Twilight: Darling of Volturi (YURI/GL)

The bell tower offered an unobstructed view over the entire city, and the wind that swept across its summit seemed unlike the breeze anywhere else in Volterra.

Compared to the ocher stone walls and red rooftops, Sophie's first impression of Volterra had never been its ancient architecture, but the wind itself. To save money, she had endured the sweltering heat and nausea of an overcrowded budget bus, squeezing through the packed doorway with one hand covering her nose and mouth.

Yet the moment she stepped into this thousand-year-old city, the breeze carrying the warmth of the sun scattered the sour smell clinging to her clothes and washed away the discomfort weighing on her body.

Sophie loved standing against the wind. Whenever it brushed across her face, she felt as though she were still truly alive.

The violet hues along the horizon gradually faded into a deep blue. Watching the changing sky, Sophie grew uneasy. Before long, the sun would surely rise.

Without moving an inch, she kept her gaze fixed straight ahead and asked the man who had brought her onto the rooftop to enjoy the breeze, "Charles, how much longer do we have to wait? I've actually been wondering... why do we have to leave only after the bell rings four times?"

"Just over ten more minutes," Charles replied gently from behind her, his voice as warm and captivating as ever. "And remember... don't look back."

One lie always demanded countless others to sustain it, and Charles was a master of weaving them together. Without the slightest hesitation, he casually fabricated another. "Because today's bell ringer had to take leave. I'm filling in for him and ringing the four o'clock bell before I leave."

"So after four o'clock, no one has to ring the bells anymore?" Sophie asked curiously, pausing for a moment before adding, "That seems rather strange."

"No." Charles answered calmly after a brief silence. "We aren't supposed to be outside during the day." Sophie's curiosity was endless, and if the conversation continued, more cracks would inevitably appear in his story. Before that could happen, he gently cut her off. "Sophie, let's end this topic here."

The charming rogue, whose every word was wrapped in deception, stared silently at the girl's back. This time, however, his apology carried a trace of genuine sincerity. "Sophie... I'm truly sorry for making you fall in love with me. Aro forbids the guards from falling in love with one another. Even though I've long since retired, the rule still applies. That's why you've been forced to run away with me."

Charles had spent the entire night searching for an opportunity to end everything in a single strike by snapping her neck before burning the body. A modern lighter rested quietly inside his pocket, capable of igniting a flame far faster than any matchstick.

Yet whether it was because newborn vampires possessed frightening instincts or because her relentless training had become etched into her body, killing Sophie proved vastly more difficult than Charles had expected. Catching her off guard long enough to restrain her might have been possible, but ending her life was another matter entirely.

Even after successfully deceiving her into keeping her back turned, the instant his hand reached toward her neck, it was as though Sophie had eyes on the back of her head. The slightest disturbance in the wind failed to escape her senses.

Before his fingers could touch her skin, her powerful hand cut through the air and clamped onto his wrist. Black fractures instantly spread across his skin, accompanied by the horrifying crack of shattering bones.

Without ever looking back, she had protected herself.

Charles admitted defeat.

Training that had been repeated day after day until it became instinct could never be erased by lies alone.

His only consolation was that, under the illusion of love, Sophie had mistaken his attempt to kill her for an effort to touch the necklace around her neck. Rather than expose the misunderstanding, Charles simply allowed it to stand.

By then, he was convinced Caius must have personally trained her. She was nothing like the expendable peripheral guard he had first imagined. That realization left him wondering, if Sophie was such a valuable warrior cultivated with so much effort, why had Aro secretly ordered her execution through someone else's hands?

But there was no longer time to ponder the reason.

All he had to do was wait for the appointed moment, personally orchestrate her violation of vampire law, and expose her bare skin to the sunlight above Volterra, directly over the residences of vampire royalty.

O dawn... please break through the sky soon.

It was almost as if heaven itself had answered Charles's silent prayer. The eastern sky brightened noticeably faster than usual. Earlier, after much persuasion, Sophie had folded her red cloak neatly beside her feet, with her gloves carefully placed on top. Now, with nothing covering her hands, faint rays of light occasionally flickered across the backs of her fingers.

Charles pulled his hood lower until every inch of his face was hidden beneath its shadow. Then, with the brightest and most pleasant voice in the world, he said, "Sophie, it's almost time. Stand still and whatever happens, don't look back."

"You've repeated that so many times." Sophie laughed softly, shaking her head. "Have I turned around even once? Lovers are supposed to trust each other."

Using the sound of his own voice to conceal his footsteps, Charles slowly closed the distance behind her. His extraordinary eyesight had already caught the first reflection of sunlight bouncing from a glass window at the far corner of the plaza below.

Within the next few minutes, the rising sun would climb fully above the horizon, sweeping away every trace of darkness from the city.

And with it...

His long-awaited return to the Volturi would finally become reality.

"I'm sorry, Sophie."

The fragile peace between them ended a moment earlier than expected.

Charles lifted his foot and drove it violently into Sophie's back, every bit as ruthless as she had been when they first met, when she had crushed his ribs and shattered his spine without a moment's hesitation.

Long before either of them realized it, Aro had already positioned them as natural enemies. The beautiful illusion created by endless lies merely concealed the simple truth.

Only one of them could survive.