"Cocytus -Ballerina Under the Moonlight" Episode 14

The size of the other paintings was officially verified in the data, but the size of the Beatrice painting submitted by Syunka was the only one that couldn’t be matched. Moreover, the series of letters hastily scribbled on the oil painting appeared to be written in ballpoint pen, strongly suggesting they were added relatively recently.

There were only three attempts allowed to verify the password, and since Augusto had already used two, there was no room for error. Shindo provided the password, and Leonardo typed it into the laptop. Finally, it was about to be unlocked—

"It's an incredible amount of data," Shindo remarked.

Nathan remained calm and nodded.

"And, what did you find?"

"After further analysis, we uncovered a treasure trove of evidence linking Crane Gello to various crimes. We've also identified the names of several Japanese nationals involved. We're preparing for arrests now."

"Understood. And what about Ms. Aono and the situation around her?"

"We’ve set her up in an apartment here, and she’s living there now. Her family, friends, and workplace are being taken care of by the local police. Ms. Ohara also helped out, but it seems the tension got to her, and she caught a summer cold."

"It’s not a common situation, after all."

Furthermore, their superior officer had been replaced. Due to this incident, their former superior—Tanaka—had been demoted, and Takanashi was now in charge of Nathan and the team.

"Yes. But there’s one thing that concerns me."

"What is it?"

"Livia... her real name is Katerina. She’s gone missing. It's a shame."

"...I see."

"You don’t seem surprised."

"There’s only one place she could go... Leonardo is on her trail."

"Is that so? So, her ’s heading there?"

"Yes."

Livia had come to Italy.

She was there to meet Augusto. The group welcomed her as she entered Rocca di Luce. She arrived dressed like a street dancer, wearing a black hoodie and cargo pants. Augusto greeted her.

"I was so close to getting the password, but your men ruined it," she began with a lie.

Across the cold marble table, Augusto responded with an expressionless face.

"How do you know about that?"

Livia's face froze.

She hadn’t attended the meeting here and shouldn’t have known anything about Matteo’s laptop. Augusto dismissed the others, leaving just the two of them in the grand hall. On his way out, Nathan planted a listening device. He could hear their conversation.

"I was trying to cover for your mistake," she said.

"And as a result, the situation has worsened. You’ve only made things worse. If it hadn’t been for you, catching that little rabbit would’ve been easy!"

"I needed to get the painting. If she died, that would’ve been impossible. And you made a mistake too, didn’t you? Acting like you did nothing wrong?"

"If you’re going to act high and mighty, you should’ve carried it out flawlessly."

There was a loud bang, followed by the sound of Livia groaning.

"You know, Livia, I’ve known all along. I knew, but I let it slide. I knew you would eventually betray me. And that girl—Katerina, your real name, right? The name given to you by that girl, the double agent feeding you information."

Nathan could hear Livia’s labored breathing. Augusto must have been strangling her.

He wouldn’t tolerate betrayal, and if left alone, Livia might be killed. In that case, Augusto himself would likely do it. Livia was no ordinary woman.

In the next moment, Nathan heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down and clothes being torn.

"...! Stop it, please stop!"

"Why betray me? I got you out of that cell, made you rich, even gave you your own shop. Ah, yes. Let me give you what you wanted most."

"No...!"

"No? You say that, but you drowned in pleasure, calling my name from behind the screen. I’ll give you what you wanted. This is your final 'parting gift'."

Augusto’s heavy breathing and Livia’s cries filled the room. Her voice was almost a scream. Nathan, feeling nauseous, clicked his tongue in disgust, but there was nothing he could do.

Eventually, Augusto’s voice became muffled, and Livia’s crying turned into soft sobs. The sound of splashing water filled the silence as their conversation resumed.

"You’re soaked despite saying no. Oh, my bad, it’s dripping. Isn’t this what you wanted? Drink it all down, whore."

"Please stop... stop... I never intended to betray you..."

"Then what was it?"

"Isn't it strange...? At that moment, both my plan and your assassin’s were foiled..."

The sound suddenly ceased.

Livia was breathing heavily but continued.

"There’s a real traitor within the organization... you know that, right? Katerina and I... we just wanted to have more fun with you... we’d never betray you..."

"...The real traitor, you say."

"Yes. You know there’s a surveillance camera at my house that shows where you are, right...? You’ll see if you check it..."

Livia's voice grew sweet, eventually turning into unbearable, animalistic moans of desire. Nathan immediately contacted Leonardo.

"Livia’s house. She’s planning to check the surveillance cameras."

And then, Katerina, the supposed double agent. Vittorio had described her as a smart, tall blonde. Nathan knew her, too. But where was she?

He hadn’t seen Katerina for a while.

In a luxurious apartment in Monaco, Augusto watched as a bald man, unaware of the camera, danced while cleaning. Just after the man roughly wiped the camera and its surroundings with a towel, the room appeared empty.

"To be continued"→ "Cocytus -Ballerina Under the Moonlight" Episode 15

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