Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 127

Startled, Lisanne hurriedly shouted to the soldiers escorting the carriage.

Fortunately, the soldier leading at the front was someone she knew. Montcalm turned his horse and came up alongside Lisanne.

“It’s the Major’s order.”

“What?”

Lisanne drew in a sharp breath.

“When? He woke up?”

“In truth, just before we began the move to Claris, he woke for a very short moment. He gave us a few instructions and then lost consciousness again.”

It was the first she had heard of it. That she hadn’t been there to see Ezekiel awake even briefly made her heart clench, but Lisanne forced herself to calm down.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“We tried, but he fainted again so quickly after giving us his instructions that we had no chance to inform you.”

Lisanne bit down on her lip and asked again, “What orders did he give?”

“He instructed us to take you to another safe place.”

“So I’m not allowed to enter Claris? Why? Because House Valdemaira won’t welcome me?”

“More than House Valdemaira, the Major judged that the problem is with the royal family.”

“What?”

“Because you were entangled with enemy spies. If you enter Claris as you are, you will have to face questioning from royal investigators in the Major’s stead. You would have no time to remain at House Valdemaira at all.”

She hadn’t even considered that.

Lisanne was taken aback.

“Even if you are not at fault, if it comes to light that Major Ezekiel Valdemaira, one of Astrie’s most trusted soldiers, abandoned his duty to protect the nation because of you, the consequences for you will not be good. No country would be pleased to see a promising soldier put personal feelings above his duty.”

Lisanne knew well the terror of being condemned for defiance. With no title and no reputation to defend herself, the state and the royal family were an unscalable wall before her.

“So that’s…”

“The Major will resolve matters himself later. Until then, he asked that you live quietly in a safe place. We, too, will follow his orders and match our words accordingly. We will say that the incident in Cielsa was a secret operation to annihilate the escaped spies, and that the Major was gravely wounded while eliminating the traps they had set. I am sorry to say this after all you have suffered, but it’s better if your existence is erased from this incident.”

“…So that is why I cannot accompany him?”

“Yes. For your own safety as well, you must remain far away for now. You know how the Major loses all reason whenever you are involved.”

Of course.

Lisanne understood.

Even in a brief moment of consciousness, his only concern had been her.

For her to be in a quiet and safe place, where he could feel reassured.

If Ezekiel wished it, if it put his heart at ease, then that was what she should do. If it was the place he had prepared, no matter how unfamiliar, she had no worry at all.

The selfish desire to never be apart from him, for now, she had to set aside.

Because they would meet again soon.

In the end, Lisanne nodded in agreement.

***

Perhaps because she had stayed in Cielsa, where winters were long.

The seasons seemed to change as swiftly as the speeding carriage. Having lived in the last dregs of winter where spring’s warmth had barely begun to stir, suddenly she was met with bright, lively scenery bursting with life, and she felt as if she had aged a year in an instant.

“May I get down here?”

It was a western town, golden sunset pouring down warmly over roofs of brick-red.

This must be the place.

Even before Montcalm said anything, Lisanne thought so. Somehow, she simply knew.

“The weather is so nice and the town looks so beautiful, I want to stroll and look around it myself. You may all turn back now. There’s much work waiting for you in Claris to aid the Major.”

If this was the town Ezekiel had chosen with such care, then its safety would be guaranteed. She no longer needed the soldiers’ escort. Besides, it felt awkward to make them drag empty carriages and horses along at her slow pace.

“Then I will tell you where the house is located.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Lisanne gave a faint smile.

“I’ll walk slowly and find it on my own.”

So there really is a town like this.

Lisanne marveled inwardly.

The only places she knew were Claris, always crowded with people and full of solemn noble families settled in their splendid mansions, and Cielsa, cold and gray with its long winters.

Lisanne stopped every few steps to look around in wonder.

Truly, the world’s colors were different here. Even the smell of the wind was different. The air no longer stung cold against her skin. Light seeped into every corner of the streets, and at each turn, nameless spring flowers bloomed in profusion. Cats of every color sprawled lazily in the sun, curling up as if the whole town were their home.

The sight made her chest tickle with warmth.

Here, no one lived with fear and tension each day.

The memories of running barefoot across rocky mountain slopes to escape Davis’s spies suddenly felt like a distant dream.

Walking slowly along a neatly paved brick road, Lisanne caught sight of two strangely familiar trees beyond the wall of a house and let out a small gasp.

A spruce tree and an apricot tree.

“What kind of tree is this?”

“Hm… it’s a big, handsome spruce tree. There was a spruce grove right by Milena Girls’ School too. I remember decorating a little spruce tree with the children and baking bread together whenever Christmas came around.”

“This winter, by then I’ll have regained my sight, so let’s decorate one together. Make it very big and grand.”

“We can tie the rope to this apricot tree. Its branches are strong and wide. I remember this tree. In the summer, I thought it would be perfect to make apricot compote or hang a swing.”

Indeed, a swing was hanging from the apricot tree’s branches. It swayed gently in the breeze.

“Ah? Lisanne!”

As she stood staring blankly, a familiar voice called out.

It was Anna, whom she had thought had returned to Derosa. Lisanne looked at her in astonishment.

“How are you here?”

Anna, too, was startled. “Your voice is back?”

“Yes, it’s alright now. I’m healed.”

“Wow, that’s such a relief. I was so worried you might never speak again… You must have so much to tell me. Ah, and the master asked if my family wanted to move here. He said he would provide us with a house and double the wages, and if we wished, he would even arrange for me and my siblings to study while working,” Anna added sheepishly.

“To be honest, I always admired and envied how you and Miss Paulina communicated through writing alone. That’s why we all came. Who would be foolish enough to refuse such conditions? Come on, hurry inside.”

Flustered, Anna opened the door and tugged Lisanne in. Lisanne followed her into the house.

It was a single-story home with a cozy garden. Though not large, it was neatly and lovingly cared for in every corner.

“Your parents are here too. They felt awkward staying in the main house without you or the master, so they came here. They’ve been sweeping and cleaning the place every day, waiting for you. They’ve just gone to the market but will be back soon.”

“My parents too?”

“At first, they meant to return to the house in Claris. They said after I left, you were a little cold to them, and then when you suddenly left for the school, they were both upset and frightened. They thought you might resent them, so they decided to just go back home. But then a servant chased after them and brought them here. The master said once you graduate, you’ll come to live in this house, and family must live together. When I arrived first and started cleaning, they awkwardly explained all that to me.”

“Ah…”

“And from now on, you really mustn’t speak formally to me anymore. Or rather, I must break the habit first. Ah, this is so awkward. Just give me a few days to adjust, Lady Lisanne?”

Anna joked, and Lisanne should have laughed, but instead her eyes stung with tears.

It was a house like a gift box prepared solely for her.

The peaceful daily life Ezekiel had wanted to give her, or to share with her, was woven into every corner of the house. Though it was her first time stepping inside, it felt neither strange nor unfamiliar. It was filled only with his careful choices, each memory selected with her in mind.

“Have you thought about what you’ll do from now on?” Anna asked.

“I…”

“This will be hard. Both of us will have to get used to new ways of addressing each other.”

Anna sighed playfully, and only then did Lisanne quickly correct herself.

“Ah, I… well…”

For now, yes, for now she would wait.

Because the greatest gift of this house had not yet arrived.

He was a man who always kept his promises. He would surely return.

Soon. Very soon.

And when he did…

Lisanne touched the empty fourth finger of her left hand.

Looking back, she had never once allowed herself to be honest about her feelings. Burdened with guilt, weighed down with secrets she could not tell, convinced she was unworthy, she had turned away from her heart.

But no longer.

Having come so close to death, she now knew. When life ends, and the past is all that remains, how futile it is to have lived with only regret and remorse.

In a world where they had nearly lost each other but miraculously held on, she would now love him with all her heart.

She would live so that the remaining pages of her life were filled not with regret but with happiness, so that her memories would bring not tears but smiles.

With all her heart.