DWUSS 05

Chapter 5.

Hiding in enemy territory and suddenly getting caught—
Was this what that felt like?
Kitty couldn’t move, trapped as though she had walked right into an invisible snare.
Her abandoned husband—left behind and escaped from—was right there, just a few steps away.
His golden eyes were fixed on her.

He wasn’t a vicious man, not at all.
But in this moment, Kitty felt like prey caught in a hunter’s trap.

She couldn’t run away, but neither did she want to be caught and torn apart.

What do I do?

Terrified, Kitty stared at him. Percy glanced around as if searching for someone else who might be behind her gaze. His expression was puzzled, and he asked with an awkward smile:

“Um… do we know each other?”

Kitty was struck silent.

How on earth was she supposed to answer that?
Was he angry? Pretending not to know her?
Then what was that smile for?

Even if he looked like a competent officer now, she’d seen him long enough to know the truth—Percy Collins had never been good at hiding what he felt. His emotions were always written clearly across his face.

“Um…”

“Is something wrong?”

He began checking his uniform like the problem might be with his appearance.

This wasn’t an act.
Percy—her former adjutant, her husband—truly didn’t recognize her.

Or more precisely,
he didn’t realize that Greta Holt was hiding inside the glamorous shell of Kitty Summers.

The dyed hair, the bold cabaret makeup—her entire transformation—
had worked.

She really wasn’t Greta anymore.
She’d nearly forgotten it herself.

I am Kitty Summers. A cabaret girl who climbed her way into the spotlight, now one of the Empire’s most beloved singers. Bright, radiant, carefree.

And Percy was looking at her—
not at Greta, the woman who vanished.

Once she regained that certainty, everything became easier.

Of course he doesn’t know me. We’re meeting for the first time.

“No, I was just… lost in thought. Sorry if I stared. I didn’t mean to.”

Kitty flashed a dazzling smile—sealing the disguise perfectly.

Normally Percy would blush and turn away.
The shy, quiet man she used to know.

But instead, Percy smiled back—confidently.

“What were you thinking about?”

“Oh, nothing much.”

“I’m curious. You looked deep in thought.”

Since when was he this smooth?
Kitty nearly lost her composure.

“If I’m being honest…”

“Please.”

“I thought maybe… you got stood up by a lover.”

She said it to embarrass him—
but Percy only chuckled, swirling the whiskey in his glass, sounding faintly wistful.

“Close enough.”

“You don’t have to tell me if it’s uncomfortable.”

She hadn’t expected that answer.

And then—

“Not a lover. My wife.”

Kitty froze.

He wasn’t looking at her like he recognized her. He wasn’t speaking like he knew.
He really didn’t realize the woman in front of him—
was the wife who left him.

“One day she vanished. Left a note and disappeared. I searched everywhere but… I couldn’t find her.”

“How long has it been?”

“A little over a year.”

A year already…?

Time had passed faster than she realized.
Percy wasn’t single, but neither was he truly married anymore.

“That must have been hard.”

She tried to comfort him casually, though guilt tugged somewhere deep inside.
She suddenly wondered—
what did Percy look like when he wasn’t her subordinate or her husband?

“What was her name? Maybe I know someone—”

“I appreciate the thought, but no.”

“Why? Don’t you want to find her?”

“She left because she didn’t want me. Why chase her?”

That wasn’t true.

She never hated him.
They were simply never lovers, never really husband and wife.
But she had never disliked Percy.

She had always cared for him.
Not as a husband—but as her reliable adjutant.

Percy, however, seemed convinced she despised him.

“You must be sad she left.”

“Do I look sad?”

He let out a short, cynical laugh.

No.
He didn’t look sad.

If anything—
he looked relieved.

“In most cases, yes.”

“Then I must be the exception.”

He took a drink.

“Why long for someone… who wasn’t lovable to begin with?”

Kitty stared at him.

Not lovable?
That was all?

No anger? No cursing her existence?

How anticlimactic.

She glanced back at him—
and found him already looking at her.

He smiled—pleasant, charming.

“Your glass is empty. May I buy you a drink?”

“You have a wife!”

“Might as well say I don’t. I told you.”

Kitty was stunned.

It wasn’t that he was flirting that shocked her.

It was Percy Collins—
shy, reserved Percy—
buying a strange woman a drink with such ease.

Before Kitty could answer, Percy called to the bartender.

“One more, please. It’s on me.”

Hannah—watching from afar—nearly sprinted over with a bottle, beaming.

“Here you go. Have fun.”

She even winked.
Kitty wanted to scream.

That man is my husband.

When Kitty looked back, Percy had already leaned closer.
Chin resting on his hand, smiling warmly, eyes crinkling.

This was unmistakably flirting.

“Let’s start over,” he murmured.

Start what?

“I’m Percy Collins. Sorry for the late introduction.”

“I… I’m—”

“What’s your name?”

She could still walk away.
Escape again.

But she couldn’t.
Not twice.

Percy liked Kitty Summers.
Not Greta Holt.

And she couldn’t bring herself to hurt him again.

Just once, she could give him what he wanted:

A meeting untainted by rank or duty or obligation.
A brief kindness in place of a goodbye she never gave.

She smiled—the brightest, warmest smile she could muster.

“I’m Kitty Summers. Just call me Kitty.”