things in the underground prison that one shouldn’t. We can’t just soften things.”

Since the war with the Shuran Kingdom had ended recently, prisoners—especially those with sensitive information—were kept in the castle.
Evelyn had only been confined for two hours but had endured the terror of possibly dying: the interrogators’ shouting, cursing, and screams of others, the occasional splatters of blood, the metallic scent of iron.
She had personally experienced why Cain earned the nickname “Bloodstained.”
If Cain became convinced that Evelyn was suspicious, he would not hesitate to kill her—just like those in the underground prison.
And, in every way, Evelyn herself seemed highly suspicious.

‘I must be crazy.’

In his urgency to make contact before leaving the Snowple region, he had momentarily forgotten what kind of man he was.
“You’ve seen what happened to those in the underground prison, right?”

Ignoring Jade’s advice, Cain chose to pressure Evelyn fiercely. He judged it would end the interrogation faster.
“Depending on your answer, you may live… or end up like them.”
“Uh… yes.”

Her voice trembled, but Evelyn tried to respond politely.
Recalling her time in the prison gave her goosebumps. The lingering screams and curses made her head throb, and even the memory of the metallic scent made her stomach churn.
‘How did I end up here…?’

Evelyn bowed her head, thinking back to half a year ago, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Evelyn had woken up squinting at the morning sunlight as usual.
She stretched and sat up against the headboard.
Aside from a pounding headache from her hangover, it was an ordinary morning.

“Huh?”

Yet, everything in the room and the blanket covering her waist were things she had never seen before.
“I must have done something stupid while drunk.”

Her heart raced as ominous feelings crept in. She took a deep breath.
“Hmm… what did I do yesterday?”

A year-long experiment in the lab had finally failed.
Frustrated, she drank all the alcohol in the house alone.
In a drunken rage, she even tore up the experimental data meant to analyze the failure.
She imagined handing her resignation to her furious team leader and felt satisfied.
Since she planned to quit anyway, she skipped work the next day and started reading an unread web novel.
Scrolling through, she reached a scene where Cain, the sub-male lead, was mortally wounded. She gasped and clicked to the next chapter.
‘Postponed for remake.’

“Seriously? Again? Is this the third time?”

Grumbling, she threw her phone and drank the remaining alcohol before falling asleep.
Yet here she was, in a situation she couldn’t make sense of.

“First, wash up. Let’s think with a clear mind.”

Stumbling into the bathroom and looking in the mirror, Evelyn froze.
“Who… are you?”

The mirror should reflect herself… so why? How?
“Ahhh!”

From that shocking first day, Evelyn spent several months in this world without knowing why.
Thanks to her experience studying abroad in the U.S., her adaptability was good, so she became accustomed to this world faster than expected.

“Cain Lewis is on the front page again.”

Every time she saw an article about Cain Lewis, who returned victorious from the war with the Shuran Kingdom, she was reminded anew of where she was.
‘This really is the novel’s world. Even knowing that, it’s still ridiculous.’

Evelyn set down the newspaper and watched the snow falling outside.
In northern Snowple, it was March, spring was approaching, yet snow was falling heavily.

“Evelyn! Sweep the snow!”
“Yes, yes.”

Hearing the old lady of the house shout, Evelyn slowly put on her coat and grabbed the broom by the entrance.
The cold wind hit her face as soon as she opened the door.
“Damn snow. I didn’t even ask for this!”

Grumbling at the sky, she started sweeping.
After a while, the door swung open again.

“Evelyn, that’s enough. Come inside for cocoa.”
“Am I a child? Coffee, not cocoa.”
“If you treat her well, she complains. Come in! You’ll catch a cold.”
“Then you shouldn’t have sent me out in this weather!”

Evelyn brushed off the snow from her coat and boots and entered the house.
The old lady was already at the table, arranging tarot cards.
Evelyn sat down, loosening her scarf.

“Are you doing tarot readings?”
“Just practicing my hand skills.”
“You’re not a fortune teller; what hand skills?”
“Fortune tellers need flashy hands and words to succeed, half the battle is that.”
“Wow, that’s scammer-like.”
“You little brat, I bought this house with these skills, you know.”

Dodging the playful hand swats of the old lady, Evelyn giggled and held her cocoa.
Her frozen hands warmed almost immediately.

“Let’s see… should I check your fortune today?”
“What’s the point? Yesterday was the same, today’s the same, tomorrow will be the same.”

She replied indifferently, looking out the window.
But then she felt movement beside her.

“Grandma?”