Chapter 5. Haetae (17)
“Take these and run far away with Nelly. Live happily in a distant foreign land across the sea. Just you and Nelly, the two of you alone.”
It was an irresistible temptation. Osian too ended up grasping Ronen’s hand.
And so Ronen thoroughly deceived the Grand Duke. Since the Grand Duke would never drink drugged alcohol without suspicion, he orchestrated every situation. He pretended to be terrified to reassure him, convinced the Grand Duke to personally obtain the drug, and staggered as if drunk before breaking the bottle.
Meanwhile, Nelly mixed the cheap drug that Canui had brought into new alcohol, which Osian personally carried and placed before the Grand Duke. While the Grand Duke fell into the trap and succumbed to the drug, the guards and servants also lost consciousness one by one as they drank the alcohol Nelly handed them.
Ronen’s plan was perfect, but equally dangerous. If they had been caught, they would all have been dead on the spot. Since Osian had heard plenty about how persistent and cruel the Grand Duke was, he couldn’t let go of his worries until the very end.
Even if things went well and they succeeded, wouldn’t the Grand Duke quickly pursue and catch them immediately? When Osian asked this, Ronen answered thus:
“He cannot catch me. Unless he follows me to hell.”
***
“Unless he follows to hell, he cannot catch me…”
Fingers tapping the armrest made a steady sound. The voice that scraped out like clawing at his throat belonged to Grand Duke Canis. Raw fury rippled over his cold gray eyes. Red blood was splattered here and there across his smooth face like hair strands, creating an even more murderous atmosphere.
The Grand Duke sat in his chair with his chin propped up, casting sharp glances. At the end of his gaze, two human figures lay collapsed, mangled beyond recognition in pools of abundant blood.
“Unless he follows to hell… he cannot catch me…”
The Grand Duke muttered again. The torture hadn’t been long. It was because Osian and Nelly had quickly spilled everything they knew. The stories he heard were quite shocking.
“So all of this was planned by Ronen. And all to get caught by the officials.”
The Grand Duke rose from his seat and left the room. As he came out into the corridor, a servant offered him a handkerchief. He roughly wiped the blood that had splattered on his face, but it only smeared around more, creating a face befitting his cruel nature. The Grand Duke didn’t particularly care.
He simply gave orders to the servant who followed him out.
“There must be officials who encountered Ronen. Track the officials.”
“Yes!”
The servant bowed and hurried off somewhere. The Grand Duke, left alone, let out a short laugh. His eyes weren’t smiling at all. They held a cruel light like a snake baring its fangs.
What he had heard through Osian’s mouth became more absurd the more he chewed on it. Ronen had apparently used the artist to prepare step by step for quite some time. He had the artist write notes asking him to secretly deliver the address he painted to the officials.
He didn’t believe everything, but he said he couldn’t refuse Ronen’s proposal and ended up following along. Because Ronen was desperate enough to offer everything he had as temptation.
Also, Osian said Ronen seemed to want to die. He thought so after hearing that if he left for a place forever beyond reach, the Grand Duke would have no choice but to give up pursuing them.
“He planned to die? He thought he could escape by dying?”
Then where did the escaped Ronen head? The answer came easily.
He must have gone to meet those pursuing him, whether the court or the officials. They would kill Ronen justly, according to God’s will. So he had directly used the artist to inform the officials of his location.
The Grand Duke entered his office and sank into his chair with his full weight. The fingers that had been tapping the table raised their nails. He scratched the table with a grating sound. It was hard to suppress the surging emotions. Uncontrollable rage flared up, making his mind flash.
All of it had been Ronen’s scheme. And all to die. To escape from him even through death.
The Grand Duke, harboring a murderous aura, took a long breath to calm himself.
He had never appeared at the execution ground. There had been no imprisonment, no new denunciations. That meant the officials who encountered Ronen had definitely spirited him away. They were hiding him thoroughly.
The Grand Duke’s every movement stopped in an instant as he thought this far. Only his eyes slowly widened.
“…No way.”
He rose and shouted an order for a servant to bring a carriage. Unable to wait for the carriage, the Grand Duke was heading straight toward the entrance when the butler approached to inform him of a visitor.
“I’m busy now, so later…”
The butler, looking troubled and hesitant, bowed and said he understood. However, it seemed this wasn’t a guest the butler could handle on his own.
“Duke Canis!”
Hakan, who had somehow entered the mansion, blocked the Grand Duke’s path. His face was wet with tears. Upon seeing the Grand Duke, his legs seemed to give out as he collapsed to the floor, sobbing like a child. Though he was originally an emotional man, this was the first time seeing him like this, so the Grand Duke was greatly flustered.
“What is this behavior…”
“Duke, what should I do about this? Please help me…”
Crawling on his knees to grasp the Grand Duke’s trouser leg, Hakan spoke while shedding tears.
“That boy… Ardwino has been captured.”
***
Eckart leaned his back against a tree and tilted his head back. Through the bare branches, he could see the cloudy sky. Occasionally flickering light suggested it might pour down rain.
Even so, Eckart just sat quietly. He rather wished cold raindrops would fall. Then this heat would cool somewhat. The wind touching his cheeks was nowhere near enough. The flames rising from within his body showed no sign of being extinguished.
If not that, he rather wished that light would strike him down. Since he deserved divine punishment, he wished God would punish him directly.
Recently, he had continuously touched Ronen under the pretext of helping him. He constantly coveted him. As if only the two of them remained in this world, he felt only Ronen without any other thoughts.
When he was with Ronen, he felt as if only instinct remained. His reason faded and he couldn’t think at all. His body just moved on its own.
He fell into temptation dozens, hundreds of times a day. He swore this was the first time being so swept away by desire. Like opening a forbidden box, once awakened, his desire flowed endlessly, urging him on. His whole body repeatedly boiled and burned up from the heat.
He could let go anytime? He didn’t need to keep helping him?
Wrong. He was doing this because he didn’t want to let Ronen go. He was the one frantic to touch Ronen, to feel him.
He had never had the qualification to guide Ronen from the start. It was clear he was committing sins by his own greed, his own will. Just as Ronen said he continued to sin even at this moment, Eckart too had committed sins dozens, hundreds of times in his heart. He had indulged in all kinds of lewdness toward Ronen.
Desiring more, he had already constantly coveted him in his mind.
“…If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. If your hand or your foot…” (*Matthew 18:8)
As Eckart continuously muttered scriptures and let out a deep sigh, someone spoke to him.
“I really didn’t expect you’d be here. That’s impressive in its own way.”
Startled, Eckart raised his head while bringing his hand to his waist, but no sword was there. For a knight to come out without bringing his sword after removing it was truly a mess. He hadn’t even sensed someone approaching.
Moreover, the one who had spoken was someone Eckart knew well.
“Captain. Do you know how much I’ve been searching for you? I was so desperate that I even asked the guy I least wanted to ask where the captain might be.”
“Lef. Why are you here…”
Eckart stood up. Had he noticed? Had he come to take Ronen away? His fists tensed. He kept his whole body tense, ready to attack him if necessary.
“How did you know to come here?”
“Since I couldn’t find you anywhere, I asked that Ardwino guy or whatever his name is. Who would have thought you’d bought a house in a place like this. But why this neighborhood of all places? Such a desolate place with nothing in it.”
“…Why were you looking for me?”
At Eckart’s question, Lef scratched the back of his neck with an unusually troubled expression.
“…I thought the captain should probably know about this.”
Soon, shocking words flowed from his mouth.
“That guy. The one called Ardwino or whatever who used to follow the captain around. I thought I should tell you that he’s been imprisoned…”
Eckart’s eyes widened greatly. His blue pupils swirled like a turbulent deep sea.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
