Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 118

Could it be that he had followed the carriage all this way?

Why would he go so far… She was unsettled, but she couldn’t show it.

Lisanne glanced around to check her direction, then began walking with heavy steps. Ezekiel matched her pace, following at a proper distance.

As the sun was setting, she found an inn nearby. Since she needed to save as much money as possible, she chose a small, cheap-looking place.

She paid one day’s fee in advance and received the key. As she did, some young men eating in the attached restaurant lifted their heads to glance at her.

Lisanne quietly swallowed a sigh. Sometimes in inns, there would be lowly thugs who tried to harass guests. If one ignored the jeers and locked the door properly, it was frightening, but it usually caused no real trouble.

Ah, her voice.

Lisanne touched her throat with both hands.

Without a voice, she couldn’t say she disliked it or tell them to move aside.

Even ordering food was inconvenient. Unlike other areas where people could guess her intentions if she simply paid, with food she had to point at whatever someone else was eating to order the same. In the Valdemaira mansion, meals had always been brought out without her needing to ask, so she had never noticed the difficulty.

This way, she couldn’t eat dinner.

She gave up on the meal and went upstairs to the rooms. Just then, Ezekiel, having left his horse at the stable, walked in. The moment he swept his cold gaze around the inn, the thugs flinched and turned away. The air suddenly dropped as though the temperature had fallen ten degrees.

Even without the uniform, his natural aura of intimidation couldn’t be hidden. Lisanne took the chance, while the inn grew quiet, to head up to her room.

As she looked around the small room and prepared to rest, someone knocked at the door. Lisanne stiffened, staring at the door, when she heard the voice of a middle-aged woman.

“Guest? Are you inside? I brought the meal you requested. I’ll leave it here at the door.”

Of course, Lisanne had made no such request. But she could guess who had.

Once the footsteps receded, she opened the door. Warm bread and stew were neatly placed there.

Lisanne glanced around, wondering if Ezekiel was nearby, but she couldn’t see him.

After a moment of hesitation, she pulled the tray inside.

***

Before sleeping, one must always lock the door.

Click. She slid the thin bolt into place and shook the door a couple of times to make sure. The building was old, so the door frame had a small gap. In inns like this, such things were common.

It would be fine as long as she kept it shut.

Lisanne pressed the door firmly closed and lay down on the bed.

From the restaurant below, the drunken voices and singing of guests rose up through the floor. Lisanne pressed her ears with the scratchy blanket.

Tomorrow she would have to set out early. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the drunken voices only grew louder. It seemed the guests were finishing their drinking and heading upstairs.

She wished they would just pass quickly. At that moment, someone leaned against the door.

“Whoa! You startled me.”

Startled by the drunkard’s cry, Lisanne also flinched.

“Hey, you hiding some treasure in there? Why are you blocking the hall with that body of yours?”

…He hadn’t left after all.

Because he was in plain clothes, or because such a shabby inn didn’t suit a guest of noble birth, or perhaps because the drunks’ eyes were clouded with drink, they did not imagine that he was Ezekiel of Valdemaira.

The drunkards fell quiet and crept past her door. However long he had sat there, that night not a single voice was raised outside her room. Lisanne removed her hands from her ears and slept peacefully.

When morning light came, she woke and hesitated before opening the door. There was no one outside, as though nothing had happened the night before.

But when she had packed her belongings and set out again, the tall figure appeared once more, leading a horse, like a shadow guarding her back.

***

During the several changes of stagecoaches, Lisanne didn’t acknowledge him at all, and Ezekiel did the same. Even so, he silently followed her journey. When she boarded the stagecoach, he rode his horse alongside, and when she disembarked, he dismounted and walked as well.

It was a strange companionship.

At first Lisanne thought, he’ll just watch for a day, then leave. After two days, surely. By three days, I’ll be relieved. But eventually she grew accustomed to him occupying a corner of her vision.

Ezekiel’s natural aura drew people’s attention while simultaneously keeping them away. Thanks to that, Lisanne was able to eat and rest safely even in shabby inns. He always stayed in the room next to hers and kept watch at her door at night. For that reason, her surroundings remained unusually peaceful.

What began as a bewildering escort turned out to be unexpectedly helpful.

But this was as far as it could go.

No further.

At the foot of the mountain where Milena Girls’ School was located, Lisanne stopped walking. He had followed far enough, and the school was now just ahead.

From the start, many girls’ schools had been built deep in the mountains to keep strangers away. Since only women lived there, it was unpleasant and dangerous for unknown men to loiter nearby.

Of course, he wasn’t some shady vagrant, but that made it even more problematic. At the school, there were still students and teachers who knew Ezekiel’s face. It wouldn’t be good if other students saw her accompanied by a man of Valdemaira.

Lisanne turned her body and looked at him.

The man seemed to understand her meaning.

“So at last, you’re finally looking at me once.”

Even with her silent urging that it was time to part, Ezekiel instead took a step closer to her.

“Lisanne.”

She faltered, her heels shifting. It took her a moment to steady herself again.

“If my presence makes you uncomfortable, I won’t come any closer. Just stand there.”

Hearing his promise, Lisanne finally stopped retreating step by step.

“I followed you because I had something to say. Maybe you already know, but…”

Lisanne silently waited for him to continue.

“I probably hate myself even more than you think I do.”

It was an unexpected beginning. Lisanne bit her lip.

“So even if you hate me and resent me, it doesn’t matter. Don’t torture yourself wondering if it’s right or wrong. To me, you are the most precious person in the world.”

Ezekiel took a small box from his pocket. Since dreaming of a future with her, he had never once let it out of his possession.

“I’ve always wanted to propose to you. I prepared long ago, but I never imagined I’d be given no chance like this.”

Lisanne also realized what must be inside the box he held. Still, she couldn’t easily reach for it.

“I’m not trying to burden you. I know you have no intention of marrying me.”

“……”

“You just need to remember. That there is a man waiting for you. If you don’t like it, you can throw it away. That too is your choice.”

Instead of kneeling and slipping a ring on her finger, he simply placed the box in Lisanne’s hand.

He yielded so much that there was no way she could refuse it.

Lisanne steadied her heart and wrapped the square box tightly in her hand. The box, still warm from his touch, was surprisingly heavy for its size.

“Go now.”

After handing her the box, Ezekiel stepped back neatly.

“Go first. I want to see with my own eyes that you enter the school safely, but I know that’s not what you want. Be careful going up. Don’t rush.”

His will was clear that he would not turn back until she did.

Leaving Ezekiel behind, Lisanne slowly began to walk. Because she knew he was watching her back, she tried harder to step firmly, with an even stride.

Had he left by now?

Or was he still there?

Was he still tracing her shadow with his eyes below?

Unable to summon the courage to check, Lisanne kept her eyes straight ahead until she reached the school.

And when the all too familiar gray building came into sight, just before stepping inside, she finally opened the box she had been clutching tightly.

Resting on soft velvet was a ring set with a red diamond. The vivid, blood-like color seemed as if a piece of the heart had been carved out.

Lisanne stood frozen in place for a moment.