Chapter 47
Beth blinked rapidly in response to the unexpected suggestion. There was no particular reason she couldn’t visit the barracks. However, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was some hidden meaning behind his words.
“We should also collect the death benefit certificate.”
Debert raised his eyebrows slightly, a leisurely smile playing on his face.
“Don’t think so many impure thoughts.”
His eyes narrowed as he let out a soft laugh. Although Beth had long known he could read her thoughts, she always found herself at a loss when he teased her so openly.
Beth composed her expression, pretending to be unaffected.
As he said, there was no reason not to go. Lady Molly had also mentioned collecting the death benefit certificate, and even though she was merely his designated nurse, she still needed to check on his injuries.
Repeating to herself the many legitimate reasons she had to go, Beth gestured toward the dark forest path.
“By all means.”
Debert stepped back, one arm gesturing toward the forest path, the other resting over his chest as though guiding a queen. Beth’s brow furrowed once more at his exaggerated courtesy.
As she walked ahead, Debert matched her pace, still wearing that amused smile. Being with this woman often brought him moments of quiet amusement.
The only sound that filled the silent forest path was the crunching of their footsteps on the snow. Beth glanced at the man beside her but found it difficult to read his expressionless face.
With Debert remaining silent, the walk felt somewhat awkward.
Beth suddenly wondered if the path to the barracks had always been this long. She had never taken the time to leisurely walk this route before.
Now, with a clear mind, she found the darkened path somewhat frightening. The distant sounds of what might have been wild animals or merely the wind left her feeling uneasy.
Debert noticed Beth edging closer to him, her small head inching toward his side. He couldn’t suppress a small smile.
Suddenly, Beth halted in her tracks.
“What’s wrong?”
At his question, she quickly placed a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet. Beth’s ears perked up as she strained to catch the faint sounds coming from somewhere ahead.
Amidst the howling wind, she thought she could hear what sounded like an animal whimpering. Beth’s eyes wavered with unease. Was it a wild animal? Perhaps a wolf? Even children knew that Nexus’s mountains were teeming with wolves.
Beth motioned toward her ear, trying to convey the sound to Debert.
Surely not. Debert exhaled a long breath, feeling a distant sense of dread. He had noticed the sound much earlier, but had been too lost in thought to pay attention until now.
As the wind died down, the sound of the struggling creature became clearer through the stillness of the undergrowth.
Beth looked up at Debert with a worried expression. He, too, appeared slightly troubled as he rubbed the back of his neck, then glanced down at Beth.
“That sound….”
Driven by both fear and curiosity, Beth slowly moved toward the source of the sound. Beneath the faint moonlight filtering through the trees, she could make out a shadowy figure.
Beth’s steps faltered, and she instinctively stepped back.
It wasn’t exactly an animal, but neither was it something entirely human.
The sound of footsteps crunching on the snow behind her made Beth quickly turn around, and she hurriedly pushed Debert away.
The dimples in his cheeks deepened slightly as he was unceremoniously shoved back after he had approached so cautiously.
“Is there something you shouldn’t be seeing?”
Without another word, Beth turned and practically ran toward the barracks. However, the slippery snow-covered path made her hasty retreat difficult.
The couple, absorbed in their own affairs, seemed oblivious to the presence of the commander and the nurse. The uncomfortable sounds continued to filter through the leaves.
“Must have been quite a terrifying beast to make you flee like that, wouldn’t you agree?” Debert’s words dripped with amusement, and Beth, turning to glance back at him, quickly lowered her gaze. She had nothing to say.
Why were they even here?
The ‘beast’ by the tree was a man and a woman, clearly having found each other on the battlefield. With nowhere else to go, they must have taken to the forest under the cover of night.
Debert had grown up on battlefields, and such sights were nothing new to him. He had seen similar scenes countless times here as well. But this woman, it seemed, had not.
It was understandable. Judging by her behaviour, she must have gone back and forth between the hospital and her quarters even when she was stationed at the rear.
“They’re just a passionate couple. Love can make you do things like that.”
His unexpectedly romantic defence, coming from such a stern face, made Beth wonder if this was truly the Debert Cliff she knew.
Not wanting to be caught off guard by his unsettling words again, Beth quickly turned her back to him.
Having been momentarily distracted by the shocking scene, she suddenly realized that the seemingly endless path had come to an end.
Following Debert, who had taken the lead, Beth walked toward his barracks.
Although she had visited the barracks several times, her duties had always taken her to the opposite side of where Debert’s barrack was located. She had never deliberately looked in its direction.
The fear she had felt the first time she was dragged to his tent remained vivid in her memory. That was a separate issue from whether she trusted him now.
Beth took a deep breath in secret. She felt foolish, but she couldn’t help it. Once fear had taken hold, it always made her cower. There was a difference between truly being unaffected and merely pretending to be so.
Beth had always lived as if nothing was wrong.
“Come in.”
Debert, who had dismissed the sentry standing in front of the barrack, gestured from the entrance.
Beth stepped inside, a place both familiar and unfamiliar to her. It was an ordinary barracks, no different from the others.
The only difference was the uncorked bottle of liquor on the bedside table, possibly a privilege of the commander.
Debert casually moved the bottle aside and said, “I didn’t drink that. It was Director Collins.”
Using Collins as a convenient shield, Debert pointed to a chair. Beth hesitantly sat down, the seat familiar as one she had used before.
While Debert searched for the emergency disinfectant and bandages he had stored, Beth, feeling aimless and tense, played with the shadows cast by the lamp on the table. It was a small distraction, but it helped to ease her nerves.
As she continued her idle play, a long shadow stretched across the flickering light. Debert, who was standing with his back to the lamp in the centre of the barrack, handed her the disinfectant.
By now, it was almost routine for him to remove his shirt and sit on the rusted iron bed. He was indeed a man with remarkable healing abilities. Of course, that didn’t mean everything was fine, but his wounds were certainly healing.
Everything is returning to its place.
Beth realised this the moment she saw Collins Molly.
Just as winter passes and spring arrives, it seems that even the wounds on this man, which once seemed like they would never heal, were mending.
Everything was returning to the way it was before the war began.
The same would apply to her relationship with this man.
Watching his back rise and fall quietly, Beth felt as if she were in a greenhouse garden.
A place where the cold wind outside was blocked, and only fully bloomed flowers existed—a paradise.
Ironically, this battlefield, where the biting wind howled, felt like a warm greenhouse to her. The man before her was likely the one who created that feeling.
Both of them were probably under a brief illusion.
An illusion that this greenhouse garden would last forever, that this world belonged to them, without realising the frozen world outside.
Beth finished disinfecting his wounds and wrapped the bandages around his broad shoulders.
She pretended not to notice his lingering gaze, reminding herself that anything beyond this would only be dangerous for both of them.
After neatly organising the supplies, Beth glanced at him once more before standing up.
As she turned to leave, Debert lightly grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her towards him.
Her delicate wrist played in his loosely held hand. Even though he held her lightly, mindful that gripping too hard might hurt her, it seemed the knot wouldn’t easily come undone.
“The night is deep.”
As he tugged her hand a little harder, Beth took another step towards him. Debert carefully wrapped his arms around her waist. Her breath, slightly quickened, brushed against Debert’s ear.
Beth couldn’t push him away as he rested his head on her waist, embracing her. Her hesitant arms hovered in the air.
“Stay the night.”
At those words, Beth’s breath caught. The air in the barrack seemed to freeze, and so did Beth’s thoughts.
Debert tightened his embrace, pulling her closer. Beth, losing her balance, placed her hand on his shoulder as if to steady herself.
“There’s no medicine now, and I’m too tired.”
His murmuring voice seeped through her thin nurse’s uniform.
“I really just want to sleep.”
A low sigh followed his whispered words. It was a voice of genuine exhaustion, one she had never heard before.
Debert lifted his head from where it had rested.
As she looked down into his steady gaze, Beth wondered when she had become so accustomed to looking down at this man.
A man who once looked down on everything in the world was now looking up at her with earnest eyes.
She didn’t dislike the weight of his gaze that once felt heavy.
“I won’t do anything.”
His sweetly persuasive voice was low.
“Trust me, I….”
The man hesitated, his shoulders rising and falling with his breath. His tightly packed muscles twitched in rhythm with his breathing.
“I really just want to sleep.”
In the end, Beth gently stroked his hair, a gesture of surrender.
At even that small touch, Debert pulled her closer. He guided her to sit on the bed, then stood up.
The feeble flame of the lamp hanging from the barrack ceiling soon vanished. Only the lamp on the bedside table remained, casting shadows on his face. When that last light went out, the tent was engulfed in pitch-black darkness.
Beth lay down, inhaling his scent as he leaned over her. Debert pressed his face against her pulsing neck, as if to say she couldn’t go anywhere without his permission.
The muscles of his arms, which encircled her, bulged with tension.
Beth gently stroked his head. She continued the motion until his breathing finally settled into a regular rhythm.
Snow had begun to fall again, but they didn’t know.
A night perfect for closing one’s eyes to everything was slipping away.
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TRANSLATOR:
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