Chapter 7. Covetousness (1)
Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
Psalm 69:1
***
Due to the dark clouds that had swallowed the sun, it was gloomy even at midday, and the sound of rain beating against the frozen earth was incessantly loud.
Firelight flickered over the Grand Duke’s savagely contorted face. As a servant moved about illuminating every corner of the room with a lamp, he was sometimes covered by enormous shadows.
“He was definitely here, but it seems he left quite some time ago.”
One of the servants approached, holding something. It was a strand of platinum-colored hair so fine and pale that one might miss it without careful observation. The Grand Duke took what was unmistakably Ronen’s hair. Though it was merely a single strand, his stomach churned as if he had boarded a small boat.
How vividly he remembered the sensation of that feather-light, soft hair flowing between his fingers. As he recalled in turn the body heat that had wrapped around his palm, the faint scent, and the light green eyes that had looked up at him, the churning grew worse. He felt like he might vomit.
He had been in this state continuously lately. Whenever he encountered traces of Ronen, unpleasant nausea would rise. He wanted to reclaim Ronen as soon as possible and find peace.
“…Tracks? There must be tracks showing where he went!”
“Well… it’s been raining so heavily…”
At the servant’s trailing voice, the Grand Duke clenched the hair tightly in his fist. Rainwater dripped from his arms, wetting the wooden floor. Though the servants were busily shoving firewood into the hearth, his entire body felt like ice after being caught in the rain on the cold earthen floor for quite some time. A frightened servant cautiously offered a blanket, and the Grand Duke snatched it away.
“He can’t have gone far. Eckart, search every place that man might go, even if you have to tear them apart!”
“Yes!”
How had they found him only to lose him like this? Grand Duke Canis roughly tugged at his clothes, irritated by how they clung wetly to his body.
Ronen. The Grand Duke had made every effort to find him but hadn’t discovered even a trace. Then the Grand Duke learned a shocking fact through Osian: it was Ronen himself who had been calling in the officials all this time.
Had he thought that nothing but death could free him from the Grand Duke? Though the exact reason was unclear, what was certain was that after the drugged Grand Duke collapsed, Ronen had fled and gone to meet the officials of his own accord.
And for some reason, the official who encountered Ronen had neither imprisoned him nor dragged him to the execution grounds, but was hiding him somewhere without leaving a single trace.
So if they found out who that official was, they would discover where Ronen was… But those who had followed the officials at the Grand Duke’s command had all failed to find Ronen. Because none of the officials had made contact with Ronen.
Except for one.
“…Eckart.”
Eckart was a very cautious man. Anxious about something, he moved carefully while thoroughly surveying his surroundings, never letting his guard down.
Because he was such a formidable opponent, the eyes the Grand Duke had placed on him repeatedly lost track of him. The last place Eckart had been spotted was a fairly large forest, with several villages attached to its outskirts, so his destination varied completely depending on which direction he exited. The man used this to shake off his pursuers in the forest.
The Grand Duke, convinced his suspicions were correct, began to search the villages connected to the forest one by one.
This time too, he had personally set out toward a village. Fortunately discovering Eckart entering the forest, the Grand Duke had pursued him more stealthily and swiftly than any beast.
Even the weather was on his side. The incessant lightning concealed their sounds, and the fierce wind blew from Eckart’s direction as well. Under these conditions, even the most sensitive beast wouldn’t notice the hunter’s presence.
Like a hunter who had spotted his prey and drawn his bowstring taut while waiting for the right moment, the Grand Duke slowly followed behind him without haste.
Then at some point, Eckart, who had crouched down upon discovering something, rose and turned his head toward where the Grand Duke was.
Even in the pitch darkness, his blue eyes glowed with an inner light. The Grand Duke unconsciously let out an amazed breath. Indeed, the rumors about his beast-like senses weren’t mere gossip.
The Grand Duke memorized the direction Eckart had been walking. Though it was an ambiguous point where he could easily reach different villages with just a slight change of direction, at least the options had narrowed. Searching through two or three villages wouldn’t be difficult.
Of course, the best option would be to capture Eckart alive and have him provide direct guidance, but…
Murderous intent rippled in his cold gray eyes. Unable to contain his surging rage, the Grand Duke roughly grabbed and threw the wooden chair that had been placed in front of him. The hand that had gripped the sword, the arm and shoulder that had received Eckart’s full force, and the back of his neck ached as if they might snap. He boiled with even greater fury at having been knocked unconscious rather than killed, as if shown mercy.
“Insolent! How dare he, in front of whom!”
It was bad enough to have lost to a mere dog of the Papal Court, but what made him even more unpleasant was being indebted for his life. Whether it had been kindness or simple pity didn’t matter. He would make that man regret having spared his life. He would ensure it.
Grand Duke Canis, having vented his rage, breathed roughly as he looked down at the bed before him. Cloth restraints of unknown purpose were scattered across the bed. Imagining Ronen who would have been here made his neck stiffen again, and his heart beat unpleasantly.
Grand Duke Canis approached and began to carefully stroke the bed as if trying to find traces of the already absent Ronen. White stains scattered here and there caught his eye and lodged there. The Grand Duke’s hand stopped abruptly. At the same time, it felt as if his heart had stopped too. His boiling blood instantly cooled, and even his mind grew cold.
The Grand Duke gripped the blanket. His eyes, wide with disbelief, and his hand lifting the blanket trembled faintly. It was because he knew all too well what those dried, hardened white stains were. Gradually his breathing quickened and blood vessels bulged in his eyes.
“How dare… how dare he covet what’s mine…”
An enraged voice leaked through his twisted lips. It was directed at Eckart, who not only had stolen what belonged to him but had hidden it away like this and indulged himself freely. He recalled Eckart’s face calling Ronen’s name. He also recalled that dazed expression as he gazed at Ronen.
He wanted to tear him to pieces right now. He wanted to cut him into small pieces and throw him to the mountain beasts as food. Unable to suppress his rage, he threw the blanket he was holding. Even that wasn’t enough, so he kicked and threw whatever caught his eye, whatever was within reach.
The Grand Duke, having trampled everything into chaos, left that place. Without even drying his body and clothes properly, he plunged back into the rain. Then a servant hurriedly followed the Grand Duke as he immediately climbed into a carriage.
“To the Papal Court. Right now.”
The coachman urgently drove the horses. Inside the violently jolting carriage, the Grand Duke breathed roughly. The rage surging within his body made his blood boil, causing him to forget even the cold.
What should he do with those two who had mocked him? How exactly should he repay this terrible humiliation in kind? Only such thoughts continued endlessly.
First, he planned to sever the tendons in Ronen’s ankles. Since he intended to confine him so he would never see the outside world again anyway, being unable to walk wouldn’t be any problem at all. Since it would be behind the ankles, the scars wouldn’t be noticeable either, and if they became bothersome, he could simply dress him in long clothes.
Having cherished him so unusually, he had completely forgotten his place. It had been a mistake to wait, saying it was only a matter of time, that he would eventually walk into his grasp on his own. It had been a mistake to indulge him so generously, saying he would gladly play along with his aloof act.
When he caught him this time, it seemed better to brand him more thoroughly. Once Ronen was back in his hands, there would be no way to escape from him until he received God’s call.
“You should have fled to hell according to the original plan, Ronen. Forgetting your place and rolling around with that holy knight, wasting time… Whether it was God or the devil, it would have been the last chance given to you, poor thing.”
The sinister voice was buried in the rattling carriage noise and the sound of rain.
Meanwhile, the carriage was entering the papal territory. Only after racing without rest all the way to the Papal Court did Grand Duke Canis step down from the carriage. Obtaining an audience with the Pope wasn’t too difficult. The Pope readily granted an audience to Grand Duke Canis, who had arrived without prior notice.
The Pope couldn’t hide his surprised expression as he received the Grand Duke.
“What brings Duke Harun all the way here? And in such a state… Did you perhaps fall out of the carriage on the way?”
The Pope’s words weren’t unreasonable. His appearance was completely filthy with rain and muddy water. There was also blood of unknown origin stained here and there, making it quite rude to have an audience with the Pope in such attire. If it weren’t for the names Harun and Canis, he might have already been driven away at the entrance.
The Grand Duke skipped all unnecessary pleasantries and immediately brought up the reason for his visit.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
