Regret at Last

Chapter 221: Regret at Last

The gala was held in a vast, upscale bar ballroom. Shimmering neon lights shone down from the ceiling, gentle rather than harsh, with a deliberately subdued dimness. Elegant, fashionable music flowed quietly through the hall.

Every invited guest was a successful young figure in their respective fields. The men wore suits, ties, and expensive watches, handsome and gentlemanly; the women wore evening gowns, headbands, and jewelry, dressed to the nines.

With Tony passively dealing with that pack of media reporters at the entrance, Kyle was far more relaxed. He entered the ballroom without obstruction, casually took a glass of red wine from a waiter, and sat alone in a dimly lit corner.

Taking a light sip of wine, Kyle leaned back in the soft leather chair and narrowed his eyes at the gentlemen and beautiful women dancing gracefully in pairs to the music before him.

Time seemed to overlap, subtly connecting to a certain scene from World War II, only for the illusion to quickly shatter and return to tangible reality.

"After three or four days, I should have fully adjusted to the twenty-first century by now."

Kyle sighed inwardly as he sampled the new kind of red wine. Just then, a familiar voice suddenly spoke close beside him. "Excuse me, may I sit here?"

Kyle’s body trembled faintly in a daze. That voice sounded very much like Peggy Carter’s—equally crisp and strong, clean and efficient, carrying a trace of irresistible decisiveness.

He looked up and saw a young woman wearing a white shirt and Western-style jacket on top, with long dress pants below. Her slightly curled blonde hair draped over her shoulders, and her lightly made-up face had neat, beautiful features that also bore some resemblance to Peggy.

But it was only a resemblance. The woman standing before him with her head lowered and a professionally polite smile was clearly not Peggy.

Even so, Kyle calmly nodded. "Sit wherever you like."

The woman smiled and sat across from Kyle at the small table. Her bright eyes carefully studied him, while a thoughtful look appeared on her pretty face.

Just as Kyle thought she had recognized him, the woman confidently said, "You and I are both strange. Neither of us fits in with the others at this gala. You probably didn’t come here simply to socialize and have fun either, right?"

Kyle paused briefly, then quickly understood. He still looked like a twenty-three-year-old man, even younger than when he had retired as a major general. Sixty-three years later, that had become a blind spot in the public’s understanding.

Many people were biased by their own assumptions. They believed that the legendary great man known as the Symbol of Peace had inevitably become a frail, white-haired old man in his nineties.

That was why Kyle, with nothing more than sunglasses and silver hair instead of blonde, could walk through bustling streets without anyone identifying him—even now, after displaying the Demon Card.

"I guessed right, didn’t I?" Seeing his stunned expression, the woman covered her mouth and chuckled. Her beautiful eyes blinked playfully as she lowered her voice. "To be honest, my name is Ellie Carter. I’m actually a reporter for the New York Times."

Ellie Carter?

Kyle focused his gaze, lost in thought as he listened to her continue.

"I snuck into this venue." Ellie cautiously glanced around before leaning close and whispering, "I saw you get out of Tony’s sports car earlier. Can you tell me what your relationship with him is? His bodyguard?"

Kyle fell silent for a moment, staring directly at her through his sunglasses. "I can answer any question you ask. But for every question you ask me, I get to ask you one too."

Ellie could not help but brighten at the first half of his sentence. The second half made her hesitate, but she quickly agreed to the condition.

"Fine. Then I’ll answer your first question—I’m not Tony’s bodyguard. I’m his creditor." Kyle shrugged. Selling Tony out a little was well worth this exchange of information.

"His creditor?" Ellie was truly shocked by that identity. The creditor of a billionaire—this was a headline in plain sight!

The naive Ellie did not yet know that tonight’s headlines would truly be outrageously numerous.

"Now it’s my turn." Kyle drew a deep breath and asked, "What is your relationship with Peggy Carter?"

Hearing that question, Ellie looked at him strangely and answered, "Grandma Peggy was my grandfather’s older sister."

"How is she now?" Kyle immediately asked.

"Hey, hey, it should be my turn now—"

Before Ellie could finish, Kyle cut her off. He straightened in his chair and stared at her like a bloodthirsty beast, his voice cold and forceful. "Tell me now!"

Several gentlemen and ladies dancing nearby turned toward them in surprise at the sudden outburst.

"Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. Keep your voice down."

Ellie waved her hands nervously and sighed softly. "Grandma Peggy passed away long ago, near the end of 1945, not long after World War II ended."

The quiet answer struck like thunder, leaving Kyle frozen in place.

Peggy Carter was dead? And she had died in the very year he left Earth?!

How… how could that be possible?!

On the eve of his departure, Kyle had personally given Peggy an Add Life Card worth thirty years of natural lifespan, hoping that they would meet again someday.

"How did she die? Who killed her?" Kyle asked calmly, his tone utterly flat. Yet the wineglass he set down cracked under the force spilling from him. He was like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"Grandma Peggy died from an illness. I don’t really know what illness it was, and the elders never talked about it. But when Grandma Peggy passed away, I heard she was very peaceful, without pain, and even smiling. In her hands…"

Ellie hesitated, then slowly said, "She was holding a photograph. It was a picture of her, the Symbol of Peace, and Captain America together at a World War II base."

Kyle fell silent. He raised his glass and drained the red wine. When he set it down again, the glass had completely shattered into a pile of fragments.

Was he sad?

No. Tempered by the cruel baptism of World War II and transformed into something beyond human through genetic divinization, his mind and body had become so powerful that he could no longer understand what sadness felt like.

Kyle merely stared blankly for a moment, then sat there in calm silence with his lips pressed together, his handsome, chiseled profile hidden in the shadows cast by the lights.

Ellie looked at the silver-haired young man across from her. For some reason, she could vividly feel an indescribable sorrow emanating from him. It moved her so deeply that tears began spilling from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks like pearls.

She did not understand why, yet she felt an impulse to reach out and embrace him.

At that moment, a wave of startled cries rose from the ballroom.

At the entrance stood an incomparably beautiful Eastern woman. Her noble, icy presence made her seem like a Black Rose blooming in the night.

Her ink-black hair fell to her waist, and her beautiful eyes were as clean and brilliant as gemstones. Her delicate Asian features were flawless, while her luxurious black evening gown wrapped around her curvaceous figure, outlining perfect, graceful lines.

The Eastern beauty walked elegantly into the hall, instantly and without question becoming the female lead of the gala.

Every upper-class woman present had dressed with painstaking effort and was goddess-like outside, yet all of them paled in comparison. As for the gentlemen who had seen and slept with countless women, their eyes went wide as they repeatedly swallowed.

The Eastern beauty coolly swept her gaze around the room, ignoring everyone else. Her eyes soon settled on the corner where Kyle sat, and she bloomed into a dazzling, captivating smile.

"So this is where you are."

Three updates today, with two more coming later. They might be a little late.

Send some monthly votes my way. Let’s push for third place in the monthly rankings, please, QAQ