章 24: Hidden Flames
"I want to bring Rourke down. And I need your help."
Her words hung in the cool night air, sharp and urgent, but Adélard's attention wavered for a moment as he finally took her in.
The dim light from the street lamps barely reached where they stood, but the moon's glow was enough for him to see her clearly now. She wasn't covered in the shadows or the heavy cloak she had worn last time—they had masked her, kept her at a distance. Now, though, everything about her seemed to pull him closer.
Her hair, a deep, fiery ginger, tumbled past her shoulders in loose waves, catching the light like embers in the dark. It was wild, untamed, and suited her perfectly. His gaze drifted to her eyes—green, but not just any shade of green. They shimmered, deep and vibrant, like the heart of a forest in summer, intense and alive with something fierce. They seemed to hold him there, a silent pull that made him forget, for a second, what he was even doing.
Freckles dusted her nose and cheeks, like specks of gold on pale skin, giving her an innocent look that contrasted starkly with the sharpness in her gaze. There was a softness to her features, something delicate, yet the way she stood told him there was nothing fragile about her.
But what struck him most was the scars.
They ran along her arms, thin and silvered by time, disappearing beneath the sleeves of her worn shirt. He could see more of them on her legs, crisscrossing over her skin, the pale lines standing out against her freckled complexion. Some were faint, nearly invisible, while others were deep, thick with the memories of battles fought and survived.
His breath hitched slightly as he realized just how much she had been through. She was stunning, yes, but there was also a rawness to her—a past carved into her very skin. The more he looked, the more he saw not just her beauty, but the weight she carried.
"Are you just going to stare?" she asked, her voice cutting through his thoughts. Her lips curved into a faint smirk, but there was something guarded in her eyes now, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "I don't have all night."
Adélard blinked, snapping back to the present. He cleared his throat, feeling a flush of embarrassment creeping into his cheeks. "I—sorry. I was just…"
"Not what you expected?" she interrupted, her tone sharp but not unkind. She crossed her arms over her chest, one hand brushing against the scarred skin of her arm as if she was used to people staring.
"No, it's not that," Adélard said quickly, his voice softening. "You just… I didn't see you clearly before."
Her eyes narrowed slightly, studying him, weighing his words. For a brief moment, he thought he saw a flicker of vulnerability behind her hardened exterior, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. She tilted her head, the smirk returning, though it didn't reach her eyes this time.
"Well, now you do," she said, her voice low, almost a whisper. "But we don't have time for that. If we're going to do this, we need to move."
Adélard straightened, shaking off the daze that had settled over him. He couldn't let himself get distracted. Not now. "What's the plan?" he asked, forcing his focus back to the task at hand.
She took a step closer, her voice dropping even lower. "Rourke's shipment tonight… it's more than just smuggled goods. There's something bigger going on, something dangerous. I've been watching him for months, and I know he's making moves—preparing for something. If we don't act now, it'll be too late."
Adélard frowned, her words stirring a sense of unease deep in his gut. "What do you mean? What's he planning?"
The girl's eyes flickered with frustration, but she didn't look away. "I don't know exactly. Not yet. But I do know this—he's involved with people far more dangerous than you think. This shipment, the one you're overseeing tonight, is part of it."
Adélard's mind raced. Rourke had always kept him on a tight leash, never revealing too much, but he had sensed for a while now that things were shifting. The shipment felt off—more secretive, more guarded than usual. Now he knew why.
"If you help me," the girl continued, her voice gaining urgency, "we can stop this before it gets any worse. But you need to trust me. We don't have time to second-guess."
Adélard looked at her, really looked at her, and the weight of the decision pressed down on him like a vice. She was offering him a way out, a way to stop the spiral of destruction that Rourke had set in motion. But trusting her meant risking everything—Leon, his mother, their fragile safety.
And yet, there was something about her. Something that told him she wasn't just another player in this game. She had a fire in her, a determination that matched his own. Maybe this was the chance he'd been waiting for.
"I don't even know your name," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
For the first time, her eyes softened, and she hesitated. It was just a moment, but it was enough to let him see past the hardened exterior.
"It's Maeve," she said finally, her voice steady but laced with something raw, something personal. "Now you do."
"Maeve," Adélard repeated, testing the name on his tongue. It suited her—sharp, strong, with a hint of something untamed.
She nodded, her gaze never leaving his. "So, are you in or not?"
Adélard's mind raced as the weight of the decision settled over him. The night air seemed colder now, the distant hum of the city fading into the background. He glanced back toward the docks, where the shipment was still being unloaded under the watchful eyes of Rourke's men. His life, his brother's life, had been hanging on Rourke's orders for too long.
Now, maybe, there was a way to cut those strings.
"I'm in," he said, his voice firm, a newfound resolve burning inside him. "But if this goes wrong…"
"It won't," Maeve interrupted, her eyes gleaming with a fierce certainty. "We'll make sure of that."
Adélard nodded, his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't know what the future held, but for the first time in a long while, he felt like he was finally taking control.
Together, they turned toward the shadows, the night stretching ahead of them like a web of possibilities—dangerous, uncertain, but filled with hope.
— 次の章はもうすぐ掲載する — レビューを書く
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット