Chapter 32
The night deepened as time passed. The trees and dense undergrowth made it difficult for the moonlight to penetrate. Only the steady rise and fall of their breaths and the occasional low murmurs from Debert broke the silence, affirming each other’s presence.
Their meaningless questions continued, designed to keep Beth awake—about favourite desserts, seasons, and scents. After answering a few of these, Beth, too exhausted to respond further, rested her head against his chest as if lifeless.
“I don’t want to be holding a corpse,” Debert said.
In response, Beth, who had been lightly tapping his back with her fingers, now loosely clenched her fist and gave his back a weak punch. His soft laughter echoed in the quiet forest.
They dared not light even a small fire, fearing the Kovach soldiers might spot them.
The cold of the winter night was so intense it felt like it could cut through their skin.
Yet, despite the life-and-death situation they found themselves in, Debert felt an inexplicable sense of relief. It was a strange feeling, one he couldn’t quite put into words.
“Beth,” he called, perhaps sensing her irritation at his earlier comment.
She remained silent.
“Beth,” he repeated, more insistent this time. “Answer me.”
He lowered his head slightly, his lips brushing against her soft hair. Even through the slight gap between his lips, he could catch the scent of her. That scent made Debert feel almost dazed, as though this were not reality.
“Let’s stop living like this,” he suggested.
Beth, who had been moving her fingers out of habit, hesitated.
She had only vaguely guessed at his life until today, but now she had seen it up close—an existence caught between life and death, filled with the most dreadful of moments.
What could she possibly say to a man who had spent his life in such a way? How could she tell him not to live like this, when his actions had saved her? And yet, how could she tell him to continue, when his life was clearly a form of hell?
“You save lives, and I take them,” he said, throwing the words out lightly, though their weight was inescapable.
Beth released her hold on him and struggled to sit up, her body weak and unsteady.
She could feel his warmth even though they were so close. Taking his rough hand in hers, she began to write something on his palm with her finger.
[You can save yourself, and I can save myself too.]
There was no immediate response. She wondered if, like last time, he hadn’t understood. She tightened her grip on his hand and repeated the words.
[You can save yourself too.]
Before she could finish, Debert grabbed her hand, his large fingers closing tightly around hers, the veins on his hand standing out prominently.
“You…” he began, swallowing hard. The darkness seemed like a blessing in disguise. At least no one could see how helplessly he was being swayed by this woman’s words.
He pulled her close again, her body offering no resistance.
“I’m cold,” he muttered as an excuse, burying his face in the pale curve of her neck.
Even after a day spent rolling in the dirt, the scent of this woman lingered. He liked that. It gave him the feeling that she would always be there, unchanging.
Beth, her arms awkwardly hovering in the air, finally encircled his neck hesitantly.
“You made a mistake,” he murmured.
She had no idea what he meant, but it was heartbreaking to watch her lightly tap his back again with her fingers, not understanding.
“You made a mistake,” he repeated, his voice almost lost as he pressed his face deeper into her neck.
But who had made the mistake?
Was it her, who unknowingly exposed her vulnerable throat to a beast?
Or was it he, who couldn’t let go, even as he clung desperately to that fragile throat?
The first light of dawn began to filter through the leaves. At the same time, a rustling sound reached Debert’s ears, causing his eyes to snap open.
He gently shook Beth, who had dozed off only after the first rays of dawn had appeared.
Silently, he pressed a finger to his lips, signalling her to be quiet. The air around them was suddenly thick with tension.
The sound of footsteps grew closer.
Debert quickly pushed Beth into a crevice between the rocks and covered her with his jacket. Silently, he moved toward the source of the noise.
“Hurry up and find them!” a man, likely the leader, shouted.
Debert lay flat on the ground, waiting. If they encountered the Kovach soldiers now, it would be disastrous.
Like a snake, he lay in wait, his eyes trained on the first soldier who approached. The tall grass, reaching as high as an adult man’s knees, provided perfect cover for him.
A pair of military boots drew closer.
“Ugh—” The soldier barely had time to react before Debert was on him, silencing him with a hand over his mouth and disarming him in one swift motion. The soldier’s terrified eyes were wide as Debert’s grip tightened.
“Nexus?” Debert whispered.
As he slowly released his grip, the soldier gasped for air. Seeing the commander up close for the first time, the soldier’s lips began to tremble.
“Commander Debert!” shouted Gale, who had arrived moments later.
Gale, too, appeared worse for wear, with a bandage wrapped tightly around his head. A group of Nexus soldiers followed behind him.
“We were searching for you after we heard you were missing, sir,” Gale said, his voice heavy with guilt.
Beth, having cautiously assessed the situation, finally stepped out of her hiding place.
“Nurse Beth…?” Gale trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.
After yesterday’s disastrous battle, Beth Jane had not been on the list of survivors. The last anyone had seen of her was at the front lines, where she had been surrounded by Kovach forces. Her death had been considered certain.
“What are you staring at? Get her into the vehicle,” Debert ordered sharply.
Nearby soldiers quickly escorted Beth to a military vehicle.
Inside the vehicle, a heavy silence hung in the air.
At first, they travelled through unfamiliar terrain, but soon enough, the surroundings became recognisable.
However, the familiar landscape had long since been transformed into something unrecognisable by the previous day’s bombardment.
The charred trees, scattered tanks, and the corpses of the unknown lay everywhere.
“Don’t look.”
The grey eyes, whose meaning was unclear, were staring somewhere outside the window.
* * *
The Kovach forces had advanced so aggressively that even the hospital wasn’t left unscathed. Despite it being a retreating frontline, the fact that they managed to defend it at all seemed almost miraculous, given the overwhelming defeat.
“Bring Arthur Wayner to me.”
Debert’s menacing presence cast a heavy silence over the hospital.
Arthur, supported by two soldiers, limped down the stairs. His expression remained composed as if he had anticipated everything.
Debert, smirking slightly, seized a rifle from the soldier standing beside him. The crooked smile he wore gave off an unsettling vibe, causing someone nearby to swallow nervously.
“I told you to bring him, but you’ve practically escorted him.”
The long barrel of the gun pointed directly at Arthur.
“Did you really defy your superior and act on your own judgement because you trusted that?”
Arthur’s tightly closed lips remained sealed.
“In Nexus, disobedience is met with summary execution.”
As Debert began to squeeze the trigger, Gale burst into the room, pushing his way through the crowd.
“Commander, it’s my fault. I didn’t inform you of the strategy.”
“Arthur Wayner, you must take responsibility for the deaths you’ve caused.”
Without so much as a glance at Gale, Debert took another step closer to Arthur.
The barrel of the gun pressed against Arthur’s flawlessly clean forehead.
“You know me.”
Everyone knew that even the commander, Arthur, couldn’t escape Debert Cliff’s judgement.
“The commander isn’t the Emperor.”
Arthur’s chest heaved heavily.
“His Majesty gave the orders, and I simply followed.”
What had seemed impossible to confess came out with surprising audacity. It was a brazen admission, revealing the Emperor’s intentions and exposing himself as a pawn of the Imperial Palace.
And now, it was time to say the words he least wanted to utter.
“The Cliff family swore allegiance to the Emperor of Nexus.”
A ludicrous claim that invoked the name of royalty to try and suppress a mere duke.
“Yes, we swore allegiance, and it’s because of that damned vow that I’ve been doing this filthy work all this time.”
It was a vow made by his father, Cassius. Fuelled by ambition, Cassius hadn’t pledged loyalty to the Emperor, but rather made a pact with Nexus, which he hoped might one day be his.
Debert’s gun slowly lowered.
“As a result of that vow, I became the commander, and you are now under my jurisdiction. We are in a state of war.”
Debert’s grey eyes, looking down on Arthur with disdain, made it clear that he wouldn’t cede any advantage.
“In Nexus, during wartime, all interests are secondary. Do you wish to play rank games with me, Commander Arthur?”
One of Debert’s eyebrows arched slightly. His expression was arrogantly superior.
“You’d lose right now.”
Everyone fell silent at Debert’s sharp retort. After issuing an order to confine Arthur to the barracks, Debert watched as Arthur, his arms bound, was dragged out of the hospital.
Molly appeared among the group that hesitated to leave, motioning subtly to Debert to follow her and stitch up his torn back.
In the meantime, Ines quickly pulled her fiancé away, fear evident on her face. She was terrified that Gale might incur the commander’s wrath if they were seen together.
Beth stood in a corner, watching Debert’s figure recede into the distance.
The night that everyone feared had passed, and morning had come.
It meant that yesterday’s horrors were behind them, and a new, grim day had begun.
* * *
The hospital’s corridors were littered with shattered windows, and the pharmacy had been nearly obliterated by a bomb. Everyone was busy clearing away the debris, sifting through the rubble for anything salvageable. Beth joined them but was quickly sent away.
“Please, Beth. Let me ease my guilt, even just a little.”
With tears in her eyes, Ines begged, and Beth reluctantly made her way back to her quarters. Fortunately, the living quarters had been spared from the worst of the fighting.
Beth dusted off Debert’s ruined jacket and washed the dirt and grime from her body. Her exposed limbs and the torn skin on her back were covered in wounds.
How badly must he have been injured?
She couldn’t get the image of his blood-soaked shirt out of her mind. Rolling down that steep hill with her in his arms, he must have been covered in cuts and bruises.
She pressed her fists against her tear-stung eyes.
As she leaned back on the bed, memories of the previous night, when they had held each other close, flooded her mind.
The more she fiddled with the ointment in her hand, the more she missed him.
She wanted to hear him say he was alright in his voice.
When she opened her eyes again, it was already dark outside. Her eyes, still heavy with sleep, fluttered closed once more.
Tap.
She bolted upright and looked around.
Tap.
It wasn’t her imagination. A small stone had hit the window beside her bed and then fallen to the ground.
She quickly opened the window, and a cold night breeze rushed in.
“Were you sleeping?”
There he was, standing beneath the window as if by some miracle.
“Are you alone?”
Was she dreaming, still half asleep?
She couldn’t even ask the questions she wanted to, just nodded her head.
Debert glanced at the wall, with its roughly protruding bricks, and then back at Beth, who was just slightly above him.
“Step back.”
With those words, Debert placed his hands on a few of the bricks and effortlessly pulled himself up to the windowsill.
Beth found herself face-to-face with him in an instant, her expression dazed.
“You said you were alone.”
It wasn’t a dream.
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TRANSLATOR:
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