They say there have been fires everywhere lately.

Theron was momentarily stunned.
“…”
“You look disappointed because the answer was different from what you expected. You seem to need a cigarette, shall I lend you a light?”
Theron’s mind was in such turmoil that he couldn’t even hear Orlando’s teasing voice, and he had to think for a moment, right in front of him.
‘Did Selene really bribe the judges, as Colonel Orlando said…?’
‘If so, would my feelings change?’
‘This feeling of being anxious whenever I see Selene, of not caring whether I’m a tool or an experimental subject for her.’
‘Honestly, I don’t know right now. Whether it’s because the truth is so unbelievable, or because the colonel’s words, who seems to be hiding something dark inside, sound like a lie.’
However, one thing was for sure: for whatever reason, there was nothing more to be gained here.
If he stood here with a dazed face, he would only be ridiculed by the colonel.
Although it was frustrating, he had no evidence to immediately refute the words that he liked her because her face was pretty, or that his feelings would fade over time.
And his own initial purpose for approaching Selene was also purely impure.
“Are you leaving?”
As Theron stood up, Orlando’s gaze followed him.
“What good would it do to stay in a closed space with a man for a long time? We’re not in a relationship where we’d share a deep kiss.”
Theron, not wanting to reveal his inner thoughts, put on a brave face until the end.
“Be careful on your way out. If you’re planning to smoke outside, be careful with fire. They say there have been fires everywhere lately.”
It seemed the victory today had clearly tilted in the colonel’s favor.
Considering how he was speaking so leisurely until the end.
He hadn’t even frowned once, even knowing that he liked Selene.
In contrast, Theron had no time to worry about fires happening elsewhere.
His mind was completely burned out from the conversation with the colonel, and only ashes remained.
He would have to worry again about how to clean up and organize this pile of ashes in his head when he returned.
Theron already felt frustrated at the seemingly unsolvable problem.
“It will be difficult to see you off. My daughter is coming soon. She’s a nag, so there are many things I need to hide on my desk beforehand.”
The colonel’s daughter would be Evelyn Ashcombe.
She was Selene’s cousin and also in a close relationship with her.
‘If his daughter was scheduled to visit, he should have told me sooner.’
On the surface, there was no particular connection between the colonel and himself.
If he were to run into her in the office, not the drawing-room, in such a situation, it would surely be awkward.
Theron irritably grabbed the doorknob and turned it.
Tatatak.
But was it already too late?
Just as he was about to step into the corridor, he heard the sound of fast-approaching footsteps from afar.
The urgent sound made Theron pause for a moment.
Where he turned his head, as expected, was Evelyn.
She was quickly approaching him.
‘Damn it, I ended up running into her.’
‘What should I say?’
Theron’s brain, which was not working properly due to the awkward situation and the various shocks he had received today, froze.
‘Should I say the colonel was worried about the man his niece was meeting and called me in to check?’
‘Or that we’re so close that we can go in and out of his office?’
“Good morning, Miss Ashcombe. In a place like this…”
“Dad! Something terrible has happened…!”
Before Theron could even say anything, Evelyn pushed him aside, entered Orlando’s office, and cried out.
“What’s wrong, Evelyn?”
Colonel Orlando, who had been watching the back of the loser with his legs crossed, stood up in an instant at his daughter’s cry.
Evelyn, sobbing, approached Colonel Orlando and gripped his clothes tightly.
“Selene…”
‘Selene?’
Theron reacted immediately, even at the faint name he heard through her groans.
A bad premonition made Theron’s five senses stand on end.
“Speak calmly, my child. Did something happen to Selene?”
“Selene… Selene… she’s badly hurt.”
“What did you just say?”
At the shock, which felt as if his ever-louder heart had stopped for a moment, Theron immediately strode towards Evelyn.
Evelyn, who had been crying, had a surprised face as if she had finally noticed Theron’s presence.
“Why are you here, Mr. Cox…”
“Is it true that Selene is hurt?”
Evelyn’s eyes, which had looked a little surprised at first, trembled.
Finally, she gave a small nod.
“Yes… there was an accident when Selene came to see me during the day… there was a fire at the department store… but the fire spread to the private salon where Selene was staying first, so it took time for her to get out… so she…”
Tears welled up in Evelyn’s eyes again.
Theron ignored it and gripped Evelyn’s shoulders tightly.
“Which hospital is Selene in right now?”
“Yes…?”
“Where is she!”
As Theron shouted, Evelyn stopped crying for a moment but did not delay in telling him the name of the hospital.
“It’s Glencoe Hospital in the city…”
Along with the information that even if he went there now, he wouldn’t be able to see her because there were so many patients who had been brought in from the department store fire and she was undergoing emergency treatment, Theron immediately headed for that hospital.
Theron’s hand, which was holding the steering wheel, was trembling slightly.
In fact, his hand had started to tremble from the moment he had heard from Evelyn Ashcombe that Selene was badly hurt.
His hand trembled like a child who had been kicked out onto the street in his pajamas in the middle of winter.
It was that shocking for Theron.
For a moment, his mind went blank, and he felt a pressure as if his own breath would stop if he didn’t immediately check how badly Selene was hurt and if she was in pain.
Even now, as he was heading to the hospital, the feeling of his throat suddenly closing up was still there.
‘Would it be better if I confirmed that there was no danger to Selene’s life, even if she was hurt?’
‘Although that too would be heartbreaking, Theron thought it would be alright then. A wound can be treated, and he could comfort her from today’s trauma.’
However, the positive assumption, which he didn’t even know who he was trying to comfort, gradually disappeared as he got closer to the hospital.
The injured Selene was in there.
It meant that the task of confirming that there was no danger to Selene’s life was drawing near.
Theron, while hurrying, bit his lip hard, afraid of the task of confirming Selene’s detailed condition.
But there was no hesitation in his steps.
“Selene, Selene Ashcombe, where is she right now?”
As Evelyn had warned, the hospital was crowded.
A day with a bad premonition that a big fire would break out somewhere.
If he had known that the thought he had lightly had would come true like this, he wouldn’t have even thought of it for a fleeting moment.
While regretting it, Theron hoped that the nurse would take him to Selene right away among these numerous patients.
“Miss Selene Ashcombe has just finished her treatment. But you can’t see her yet. She needs to rest.”
‘Anyway, it seems her wound has been treated, but Theron couldn’t be satisfied with that.’
“Where is she? I have to see her.”
“I told you that visitors are not allowed. She needs to rest for a while, so even guardians are not allowed to enter.”
“I’ll just look. Even for a very short while is fine.”
“No. If you come back tomorrow, I’ll let you see her.”
Theron was going crazy.
He ran his hand through his hair roughly and finally shouted.
“No, I’m not going to shake her and bother her. I just want to check her condition…!”
The nurse had a surprised face.
It might have been a similar face to when one sees a crazy person.
But what was important to Theron right now was just one thing: to see Selene with his own eyes.
In fact, if he couldn’t see her, Theron was prepared to cause an even bigger commotion.
“…Follow me quietly.”
Fortunately, the nurse seemed to have noticed his intention.
As Theron finally calmed down, the nurse had him sign several papers and walked towards a deeper part of the hospital where an ID was required.
As he followed the nurse’s steps and the noisy sounds of the people subsided, and the surroundings became quiet, Theron’s breathing also subsided.
“To what extent was Selene Ashcombe injured?”
So, he finally uttered the question he should have asked earlier.
“Her life is not in danger. There are no major wounds either. But…”
The nurse, who had paused for a moment, had a slightly dark face.
“She has burns on her face.”