Chapter 173
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
Living with Johann, I had no idea, and now I felt even more foolish, having only thought the Major suspected Johann of being either a h-mosexual or a deserter.
“My superior, who had been mocking me, finally issued an internal investigation order. When I first spoke, he dismissed me, thinking I was just trying to separate you from your husband. Now, he’s starting to believe me.”
The major had gone to the operations command and met with the officers handling the case. Then, he compiled the evidence and his observations of us while monitoring our movements and wrote a report to submit to his superior.
The thick bundle of documents in my hands, the report with the conclusion on the first page: ‘After compiling all the evidence, the suspect with an unknown name has been identified as a Falkland spy disguised as Johann Renner.’
“Do you wonder why I’m telling you all this? I’m telling you in detail so you’ll believe me. Doesn’t it seem more convincing now?”
“…But why are you telling me all of this?”
I couldn’t believe it, but it turned out that I was the traitor who assassinated my own country’s commander. So, this investigation was supposed to be confidential, not something the suspect, me, should know about. It was incredibly unsettling that he was telling me everything before I even asked.
“Are you here to arrest me?”
The major frowned, clearly finding the question absurd, and shook his head. His refusal to arrest me only made his intentions feel more sinister.
“…So, are you saying if I sleep with you, you’ll spare me and my husband?”
I expected him to give a twisted smile, but instead, the major’s expression hardened.
“Don’t talk nonsense. If that happens, I’ll be an accomplice too.”
“Then why are you telling me all this?”
“To save you.”
Save me? The major kept saying things that made no sense, and his words were becoming harder to understand.
“Do you want to live?”
My hand, still clutching the report, was trembling uncontrollably, and maybe that was answer enough, but the major didn’t wait for me to reply.
“Then report that damn Falkland bastard. That’s your only way out.”
Report him?
“The deadline is noon tomorrow. I’ll submit this report to my superior in the morning. By lunchtime, the arrest orders will be issued. If you don’t personally report that bastard to the police station before then, you’ll be executed alongside him.”
“……”
“Can’t do it?”
I opened my mouth but couldn’t respond, only gasping for air.
“Well, considering you still call him your husband, even after knowing what kind of person he is, it’s no surprise. Are you stupid?”
The major sneered at me with raw contempt in his eyes and clicked his tongue.
“Wake up. If your husband hadn’t been a spy for Falkland, the Leningen air raid, which left you useless, would never have happened. The man you love made you into this. Still not angry?”
The major studied my face, and when he didn’t see any sign of anger, he clicked his tongue again.
“Such a fanatic.”
I wasn’t not angry. It was just that so much was happening all at once that I couldn’t feel anything anymore.
“Think about it carefully. Do you think he felt sorry? No, he must have been pleased. He got rid of the fact that he was a spy and made you into a murderer in your own mind. He’s been using you like a blank slate, keeping you around to use you for his disguise. If it weren’t for that, why wouldn’t he have abandoned a useless woman like you? Was it because he loved you?”
The major scoffed.
“What kind of man makes a woman he loves commit murder on his behalf? And why, of all people, did he choose you? Even if he got caught, he could claim it was all your doing, and while you get executed, he’d just calmly escape. You’re not even his own kind, so what does he care if you live or die?”
“……”
“That bastard just put a collar around your neck to exploit you like livestock. That’s all the marriage was to him.”
The major, seeing how confused I was about my own emotions, drove the point home.
“You were just a mask for him to disguise himself as a Highlander, a puppet for his nightly needs, a scapegoat to offer in place of his own life. Oh, and one more thing I almost forgot.”
He added,
A ticket for his escape.
“Admit it. You’re not the only one who’s going out of Eisenthal, are you? That sly bastard must have asked you to run away with him.”
I didn’t answer, but the major stared at me insistently and twisted his lips into a smirk.
“Did he also mention going abroad?”
It seemed he found his answer in my silence, and his smirk grew even more twisted.
“Where do you think that ‘abroad’ would be?”
Falkland, of course.
“You know him well enough to know that he wouldn’t want to leave you alive in this land. As soon as you help him escape from this valley, it’s clear you’d be useless to him, and he’d have you killed.”
Could he really do such a thing… But how could I be sure he wouldn’t? I didn’t really know him.
“If he liked you enough to take you back to his homeland, he’d throw you away as soon as he had no use for you. If he spoke of the Prime Minister’s location, he’d be a hero in his country. You can already imagine all the women flocking to him. No matter how pretty you are, a foreign woman will only be a hindrance to his rise, so he’ll want to get rid of you soon enough.”
Women… women. The women in his homeland.
“She probably went back home.”
That woman.
“Rize Eineman, he doesn’t love you. He’s just using you. So what do you think he’ll do when you’re no longer of any use to him?”
He’ll throw me away.
And go back to Dana.
Discussion
1 CommentReactions
Hilale