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LOS 40
Giles opened the iron door and stepped inside. As he appeared, a young agent waiting there reflexively stood up.
“Captain Hessen.”
“Where is Vincent?”
“He is currently inside the interrogation room. He hasn't finished his work yet. However, quite some time has passed since he entered, so he should be out soon.”
Giles nodded and motioned for the agent to sit. He, too, could see the situation in the interrogation room through the glass wall. It was a one-way mirror, visible only from the outside.
He saw the back of a familiar man. The man was gripping the chin of another man tied to a chair, barking something at him. The sharp voice was reduced to a muffled hum, blocked by the soundproof wall.
“Shall I play some music while you wait?”
The agent had already moved toward the gramophone. There were many records available here. They were items that had existed since the time of Beldam's rule. Giles still felt strange whenever he saw that gramophone. To think that the Revolutionary Army had inherited the bad taste of the Beldamites.
“Forget it. I'll just wait.”
“Understood.”
After a few minutes, the door to the interrogation room opened, and a tall man over 190 centimeters appeared. It was Vincent Monagan. He was a man who displayed his true value more in a torture chamber than an interrogation room.
Vincent's gray eyes locked onto Giles. His dry gaze, in which almost no trace of humanity could be found, occasionally made even his allies flinch.
Giles looked at him impassively and greeted him.
“Vincent.”
“Ah, Captain, you've arrived.”
Contrary to his polite greeting, there was a delinquent quality to his smile. It was a smile that held no goodwill, appearing somewhat condescending. Although Giles was effectively his superior, Vincent did not respect him at all.
Vincent gestured with his chin toward the agent.
“Peter, you may leave now.”
“I will see you later.”
The agent gave a salute and strode out of the room. Now, only the two of them remained in the narrow space. Vincent lit a cigarette and asked.
“Would you like one?”
“I'm fine.”
The cigarette smoke lingered in the air before vanishing. Vincent was dressed in a light-colored shirt and suspenders. There were bloodstains on his shirt. He made no effort to hide them. In fact, Vincent was a man who regarded such stains as medals of honor.
His well-combed ash-blonde hair was surprisingly undisturbed. Vincent was a skilled torture technician. He viewed the act of gripping a target's mind and dragging them through the mud as something akin to playing tennis. Hatred, accumulated over many years, had ignited his talent.
“I was interrogating a Beldam Agent we captured recently. No matter how gently I coax him, he has no intention of opening his mouth. It seems I'll have to move on to the next stage.”
“Get approval before you proceed. We are in negotiations with the Beldam side, so it won't do to handle things recklessly.”
“Who said I'd kill him? I'm not making him lose his limbs. I'm just changing the method of interrogation.”
After exhaling another cloud of smoke, he asked.
“Why did you look for me?”
“I heard you volunteered to take on this case.”
“I did. Is there a problem?”
“I appreciate your willingness to cooperate, but this is something I can handle on my own. There's no need for you to go through the trouble of stepping forward.”
“You're overflowing with enthusiasm, just like a hero of the revolution. To think you'd refuse someone offering a helping hand.”
He sneered subtly, but Giles ignored it.
“To put it simply, I'm telling you to get your hands off this case.”
“I cannot do that.”
“.......”
“Approval has already come down from the higher-ups. I have officially joined this case. If you wish to rescind it, please ask the leadership directly, not me.”
Giles sighed inwardly. He was one step too late. He didn't mind other people, but he specifically hoped Vincent would not be involved in this matter, yet his concerns had manifested into reality.
“Is there perhaps something that mustn't be discovered?”
“Don't be perverse. I am the person in charge of this case. Regardless of the approval, all decisions are made through my authorization. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes. Put your worries to rest.”
“Put that man in prison for now. Don't take him to the third basement level prematurely. We can't have a trivial matter becoming a stumbling block for the leadership.”
“Understood.”
Vincent looked thoroughly dissatisfied. His nuance suggested that he had planned everything out, only for Giles to scatter it all.
Giles didn't care about his mood. He was Vincent's superior, and he knew better than anyone that getting emotionally entangled with Vincent would bring nothing but trouble.
It was just as Giles was about to leave the interrogation room. Vincent asked, as if spitting the words out at his back.
“Why did you kill Albert Lehmann?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I'm curious. A single word from that man would be far more precious than a hundred pieces of information from these small fry. The higher-ups seemed displeased as well. Did something happen?”
“The conditions just weren't right to capture him alive. It was an inevitable decision.”
“Thanks to that, the work I have to do has become more tedious. What could have been solved with just Lehmann now requires me to seize and question several people.”
“Vincent.”
When Giles called him while looking him straight in the eye, Vincent's movement froze for a moment. Only the cigarette smoke drifted slowly under the light.
“The revolution was successful. The people of Ipswin have reclaimed their rights. There is no longer a reason to stain your hands with blood as before. So, don't immerse yourself too deeply in this. You must work according to the current trend.”
“Surely, you aren't worrying about me?”
“I'm telling you not to get unnecessarily worked up. You just do what I tell you. Don't forget. Report any findings immediately. Do not step outside my control.”
“......I shall carve that deep into my heart.”
Giles closed the iron door without lingering and stepped outside. Perhaps because of the cigarette smoke, a headache washed over him.
Of all people, Vincent Monagan had become involved in a task that should have been handled alone. He was not only one of the most dangerous soldiers in the Revolutionary Army but also someone who openly showed hostility toward Giles.
The situation was not good.
If he were to find out about Anna...
Giles Hessen quickened his pace. He intended to read all the documents seized from the agents who had been on the Beldam train. He had to find out immediately if there was even a single line of information regarding Anna.
He didn't know if Albert Lehmann had discovered the name Eloise Bismarck, but at the very least, he was a man who had once earned Anna's trust. After Giles, Lehmann was the one who knew her best.
Why had Anna given her trust to such a man?
He erased the useless thoughts from his mind. If there was something he truly needed to erase, it was the slightest possibility of the Revolutionary Army discovering Anna's real name.
-
After a few days, I was told I could be discharged from the hospital. Since I was starting to get tired of hospital life, I happily went through the discharge procedures.
The nurse who had been taking care of me acted particularly regretful. It wasn't just an act; it was sincere. I knew that because every time Giles came to visit, she would diligently steal glances at him.
I left the hospital after saying my final goodbyes. I wore the same clothes I had put on with the intention of leaving Ipswin, and I carried the bag containing my few belongings.
In the end, everything had returned to the starting point.
The row house where I lived was still empty. I didn't bother looking for a new place. Heading toward the familiar building didn't feel too bad. It felt as if I were returning to a nest. Now, this place was my own sanctuary, where neither Albert nor anyone else could interfere.
Unlocking the door and entering the empty house, I set down my bag. Then, as if nothing had happened, I went about my chores. I unpacked, hung my clothes on the rack, and mopped the floor that had gathered dust in the few days I was away.
By the time I finished tending to the house, it had grown dark outside. I made a simple vegetable stew to eat. The small house, now with only me left, was silent, but I liked that stillness. Silence is the most beautiful music of all.
Having returned after experiencing so many things, I thought my mind would be unsettled, but surprisingly, it wasn't. I was fine. Truly, I felt nothing. I wasn't sad or lonely, but I wasn't particularly happy either.
Everything surrounding me maintained the appearance of an ordinary daily life, and I almost fell into the illusion that nothing had actually happened.
My illusion shattered the moment I took the dress out of my bag. The pearl-colored dress awakened all my memories. The luxurious train heading to a foreign land, the many passengers, Albert's death... and Giles Hessen. This dress was also a gift from Giles.
The expression Giles wore when I appeared in the dress played before my eyes. He had frozen as if witnessing two moons rising side by side, and then his face flushed like a boy facing his first love. Then, he showed a very ordinary smile. A face in love, the kind one could see anywhere.
I had been under a great delusion. Giles had never hated me. I knew it once more by looking at his face. Someone who hated me could never show such a face.
Hatred is like ink that may fade and blur, but never disappears. Once stained by even a single drop, it can never regain its pure color.
I, who believed I would never love another person, might have wavered for a moment then. He captured my eyes even more than the mysterious pearl hue of the dress in my hand. Though it was only for an instant... I still cannot forget that moment.
I did not believe in love. All the emotions I had experienced as love until now were nothing more than delusions, and they always betrayed me.
Falling in love with another person ultimately only makes me fragile and forces me to reveal my weaknesses to others. To show the emotions residing in the deepest part of me, I must throw the doors of my being wide open.
That was why I had resolved to distance myself from love even more. It was better to neither love nor be loved than to be hurt.
The thing I prioritized above all else was myself. I could never tolerate being hurt. I thought it would be far better to become a thornbush that no one seeks.
But the moment I witnessed the very emotion I wanted to avoid most within the eyes of the man I believed I ought to hate... I could no longer be certain.
Like someone who had been walking through the bitter cold on frozen ground and was suddenly invited into a house full of warmth, I was hesitating.
Once I set foot there, I would never be able to come back out. For once you immerse yourself in warm comfort, you realize how unbearable the harsh frozen land truly was. That is why, even knowing I should push it away, I wanted to take that hand.
The worst nightmare had turned into a sweet dream, urging me to dive into it once more.
I... don't know. What I should do... I already have too many wounds received from people. It would be a lie to say I'm not afraid that the impulse surrounding me might return as one of those wounds.
Can I trust him?
Can I throw myself into a beautiful sea of unknown depth?
I carefully folded the dress. Even to my eyes, it was a truly beautiful color. More so than the numerous dresses I wore during the time I imitated a count's daughter. There wasn't a single ornament or frill attached, but I liked it better for that.
Adjusting the light to be dim and lying in bed, I recalled the single night I spent with him on the train. I chewed over the words he had spoken in my mind. Good night, Anna Keating.
'I hope nightmares bypass you today.'
Then, as if by magic, I fell into a sleep that rushed in like a tide. It was a comfortable silence, with neither nightmares nor good dreams.
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