Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 58

Ezekiel. If he were to be defined by a single word, what would it be?

To some, he was the son of Valdemaira. To others, a hero. To someone, a comrade more trustworthy than life itself. And to yet another, a rival so threatening they would resort to cowardly means just to take him down. And then…

Rose let out a long breath.

To her, he was a sin.

The gravest mistake she had ever committed in her life.

Not once had she forgotten this.

Her reason for visiting the estate last winter had been driven by a resolve to atone for that sin. She had hoped that if she could live her entire life as his shadow, it might serve as even a meager form of penance.

But Ezekiel was not a man to flounder forever in despair. He was a born soldier who, even in the worst of crises, would find a way to forge a breakthrough.

And so, eventually, Dr. Brehman appeared. And as thoughts of “after the treatment” began to take form, Rose also began to devise countermeasures for herself.

It became clear she would not be able to remain at this estate for long.

That was around the time she had vaguely begun thinking of the future.

She didn’t deny that it was cowardly behavior. No one was more critical of herself than she was. Even so, her heart had already tipped to one side.

Because she lacked the courage to face the look on his face once he learned that “that woman” and “Rose” were the same person.

Because if even the time they had shared in this estate under the name of “Rose” were to be denied, she felt as if her entire existence would crumble away.

Because she wanted the happy memories to naturally fade with time, remaining as good memories.

She had believed it was the best choice for both him and herself.

But now, she understood. Even that had been a selfish wish.

To ask for forgiveness is the duty of the one who wronged. To forgive is the right of the one who was wronged. And only if, when, and how the victim desires.

Moreover, Ezekiel had clearly expressed the outcome he wanted all along.

“I will take revenge. On Akenaus and that woman who made me like this. I plan to pay them back with everything I’ve got, just as much as I suffered.”

“I plan to return exactly what was done to me. I’ll make sure they get a taste of that poison themselves. Only then will they realize whom they tried to kill, and how.”

That woman.

That woman.

That woman.

He had no intention of forgiving “that woman.”

She knew just how often he had muttered those words and burned with vengeance. She knew the pain and rage he had endured because of “that woman.”

And so, if Ezekiel did not want it, Rose would have to remain his eternal villain. She must not throw him into confusion with some ambiguous goodwill.

Nursing Ezekiel, comforting him in body and mind, and aiding in his recovery of sight had been nothing more than the penance she had assigned to herself—not the penance Ezekiel wished to exact from “that woman.”

She now understood that distinction.

Sin was not something one could resolve on their own.

She had come to this realization far too late. Foolishly so.

It was unbearably lonely. Even after spending four seasons together, he didn’t know her real name. Didn’t know her real face.

It was as if everything had been a mirage.

She had been dreaming a very long dream. At times it had been beautiful, at times sorrowful, and sometimes she had not wanted to wake. But a dream is not reality. Sooner or later, it must end.

Now that she thought about it, she had never once dared to say his name aloud, paralyzed by guilt. Even now, all she could do was whisper it in her heart with trembling care.

She said goodbye to him.

Ezekiel.

“…Goodbye.”

Goodbye, Ezekiel.

And then—

“Goodbye, Rose.”

At last, it was truly time to part.

***

That morning felt somehow off.

She couldn’t even pinpoint where it had gone wrong. Until the night before, every part of daily life had been ordinary. After hearing Paulina’s diagnosis that the bandages could finally come off, Rose offered her congratulations in a gentle voice. They lay side by side in the same bed for what would be the final night with him as a patient, and just before falling asleep, she returned to the adjoining room.

Since Ezekiel’s surgery, Rose had been using a separate room. She had insisted on it, saying she was afraid she might inadvertently touch his face in his sleep and worsen his condition. Even though he’d pleaded for her to stay, saying he didn’t care if it got worse, Rose had come back with an injured leg from bumping into something quite hard, and so they ended up using separate rooms. From his position, it would have been dangerous to accidentally touch her injured leg while asleep. Worse still, he had no way of knowing exactly where or how badly Rose had hurt her leg.

And what had they talked about before parting?

That too had been no different from usual. Upon waking, he longed for the woman he wished to see first. Just as always, he had simply missed her. Paradoxically, Rose was the closest and yet the farthest woman to him. He had heard her, smelled her, touched her, tasted her—but never seen her with his own eyes. That explained it all.

Rose had always been there at the start and end of each day. It had been a steady routine since the moment she entered the estate and became his exclusive caretaker.

Then why on earth—

“Where’s Rose?”

He couldn’t understand why, no matter how thoroughly he searched the estate, there was no trace of her. This had never happened before. She was not the kind of woman who would leave him alone for long. A strange foreboding crept in.

“Well, it’s just… Well, Master, the doctors are waiting in the drawing room, so why not start by removing the bandages?”

Madam Serva suggested this to Ezekiel, who had turned the entire estate upside down looking for Rose. Only then did he become aware of the bandages covering half of his face. Rose, who had always been like a shadow at his side, was nowhere to be sensed, and it had made him forget entirely what day it was.

“Oh, right.”

Even the time it would take to walk to the drawing room felt wasteful. He grabbed the end of the tightly fixed bandage with his own hand and tore it off all at once.

“Wait, no, not like that…! Hurry and run to the drawing room, bring the guests in!”

Startled, Madam Serva quickly summoned the servants and gave orders.

Originally, the bandages had been wrapped in layers so his eyes could gradually adjust to the light. But in his impatience, he had ripped them all off at once, and for a moment, his vision turned white. A dizzying shock washed over his head like a wave.

Ezekiel closed his eyes and waited for the pounding headache to subside.

Someone approached hastily and lifted his eyelid for examination.

“There’s no issue. It’s simply a sudden shift into photopic adaptation after an extended period without visual stimuli. Nothing serious.”

The clinical tone of voice was familiar. Ezekiel’s eyes flew open. The silhouettes of the people surrounding him flickered across his retina.

“Oh, dear heavens, oh my goodness…”

Their eyes met.

Met.

Even that sensation felt like it had been ages. Surely the person facing him had felt it too. A white-haired old woman with a cane stumbled forward.

“Master, can you see me?”

The corners of the old woman’s eyes were already wet with tears. The voice was just as he remembered, but the face had shriveled so much it looked like a different person.

Ezekiel, somewhat surprised, looked down at her. “Serva? You’ve aged quite a bit.”

“I kept telling you, didn’t I? That I’m an old woman with death already knocking. You never believed me… And on top of that, I’ve been in constant anguish over you these past months, so I’ve aged terribly fast.”

“What are you saying, Serva? You’re still spry enough to live another fifty years.”

After offering a suitable word of comfort to Serva, Ezekiel looked at the tall woman standing awkwardly with the bandages in hand. The young woman, the only one of her kind present, had a face marred by severe burn scars. He instantly realized who she was.

“Dr. Paulina?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then you must be Dr. Brehman.”

“Quite right.”

Though these were faces he had never seen before, they all somehow felt familiar. Ezekiel took a moment to look around at them again—Madam Serva, Dr. Paulina, Dr. Brehman. All of them were people who had worked to restore his sight.

And by his recollection, there should have been one more person.

A woman with red hair and green eyes.

“But where’s Rose?”

No one answered.

In this miraculous moment when he had finally escaped that dreadful blindness, not a single person was smiling.

Something was clearly, deeply wrong.

With a chilled expression, Ezekiel asked, “Serva, where is Rose?”