Judy's POV:
The murder case at the Marquis estate eventually became nothing more than idle tea-table gossip on the streets. As time passed, people gradually forgot it but I never did. The few who knew the truth understood it clearly: there was nothing "accidental" about it. It was all a mad plan born from the heart of a woman who had lost her reason.
Because she loved Idris and was never loved in return, Octavia chose to destroy the Johnston family.
She struck a deal with the Crown Prince, borrowing from him a small unit of assassins, not his trump card, merely a reserve force. But for Octavia, that was more than enough. He didn't bother asking what she intended to do; as long as she gave him what he wanted, any request she made would be granted.
I knew this well: even if the Crown Prince had wanted to trace the truth, he would never have cared about the fate of a useless Marquis. What mattered to him were the interests exchanged with Octavia, whether that promise between them could be fulfilled.
That winter, I lay in a dilapidated room, listening as Octavia calmly laid out her entire deranged plan. Only then did I truly awaken.
Brutal.
Vicious.
Ruthless.
Those words could never be reconciled with the image of the old friend in my memory, the gentle, mild, considerate woman who knew propriety and grace. And yet, that was the truth.
Even though I had buried my hatred deep in my heart, my fear of power and the uncertain road ahead had dragged on with me to this very day. And when the banquet took place, everything was dragged back to the surface, forcing me to face it.
I was lost in my thoughts. The spring night wind carried a chill that seeped into my skin. I didn't know whether it was the wind or the echo of my own state of mind, I only knew that cold was the only sensation left to me.
Until a familiar pair of arms wrapped around me from behind.
That warmth blocked out the night wind, sweeping away every fragment of unease clinging to my heart. Nick was only fifteen, yet he was already tall, broad-chested, and solid. When he pulled me close, the faint medicinal scent on him calmed me, and through the not-too-thick layers of clothing, the scorching heat of his body pressed straight into mine, an instinctive, wordless affirmation.
"Nick… I'm scared." The darkness gave me the courage to shed my armor, to admit my weakness for the first time that day.
He tightened his hold, his low voice emerging with something like a quiet laugh.
"What are you afraid of?"
I buried my face in his solid chest and breathed softly.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you… and everyone else."
Nick's smile this time was different. No longer bright like sunlight. It was beautiful in a dangerous way. His gaze lowered, and within it a swirl of blood-dark desire flashed, only for an instant before he concealed it completely.
"You don't need to worry. Did you forget what I told you? You really are not obedient at all," he whispered hoarsely.
In those eyes, black as ink, I saw a possessive desire growing stronger by the day. He tilted his head, his lips brushing past my ear, hot breath spilling over the thin skin there. In just a few seconds, my ear burned red. He seemed thoroughly pleased and chuckled softly.
"You're not obedient. I already said it… I'll protect you."
"If you don't remember, if you don't trust my words, you must be punished."
Then he bit my earlobe.
"Ah!" I shuddered, my breathing thrown off. "Nick! W-what are you doing?!"
All my sorrow, unease, and confusion vanished in an instant. Before me was only a rogue wolf cub who knew no rules at all, who had no concept whatsoever of boundaries!
"Hm?" He responded with a lazy yet deep hum that made my heart tremble.
He bit only once before letting go. The corners of his eyes curved like crescents, his feigned innocence so perfect it made one want to knock him on the head. He took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"You taught me to be straightforward, to trust my family. Then aren't we family too? If you can't do it… you get punished."
"Nick! You can't do that!" My face burned, my eyes stung as if I were about to cry, so embarrassed I didn't know where to hide. "How could you bite me?!"
Too close. Too intimate. In both of my lifetimes, nothing like this had ever happened.
Nick blinked, his dark eyes turning clear and innocent again, looking at me so intently that the rest of my words lodged in my throat.
"Sister?" he called softly.
"…Enough." I sighed. My heart was so exhausted it only wanted to sleep.
I stood up. Nick stood as well, immediately following behind me like a tail.
"Don't follow me. Go to sleep."
"I'll leave after you fall asleep."
"Whether I sleep or not has nothing to do with you."
"If you don't sleep well, your health will suffer. Then you'll come looking for me anyway, so I might as well follow along, it's less trouble."
It took me a long while to finally push him out the door.
Physically and mentally drained, I eventually sank into sleep.
…
Nick's POV:
Outside the door, Gita curled herself into a corner, instinctively minimizing her presence, a survival habit. "Go downstairs. I'll stand guard."
She looked up, and with just one glance from me, her whole body trembled. When night fell, the obedient, harmless mask of daytime lost all meaning. The instincts within me, honed across two lifetimes and blood, quietly took control: calmer, colder, and… so unpredictable that even I didn't wish to touch that part of myself.
Like a grown wolf stepping out of the shadows, my gaze exerted such pressure that Gita immediately lowered her head, her voice trembling.
"Yes."
She hurried away, leaving the corridor submerged in absolute silence.
Only me… and Judy's steady breathing through the door.
I let out a soft laugh and lowered myself to sit on the cold floor, one arm resting on my knee, my head leaning against the door. My eyes faced the vast night sky, yet my ears registered only one thing, the soft, even rhythm of her breathing. That sound… made me feel at peace. If I couldn't hear her, couldn't sense her presence, my heart would instantly grow restless and anxious, like a beast that had lost the scent of its pack.
It was the same in my previous life. She had thought that after I finished changing her medicine, I would leave. No. Every night, I stayed here, guarding her from outside the door, as if it were an instinct carved into my flesh and blood.
Except for one night. One single night.
Those two words hooked into my mind like barbs sinking into flesh, stealing my breath.
The night I stayed away longer to take revenge for her. And when I returned… she…
I clenched the poignard in my left hand, veins standing out beneath my pale skin, murderous intent surging as if it would burst through my chest. Every breath was fire. My vision was instantly dyed red: Octavia's blood, Idris's blood, and the blood soaking her body. With my own trembling hands, I pieced her body back together, cradling her head like a madman, sitting in a burning room as the flames I myself had lit devoured everything.
Judy was gone. And of course, I had to follow her.
My heart tightened until my face felt twisted. All the pain of my past life crashed down on me at once, trying to grind me into ashes: her tears, her final faint breaths, her hand falling limp, the bone-deep cold of her body when I held her. My temples throbbed as if about to explode. I clenched my teeth to preserve a shred of fragile sanity but the past always knew how to tear me apart from the inside.
I stood up, unsteady. My trembling hand pressed against the door; a light push made it creak open. The door opened without making any sound loud enough to wake her. Sweat dripped from my temples, my hand still gripping the hilt of the poignard as if only by holding it could I keep myself from slipping past the line.
I stepped into the room.
Step by step, every movement led me closer to the bed where Judy slept, the only place that could quiet the wolf within me.