Time of the Blind Beast - Side Story 4

He quickly straightened his posture and guided Lisanne and the young girls onto the bed.

“Stay right here and don’t move. Our army has secured this room as a base first, so it’s the safest place.”

“Yes, we will.”

Ezekiel, who had checked his weapon with practiced ease, was about to leave the dormitory room.

“Ah, wait.”

Lisanne gathered her courage and called out to him.

“There are other children hiding in the same way in other rooms. If you happen to find them, could you please protect them?”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Ezekiel gave a slight nod.

“…Please don’t get hurt.”

Whether that last softly added remark reached him, she could not tell.

Only after the door closed did Lisanne finally let out the breath caught in her throat.

“Unnie, your face is as red as a carrot.”

The younger siblings, who had stopped crying, stared up at Lisanne’s flushed cheeks.

Lisanne cooled the heat in her face with her cold hand. Her first love, whom she had run into again after so long, was still just as dependable and handsome.

***

She had no memory of how she had managed to run all the way to Claris.

It was unbelievable news.

They said her father and mother had been caught touching the treasures of House Valdemaira. Where they had been dragged off to was unknown, and she had rushed away from the school at once to meet Akenaus Valdemaira and beg forgiveness in their stead.

And this was the result.

“Take this and use whatever means you can. Then maybe the story will change.”

Lisanne stared blankly at the glass bottle Akenaus had forced into her hand.

“Choose. Will three people die, or will one person die? Don’t try any half-baked tricks.”

He was a terrifying man.

He had been frightening even when she was a child, but now he was even more so.

Lisanne had faintly heard the rumors that the Valdemaira brothers did not get along. In truth, it was less a matter of mutual dislike and more the elder brother’s one-sided jealousy and envy. The elder was a useless wastrel, while the younger was a promising soldier with a brilliant future. There wasn’t a soul in the world who hadn’t heard of the stark difference in their reputations.

Of course, it wasn’t any great revelation. In families with honors and wealth enough for siblings to fight over, it was rarer to find brothers who were close.

But still, she had never imagined it would be this bad. After all these years, the man she met again had a bright smile on his face as he casually ordered her to poison Ezekiel.

What was worse, Akenaus seemed not to remember Lisanne at all from when she was young. Well, Ezekiel hadn’t remembered her until she had revealed her identity either, so it wasn’t so strange that he wouldn’t recognize her face. But the man had groped her with his sticky hands, saying her face was just his type.

“What a shame. Virgins are stiff and boring, and it takes a lot of time to train them. If it weren’t for just a week from now, I would’ve dragged you straight to my bedroom.”

A chill crept up her spine like a coiling vine.

If she had been dragged into Akenaus’s bedroom just like that, she wouldn’t even have had the time to be worrying like this now.

And belatedly, she understood. Why the woman who had come out of the guest room with Akenaus had run out with tears brimming in her eyes.

That could have been her. No, it might still become her future self.

To keep her life from being swept along recklessly by others, Lisanne’s parents had enrolled her in school. Looking back now, it had been overreaching. That school, beyond their means, had turned into the noose that trapped the fate of their whole family.

What should she do?

It was so bleak, so utterly hopeless.

No matter how she looked around, there was no path to be seen. The world had become as strange and confining as a labyrinth.

Lost, Lisanne stood there for a long while, dazed.

Word came that Ezekiel had returned to the Valdemaira mansion after the victory ceremony.

One person, or three people.

Lisanne turned over again the choices Akenaus had forced upon her. Today was the day she had to draw a conclusion to this coerced decision.

The mansion she stepped into once more was bustling, preparing a banquet to celebrate Ezekiel’s triumph and return.

“Where is Lord Ezekiel?”

“He seemed tired from the ceremony. He was asleep in his bedroom. I only peeked the door open a little and left quietly, worried the noise might wake him.”

“Understandable. Why does the royal family insist on holding a victory ceremony the moment a man returns from war, without even letting him rest…”

Lingering around the kitchen and quietly listening in, Lisanne placed a teapot and cups on a tray and carried it upstairs. She already knew the location of Ezekiel’s bedroom from Akenaus. In truth, rather than him telling her directly, it was more that Akenaus had prattled on endlessly, saying she needed at least basic information about the mansion if she was to carry out the task, and she had remembered it all.

“…It’s the same as ever.”

She had thought she wouldn’t remember, since she had only visited the mansion once as a very young child. But when the familiar scenery unfolded before her eyes, the memories of that day resurfaced vividly.

Climbing toward Ezekiel’s bedroom, Lisanne stopped at the landing and looked down the corridor lined with guest rooms. It was here she had first met Ezekiel, had been falsely accused and insulted by Akenaus… and then rescued safely again by Ezekiel.

“If you ever run into my brother again and find yourself in trouble, say you were doing an errand for me.”

Even then, he had willingly lent her his name, worried that the young Lisanne might suffer more under Akenaus.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

And he had saved her at the school caught in the war.

And yet here she was, carrying poison of unknown nature to the very man who had helped her time and again. She could hardly bear the shame and humiliation of her situation. At the same time, she feared for her missing family, and the terror of Akenaus chilled her to the bone.

If only she could take all the consequences upon herself alone and simply disappear like dust.

Dragging her heavy feet, Lisanne arrived before Ezekiel’s bedroom.

The door was ajar, slightly open. Oiled well, it swung soundlessly when she pushed.

The first thing she did upon stepping inside was close it.

The man was deeply asleep. Still in uniform, not even changed. Perhaps he had sat to rest for a moment, only to succumb to exhaustion and fall asleep right there.

Lisanne set down the tray and gazed at Ezekiel’s face.

His closed eyes told of the war’s fatigue. No wonder. She had glimpsed firsthand how dry and harrowing the battlefield was, where lives could vanish in the blink of an eye. A man of his station could have stayed safe in the rear, living in comfort, but he had volunteered for the front lines and led the fight. Truly, he was an extraordinary man.

And yet, she was told to destroy him in an instant…

With her own hand.

Lisanne looked back and forth between the dark tea and the glass bottle. The poison within was colorless and odorless. If she dropped it into the tea, it would vanish without a trace.

She opened the lid.

The surface rippled like a shadow. Her hand shook uncontrollably, making the bottle waver.

It was like her own heart, faltering and lost.

What if Ezekiel did not believe her words?

Even if he did, what if he failed to act at once?

What if Akenaus harmed her father and mother, locked away somewhere, the moment he saw an opening?

What if Ezekiel thanked her for the warning but declared that her family’s crime must still be punished?

Too many “what ifs” bound her chest tight.

The simplest way to escape this moment was to do exactly as Akenaus had ordered and pour the poison into Ezekiel’s tea.

But was it simple?

Was harming another human truly simple?

Perhaps for some it was. Especially for Akenaus, who had sent her here without a shred of guilt.

Perhaps for others it was inevitable, something they had no choice but to do. Ezekiel had slain countless enemies in battle and become a hero. Yet when he led his army, he fought for values worth risking his life for—his nation, his people, and his honor. Things that surpassed any personal motives. Lisanne herself owed her life to him.

Compared to that, Akenaus’s goal in sending her was pitiful.

No, what was truly pitiful was herself, unable to defy his threat and now standing here in this mansion.

What now?

What should she do?

Even before anything happened, a cold shiver crawled down her spine.