Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 86

“If possible, our goal is to lure them to this area.”

The road connecting city to city was about a three-day ride from Claris. It also led to Derosa and, being located beyond the outskirts of the city, reduced the risk of harming civilians. Furthermore, it was convenient to summon personnel from the capital for post-operation cleanup.

“At first, make it seem like we’re on alert, then gradually let down our guard as we get closer to Claris, so it looks like we’re exposing a weakness.”

“That much is easy.”

“Our collaborator is an ordinary person and a doctor at that, so it wouldn’t be good if her identity spreads. Keep the woman’s background hidden to some extent, but just saying that Ezekiel Valdemaira has finally caught the woman he’s been desperately searching for should be enough to provoke them.”

Ezekiel sat in a circle with his subordinates and spent several more hours coordinating the details. It was only after sunset that the meeting ended, and just as he stood up to dismiss the group—

“Major, are you eating and sleeping well these days?”

Montcalm stopped him with an odd question.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, we need to spread the rumor that you’ve finally caught the woman you’ve been waiting for, but your face should look a bit better if we want it to be convincing.”

Ezekiel let out a dry chuckle. “Do I look that bad?”

“Since your return, there’ve been few days we’ve seen you eat properly. Your jawline’s gone sharp, and your eyes are so intense that we’ve been startled more than once. You don’t look like a man waiting for his lover, but someone waiting to strike down an enemy. Honestly, when you’re expressionless, it’s downright scary. If the enemy’s planning a sneak attack, I’m sure they’d turn and flee the moment they see your face.”

Only after Montcalm’s comment did Ezekiel reflect on his appearance.

When was the last time he felt the urge to eat or do anything?

He couldn’t quite remember. When he was with Rose, even mundane routines would make him smile and calm his heart, but it had been a long time since he’d felt such simple joys.

Ezekiel looked at his reflection in the window, made translucent by the night. A soldier with cold eyes and a rigid mouth stood there.

He brought a hand to his tightly closed lips. He tried to massage the stiff muscles loose with his fingertips, but it didn’t work. The forced smile he managed to pull up fell crookedly the moment his fingers dropped.

He couldn’t recall what a pleasant smile felt like, nor what kind of face he made back then.

He didn’t remember Rose ever telling him he looked scary…

But the face reflected in the window was unmistakably and chillingly expressionless. Ezekiel gazed at his own reflection in silence.

Rose, the man you loved surely didn’t look this desolate.

“Major, are you still here?”

A sound of hooves came from outside the building, and one of his men burst in, calling for Ezekiel. He was the one who’d been sent to confirm Rose’s appearance.

“Apologies. I just got back and saw the light on in the office… Since it’s urgent news, I figured it was better to report now than wait till morning.”

“Good thinking.”

The subordinate pulled a sealed envelope from inside his coat. Ezekiel broke the seal and took out the letter. Skimming over the pleasantries written by Madam Serva, his eyes went straight to the final line.

I remember seeing Rose’s hair color the day she first knocked on the mansion’s door. It was red.

After reading the last sentence, Ezekiel went back and read it again. He read it twice more, etching the answer he had hoped for into his mind.

It was red.

At last, the tension left him. He couldn’t believe what he’d doubted. To think he had put Rose and that woman on the same level—when desperation takes over, people can imagine all kinds of nonsense.

“Good work. You must’ve rushed back without rest. I’ll give you two days off.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Ezekiel folded Madam Serva’s letter and tucked it into his pocket. Now he could truly be at ease.

“By the way, sir…”

The subordinate spoke up.

“On my way back, I overheard something about the woman locked up in the detention center.”

Out of nowhere, Lisanne was mentioned. After all the anxiety she had caused him by deceiving him with illusions, even hearing her name soured the relief he had barely regained.

With a frosty expression, Ezekiel listened to what his subordinate had to say.

***

“Hey, did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“That woman. The one Major Valdemaira was desperately searching for.”

Major Valdemaira.

At the mention of Ezekiel, Lisanne instinctively listened in. No matter how near or far the guards were, anything related to Ezekiel sharpened her hearing. Normally, her ears weren’t that keen, but something primal seemed to heighten her senses.

“Oh, the red-haired one?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“Why?”

Even though the detention center was isolated from the outside world, news didn’t travel slowly. In fact, guards, bored from taking shifts, often asked about outside rumors, so the inmates tended to hear news rather quickly. Especially anything involving the Valdemaira family was always a hot topic.

“They say he mobilized an enormous force to search for her, and it seems he finally found her. Apparently, he’s bringing her to Claris soon.”

“Wow, that’s Major Valdemaira for you. He really would search the entire country to bring her back. I’m dying to know what she looks like.”

“Plenty of people are curious. I bet there’ll be a crowd camped out in front of Valdemaira’s place for a while.”

Lisanne blanked out for a moment.

He found her?

That can’t be…

Suddenly, her heart dropped to her feet. Lisanne grabbed the bars and leaned her staggering body against them to hear the guards better. But that was all they said. A scuffle broke out between two inmates in another cell, and the guards stopped talking to break it up.

Lisanne clutched her chest to ease the sharp pain.

Who did he find?

Even back when he was blind, he had been able to distinguish her with eerie precision. A man with such terrifyingly sharp senses wouldn’t be tricked by some other woman.

So if he wasn’t fooled unknowingly…

Then maybe he met someone he wanted to be fooled by.

She had heard he met countless women because of ‘Rose.’ No matter how patient he was, no one’s patience was limitless. He must’ve grown weary from the endless search for the missing Rose. It wouldn’t be odd if someone new managed to catch his attention… finally. It wasn’t strange. Besides, as the only remaining son of Valdemaira, having driven out his brother, he couldn’t keep the spot beside him empty forever.

Perhaps, to avoid the hassle of clearing up all the rumors that had been spread, he simply decided to dress up a new woman as ‘Rose’ for now.

…That makes sense.

She had neatly stepped down from her position as mistress of the Derosa estate, and even willingly came to the detention center to pay for her crimes. What lingering attachment could she possibly have now?

She had no right to say anything. Sometimes, she wondered if the injury to her throat was not just misfortune, but divine punishment. With no excuse to offer, perhaps it was better that she couldn’t speak at all.

Don’t be pitiful.

Lisanne reminded herself.

Have some shame. Don’t become any more disgraceful than this… please.

She curled up, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat, and stayed frozen for a long while. Then someone poked her in the back, snapping her out of it.

Startled, Lisanne looked up in confusion, glanced around, and gasped in surprise when she saw who it was. Ezekiel had appeared without a sound and was watching her.

Today again, Ezekiel was dressed immaculately in uniform. Perhaps it was because of the news that he was bringing ‘Rose’—the wall between them, already imposing, felt even taller today.

Lisanne gripped her clothes tightly and looked up at Ezekiel. She had seen his face many times before, yet today his eyes scanned her with an unusually scrutinizing gaze.

“Christmas is coming soon. Should I give you a present?”

He suddenly spoke.

A Christmas present…?

She couldn’t make sense of his words. Lisanne opened her eyes wide and waited for him to continue.

“It’s news about your parents.”

Her breath caught. Her vision spun wildly. Lisanne tried to stand but collapsed again. A sharp pain crushed her ribs.

“They turned themselves in after hearing news about you.”

Ezekiel looked down at the now deathly pale Lisanne.

“They said they’d take responsibility for your crimes if we spared your life. What do you think of that?”