Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 107

There was no way to explain it. Even if she borrowed someone else’s mouth to explain the circumstances, she didn’t have the confidence to make her parents understand. Starting with the New Year’s execution site, the series of events that followed like a storm were deeply confusing for Lisanne as well.

Right now, the arms wrapped around her were the biggest hurdle.

Lisanne tried to quietly slip out of Ezekiel’s arms. However, Ezekiel didn’t let her go. As if she were a puppy that would run away the moment he looked away, he kept her tightly within a set distance.

“Are you, cough, not hurt anywhere?”

“Your throat, what happened to your throat… hmm?”

With a far distance between them, Lisanne’s parents desperately examined her complexion. Accused of injuring Major Ezekiel Valdemaira and taken to the detention center, she must have gone through a lot. Was her health damaged, was she hurt anywhere? They looked over her persistently.

“You’re okay otherwise, cough, really okay?”

Lisanne was suddenly grateful for her ornate outfit. The thick coat and the shadow of her hat adequately hid her thin frame and pale complexion. Compared to her mother and father, whose signs of illness were clearly visible, she appeared somewhat better.

Lisanne nodded. It was to say not to worry, but the fact that she couldn’t utter even a single short word and had to communicate only by nodding darkened her parents’ expressions.

“Treatment?”

“Did you get treated?”

If Ezekiel weren’t standing behind her, she might have told a white lie. But since the man who knew full well that she hadn’t even received a proper diagnosis was watching closely, she faltered.

When Lisanne didn’t move, Ezekiel spoke up in her place.

“As promised, we will provide full support, so you don’t need to worry.”

At his response, her parents’ faces became desperate, and they choked up.

“Please, our daughter, please…”

“She’s only ever studied and doesn’t know anything else, cough, and if a child like that can’t even speak…”

Even though it was clear that they were the ones seriously ill, Lisanne’s parents didn’t mention their condition at all. They only pleaded for help in getting their daughter cured. And when Ezekiel assured them that no support would be spared, they kept repeating “Thank you, thank you,” like parrots.

“Our daughter didn’t… didn’t do that on purpose. It’s because she had bad parents, because her uneducated parents committed a sin…”

“We were wrong. We really were, terribly wrong.”

Once seen as the reaper who held the power of life and death over their family, Ezekiel was now their only lifeline. Lisanne’s parents apologized endlessly.

Unlike when he looked at Lisanne, Ezekiel now stared coldly at her parents.

The root cause of the long tragedy Lisanne had to endure lay with them. They had touched Valdemaira’s property under the pretense of supporting their daughter at Milena Girls’ School, got caught by Akenaus, and when Lisanne received the shocking news, she had no choice but to rush to save her family. Ezekiel now fully understood the circumstances.

Since it was a mistake committed while trying to help with her education, Lisanne probably couldn’t truly resent them or turn her back. She must have decided to shoulder the blame herself.

“You should apologize to Lisanne first. Everyone in this room owes their lives to her.”

He had no intention of forgiving the people who easily committed wrongdoing and dragged their innocent daughter into the mud. It was only because they were Lisanne’s family that he would stop holding them accountable here.

At the very least, it was true that this couple had lovingly raised their only daughter, even beyond their means. They were foolish and pitiful people who tried to do everything for Lisanne and ended up making a terrible mistake.

If only he had met Lisanne much earlier.

That thought sometimes led him to indulge in pointless imagination, so bitter was the roundabout, painful end they had come to. If her parents had occasionally brought Lisanne to the Valdemaira estate, the presence of a young girl in a house without any daughters would have stood out. A doll-like girl talking, walking, laughing—there’s no way she wouldn’t have caught his eye. Though considered mature for his age, Ezekiel had also been a boy who didn’t know much and was curious about many things. He had never had a younger sibling, especially not a girl, so he would surely have watched her with interest.

And after a few years, when he casually asked about how the girl from his childhood was doing and heard that she was struggling financially with tuition, he would have gladly paid for her education.

Then Lisanne could have graduated without trouble and returned to Claris, where her family lived, much earlier. Given her personality, she would have come to thank him the moment she finished school, and he would have been a little surprised to find that the beautiful girl he had sponsored was now an adult…

And naturally, he would have fallen in love.

There’s no reason to question loving someone lovable.

The thought hurt, precisely because it felt so plausible. If only it had ended in a way that left no one hurt.

Everyone except Ezekiel was unwell, so the visit ended quickly. Seeing each other in such sickly states, and holding back overwhelming emotions, consumed more energy than a patient could afford. Even Lisanne, who didn’t say a word and merely leaned against Ezekiel while listening to her parents’ pleas and worries, soon grew exhausted.

Feeling tired, she instinctively sought a comfortable position. Absentmindedly leaning against the strong back supporting her, Lisanne realized she had shifted all her weight onto Ezekiel and hastily tried to correct her posture. But Ezekiel didn’t let her go. Instead, he pulled her waist even closer and gladly accepted the weight leaning on him.

Until the moment he stepped into this room, Ezekiel had planned to bring in a chair for Lisanne to sit after letting her see her parents. But holding her tightly to keep her from approaching too closely, the sensation of her in his arms was so welcome that he completely forgot.

To be more honest, he wanted to forget. He wanted to live like this, supporting her weary body and heart.

But even that seemed burdensome for her physical strength. As soon as he sensed her discomfort, Ezekiel stood up.

“That’s enough for today.”

Lisanne looked at the clock. Only about thirty minutes had passed since they entered the room. Compared to the long time they had waited, it was a short meeting, but she accepted his decision, knowing she didn’t have the strength to continue listening to her parents cry and apologize.

As she hesitantly left the room, guided by Ezekiel’s hand, she kept looking back. The observant servant left the door wide open so Lisanne could see her parents until the very end and only closed it once they had gone far down the hall.

“The doctor thought that letting them see you would help them recover, just as it helped you.”

Ezekiel didn’t force her unsteady steps.

“So you can come again next time.”

Only then did Lisanne begin to move.

Ezekiel checked the weighty layers of her clothing pressing on her thin shoulders. The thick coat was warm but heavy. For a healthy person, it wouldn’t be much, but Lisanne wasn’t healthy. And it was still a long walk from the annex to the main bedroom.

“I’ll carry you to your room. I walk much faster than you.”

He added naturally, “The faster you rest, the faster you’ll recover and come again.”

Ezekiel offered an excuse she couldn’t refuse and lifted her up.

Lisanne instinctively grasped the brim of her hat. The wide brim brushed against her cheek. It didn’t hurt but felt a bit in the way, so she removed it and held it in her arms.

Ezekiel leaned toward the round top of Lisanne’s head that swayed close to his chest. She maintained a slight, uncomfortable distance between them, as if a thin wall stood between their bodies.

Some distances are farther than they seem. The tiny space between them, not even a finger’s width, felt vast to Ezekiel.

Lisanne’s brown hair spilled down in waves as soon as it was freed from the hat. Her temple brushed against his chest, lightly tapping with each step, and her long hair swayed, tickling the back of his hand. It was the only part of her body that reached out to him without resistance.

“Lisanne, I always wanted to hold you like this and walk.”

On the day he wandered through darkness, groping along the path Rose had made, he had secretly thought so. Today, he walked with Rose guiding him from behind, but one day, he hoped to carry or give her a piggyback ride.

So the wind wouldn’t scratch her.

So her feet wouldn’t touch muddy ground.

“Those tiny hands gripped mine and bravely led the way through the darkness. I was so grateful, and sorry. I always wanted to carry you when the path got dangerous and rough, so you wouldn’t have to step on it.”

Ezekiel let out a bitter laugh.

“But the one who ended up hurting you the most was me.”