Chapter 12
“Captain, sir! Suddenly, that, the Lieutenant…”
The soldier who had burst into Debert’s tent was in a daze. His face was flushed red as he tried to explain something quickly, but his words failed to keep up.
“Is it something so urgent that you had to bypass your superiors and come straight to me?”
Unlike the panicked soldier, Debert didn’t seem particularly interested in what the matter was.
The young-faced soldier was the same guard who had been posted in front of the isolation room earlier. A mere recruit without any significant combat experience, tasked only with guarding the hospital—someone like him had no reason to be seeking out the commander of the entire army.
The soldier, who looked more like a boy than a man, was on the verge of tears.
“Something terrible… If you don’t come, the nurse will be killed…”
“What?”
Debert, who rarely repeated himself, reflexively asked again.
Knight. Beth.
Debert’s hand shot out and grabbed the back of the soldier’s neck. Like a rabbit caught by a hunter, the soldier was dragged out of the tent, half-lifted by Debert’s grip.
“Explain.”
“When I heard a noise and looked in, the lieutenant suddenly started threatening the nurse, saying only you should come and no one else.”
A sigh escaped Debert as his brows drew together.
So that’s why he wouldn’t wake up.
His teeth ground together at the thought of the man plotting such a futile plan.
This man was a veteran, trained within the Nexus imperial guard from a young age. Having watched Debert for years, he couldn’t be unaware of what his end would look like.
He must have thought the night, with only a low-ranking guard on duty, was his chance—believing fate was on his side. And then there was Beth.
By now, Debert was already running. The guard who had been trying to keep up had long since fallen behind.
The only sound in the quiet hospital corridor was Debert’s heavy breathing. Despite the urgency conveyed by the soldier, the hospital appeared no different from when Debert had left it moments earlier.
The creaking of the worn wooden floor beneath Debert’s boots echoed like a scream in the darkness. His hand silently withdrew the pistol from his waist.
Click.
The door handle turned slowly, opening with a dull thud. And there, exactly as Debert had imagined, was the scene before his eyes.
The awakened Lieutenant and a terrified Beth.
The very worst scenario he had envisioned.
As Debert quietly shut the door behind him, the Lieutenant’s swollen lips twisted into a sneer. His face, smeared with blood scabs, was almost grotesque.
“You seem calm, Duke Debert.”
The man had discarded any formality, no longer addressing him as Captain.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Debert’s voice, as dull as the situation, scattered into the air. His tone, almost too indifferent, carried an air of irritation.
Beth struggled desperately, trying to free her neck from the Lieutenant’s grip. The whole situation had unfolded in less than a minute.
As she had approached to apply a fresh bandage, the lieutenant had suddenly attacked her. With one functional hand, he had seized her slender neck and, in a flash, drawn the pistol from her apron pocket, pressing it to her head.
‘You thought you were lucky to be called a knight, didn’t you, not able to even speak?’
From the moment he woke, the man’s every thought had been bent on survival. It was clear as day what his end would be once Debert arrived, but in that moment, he had seen a glimmer of hope—this nurse.
Even as he writhed in pain, he had clearly noticed how Debert had reacted to this insignificant woman’s actions.
He had spent his life studying Debert, analysing him obsessively, almost as if driven by a perverse fascination. Although Debert wasn’t the type to change his ways for the sake of a mere woman, today’s single exception had cost the man his remaining eye. Survival was his primal instinct now.
The man’s expression, twisted in the fear of death, was now tinged with madness.
“Hand me over to the Kovach army, and I’ll let this woman live.”
It was a gamble worth taking. Confidence flickered momentarily in his remaining eye.
“Why would I do that?”
Beth’s bloodshot eyes turned towards Debert. The commander tilted his head slightly, as if he were listening to a boring conversation.
Only now did countless rumours about Debert rush through Beth’s mind—how cold-hearted, cruel, and obsessed with the war he was. Even in this situation, where he was calculating the risks instead of showing concern, those rumours seemed all too credible.
Perhaps to this man, her life is worthless.
That final thought completely suffocated the already breathless Beth. She struggled with all her might. She wanted to live.
“Do you think I’m joking? Do I have to blow her brains out for you to take me seriously?”
The crazed man tightened his grip even further, pressing the gun harder against Beth’s head.
The combination of fear and the crushing pressure on her throat made tears stream uncontrollably down Beth’s face.
Debert gazed at the trembling woman. A slight frown creased his brow, as if something about the scene displeased him, but there was no hint of sympathy or hesitation in his eyes.
“Damn it!”
The lieutenant, seemingly deciding to make his move, fired into the air. The explosive noise from the bullet striking the ceiling shattered the silence of the hospital.
“The next shot is for the woman. Decide. Will you send me off, or will she die?”
Soldiers would soon arrive, awakened by the gunshot. This eventuality wasn’t part of the lieutenant’s plan. The more people gathered, the worse his chances.
As the soldiers who had been roused rushed towards the scene, the lieutenant had not accounted for this development. The more people gathered, the worse it would be for him.
But there was still the nurse. He was certain he hadn’t misjudged. If they wanted to keep her alive, they wouldn’t dare approach recklessly.
Through the small window on the door, he saw the lights growing brighter. The sound of heavy boots pounding the floor grew closer, and soon the doors of the quarantine room were flung wide open.
“What in the world…”
Arthur, who was leading the group, froze, his expression hardening. As the soldiers assessed the situation and aimed their weapons, the lieutenant’s panicked scream reverberated through the room.
“Just try putting a finger on the trigger! If you do, this woman dies immediately!!”
“What are you doing, Lieutenant Solent? Release the woman. We can negotiate this peacefully.”
“Negotiate? Don’t make me laugh. Send me back to my homeland. Alive. Then I’ll let this woman go. But until I cross the border, she stays with me. I don’t trust any of you Nexus scum.”
For a brief moment, Arthur’s face was etched with hesitation. It was an absurd demand, yet not entirely out of the question.
Though a spy for Nexus, the lieutenant was a high-ranking noble in his homeland of Kovach. The fact that he was the nephew of a Kovach military commander had only been disclosed late in the afternoon. It was clear that they would want to keep him alive—nobles, after all, treated their bloodlines like gold.
Turning to Debert, Arthur saw that the Duke’s expression remained composed, as if he were witnessing an entirely different scene. Damn him. Arthur ran a hand through his hair in frustration, a rash plan forming in his mind.
“Debert, hand him over to Kovach. He was under my command, so I’ll ensure he’s delivered safely—”
“Is that really necessary?”
Arthur’s words faltered, his face twisting in disbelief. Then his golden eyebrows furrowed deeply.
No way. The worst possible outcome began to form in his mind, the one he feared Debert might propose.
“Kill her.”
“What?”
Beth could hardly believe her ears. Even through the haze of her tear-filled vision, the words that echoed around her were brutally clear.
A command to kill her. His tone was casual, as if her life was of no consequence at all.
The realisation that her earlier judgement had been correct made Beth’s tears flow even more uncontrollably.
After all the effort to escape, after everything she had endured to survive.
Her desperate thoughts went unheard as Debert’s merciless voice rang out once more.
“There are only two bullets left. You’ve already used one. You’re not ignorant of how many remain. Make your choice: kill her and then die by my hand, or end your own life.”
The lieutenant’s gaze shifted between Arthur and Debert. He could see that even the prince couldn’t defy the army commander’s obstinate order. The situation was rapidly turning against him.
“This is my negotiation.”
It was the final word, not a negotiation but a death sentence, suggesting that if the lieutenant must die, he might as well do so without further torment.
The man’s arm, which was choking Beth, began to tremble. His muttered curses, spat like a madman’s, reached her ears. It was clear from his ragged breathing that he was no longer driven by fear but by rage.
Get a grip, Beth Janes.
In her fading consciousness, Beth urged herself to stay awake. She had encountered enough pathological anger and violence to be inured to it by now. After all, those who had trampled her life were just the same.
Beth struggled to breathe, attempting to create even a small gap in her windpipe. Though it was still hard to breathe, the man’s grip had weakened slightly. He had already experienced her resistance once and was confident that he could subdue her again, even with one hand.
But now, his focus was entirely on the beast before him, negotiating for his survival. If cornered further, he might pull the trigger in a fit of uncontrollable rage.
The cold muzzle pressed against her temple had warmed slightly from prolonged contact with her skin.
There isn’t much time left. It was a gut instinct.
Through her blurry vision, Beth saw a familiar face. Amid the crowd, Debert’s steely grey eyes were locked on her, unwavering in their resolve.
As he looked past her to the window behind, Debert’s gaze was fixed.
The building had been converted from a hotel, so all the rooms above the second floor had windows. To prevent escape, the quarantine room was located on the fourth floor, but it took time for a sniper to silently reach the right height.
Debert was waiting for that moment. The crazed lieutenant, desperately trying to survive, was playing right into his hands, buying him the time he needed.
Outside, through the bare branches of a tree, the sniper’s face became visible. A fleeting smile crossed Debert’s lips.
“Fire.”
The order was both a provocation to the lieutenant and a signal to the sniper outside.
“You mad bastard!”
As the sniper pulled the trigger, Debert knew he had won. Time had always been on his side, and so was victory.
Two gunshots tore through the air.
Debert’s gaze shifted to the nurse’s light blue uniform, now stained a deep red. The face that had always seemed pale to the point of ghostliness was now drenched in blood.
“Beth!”
Lady Molly’s scream pierced the air as she broke through the crowd and rushed forward. Somewhere, Beth’s name was shouted once more.
The woman, clad in dark crimson, collapsed to the floor.
Debert’s eyes slowly took in the entire scene as it unfolded before him.
The planned firing was just one shot.
The plan had failed.
