Mistaken for a War Hero

Chapter 77
There’s More Than One Way to Tame a Wolf
『 Translator – Divinity 』

A cold breath escaped her slightly parted lips and dissipated into the air.

Memories of Daniel’s kindness towards her flooded her mind, uninvited.

They had spent two seasons together.

As Lucy recalled the memories they had accumulated, memories she could now call cherished, she suddenly shook her head.

‘The essence remains unchanged.’

She was a spy for the Allied Nations.

No matter how kind Daniel was to her, the fact that he was the ‘enemy’ remained unchanged.

Espionage during wartime was no joke.

She couldn’t allow herself to be swayed by emotions.

There was no such thing as a gentle war where one wouldn’t kill a good person.

‘However…’

With doubts swirling in her mind, she couldn’t bring herself to harm Daniel.

‘What if the contents of the paper were true?’

If it was the Allied Nations, not the Empire, that conducted the human experiments, then Count Caledra had been lying to her all along.

Lucy wanted to believe that Caledra, who was like a father to her, wouldn’t lie to her, but the contents of the paper continued to raise doubts.

‘Therefore, until the information in this document is proven false…’

…it was right to postpone killing Daniel.

Having made up her mind, Lucy lowered her gun.

She put the revolver back in the holster on her belt and returned the document and photo to the inside pocket of Daniel’s coat.

Then, taking a step back, she narrowed her eyes, bathed in the moonlight streaming through the window.

After staring at Daniel for a while, lost in thought, Lucy turned to leave.

She erased any traces of her intrusion and walked towards the front door, glancing back at Daniel one last time.

As she observed him with a complex mix of emotions, she activated her optical camouflage and opened the door.

She stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her.

Daniel, now alone, slowly opened his eyes, leaning back on the sofa.

‘…Is she gone?’

He squinted and looked around, but Lucy was nowhere to be seen.

He checked the front door, then finally let out a sigh of relief.

With his survival confirmed, the tension drained away, and he felt his whole body relax.

‘I thought Lucy was acting strange yesterday…’

When he was changing her insignia in the office, he had caught a glimpse of guilt in her eyes.

Why was she suppressing anger but instead showing guilt? As Daniel pondered this while working, he came to the conclusion that she might be trying to assassinate him.

It was natural to develop affection for a pet after raising it for half a year, let alone a person she had spent over half a year with.

If she received an order from her superiors to eliminate him, even the most ruthless spy would feel guilty, as she was still human.

Thinking that Lucy must be feeling the same way, Daniel stayed awake after returning to his quarters, spending the night on the sofa.

He placed his officer’s coat on the back of the sofa, making sure the “Lucy Project” document was sticking out of the inside pocket.

If Lucy came to assassinate him, she would inevitably check his coat.

Then, as he was biding his time on the sofa, he heard someone picking the lock on his front door.

Thinking it was Lucy, Daniel leaned back on the sofa and pretended to be asleep.

He could have woken up and handed her the document directly, but that would make Lucy think that he had “forged the document to save his own life.”

‘Since she’s loyal to the Allied Nations despite being their experimental subject, she must have been brainwashed somehow.’

Therefore, Daniel pretended to be asleep, waiting for Lucy to “accidentally” discover the document.

That way, Lucy would find the document more credible.

If she felt conflicted after reading the document, his chances of survival would increase exponentially.

This was because the reason Lucy was loyal to the Allied Nations and followed their orders stemmed from her belief that “the Allied Nations had nothing to do with human experiments.”

So, even if he could create a small crack in that firm belief, it would make her question her own judgment.

Fortunately, Lucy, who had come closer, was moving exactly as Daniel had anticipated.

From a broader perspective, it was true that Daniel had protected her from the Security Bureau, and it was also true that he had been turning a blind eye to her being a spy.

Moreover, this tactic worked because Lucy wasn’t blindly loyal to the Allied Nations.

‘But…’

He wasn’t sure if Lucy would continue to hesitate to assassinate him.

This meant that his life could be threatened again at any moment.

‘And I can’t ask the Security Bureau to investigate…’

Currently, Daniel was at odds with the Security Bureau for confronting the Security Bureau Inspector at the General Staff Headquarters.

Furthermore, a single document without concrete evidence wouldn’t hold up, and if his adjutant was indeed a spy, he, as her superior, would also be investigated, making it practically a suicidal act.

If it was discovered during the investigation that he had been concealing the fact that he knew Lucy was a spy, things would become very difficult.

‘In that case…’

The only option left for Daniel was to find evidence that the Allied Nations had conducted human experiments on Lucy.

‘If I could secure and show her proof of the Lucy Project…’

Lucy wouldn’t follow the orders of the Allied Nations anymore, and he would be free from the threat of assassination.

Not only that, but he might even gain a human weapon capable of taking on an entire battalion as an ally.

‘But how…’

Daniel, deep in thought about how to make Lucy switch sides, shook his head.

Racking his brain wouldn’t magically produce a solution.

Then, he suddenly remembered a spy movie he had seen a long time ago.

It was a movie about a spy who fell in love with their assassination target and ended up betraying their country’s orders.

Recalling the movie, Daniel chuckled at the absurdity of it all.

‘There’s no way that heartless woman would fall in love with me.’

It would be faster to subdue Lucy by force.

Dismissing the ridiculous idea, Daniel stood up.

He decided to have a celebratory glass of whiskey, having survived the night.

***

Meanwhile, at the Imperial Eisenz Krone Palace.

Sylvia’s bedroom.

“Let’s see, the budget for the Ministry of Public Information for next year is…”

Sylvia, dressed in luxurious silk pajamas, was reviewing various documents.

Since she had recently become regent, she was receiving the same reports as the Emperor, and she was so busy handling them that she barely had time to sleep.

As she was reading through the documents, she heard a knock.

She looked up, and the door opened without her permission.

Standing in the doorway was a noblewoman with golden hair and blue eyes, smiling gently.

It was Mariant von Amberg.

She was Sylvia’s mother and the Empress, the wife of the Emperor ruling this Empire.

“Working hard even at this late hour. You could still rely on your father for now.”

Mariant approached and said to Sylvia, who shook her head.

“You can’t become Empress with willpower alone. If you don’t get used to this now, you won’t be able to manage state affairs properly later, so it’s best to make an effort.”

“As expected of my daughter, you’re so admirable.”

Mariant chuckled softly and sat next to Sylvia.

Sylvia, after a moment of hesitation, organized her documents and put them aside, then looked at Mariant.

“…But Mother, do you have something to say to me?”

“Indeed. I came to give you some advice after hearing the conversation you had with him the other day.”

“Advice?”

Sylvia asked, and Mariant nodded.

“Yes. Daniel Steiner, was it? That young officer who successfully delivered the speech. I looked into him out of curiosity, and it seems he’s ambitious and capable, so he’ll likely continue to rise and reach greater heights.”

Mariant gently held Sylvia’s hand.

“My dear, they say you should be wary and hostile towards that officer, but I have a different opinion. If you really want to control Daniel Steiner, there’s a more humane way.”

“…A humane way?”

“Don’t you know that the more a man has to lose and the more he values honor, the less free he is from responsibility? So, if Daniel disobeys you after becoming a high-ranking official in the Empire, use the weapon that only women possess.”

Sylvia, not understanding, frowned.

“A weapon that only women possess? There’s no such thing.”

“There is. I used it to capture your father’s heart and give birth to you.”

“What are you…”

Sylvia trailed off and her eyes widened.

Mariant, watching her speechless with surprise, withdrew her hand.

“I don’t know much about politics, but I know that being wary and hostile isn’t always the answer. Of course, you shouldn’t be hasty. I’m merely suggesting one of many options.”

Sylvia was still frozen in place.

Mariant, looking at her daughter with amusement, stood up.

“Sylvia, remember this. No matter how great a man is, he becomes a fool in the face of desire.”

Leaving those meaningful words behind, Mariant turned and left the bedroom.

Sylvia, finally snapping out of her daze, let out an incomprehensible groan and blushed.

She couldn’t understand her mother.

‘Why did she come here so suddenly and say such indecent things…?’

Sylvia shook her head and picked up her documents.

She tried to focus on her work again, but the words Mariant had spoken kept swirling in her mind, making it impossible to concentrate.

Then, she found herself lost in strange fantasies and covered her face with both hands.

Her hands trembled uncontrollably, despite her efforts to stop them.

‘Get a hold of yourself, Sylvia. Please…’

To be honest, she felt so embarrassed that she wanted to die.