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LOS 82
A certain day in the past.
Luise entered Colonel Bechman's office and snapped a salute.
“Eternal glory to Beldam. Colonel, did you call for me?”
“Ah, Luise. You've come at just the right time. Have a seat here.”
She followed the order, her footsteps cautious as she walked toward the desk. Colonel Bechman, however, did not sit down immediately.
There were several plants in his office that bloomed with peculiar flowers. He was in the middle of watering them.
“So, any issues lately?”
“Everything is being managed stably. There are no unusual occurrences.”
Though she had shown a pathetic side of herself before Giles Hessen, there was no need to report such a fact. Only Hessen and she knew the truth.
“Stable, is it? That is rare news indeed.”
“No matter who Giles Hessen is, he won't be able to budge as long as Beldam is watching him. Of course, the possibility of escape is also minimal.”
“As it should be. It absolutely should be. I like your confidence. I'm sure you weren't pleased when you first received this mission, but you're doing a wonderful job.”
“That is not the case,” Luise answered immediately. “I have never held a single shred of disagreement with the Command's orders.”
“Relax your shoulders; I didn't mean it that way. I am well aware that you were close classmates in the past. That is why we were able to trust you even more. The better one knows the enemy, the easier it is to prepare against them.”
Finally, Colonel Bechman turned around to face her. As a staff officer belonging to the Intelligence Agency, he possessed a soft impression that made it hard to believe he was a soldier.
Had he not been wearing a military uniform, he would have looked like an ordinary gardener.
“Since you've been observing Giles Hessen until now, I trust you've formed an opinion of him. How does he seem to you? Is he truly a devil in human skin?”
“In my view...”
What answer was he expecting? Whenever such a situation arose, Luise chose to convey the truth as it was. And her strategy had never failed.
“...He is quieter than expected.”
“Quieter?”
“Yes, sir. He doesn't resist conspicuously, and he follows orders obediently. At first, I thought he might be looking for a gap in our defenses, but it seems he has no such intentions. He... looks like a man who has resigned. Someone who has accepted his fate and is simply waiting for death.”
“Hmm. I see.”
“Still, we are not letting our guard down. We are prepared to respond immediately if any problem arises.”
“Major Gottlieb.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
“That is precisely the part we have a problem with.”
What did he mean? Luise quickly reviewed the conversation in her head. Had she made a slip of the tongue? Looking at Colonel Bechman's face, fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
“Giles Hessen is more ordinary than we thought.”
Luise couldn't answer. It was because his words were correct.
“He is not a bloodthirsty maniac, he isn't insane, nor is he a man boiling over with malice and hatred. He is too gentlemanly and rational to be a legendary killer—he even knows how to love someone passionately.”
Colonel Bechman added with a smile, “Which is precisely not the image the public wants to see from a traitor.”
“...Yes. I understand.”
“It is certainly convenient that he behaves quietly as a prisoner. But as you know, he cannot remain an ordinary prisoner. If one goes to a circus and the wild beast only acts docile, how disappointing would that be? Remember, Major Gottlieb. We are not punishing a criminal. We are putting on a show for the people out there.”
Luise nodded.
Provocative issues and scandals to blind the people... that was exactly what Beldam needed. Giles Hessen, in himself, had become the perfect actor for the show.
“People do not want to see an ordinary devil.”
“Yes. I suppose so.”
“If they realize he wasn't a devil, nothing could be more troublesome than that. Don't you agree?”
Luise felt a sense of foreboding wash over her.
It was because she thought she knew what he wanted.
Colonel Bechman got to the point.
“The scheduled trial date is not far off. By then, we must present a prepared beast. Not long ago, I came up with an excellent idea to turn Giles Hessen into a magnificent beast.”
He pushed a document across the desk. The moment Luise took the paper, she was struck with horror.
The person listed on that document was Anna.
The only woman Giles loved with all his heart...
“Use her.”
“Can we... really do that?”
“Why not? Once we've started, we must see it through to the end. Moreover, this is for the greater good. A lukewarm conclusion is unacceptable.”
The greater good... As Luise repeated those words—words that were like a double-edged sword—in her mind, she had to struggle to hide the fact that her mind had gone blank.
“Are you perhaps lacking confidence, Major Gottlieb?”
“No, sir. Absolutely not.”
“Regarding this matter, any action is permissible. As long as we can achieve our objective. Whether the woman ends up alright, whether she lives or dies... do not concern yourself with such things. What we need is Giles Hessen. Not an ordinary Giles Hessen, but the worst murderer, Giles Hessen.”
The document was taken back. Colonel Bechman set fire to the paper and watched as it slowly burned away.
Then, he spoke softly.
“This is all for the sake of Beldam.”
For the sake of Beldam.
There was no one who could refute those words.
To people like Luise, Beldam was an existence that took precedence over life itself; before that name, they could not resist, could not burst into tears, nor could they flee.
Giles was held by soldiers, forced to watch everything happening before his eyes.
Anna was likewise surrounded by large men. As if this were not the first time such a thing had happened, she endured the punishment raining down on her without letting out a single scream.
His head spun. Why was this happening? Was he being punished? Was Anna receiving the punishment for the crimes he had committed? But why? Was it because he had set the fire? Because he hadn't behaved quietly as a prisoner?
“Anna did nothing wrong!”
He shouted in rage, but no one listened. There was nothing he could do. Tears streamed down his cheeks. In the end, all of this was happening because of him.
The thought occurred to him that Anna might actually die. Overwhelmed by fear, Giles begged Luise.
“Please, please let her go. I'm the one who committed the crime. I'll take everything, just don't touch Anna.”
However, Luise merely watched the scene with a face colder and more motionless than a plaster statue, offering no answer.
“Luise Gottlieb!”
But she absolutely refused to meet Giles's eyes. Was she trying to ignore him, or did she lack the confidence to do so?
Only after his appeals turned into pleas, and his pleas transformed into wailing, did the assault end.
“Stop.”
At Luise's single command, the soldiers stepped a few paces away from Anna. Anna now lay on the floor, a wreck, motionless. Seeing this, Luise spoke only one sentence.
“Call a doctor.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Except for the designated personnel, the rest withdraw.”
Even after committing such an act, they followed the orders like machines, without a hint of agitation. Giles gasped for air, staring at Luise. He still could not understand why this had happened.
With an expressionless face, like a person who had lost their soul, Luise left the scene without meeting Giles's eyes until the very end. Her stride was heartless.
Only after the door closed behind her did the soldiers release him, almost throwing him aside.
Freed from their grip, Giles stumbled toward Anna. She was covered in bruises all over her body, showing just how much she had been beaten.
“Anna.”
In his heart, he wanted to pull her into his arms, but fearing that even that would be a new source of pain for Anna, Giles simply knelt like a sinner and wept.
He took Anna's hand. It seemed that was the extent of what he could do.
“I'm sorry, Anna. For making you like this... I'm so sorry.”
Why had he brought her to Beldam?
Why had Giles been so certain that Beldam would protect her?
It was all his failure. Bringing Anna to Beldam, making her feel her life was threatened... and not letting her go in time for the sake of his own personal greed. All of it.
Anna, who had been lying with her eyes closed like a dead person, slowly opened them. Meeting those deep blue eyes, Giles felt as if someone had driven a knife into his heart.
Just as he thought she might break apart.
Suddenly, Anna burst into laughter. As if the situation were simply too funny to bear. Instead of shedding tears, she laughed heartily. Then, she spoke in a voice devoid of strength.
“Those sons of bitches. I knew I'd end up like this.”
Her hand reached out. Giles grasped Anna's hand, which was caressing his face, with his own restricted hands.
“Don't cry, Giles.”
Anna looked at Giles as if scolding him. Something was burning within those blue eyes.
“I will never die. So don't you break down either.”
Giles couldn't bring himself to answer. A corner of his heart had already collapsed miserably.
What consumed him was not anger or hatred, but a desperate sense of helplessness.
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