CHAPTER 4: EACH TRUTH AND EACH HAPPINESS (XXVIII)
Part 094
As she held Jenny’s hand with a stern expression, Hegel sighed and said,
“Then I will get you a carriage. Please stay here for a moment.”
Then she ran back towards the main palace. When she looked up at Jenny’s face, which was holding her hand tightly, she saw that she had a very anxious face and was looking all around. She patted Jenny on the back and said,
“It’s okay, Jenny. We’ll all get out.”
“No, as long as the young lady is safe, I don’t mind what happens to me. However, something was strange, so I couldn’t tell you to go first.”
“Something strange? What?”
“I saw them running in a group as I was crawling through the grass, and there was this guy who looked familiar. Where did I see him before? I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
“Did you see someone?”
“Yes, they were stampeding with swords in hand.”
While Jenny was thinking with a serious face, Hegel appeared. He was riding a small, shabby carriage that he had gotten from somewhere. Hegel jumped out of the carriage, opened the carriage door, and gestured. She was about to get on the carriage without even thinking about what was going on, but Jenny caught her. When she turned around, she saw that her face was stiff.
“Jenny? What’s wrong?”
Jenny held her arm and spoke softly.
“My lady, it would be better to wait until Sir Franz comes.”
“If the palace is occupied, you can’t come even if you want to. Since you’re in the mansion, wouldn’t it be better to leave quickly?”
“No. If there is any problem, he will definitely come to your side. Lord Hegel came to know about it, so there is no way Franz wouldn’t come even if he found out.”
“Miss, there is no time to waste. It’s urgent.”
Jenny was shaking her head and holding on to her, while Hegel was urging her on the carriage and, not knowing what to do, stood facing Jenny. She had previously distrusted Lord Hegel, and his eyes were full of doubt. Jenny lowered her voice and spoke in a voice that could be heard by her.
“It’s Militia. The faces I saw are Militia members.”
“What?”
“Miss, do you think we have to leave the palace quickly?”
Lord Hegel, with an urgent look on his face, urged her once more, but Jenny, who took a look around him, caught her and sent her behind him. Jenny, with a hard face, hid her behind herself back and stood blocking Lord Hegel, glaring at him. Jenny and Hegel were looking at each other and sharing sharp eyes, so she lowered her voice and asked a small question in Jenny’s ear.
“What? What’s the matter, Jenny?”
“It’s strange that the person who entered the palace appears outside with a carriage, young lady.”
It was like that. Surely Lord Hegel crossed the back gate of the inner palace and ran towards the main palace earlier? But just now he came to the palace in a carriage. It appeared climbing the outer wall. The inner palace becomes increasingly noisy, and Jenny and Hegel are having a snowball fight. Hearing a loud scream, she looked inside the inner palace and turned her head to see Hegel’s face. There was a person standing there with an unfamiliar face. Was he a person whose impression changed like that just by erasing his smile?
She squeezed Jenny’s hand and spoke, trying to sound as dignified as possible.
“Lord Hegel? I will wait until Sir Franz comes. If I hide in the garden I passed on the way, I think I won’t be detected for a while. Sir, please find Sir Franz and bring him back.”
After finishing her words, she turned around and headed towards the main palace, but Hegel immediately blocked her path. Then Jenny pulled her next to herself again.
It’s definitely scary now.
“What are you doing? Get out of the way, Lord Hegel.”
“Miss, don’t make things difficult. Get in the carriage. Jenny, who is quick-witted, won’t be able to take you.”
“I’m asking you what you are doing, Lord Hegel. What are you doing?”
She asked as fiercely as she could, and Hegel grinned.
“They are trying to kidnap you, young lady.”
Goosebumps rose and spread down her spine. Kidnapping. Why did Hegel? As his hair began to turn gray, Jenny’s grip on my hand tightened and she barely came to her senses. Jenny completely blocked her path, and she tried desperately to figure out where to run. There would be no use running into the palace, right? How long did it take from here to the outer palace? If she had run, she would have been caught right away. As she was taking a step back to avoid Hegel, who was approaching her step by step, looking here and there, Franz’s voice rang out from behind her.
“Miss! Sister!”
When she turned around, she saw Franz running towards the outer palace, screaming. A sigh of relief came out, but Hegel clicked his tongue.
“I told you to wait at the mansion, but that guy lost his temper.”
Then he pulled out his sword. Franz was running like crazy, and Jenny was blocking her path without any hesitation. Hegel swung his sword without any expression, and Jenny let out a groan, folded her back, and fell forward.
“Jenny!!!”
She hugged Jenny as she fell and sat down. Dark red blood poured out of Jenny’s stomach. Hegel casually dragged his horse hitched to his carriage.
“If I waste my time fighting with that bastard, the maid will die. Lady, will you be willing to follow along so that bastard will take the maid to her doctor in time?”
“No… no! No way, lady…”
She said, grabbing her arm with her wet hands. Even as she spoke, blood poured out of her stomach. It wasn’t a cut, but a deep stab. She didn’t know anything about medicine, but if you spill blood like this, you’ll die. The stomach has many organs inside it, so she thought she needed to stop the bleeding, but how? Should she press this area where the blood was leaking? Why did it hurt like this even if she just left it alone? While she was holding Jenny, who was turning gray at an alarming rate, Franz stood in her way, drawing his sword.
“Brother! What are you doing!”
It was the first time she heard Franz yelling in anger, but Hegel didn’t care and looked down at her and said,
“Nothing will happen, young lady. I will send you back when my master returns. I swear. If you delay any longer, it will be really late, young lady.”
“Bullshit! You can’t even lift a finger!”
“You can fight me alone while protecting the young lady? Then your precious person will die?”
Hegel said, looking at Franz without expression. Franz, who had adjusted his grip on the sword, gritted his teeth and was unable to answer. Beads of sweat flowed from Franz’s forehead as he glared at Hegel. Hegel looked at me, keeping Franz in check, as if he wasn’t busy. If things continued like this, Jenny would really die. She could feel the strength draining from Jenny’s trembling body as she held his hand.
She carefully laid Jenny down and stood up.
“Sir Franz, take Jenny to the doctor. Immediately.”
“Miss, no. Absolutely not!”
Franz shouted, and she also heard Jenny struggling and calling to her. As she approached Hegel, Franz stretched out his arm and blocked her.
“No, miss.”
“Jenny, if anything goes wrong, I won’t let you go. Sir Franz. Please. And this is an order. Get out of the way.”
Franz was standing in front of me, unable to say anything, with a crumpled face as if he was about to come. She went around next to him and approached Hegel. Hegel hugged her waist, got on the horse, and rode her in front.
“The palace will be occupied. If you want to be seen by the doctor, get out now. If you drive that carriage, I won’t stop you.”
“Shut up, Hegel, no matter what happens, I’ll cut you with my own hands. Just put a finger on the girl!”
“First of all, think about saving your maid, Franz.”
After speaking to Franz, Hegel buckled his horse. She saw Franz picking up Jenny on the horse, which picked up his pace and started to run. She gritted her teeth to keep her mind from wandering as she rode the galloping horse, her whole body shaking. As she was swaying on the horse that was running at high speed outside the temple, her shoe came off. She continued to run along the deserted banks of the Lorraine River. She saw them passing by a grain seller in the distance. In this direction, there are only docks and warehouses. She grabbed the necklace Adrian gave her and ripped it off, being careful not to let Hegel notice. And dropped it.
‘Please pass it on.’
* * *
After running for a while, they arrived at a place in front of a familiar building. It was a place she wanted to erase from her memory, but she never thought she would come back like this. It was the building above Milton where Adrian was injured last summer. Hegel, who had dismounted her, held out his hand, but she struck it hard enough that it hurt her hand. Her back hurt like it was broken and her legs were shaking, but she didn’t feel the slightest desire to lean on his hand that had stabbed Jenny. Hegel glanced at my hand and led me towards the back door at the top as if nothing had happened. At first glance, it looked like the building had already been closed for a long time, but when she opened the back door and lifted the carpet on the floor, she found a staircase leading to the basement. As they went down the stairs, they came to an iron door, and Hegel knocked on the door and said,
“It’s Hegel.”
The door opened and the man who appeared greeted Hegel, looked at her, and asked.
“Is this her?”
Hegel blocked the path of the man who was looking at her with an unpleasant gaze. Barely straightening his shoulders, she walked behind Hegel. The attire of those greeting Hegel in the dark basement looked familiar. Jenny wasn’t mistaken. The militia members, who were voluntarily organized by the residents of the outer castle, wore white shirts and blue straps tied on their right shoulder. And now there were men here and there with blue straps on their right shoulders. It was she who instructed Hegel to cooperate with the militia, but no, no. On the day she went to meet the commander of the militia, Hegel insisted on going with me. He said that all the escort work had been taken over by Franz and that he would do the work himself. He naturally asked Hegel to take charge of liaison with the militia. They were already a gang.
Hegel pushed her into a small room deep underground. It wasn’t dark because it was full of nightstones, but it was an unpleasant room with a musty, earthy smell.
“I will come back after seeing the situation. Please do not talk to anyone if possible.”
He said it behind her back, but she didn’t have the mood or energy to respond. As if he wasn’t waiting for an answer, Hegel closed the door as he spoke. There was the sound of his keys being locked and his footsteps moving away. The excitement soon disappeared and it became quiet. She barely took a step towards the wooden chair in front of her. The hand pulling the chair was shaking. As soon as she lowered herself onto the hard chair, a pain that she had not even been aware of came flooding back to her. Her whole body hurts, and her heart hurts even more. Jenny, did Jenny go to the doctor? Would Franz have saved Jenny in time? He lost so much blood and got stabbed like that, would he be okay? It would be okay, right? Please, please, please, she prayed with her hands clasped together that you were safe. As she brought it to her mouth, she was startled. Her hands were all red and soaked with Jenny’s blood. Her body becomes cold.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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