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Chapter 5
Except for the hill where Mon Deplano Casino stood, there was no electricity anywhere in Bluegate.
In a place that accepted night as night, the existence of a city that never slept felt alien and grotesque.
In front of the casino was a plaza, and at its center stood a fountain. Maria walked around it briefly, where it was decorated with bright party lights.
Benedict, who she had expected would be punished and released by dawn, still hadn’t appeared. Even after Alexander had woken up and gone to his office for casino work, there was no sign of him.
Unable to confirm his release, Maria finally made up her mind and entered the casino.
Nothing inside had changed since the last time she’d been here. She quietly opened a staff-only door and went down the stairs.
Luca, who noticed her coming down, panicked.
“W-why are you here?”
“Where’s Benedict? Why hasn’t he been released yet?”
“He’s in Room 3. No, it’s just… that bastard refused to go into the basement and went berserk… so we sedated him to calm him down. We were waiting for the drugs to wear off…”
At that moment, something shattered from the direction of Room 3.
Maria’s expression hardened as she glared. Luca scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Look, what were we supposed to do? If we didn’t do that, who could’ve restrained him and shoved him into the basement?”
“No matter what—Benedict can’t stand confined spaces, you know that!”
“Miss.”
Luca sighed and spoke firmly.
“You haven’t seen him in a year. He’s fully grown now. Ivy in that state… even the boss can’t restrain him.”
“……”
“If we don’t use methods like this, no one in Bluegate can touch him.”
At that, Maria let out a heavy breath.
“Fine.”
“Fine? Miss, what do you mean fine—”
Maria took the key to Room 3 from the wall.
Startled, Luca cut himself off and stepped in front of her.
“If it comes to that, I’ll go.”
“If Luca goes in, it’ll get even more dangerous.”
“Even you could get hurt!”
Without a word, Maria pushed him aside and unlocked Room 3.
The moment the door opened, she saw Benedict standing inside.
For a brief instant, she was reminded of the first time she had met him—fifteen-year-old Benedict Ivy who had come to Mon Deplano looking for work at the docks.
A boy whose gaze seemed fearless, as if there was nothing in the world to fear. As if that place was both the beginning and the end of his life, with no higher sky and no deeper abyss.
Among the crowd of rough dock workers gathered for jobs at Mon Deplano, Benedict alone had crushed the momentum of the others and stood staring up at the casino with blazing eyes.
From that first day until now, whether in fighting or intelligence, he had always been exceptional. His only weakness had been an extreme fear of enclosed spaces.
Benedict would do anything to avoid being left alone in a confined room.
Looking at him now, Maria thought that perhaps the sailors of Bluegate were right—maybe mermaids that hunted humans really did exist. Aggressive, cold, strange, beautiful, and hating humanity.
The reason Benedict wasn’t moving was because, the moment Maria opened the door, she had a gun aimed at him.
A gun.
Among them, a handgun small enough to fit in one hand was rare in all of Bluegate.
Maria had carried one since childhood—for self-defense.
Her voice and hands trembled violently as she spoke.
“Hands behind your head. Kneel down.”
At her words, Benedict seemed to regain a bit of clarity and looked at her.
Bang!
In that instant, the shot she actually fired grazed his arm.
Benedict raised both hands to show he had no intention of resisting, then clasped them behind his head and knelt.
Maria approached him with trembling hands, holding a syringe.
Once she got close enough, she pressed the gun to his forehead and injected the drug into his arm.
At that moment, Benedict lifted his head and met her eyes. Maria nearly dropped the syringe—but forced herself to stay steady.
His gaze looked like it could kill her at any moment. Hatred—and something else boiling underneath it.
A kind of look no one in Bluegate had ever seen before.
As she focused on injecting naloxone, she realized too late that the weight of the gun had suddenly lightened. When she looked down again, the magazine fell to the floor.
When did he—
Frozen in shock, Maria couldn’t move.
Benedict picked up the magazine, stood slowly, and threw it outside.
“Ah—Ivy!”
Luca rushed forward.
But Benedict calmly shut the door.
Several people tried to stop it by hanging onto the door, but it was useless against his overwhelming strength.
He locked it deliberately.
From outside, frantic banging erupted.
“You insane bastard! Open the door!”
“Go tell the boss right now!”
Ignoring the chaos outside, Benedict leaned against the door and stared at Maria.
Only then did the fear she had been suppressing surge up. She gasped for breath, one hand pressing against the wall. Her legs gave out and she collapsed between the bed and the wall.
“I’m helping you. Just like you helped me a year ago.”
Maria forced the words out, but she couldn’t believe he was even listening.
Her mind was tangled with how long she needed to hold out until the antidote took effect.
After a moment, Benedict walked over, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up. He made her lean against the wall, then scanned her face and body with his eyes.
Maria closed her eyes.
Like a beast meeting its long-lost master, he examined her.
Then Benedict spoke.
“I know.”
Maria’s lashes trembled slightly.
And then her wide, beautiful eyes slowly lifted to meet his.
Benedict was wearing a face she had never seen before. And because she had never seen it, she couldn’t even describe it.
Just… masculine.
Undeniably, overwhelmingly masculine.
He leaned down and buried his face in her shoulder.
“I know. That you’re helping me.”
“……”
“I’ve come to my senses.”
Despite his words, his arms around her waist tightened. The drug clearly hadn’t fully worn off.
The instincts he had always kept hidden were now laid bare. Maria was startled by the hatred within them—but at the same time, a powerful, overwhelming desire surged between them, engulfing both.
She had always thought Benedict’s body would be cold.
But it wasn’t.
The heat in his grip was unmistakably desire—so hot it felt like it could burn her skin.
“Ah… it hurts, Benedict. Loosen your grip…”
Her voice came out pleading as his strength increased. But Benedict did not let go.
