DUKE OTERO... THAT SON OF A BITCH.
WHO IS THIS WOMAN...?!
TEN MINUTES AGO
IS THAT HER,
THE SILVER- HAIRED LADY IN THE REPORT...
VIOLETTA HERNANDEZ.
BY THE WAY, WHERE IS HUGO?
I WAS TOLD HE CAME TO THIS PARK TO FOLLOW THAT WOMAN.
SINCE HE EVEN DISOBEYED MY ORDERS TO GO SEE HER...
I THOUGHT HE WOULD SHOW UP SOON...
...WAIT!
FOUND HIM.
HUGO OTERO!!
HE IS ANNOYINGLY SIMILAR, BUT HE HAS SOFTER FACIAL FEATURES AND DULL GRAY EYES.
HE HAS AN APPEARANCE THAT ANYONE BUT A CLOSE ACQUAINTANCE WOULD MISTAKE FOR THE SAME PERSON.
MY DISGUSTING HALF-BROTHER... HUGO OTERO.
HE SEEMS TO HAVE QUITE A TALENT FOR MIMICRY.
To think he is that good, he is quite convincing.
...THAT VULGAR THEATER ACTOR.
JUST LIKE HIS MOTHER.
BUT WHY IS HE HIDING?
HA, RIGHT. I WONDERED WHY HE WOULD ACT ALONE LIKE THIS...
WAS IT BECAUSE OF THAT PATHETIC AFFECTION?
...HM?!
...WHAT IS WITH THIS WOMAN?
WHY IS SHE SUDDENLY COMING THIS WAY...
WAIT, NO WAY!
AND BACK TO THE PRESENT...
UNBELIEVABLE.
ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU CLIMB INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S CARRIAGE AND SAY WHAT?
DUKE OTERO IS A SON OF A BITCH?!
WHAT DID I EVEN DO FOR YOU TO SUDDENLY START CURSING?!
And to my face?
DID SHE NOT SEE ME?
SILVER HAIR LIKE THE MILKY WAY, SKIN AS WHITE AS SNOW.
...SHE IS CERTAINLY A BEAUTY, JUST LIKE THE REPORT SAID.
I SUPPOSE THAT IS WHY ALL SORTS OF FILTHY BASTARDS CLING TO HER EVEN THOUGH HER FAMILY HAS FALLEN.
AND WHY SHE HAS BEEN GIVEN A CRUDE NICKNAME LIKE "STEPPING STONE."
SIGH...
WHAT IS IT? IS SHE SICK?
COME TO THINK OF IT, HER FACE IS QUITE RED...
HA, NO, DAMMIT. SO WHAT! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO IF SHE IS SICK?!
DAMMIT...
SERIOUSLY.
WHAT AN ANNOYING WOMAN.
RIGHT, IT RAINED THAT DAY, TOO.
BERN STATION PLATFORM.
TWO GUNSHOTS.
A MIXTURE OF SCREAMS AND FOOTSTEPS OF PEOPLE FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES...
AAAAH!!
A G-GUN, A GUN!!
SOMEONE... IS DEAD!!
EVERYTHING WAS CHAOTIC IN THE END.
FIVE YEARS AGO, THAT DAY.
I STILL CANNOT FORGET IT.
EVEN IN THAT HELLISH MOMENT, MY PARENTS' HANDS NEVER LET GO OF EACH OTHER.
THE WAY THEY HELD EACH OTHER UNTIL THE VERY END, MEETING DEATH TOGETHER...
I... ALSO JUST WANTED THAT KIND OF WARMTH.
IS EVEN THAT A LUXURY FOR ME?
MY LADY! ARE YOU FEELING ALRIGHT?!
OH, REINA!
GOODNESS, REALLY! DO YOU KNOW HOW SHOCKED I WAS WHEN YOU CAME HOME SOAKING WET YESTERDAY?
i do not even know if you could see, you could barely open your eyes...!
SORRY FOR WORRYING YOU. I'M FINE NOW...
WELL, THAT'S A RELIEF, THEN...
OH, AND MISS SIERRA STOPPED BY EARLIER.
HM? MISS SIERRA?
YES, SHE SAID SHE WAS SO FLUSTERED YESTERDAY THAT SHE TOOK THE CARRIAGE AND LEFT FIRST...
SHE ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE'S SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU BEHIND.
AH, I SEE. AND I THOUGHT...
WAIT... WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
HUH...? THEN I...
WHOSE CARRIAGE DID I EVEN TAKE...?
Flash back to ten minutes earlier: The Duke watches silver-haired Violetta Hernandez in the park and her half-brother Hugo Otero following her. He is enraged by Hugo's ability to imitate him. Returning to the present, Violetta accidentally jumps into his carriage and curses, calling him "Duke Otero the bastard." The Duke is bewildered and angry, yet he notices her beauty and her flushed face. Violetta recalls her parents in the Bern Station attack five years ago, then learns from her maid Reina that Sierra left her behind and realizes she boarded the wrong carriage.
