6 - The Time of the Blind Beast (15+ Revised Edition) Episode 6
Chapter 6
“You can’t see anything? At all?”
“I suppose so.”
As he sent his parents home, Achenaus apparently couldn’t hide his smirking laughter. At first, he was a little bothered that his eyes were merely blinded, but upon careful consideration, he found this situation to be better.
“Right, no matter how detestable he is, he’s still my blood brother, so killing him would be too cruel. Now he can’t even shoot that gun he was so proud of and just lies there all day. Yesterday, I went to see him and stared for a long time, but instead of grabbing me, he just flailed his arms.”
He said this with a face that seemed to be dying of joy.
Under Achenaus’s tacit approval, his parents’ theft was overlooked. He even sent them off with a considerable amount of wealth. It was the price for blinding a war hero.
Even if the Valdemara mansion fell silent, they could no longer live in Claris. For Rose, and for her parents, Claris had become a city of sin. As long as Achenaus was watching with his eyes wide open, Rose and her parents could be caught by their transgressions and fall at any moment.
Their elopement was swift and, moreover, very quiet.
“Even if Achenaus Valdemara doesn’t pursue us for now, it’s dangerous for our family to travel together. If he changes his mind and decides to chase after us, he’ll surely start by searching for where three travelers who look like a family went.”
“Then?”
“For now, you should return to school. This money will be enough to finish your studies. We will find a place for ourselves to stay.”
The family was scattered. The parents decided to visit relatives’ homes to find a place to settle anew, and she, having nowhere else to go, returned to school.
It was winter.
Cielsa, where the school was located, was in the north, known for its capricious weather. There were overwhelmingly more bad days than clear ones, and the harsh blizzards that raged until late winter were the most spectacular. Of course, the blizzards turned into torrential rain accompanied by gusts of wind in early spring, so one could never let their guard down, even as the seasons changed.
Moreover, this winter was even more severe. Chimneys had collapsed, unable to withstand the heavy snow and strong winds. Students, facing the malicious cold without fireplaces, all caught severe colds and fell ill. Rose was no exception.
The principal hastily sought out a doctor, but for some reason, there wasn’t a single doctor available for a house call in the vicinity. When a doctor, after a long time, finally made contact and came for a house call to the school, Rose overheard a peculiar story during her examination.
“There are no doctors around here right now. All the doctors in this area have been called to Derosa.”
“Derosa? Why?”
“There’s a Valdemara villa there.”
The name that had driven her to flee Claris suddenly caught her ear, and Rose couldn’t help but pay attention.
“They are summoning doctors to that villa. They’re apparently looking for doctors with extensive experience and knowledge of pharmacology… I was turned away at the mansion’s entrance without seeing a patient because I didn’t meet their criteria. But that mansion is quite strange.”
“…Why?”
“Well, they had curtains drawn so tightly, it was as dark and eerie as midnight even in broad daylight. It was believable enough to be the mansion of Bathory Erzsebet, whom I’d only heard of in legends. It wouldn’t be strange if something popped out at any moment, and the attitude of the staff was also quite unsettling. I suppose it’s fortunate I just left…”
Rose had a premonition. It was Ezekiel. The second son of Valdemara had hidden himself away in Derosa.
That day, Rose packed only a small travel bag and left school.
Her destination was Derosa, where the Valdemara villa was located. Without any certainty of what she would do there, she squeezed onto the stagecoach that ran only twice a day and rattled along the bumpy road.
By then, rumors had already spread through Derosa. The source of the rumors were the employees who had been fired for failing to meet the eccentric owner’s temper. There were many opinions that it was not a place one could endure for long. People called it the beast’s mansion.
Late at night, Rose knocked on the mansion’s door.
What had urged her feet to bring her to this mansion in the end?
Some would call it hypocrisy.
Others would call it atonement.
Neither answer was wrong.
“Do you know who ruined my eyes? It was a maid, just like you.”
Ezekiel had never suspected wrongly.
She understood his anger. And he had every right to be angry. When the man’s strong hand gripped her nape and squeezed as if to kill, even as she struggled, seized by the terror of suffocation, she thought of it as karma.
Even if she stayed by his side her entire life, tending to him, she would never be able to atone for this karma.
From these fingertips, an honorable soldier fell.
Achenaus had now completely erased his blind brother from his consideration. As a soldier, and as the heir to the family, Ezekiel, who was like a man with his limbs severed, was no longer a rival to Achenaus.
Rose clutched the glass bottle. It was so light she could barely feel its weight, yet her hands fell onto her knees as if she were gripping a heavy iron ball.
The pressure pressing down on her hands was immense. It was the weight of the sins she had committed.
2. The Lie Began
Standing at the end of the long corridor on the first floor, Rose closed her eyes.
Her vision was dimly mottled. The sensation wasn't perfect yet. She took out a handkerchief and tied it tightly around her eyes.
Finally, there was an impenetrable darkness.
She thought she had a rough idea of the corridor’s width and length, but as her sight disappeared, her spatial awareness vanished with it. It felt as if something might leap out and collide with her from somewhere, and at the same time, it felt as if the floor might suddenly give way.
He lives with this sensation every day.
Rose took a cautious step. Hesitantly reaching out into the air, she followed with her second and third steps. The surroundings felt like a swamp, so she couldn’t take large strides.
She understood why the furniture and fixtures had been banished to the second floor, leaving only the bare minimum. If she were unlucky, even a small ornament could cause a serious injury.
Not knowing when she might lose her direction, she walked, her side brushing against the wall for protection, but unexpectedly, the wall appeared in front of her rather than to her side. It blocked her path so suddenly that she had no time to perceive it. Rose ran headfirst into it.
“What the hell? Who is it?”
It felt like her face was met by a firm, muscular resilience, and then a fierce hand immediately gripped her shoulder and roughly pushed her away.
It was the strength of a man with military service. Moreover, with her eyes covered, it was impossible to regain her balance by stepping backward.
Rose was pushed and tumbled to the floor.
If she fell, she would normally brace herself with her arms to avoid serious injury by seeing the floor, but her sight, lost in darkness, gave her no such opportunity. All she could do was instinctively wrap her arms around her face to protect her head.
She was too startled to even scream. Because she had rolled blindly, her shoulder and wrist were bent awkwardly underneath her. A throbbing heat rose along with a dull pain. Rose pressed her handkerchief to her eyes, wiping away the tears that welled up.
“Weren’t you instructed by Serva? That there should be no obstacles on the first floor.”
A low voice fell from above her head. Rose immediately lowered her head.
“I was instructed.”
“Even the blind furniture doesn’t hinder me, so why is a sighted obstacle hindering me?”
“I’m sorry.”
Rose hastily fumbled with the knot of her handkerchief. However, it was tied too tightly and wouldn’t come undone quickly.
Just then, Madam Serva’s cane tapped rhythmically down the corridor.
“Lord Ezekiel. How many times have I told you that this old woman’s knees can’t keep up with your hasty steps… Rose? What are you doing there?”
Madam Serva looked down at Rose with wide eyes.
The knot of the handkerchief finally came undone. Rose quickly rolled up the piece of cloth.
“Rose?”
Ezekiel repeated her name. It was a name that felt vaguely familiar. Madam Serva smoothly interjected and added,
“She’s the new young lady who came to the laundry room this time.”
Ezekiel inhaled the scent lingering around his nose. It felt strangely familiar, and the soft, comforting scent of laundry soap brought back memories of a recent night. It was the woman who had entered his bedroom in the pre-dawn hours, amidst thunder and lightning.
“Is that the maid from before?”
“Ah, yes. You saw… met Rose once before, didn’t you?”
Madam Serva, quickly correcting her wording, glanced at Rose’s attire.
“But Rose, what are you doing here? Why were you blindfolded? Did you get hurt somewhere?”
“I wondered why you were wandering foolishly down the corridor. I suppose you wanted to play blind.”
Ezekiel sneered.
Flustered, Rose looked up at him. It was by no means a game. She simply wanted to understand the inconveniences she didn’t fully grasp beforehand. There must be many difficulties for this man that were not obvious.
She quickly explained.
“No. I just wanted to know in advance about the inconveniences you don’t tell me about, and prepare myself…”
“What does that have to do with you?”
Ezekiel cut her off and asked. His tone was cold.
