Chapter 36
Not a single one of Anita’s bullets hit the target. One shot landed far too close, making Liliana gasp in horror, and another landed so far off that it startled a flock of innocent birds into the air.
But whether she hit the target or not was of no importance to Anita. Like a bomb on the verge of detonating, she only cared about pulling the trigger and wasting bullets, venting the emotions that were teetering inside her.
“Is something wrong?”
“No.”
Click. She pulled back the bolt, another spent casing falling to the ground, and loaded a new round. She stood there with the rifle for a long while, staring at the target before slowly lowering her arms. Her shoulders and arms ached—probably from the weight of the gun and the recoil.
“Come on, something’s obviously wrong.”
“I said no! I—”
Her voice caught in her throat. She’d been about to snap at Liliana, only to catch herself. It was bad enough that she couldn’t control her own emotions—she almost took them out on someone who had done nothing wrong. Taking a deep breath, Anita let it out slowly, like a sigh, and set the rifle down on the table.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Happens to everyone. I get it.”
Liliana waved it off like it was nothing, peeling off her thick leather shooting gloves and tossing them on the table, grumbling that they made her hands feel cramped—so different from silk gloves. But Anita wasn’t listening.
There was a faint dark smudge on Liliana’s palm.
Sure, it could have come from anywhere—like a bicycle chain or something dirty she’d touched. But the Liliana Anita knew was obsessively neat and meticulous about her appearance. Even when coming to the shooting range instead of a party, she never compromised her perfect, elegant look.
“Honestly, I wish October would hurry up and get here. On days like this—hot and humid—my hair’s always a mess, and—”
“Liliana, sorry to interrupt, but what’s that on your hand?”
“…Huh?”
Still looking confused, Liliana let Anita take her hand when she reached for it. Anita forced an awkward smile to show she meant no harm and turned Liliana’s hand over.
“Oh my, why on earth is something so filthy on my hand?”
Anita wanted to tell her that it wasn’t dirt—just harmless graphite.
Last night, after confirming there was no one in her room and nothing missing, she’d still felt uneasy. So she’d taken precautions: smearing graphite on the doorknob and sticking a strand of hair between the door and the frame to detect any intrusion.
And what was on Liliana’s palm was definitely graphite powder.
“Nothing comes to mind?”
“Hmm… not really. Oh! Maybe I got it in the workshop?”
At the mention of her workshop, Liliana’s face lit up. Anita, still studying her, let go of her hand. There was no point in suspecting someone for no reason. Besides, why would Liliana have any reason to sneak into her room?
“Oh, and—earlier you looked so serious, so I didn’t mention it, but your shooting stance is terrible. Next time I’ll teach you.”
“……”
Unlike Anita, whose social circle was so small it was practically nonexistent, Liliana was very sociable. Anita didn’t think they were particularly close, yet somehow she suddenly found herself with Liliana’s arm looped through hers.
The unwelcome closeness made Anita try to pull away, but she soon gave up. Jerking away would be rude, but slipping free quietly felt petty. In the end, she found herself wondering why she was going to such lengths over something as trivial as an arm link.
Before long, they reached the dormitory building.
“Oh? This is your room?”
“Yeah.”
Her flat answer was met with loud laughter.
“I almost did something really stupid today.”
“……”
“My room is 203, but I nearly went into 201 by mistake—your room!”
At that, Anita stopped glancing at her own door. The strand of hair she had placed between the door and the frame was broken. If this was just an innocent mix-up… then she’d been overly paranoid for nothing.
Still—better nothing happened.
“Anyway, the second I touched the knob, something felt off. I have good instincts, you know? I just knew it wasn’t my room. So I let go right away.”
“You let go?”
“Yeah.”
“Without opening it?”
“How could I open it without the key? I didn’t even turn the knob.”
Liliana blinked, as if wondering why Anita was asking such an obvious question.
“……”
“Why? Should I have tried turning it?”
Seeing Anita’s expression turn serious, Liliana’s own tone became just as sober.
It wasn’t right to suspect someone on nothing more than a gut feeling. But Anita was still human—and when it came to her own safety, she couldn’t always act with cold rationality.
That eerie feeling in the unlit second-floor hallway… the damp, oppressive gaze she’d sensed at the café on that rainy day… and now, her door’s lock being disengaged.
Anita wasn’t the type to make enemies—how could you, if you rarely spoke to anyone?
One benefit of living as someone invisible was that you didn’t make many enemies.
She thought about the people she’d spoken to since arriving in Aberdeen.
Ruttger was out—given his personality, if he had a problem with her, he’d insult her to her face or throw the first punch, not stalk her from the shadows.
Edmund… didn’t seem interested enough in her to bother. She still didn’t understand what made Ruttger think Edmund had any interest in her at all.
Liliana didn’t seem like the type to stand out in the rain outside a café, lurking.
In truth, Anita was already half-sure who the culprit was. She was only forcing herself to think of other suspects to avoid making a decision based purely on emotion.
Groaning into her pillow, Anita flopped onto her bed.
Should I just drop out?
Her life was already in shambles with no hope of saving it. The issue with Ruttger, which she had resolved to settle this time, had only gotten worse. And now, to top it all off, something strange was happening.
Why did it feel like everyone was itching to tear her apart, when she hadn’t done a thing? She was just… tired of it all.
After a long while, face buried in her pillow, Anita sat up abruptly.
Putting off unpleasant things only meant they’d come back with interest. She knew all too well the high price of being lazy instead of resolving problems right away.
And so, with a scowl, Anita climbed out of bed.
