Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 89

Paulina wore a long red wig and covered it with a veil that concealed her entire face. The outfit prepared under Montcalm’s instructions from Ezekiel, meant for her to appear as ‘Rose’, contained a few peculiar and hard-to-understand requests.

The day she first received the wig and veil, Paulina looked at Montcalm with a puzzled expression.

“These items were prepared to match her physical appearance. Red hair and green eyes. The eyes won’t be noticeable unless someone gets very close, so that’s not a problem, but please always disguise the hair with the wig.”

Paulina fiddled with the wig for a moment. The red wig, seemingly made from someone’s real hair, was smooth and soft to the touch.

“It’s red.”

Montcalm noticed the unfamiliar tone in her muttering.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Not a problem, but it’s my first time realizing Miss Rose had such vivid coloring.”

“Didn’t you live in the mansion with her?”

“Yes, but I never saw her privately.”

Rose was a woman who never stepped out of the shadows. Always behind Ezekiel, at night, hidden in the dark.

Paulina laid the wig on her lap and began anew.

“When I first heard the rumors, I thought the Major was looking for another woman, not Miss Rose.”

Knowing how much hardship Ezekiel had gone through searching for a woman who never showed up no matter how hard he looked, Montcalm reacted in shock.

“What do you mean by that?”

“When I heard red hair and green eyes, Miss Rose didn’t immediately come to mind.”

So when all of Astrie was in an uproar over a red-haired, green-eyed woman, Paulina alone harbored doubts. Was the woman Ezekiel so desperately sought really Rose?

“If someone asked me what Miss Rose looked like, I would’ve said she was a delicate and graceful beauty. I think the other staff at the mansion would also describe her as calm and quiet, someone who cared deeply for the Major. I doubt any of them would describe her as a woman with red hair and green eyes.”

Montcalm looked troubled. “Doctor, information must be objective. Describing someone as a delicate and graceful beauty is too subjective. So is saying she’s calm and quiet.”

“I know. But really, that’s the only way to describe Miss Rose. The mansion was always kept dim so as not to strain the Major’s eyes. In my view, the hardest thing to distinguish in that house was color.”

Rose, who worked as a maid in the mansion, always wore her uniform neatly and covered her hair with a headscarf. For those who lived in the visually limited environment of the mansion and interacted with Rose, it would have been impossible to describe her as a woman with red hair and green eyes.

That was why Paulina thought it was only natural that Ezekiel couldn’t find Rose. From the start, the clues were not enough to identify her. Even those who had seen her in person were uncertain if it was the same person, confused and unsure. So how could strangers possibly recognize her?

To be frank, the only reason such an extensive and reckless search could be carried out with such incomplete information was because Ezekiel was from Valdemaira.

Montcalm offered a cautious rebuttal. “Isn’t it possible that someone saw her in a bright place?”

“Of course, that’s possible.”

Paulina tilted her head. “But then why would they see the same person differently from how I did?”

It had been only once.

Rose, who lived avoiding the light just like her master, had appeared in the light only once.

On the day Ezekiel underwent surgery, when Rose was treating a wound on her thigh from being stabbed by a scalpel—Paulina had caught a glimpse of her eyes.

They were a mysterious and beautiful hazel.

If Paulina wasn’t mistaken, that meant someone had lied to Ezekiel.

So could she be sure the other information wasn’t false?

“Who was the first person to tell the Major about Miss Rose’s physical appearance?”

Her question brought a heavy silence.

Paulina understood Montcalm’s silence. Anyone would be the same. Faced with the possibility that all their efforts might have been for nothing, it was only natural to feel overwhelmed.

“…Doctor.”

After a long period of deep contemplation, Montcalm finally spoke, “Even the smallest clue, if it’s a piece of her, shakes the Major to his core—I’ve seen it up close and know it well. But right now, we’re on official duty. The enemy is a foreign army, fully armed, and we don’t even know their size. The subordinates who came in advance for this operation went in believing the Major would lead them with calm rationality. At the very least, the commander’s focus must not falter until this mission is over.”

Ahead of the official duty, Montcalm deferred a conclusion. For now, it was the most realistic decision. Paulina agreed with Montcalm’s judgment.

However, the matter in question showed no sign of ending even as they approached Claris.

Paulina slightly lifted her veil, revealed her face, and looked around. At first, she couldn’t let her guard down not knowing when the attack would occur, but once peaceful days continued, that too became a source of concern.

Maybe something had gone wrong in the plan.

Worried, Paulina persuaded Montcalm, who tried to stop her, saying it was dangerous, and boldly got off the carriage alone under the pretense of getting some air. Still, the outcome remained the same.

Now, Claris was just around the corner. After stopping by the last city and staying a night, they would reach Claris in two more days.

The Valdemaira family’s carriage, which had come leading a large party, slowly passed through the city gates. Paulina opened the window and looked out at the bustling streets. The city wasn’t particularly large, a mid-sized town at best, but since it was the last outpost before entering the capital, there were many travelers and inns to accommodate them. The bright energy unique to regions with active traffic of outsiders filled the entire city.

“Give me the biggest, sturdiest one. It’s New Year’s tomorrow—we’ll use it for the party.”

There was another reason for the excitement. The voices of a family choosing a turkey at a nearby shop rang with cheer.

So that’s why the atmosphere felt so lively—today was the last day of the year.

She had lost track of the date, having spent so much time on the road.

“Dad! There’s a huge carriage passing by!”

“Which family is it? Ah, Valdemaira.”

People who saw the crest on the carriage cheered. The Valdemaira family, which included the war hero Ezekiel, was a meritorious household welcomed wherever it went. As soon as she stepped down from the Valdemaira carriage, people treated Paulina kindly despite her foreign appearance.

A child holding his father’s hand jumped and waved energetically at Paulina, who wore a veil. Paulina held down the hem of her veil to keep it from fluttering and gently waved back.

If they had hurried just a bit more, everyone traveling with her could have spent New Year’s with their beloved families like the citizens of this town.

But there was no helping it, since their schedule was set according to official duties.

Paulina thought of her husband, whom she had entrusted to her family. She worried for her husband, who had to spend the end of the year and the New Year without his wife, but instead, he worried for her, who had chosen to act as bait and travel even knowing an ambush was likely.

Once we return, we should start trying for a child too.

She closed the window.

***

“The carriage has finally arrived.”

The flashy Valdemaira carriage was easy to spot anywhere. Even if it wasn’t in sight, the cheers alone gave away its location.

Levian’s prediction was spot on. The soldiers who brought the woman came to the most expensive inn in the city. As soon as the scout brought news of the Valdemaira’s arrival, the spies—who had already arrived posing as guests and called their scattered comrades—disposed of the innkeeper, staff, and guests in an instant and locked them in the basement, naturally taking over their identities.

“Is that really the woman?” Levian asked Madam Serva.

Her limbs restrained, Madam Serva remained silent as if she hadn’t heard. When she didn’t budge, another spy grabbed the old woman’s head roughly and forcibly pressed it against the window.

Thud. A painful sound rang out.

“Ugh!”

Startled, Anna screamed through her gag. Madam Serva, her face half-pressed against the windowpane, trembled to endure the stinging pain.

Levian shrugged. “See? Things go so much smoother when you cooperate.”

“Move aside a bit. I’m dying to see what this woman looks like.”

Akenaus calmly stood behind Madam Serva and looked outside the window.

Just then, the woman in the carriage opened the window and looked around.

“So that’s the woman he’s looking for.”

Akenaus clicked his tongue unconsciously. The woman had completely concealed her face with a pitch-black veil. She exchanged a few words with the soldiers escorting the carriage.

Soon, a soldier opened the carriage door and extended his hand to escort her. The woman took his hand and stepped out of the carriage. At that moment, the wind blew, and her veil fluttered widely.

Akenaus immediately let out a groan of dismay. “What the—what’s with her face?”

Her face was covered in mottled burn scars. Her features weren’t bad, but the scars were so overwhelming that it was hard to focus on her actual appearance. For Akenaus, who had long awaited the moment to see what kind of woman had turned Ezekiel into a fool, it was a truly disheartening sight.

“She’s huge too. If she crushed you under her weight, you couldn’t even breathe. Are you sure she’s the right person?”

“Exactly. Maybe Major Valdemaira has a weird sense of beauty? You, young master, were known for only dating beautiful women… and your mother was a famed beauty too.”

Levian didn’t hide his perplexity. Staring closely at the woman’s face, he let out a scoffing laugh.

“If that’s his type, I guess it makes sense why all the prostitutes we sent were rejected.”

“The guy was blind for a while—maybe he doesn’t even have a sense of beauty. But still, you’d notice something’s wrong just by touching that. Did he just not know because he’s never touched a woman before? Or is she insanely good in bed?”

Madam Serva also saw the woman’s face that Akenaus and Levian had witnessed.

She had forgotten to breathe the moment the veil had fluttered away. That face covered in scars was all too familiar.

How could she forget? The doctor who had perfectly operated on Ezekiel’s eyes.