Everyone was horrified by Haruna's recklessness. It truly seemed as if she had gone insane and genuinely intended to send Mina to her ancestors right here and now. Yet the one who appeared most shaken was, unexpectedly, Hiroshi.
He flinched when he saw Haruna raise the gun toward Mina. His hand moved on instinct, as if he were about to rush forward to stop her.
But contrary to what Haruna expected—
Mina's expression was… strangely indifferent. That was precisely why Haruna had not pulled the trigger yet.
Her pupils trembled as she stared at Mina in disbelief. That calm attitude. Those lazy, almost bored eyes looking at her—
Was she… looking down on her?
Haruna felt herself nearly losing her mind. The hands gripping the gun shook violently, uncontrollably, and Mina noticed it.
"Oh."
Mina uttered only that single word. Soft. Light as a feather. Shana heard it and covered her mouth as she laughed softly. Even that small sound drew Haruna's attention.
And her?
Who was she supposed to be? Haruna stared at the woman with blazing red-orange hair. The girl was radiant—beautiful in a striking, luminous way. Haruna narrowed her eyes, as if she had seen her somewhere before.
But whoever she was, the sheer disregard they showed toward Haruna's presence made her blood boil.
Perhaps only Duyen was watching the scene with genuine caution. She carefully observed the magnum handgun in Haruna's hand. It was a heavy handgun, large compared to Haruna's palm. Her grip was unstable, and the tremor in her hand made it obvious she lacked experience. Yet the mental agitation she was in made the situation far more dangerous.
That person was Haruna Kamakiri—Mina's older sister?
What exactly had happened between them?
Even if Mina had reached a level where bullets could hardly graze her, Duyen did not want anything to happen to her—or to anyone else present.
Duyen's pupils focused sharply on the gun. There were faint sizzling sounds coming from inside the cylinder—sounds Haruna did not notice.
Haruna angrily raised the gun again.
"You bastard, Mina! Look what I've got! I'm going to kill you!"
"Wait, Haruna!"
Hiroshi blurted out instinctively. But when he caught Mina's suspicious glance, he shrank back like a cowardly turtle. Mina turned to look at Haruna again. A subtle shift appeared in her eyes.
Before, they had been cold, murderous. Now—Even without much visible change—
There was a faint trace of something else.
Pity.
Haruna froze.
Why was Mina looking at her like that?
Was she truly not afraid of death?
At last, Mina spoke.
"Is this what you've always wanted?"
As she spoke, Mina lifted her right hand so Haruna could clearly see the ring on her finger.
The Kamakiri command ring.
Its design was strange, forged from a special jet-black metal, set with three gemstones—green, red, and purple.
The moment Haruna saw it, her eyes lit up. But she still looked at Mina suspiciously. What was Mina's real intention? That confusion caused Haruna's murderous resolve to waver slightly.
Mina continued, her voice unnaturally calm—without arrogance, without mockery. Very different from her usual self.
"Haruna…"
"Mina…?"
Mina sighed.
"I know that between us, too many things have happened. Since the past, I have to admit—I never once felt in harmony with you. I hated you. I resented you deeply."
Her sudden confession stunned Haruna—and everyone else. It was no secret that the Kamakiri sisters had always fought each other. Mina hated Haruna. Haruna hated Mina.
But this was hardly the appropriate moment to state the obvious. Haruna suddenly laughed, her expression bewildered.
"What? Yes, you hated me. Why bring that up now? Don't tell me you know you're about to die, so you're rambling?"
Mina paused slightly. She turned to look at Duyen. Duyen gave her a warm smile and a small nod. It was as if Duyen firmly believed Mina could resolve this without anyone getting hurt.
Though Mina had not completely changed, she was trying. Duyen could see that.
The other women looked at Mina with trust as well. Their unity made Mina feel slightly embarrassed.
Still—
She had to say what needed to be said.
"Haruna, we will never go back to how things were. I know that. You will always hate me, and a part of me will never fully forgive you. But I can still do this before it's too late…"
Haruna stared at Mina in extreme confusion. She could not understand why Mina had suddenly softened like this.
"Kamakiri Mina… what exactly are you trying to say!?"
"Haruna… I want to give you the position as heir of the Kamakiri clan. We don't need to fight over it anymore."
Those words exploded like thunder over everyone on the Kamakiri side. Even the guards nearly lowered their guns.
"WHAT!?"
Hiroshi shouted, as if unable to believe what he had just heard. Haruna stood frozen.
Give the position… to her?
The domineering, cold woman who would destroy others without hesitation. She had trampled countless innocent lives to climb toward that throne. And now Mina could simply say she was giving it up?
Just like that?
Shana couldn't help but laugh under her breath.
"Show-off…"
Duyen also looked at Mina in shock. Had she really said that? Was she truly willing to abandon everything?
Yet Mina's face remained completely composed. She was fully aware of what she had just declared.
But Mina's bold words were not an antidote. They sparked a new crisis within Haruna. Haruna had gone through so much to hunt Mina down and kill her. And Mina's words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over her ambition.
How could it be like this?
Haruna suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, then stared at Mina coldly.
"You're saying you'll give everything to me? All the assets? The manpower? The entire Kamakiri empire? Do you think I'm a child, Mina? You think I'll spare you just because you say that?"
Mina sighed and frowned. Of course Haruna would not believe it so easily. But before Mina could speak—
Haruna stepped forward and pressed the gun directly against Mina's forehead.
"Haruna!" Hiroshi shouted in terror. "Don't act rashly!"
Mina was somewhat surprised, but she showed no sign of dodging. Even the fox-masked women did not move an inch. Because their master, Shana, remained calm.
Haruna ignored them and pressed the gun firmly against Mina's forehead. This time, her grip was steady. Her voice was cold, emotionless—cruel.
"Listen, Mina. I don't care what game you're playing or if you think you can manipulate me. I don't care. Because I want you dead. Right here."
"Haruna!" Hiroshi glared at her.
She turned and shouted at him, "Shut up, you coward!"
Hiroshi fell silent in fear. After all, she was the one holding the gun. Their behavior was strange for allies. Mina noticed.
Did Hiroshi not want Haruna to kill her?
Haruna turned back to Mina, her words sharp and unfiltered, accompanied by a mocking smirk.
"I want your life to sink into misery. That's why I seduced your husband. I was the one who pushed for your marriage. You were supposed to become nothing more than a useless living doll."
Mina could not help feeling disturbed. In fact, everyone present felt indignant for her.
So nearly all the suffering Mina had endured… was connected to Haruna?
Duyen looked at Mina worriedly. Those cruel words had finally shaken her. Yet Mina was still trying to control her anger.
Still—There was something inside her, ready to explode. Ready to tear Haruna apart.
Haruna laughed. She knew she had struck the wound.
"Everything could have gone exactly like that. Your life should've been hell. And yet you stubbornly refused to break and somehow escaped that marriage. I know you killed Valko. And all the strange things happening around SCJ Group—those were you too! You're stealing everything that was supposed to be mine!"
Haruna shouted as she shoved the gun harder into Mina's forehead, leaving a mark.
"And now you're telling me you want to give it up? Hand me the ring yourself? Don't joke with me… I'd rather take it off your corpse. As long as you're alive, I can't eat in peace or sleep in peace."
Haruna's finger hovered on the verge of pulling the trigger. At this distance, even if Mina wanted to dodge, she wouldn't be able to. But she also could not die so easily from a single bullet like that, though it would certainly get messy.
She seemed prepared to let Haruna vent all that rage into the oversized gun in her hand.
Don't worry… I already destroyed all the bullets in her magazine…
Mina's eyes widened when she suddenly heard Duyen's voice inside her head. She glanced toward Duyen and saw the girl give her a gentle wink.
Destroyed the bullets?
How had Duyen done that?
It seemed that Duyen herself possessed a special ability Mina had never known about.
But suddenly hearing Duyen's voice like that made Mina feel strangely happy. She couldn't help but curl her lips into a soft, genuine smile.
Haruna noticed the way the two of them exchanged looks.
Are they kidding me?
That tender look Mina is giving that girl—what is that supposed to mean? Does she not care that she's about to die?
Wait.
Haruna suddenly remembered what that rustic little lumberjack girl had said earlier.
Could it be—The person Mina risked everything to come here for—
You've got to be joking…
Is a woman?
Haruna's lips slowly stretched into a cruel smile, as if she had just discovered something extraordinary. She shifted the gun's aim from Mina to Duyen.
Mina stiffened.
"Haruna?"
Sure enough, this immediately angered Mina. Even though she knew the gun had no bullets, the fact that Haruna had suddenly redirected it toward Duyen meant she had realized how important Duyen was to her.
Seeing the fury in Mina's eyes only confirmed Haruna's suspicion. She burst out laughing.
"What an interesting discovery! I thought that little brat was just spouting nonsense. So the one you love with your whole life is… a girl!? HAHAHAHA! This is priceless. Just imagine if our grandmother found out about this—she'd probably die from the shock!"
"Haruna!"
Mina growled in warning, a red flash igniting in her eyes.
"If you dare hurt her—"
Haruna sneered and glanced at Duyen.
"I've changed my mind. I'll let you live—so you can watch her corpse instead."
Even if the gun truly had no bullets, Haruna's words had genuinely enraged Mina. Her hand twitched, as if it were about to transform into a biological blade. She intended to cut Haruna down right there, regardless of who might witness it.
Duyen hurriedly looked at Mina. She knew what Mina was about to do. She tried to send her thoughts into Mina's mind.
Don't! Mina! Don't kill her here!
Meanwhile, Haruna paid no attention to the danger looming over her. She smiled confidently and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
A gunshot truly rang out. But it did not come from Haruna's gun
The bloody bullet grazed Mina.
But Haruna—
Blood streamed from the hole that had been blasted into her forehead. Everyone was so shocked it felt as if the blood had drained from their own bodies.
"Mi…na…"
That was all Haruna managed to whisper. A single tear slid down her face before she collapsed onto the snow like a puppet with its strings cut.
"NO!"
Duyen screamed as she rushed forward and caught Haruna's falling body. But it was too late.
Haruna had no pulse. Her eyes remained wide open.
Mina stood there, frozen, staring at Haruna's lifeless body in Duyen's arms.
Who…
Who did this?
Mina slowly lifted her head toward the true source of the gunshot. And when she saw that person, the last walls of trust inside her shattered completely.
An older woman in a pristine white suit stood in front of a Kamakiri family helicopter. She was the one who had fired the gun.
Kamakiri Tomi.
"Aunt… Tomi…?"
Mina murmured, as if unable to believe what she was seeing. Hiroshi, upon seeing his mother, hurried over to her.
Tomi did not even spare a glance at Haruna's corpse lying in the snow. She simply handed the gun back to Hiroshi and walked toward Mina.
"Why…?" Mina asked.
"Those who violate the rules of Kamakiri deserve to die," Tomi replied coldly, as if what she had just done meant nothing at all.
Even if that person was her own niece? Tomi even smiled at Mina as though nothing had happened.
"Mina, the ring ceremony is about to begin. Let's go home."
What did she just say?
Duyen glared at Tomi while still holding Haruna's body.
How could she speak as if nothing had happened?
Even Mina—who moments ago had been ready to kill Haruna herself—felt a chill at Tomi's attitude.
Tomi glanced at Duyen, then at the women standing before her. For a brief moment, dissatisfaction flickered across her face, but it was quickly concealed beneath a polite, artificial smile.
"Mina's guests are guests of our family as well. You may stay at the Kamakiri base while the ring inheritance ceremony takes place."
The women on Mina's side exchanged uneasy looks. Dao trembled, having just witnessed death up close for the second time. Nayeon felt nauseated and muttered under her breath,
"This is insane… but she was her niece…"
Only Shana looked at Tomi with a strange gaze.
There was something deeply wrong about all of this.
Would the true secret behind the Kamakiri family finally be revealed at the upcoming inheritance ceremony?