Chapter 1 — The Invitation of the Deep Dawn
Chloe tightly held the small letter she had been carrying all along, her hand trembling.
The name written inside the letter—of the secret gathering—was exactly as she had heard.
She had spent months trying to find out its location and time.
“We’ve arrived.”
Only today… she finally reached it.
Hearing the coachman’s voice, Chloe came back to her senses and placed the letter inside her clutch.
Then she took a deep breath and put a mask over her small face.
“Once you wear a mask, no one asks your name, age, or status. And you must not ask either.”
She had heard that was the strange rule of the gathering called The Invitation of the Deep Dawn.
The carriage had stopped at a quiet and narrow alley on the outskirts of the capital.
She already knew that if she followed this alley, there would be a small tavern at the far right.
Even before reaching her destination, she already felt nauseous.
Soon, Chloe stepped into the narrow alley, pressing her feet down as if crushing the ground beneath her.
The cold wind blew mercilessly, making her thick silver hair scatter wildly.
“I will see it with my own eyes and believe it. I have to…”
Her murmuring eyes shone sharply.
As she went deeper into the alley, a fork in the path appeared.
Turning to the right and walking a bit further, just as she had heard, she saw a small tavern.
Unlike normal places, it had no signboard.
The windows were covered, and even in the dim early dawn, only a faint light leaked outside.
The time was now 2 a.m.
This gathering—The Invitation of the Deep Dawn—was held secretly every week at such a late hour, in such a place.
Standing in front of the entrance, Chloe pressed her mask firmly once more.
Then she opened the door.
Contrary to her expectation that it would be crowded, there were no guests inside.
The only person there was—
A young man behind the bar table, wiping a glass.
Like her, he wore a half-mask that covered only his eyes.
The moment he saw Chloe, he smiled softly and put down the glass.
Then, in an overly gentle voice, he asked,
“You must be the new guest expected today?”
Hiding her caution behind the mask, Chloe gave no reply and only nodded slowly.
“Did you bring your invitation?”
…So they check the invitation.
The man looked like an ordinary bartender at a regular tavern.
But he seemed to exist to deal with strangers who might wander in without connection to the gathering.
Just as Chloe quietly watched him with suspicion, she knew he too was hiding caution behind his gentle smile.
Soon, Chloe recalled the contents of the letter she had received through an informant.
“When they ask if you brought the invitation, it doesn’t mean a real invitation exists.”
“When asked, you must answer like this.”
“No. I just came because I wanted to spend a delightful night.”
At Chloe’s quiet reply, the man stepped out from behind the bar and stood in front of her.
“I see. Tonight is especially cold, but guests who come here for a special time will experience a dawn far hotter than they expect.”
How vulgar.
That was the only way Chloe could describe his words.
The moment she understood what he meant, her already uneasy stomach twisted even more.
“Shall we go?”
The man extended his hand to escort her.
But Chloe refused without moving.
“I’ll pass.”
“Then, please follow me carefully. The path is quite dark.”
With that short warning, Chloe began to follow him.
After a while, he led her deeper into a space that grew darker and darker, and then down into the basement.
They walked down the stairs for quite some time before he stopped in front of a door.
By the time they reached it, it was so dark she had to strain her eyes just to see.
“You may open this door and go inside.”
The man did not open it for her.
Then, in a low voice, he added,
“Opening this door yourself means you agree to keep everything that happens inside completely secret. And if any incident occurs, you alone will bear full responsibility.”
Even with his still gentle tone, it was clearly a warning.
Chloe twisted her lips slightly.
“I understand.”
She did not hesitate.
Leaving the man behind, Chloe finally opened the door she had been searching for.
And at that moment—
“Hahaha! So what happened next?”
Through the thick cigarette smoke, the scene Chloe had imagined appeared before her.
Despite the suffocating smoke, she did not even frown.
She stared straight ahead.
The underground space was much larger than the small tavern above suggested.
Unlike its shabby exterior, it was luxuriously decorated.
At the tables scattered around, men and women laughed and enjoyed themselves freely.
No—
It would be more accurate to say they were swarming.
To Chloe’s eyes, they looked no different from insects.
Her pale gray eyes slowly scanned the room.
And then—
Among the noisy crowd raising their glasses—
Someone caught her eye.
Platinum blonde hair, flawless and shining.
And teal eyes that glimmered like leaves under summer light.
A man with a gentle and pure face—just like when he used to softly whisper,
“I love you.”
He was someone Chloe knew very well.
Someone she believed loved her deeply.
Her fiancé—
The man she was supposed to marry in three months.
But that man—
…That man was—
Sitting on the table, tightly holding a woman by the waist, pressing his lips against hers in a deep, desperate kiss.
Their heavy breathing and soft moans seemed to reach even where Chloe stood.
She felt like throwing up.
Just a few months ago, when someone suggested he might have a mistress, she had laughed it off.
But then—
Someone said his secret outings every week at dawn were suspicious.
And Chloe had gotten angry at that person.
“How can you say that? You’re family. You should trust the man who will become my husband. If not you, then who will trust him?”
The more she thought about her own words, the more frustrated and hurt she had been.
It was unlike her to raise her voice like that.
And then—
That same girl, five years younger, had cried like a child, apologizing again and again.
Chloe had hugged her and comforted her without even having time to calm down.
Why was that memory coming back now?
Step by step, forcing her feet forward, Chloe walked toward the couple burning with passion.
They were so absorbed in each other that they didn’t even notice her.
Chloe reached out and grabbed the woman’s shoulder.
The moment she saw the woman’s rose-gold hair, her frozen heart began to pound.
And when she saw the unique mark on the woman’s right shoulder—
Her whole body trembled with chills.
Startled by the sudden touch, the woman stopped kissing and turned sharply.
“What is this?”
She too wore a decorated half-mask.
But Chloe recognized the lavender eyes beneath it.
Bright rose-gold hair.
Soft purple eyes like they held clear water.
Eyes so beautiful that everyone praised her—
Eyes Chloe herself had once adored.
So she knew, even without removing the mask.
“S-Sister… I’m sorry. I was just so worried about you…”
The girl who once cried with trembling shoulders—
Now stood right before her.
“Hey. I asked what you’re doing, appearing out of nowhere like this.”
Facing her sharp voice, Chloe felt her breath catch in her throat.
The woman before her—
Someone she loved as much as her fiancé.
Her closest friend.
Her sister.
…Roeni Enrite.
Her younger sister.
