By Zephyria 
“Dad? When is Ire coming?”
To Angelo’s question, Matteo looked at Luca. He had asked to keep his meeting with Ire a secret for a while, but it seemed he had already told the children. Then again, they were still young, so he could fully understand their feelings. The children missed Ire and desperately wished to live together.
Just then, Anna, who had been watching from the side, called the children. When she asked who wanted to be the first to taste the freshly made pie, their attention shifted. She still maintained a close relationship with the children.
When he first returned home, he had considered asking Anna to leave. But his mind wavered when he learned how diligently she had cared for the children while he was hospitalized. Whatever her initial intentions, he could feel that she genuinely loved the children. As if sensing this, the children followed her even more closely than they did him.
Just then, the doorbell rang. When he opened the door and saw the man’s face, it hardened. The man who had come to see him was an old colleague, the leader of the rebels, who had sold out his comrades during last year’s suppression and settled in district a.
Most of his colleagues had died in the detention camps or been executed, yet he was living here without lacking anything. It had only been a few days since he had sought Matteo out. They had been like sworn brothers in their youth, promising to usher in a new world, but now seeing him was uncomfortable.
“Sun-jae, have you been well?”
Luca and John hovered around Matteo, their eyes sparkling. “Who is this, Dad?” the leader asked, extending his hand towards the children. “A friend of Dad’s. Want to come see?” Matteo hid the children behind his back and pushed the leader outside. Once the door was completely closed, a sharp edge appeared in Matteo’s eyes.
“What is it? I told you not to come looking for me.”
“Are you still angry? I told you I had my reasons.”
“Reasons? What reasons? I’m curious about the reasons that led you to live in luxury by selling out your colleagues.”
Just then, someone appeared at the far end of the gate. A child, who had just started walking, held their mother’s hand and stared intently in their direction. At a glance, the child bore a striking resemblance to the leader.
“I thought you, more than anyone else, would understand my feelings. You disappeared to protect that child, didn’t you?”
The leader’s words left him with no room to argue. After the fire at the church, the day he became certain of Ire’s abilities, fear had washed over him. So, he had cut off contact with his colleagues, with whom he had promised to plan for the future, and fled overnight. To them, he must have been no different than a traitor. And yet, here he was, living well. He was in no position to judge others.
“Alright, go. I don’t want to see you again while I’m living here.”
“While you’re living here? Are you planning to leave?”
Matteo couldn’t answer. A few days prior, Ire had asked about moving to Zone D. He had confided that he had thought a lot about it alone, wondering if they shouldn’t leave here once they got what Kim Ha-yoon had promised. He felt it would be selfish to take his younger siblings to an environment worse than their current one.
The child he had thought of as merely a child had grown, reaching an age where he could take care of himself. While this brought him joy, it also left him with a sense of emptiness. The fact that they could live well even without him.
Then, the leader glanced behind him. Opposite the vehicle he had arrived in, another black sedan was parked. Its windows were completely tinted, making it impossible to see inside, but he instinctively knew it was watching this place.
“There’s someone who wants to meet you.”
“Who?”
The leader lowered his voice.
“Vice Chairman Park Ji-hoon.”
Matteo knew the name. Articles about him were constantly in the news. With Chairman Kim Ha-yoon’s father’s health worsening, it was no exaggeration to say that Park Ji-hoon was handling all state affairs. Despite the recent loss of his own child, which must have been deeply painful, voices praising him for taking the lead in government matters were growing louder by the day.
“Me… why?”
He had a bad premonition. The fact that such a high-ranking official had come all the way here was clearly no ordinary matter. The leader pleaded with him, asking him to meet him just once, for his sake. He promised he would never regret it.
After some deliberation, Matteo followed him out of the gate. A man standing like a statue beside the sedan opened the door. Inside sat an elderly man in a black suit with sharp eyes. As soon as he got into the car as instructed, the door closed, and the leader and the man outside moved further away.
Silence filled the interior. Vice Chairman Park Ji-hoon extended his hand towards him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard the general story from your friend, so you likely know. My name is Park Ji-hoon.”
“What is the reason you asked to see me…?”
Instead of a greeting, he asked about the purpose. The man handed him a document. As Matteo unfolded it, his face gradually contorted. It was a report stating that a large-scale air raid was scheduled for Zones C and D, excluding district b, exactly one month later. He bit his lip and glared at it. Zone D was where Ire was.
“What is this?”
The man took a cigar from his pocket and put it in his mouth. It was similar to one Kim Ha-yoon often smoked. The thought of that man suddenly made him feel even more unpleasant. After lighting it, the man looked at Matteo with a sidelong glance. His snake-like eyes seemed to hint at the cruelty he was capable of.
“It’s as written there. You’ve heard the news about the gold mine discovered near Gold City, haven’t you? Yesterday, a group of rebels came to scout and were caught. They are gravely mistaken. They believe they can live like us if they get their hands on immense wealth. We treated these people with respect, and now they think they are actual humans.”
It was an utterly repulsive statement. He had been one of them in the past. Therefore, the man’s words meant he intended to eliminate all potential sources of conflict. He meant to clear out everything except district b, which was easy to manage.
“Your adopted son.”
Matteo’s nerves tensed.
“The military is very interested in him. Apparently, he showed a peculiar ability during the recent battle.”
Matteo’s eyebrows twitched. He had heard the same story. He had subtly asked Ire, but Ire had played ignorant, so he had pretended not to know.
“It’s a baseless rumor. If I had such an ability, I would have used it to eliminate you first.”
A sarcastic tone slipped out of him before he knew it. The Vice Chairman smiled as if amused and told him to turn to the next page of the document. There was a photograph. The face was completely obscured, but he guessed who it was.
“The day my son died, he was captured in exactly one place. Of course, there’s no proof this is your adopted son. But I, on the other hand, am someone who creates things that don’t exist. My nickname when I was young was ‘The Magician.’ Aren’t you curious? About what I might create to ruin your son.”
Matteo clenched his fists and glared at the man.
“Are you here to threaten me?”
“The bombing cannot be stopped anyway. We must save your son, at least. Even with all his power, can he really take down an entire army? He’s just a young man barely over twenty. Cornered, he’ll break mentally.”
“……”
“I will help you all live here for the rest of your lives. Relocation to Gold City is also possible if you wish. Think carefully. With Kim Ha-yoon gone, who will be responsible for your lives? I will be your backing, so cooperate.”
“What is the real reason you came all this way to persuade me?”
Vice Chairman Park Ji-hoon never answered that. Matteo instinctively understood. They feared Ire’s power, and therefore, they wanted to make him an ally rather than an enemy, to go together. And for that, there was no better hostage than himself.
I’m holding you back again…
“I will take my leave.”
As he got out of the car, hiding his dejected feelings, the leader approached him.
“How was it? Did the conversation go well?”
What promises had he received? If he refused all these offers, what would happen to them? His mind was a mess. Even on the way home, the leader persistently tried to persuade him. But Matteo couldn’t grasp what the right thing to do was.