Translator: Nox

64 - The Time of the Blind Beast (15+ Revised Edition)

Chapter 64

Ezekiel didn't even offer a hollow laugh.

"That's ridiculous."

"You, you think I don't know? I saw the letters exchanged! You and Father conspired to blind me, ugh, hhh..."

The moment he mentioned his eyes, the eye shot by a bullet throbbed several times worse. His stomach churned, and bile rose in his throat. Achenaus gagged.

But Ezekiel didn't pay Achenaus's desperate struggles any mind.

"As if I, who can't even see, would have written letters."

"There was a woman, a woman! You sent letters written by a woman, ugh..."

"A woman?"

Suddenly, the fingers tapping the trigger stopped. Ezekiel gazed at his brother with his lowered eyes, indifferently.

Achenaus's defense was too desperate to be dismissed as a ploy to buy time.

Moreover, there was a hint of truth to it. Hadn't there been a woman by his side who wrote letters for him?

Rose.

The name, so longed for, struck his chest roughly. For the first time, Ezekiel listened to Achenaus.

"Say it again, properly."

"I mean... ugh!"

Achenaus spat out the bitter blood that had flowed down his cheek and between his lips.

This was his first experience being shot in his life. Despite the pain, the bleeding, the disorientation, he was amazed and surprised at himself for observing Ezekiel's reaction and maintaining his sanity amidst it all.

At any rate, this was his chance. He had to pique Ezekiel's interest by any means necessary. He didn't know what part had caught his attention, but the fact that Ezekiel, who had been half-listening, had asked him to continue was a significant step forward.

"The letters said your surgery was a success, that this would be the last report..."

"And."

"It didn't specify what the promise was, but it said you would fulfill it..."

"A promise?"

"Just a promise, it only said 'promise'..."

"And then."

"Ah, yes! The handwriting was beautiful, so I thought she was a well-educated woman!"

That explanation made any lingering doubt evaporate completely. It had to be Rose. Dr. Briman, who had received several letters from her, had also expressed particular admiration for Rose's handwriting.

"You have a clever employee. I was surprised by how beautiful the handwriting on the letters was."

"Rose writes well too?"

"Yes, she writes exceptionally well. It's astonishing."

But Rose had been corresponding with his family?

This was the first he'd heard of it. It couldn't have been an instruction from Madam Serva. Madam Serva herself could read and write letters. Besides, he had never sensed anything of the sort from Rose. Of course, if Rose had decided to hide it, Ezekiel would have had no way of knowing.

But why would she? For what reason?

His heart beat irregularly. No matter how he thought about it, the writer of the letters seemed to be Rose, but he couldn't comprehend how Rose and his family were connected.

He needed to grasp the situation more accurately. Ezekiel asked in a low voice, pressing.

"Her name? The sender of the letters."

"I don't know. She signed with initials, so it was practically an anonymous letter... That implies that Father already knew who it was, given how many letters had been exchanged."

Achenaus, racking his memory, subtly rolled his remaining left eye. Judging by his expression, that wasn't the answer Ezekiel wanted. Furthermore, Ezekiel's Rifle, aimed at his left eye without a flicker of movement, kept making him break out in a cold sweat.

If this continued, he might truly lose both eyes.

Having experienced Ezekiel's ruthless efficiency, Achenaus was desperate. He didn't know what part of the letters had captivated Ezekiel, so he had to throw out whatever came to mind.

"The letters, I kept those letters separately!"

He remembered stuffing the crumpled letters, along with their envelopes, into his coat pocket carelessly after reading them on the day he searched his father's study. He happened to be wearing that same coat now.

"If I don't tell you, you won't be able to find them?"

He had to stall for time, without revealing the letters' location. Achenaus's mind raced.

He didn't know how important a mere letter could be, but if it could make Ezekiel lower his gun, he had to find a way to use it to his advantage.

The news in the letters was surprising to Achenaus, who had been excluded from information, but it wasn't particularly significant to Ezekiel, the party involved. However, if he could embellish it somehow, there was a chance Ezekiel might be swayed.

He was pondering what to say when...

"You asked for your life to be spared, didn't you?"

"...What?"

"I will spare it."

Before he could even attempt a deal, an answer came back without a hint of hesitation. Achenaus looked at Ezekiel, inwardly surprised.

"If you hand over those letters to me, I will spare your life for now."

It was unexpected. Ezekiel's expression, which had been consistently cold until now, showed a strange emotion.

It seemed like a desperate, anxious, and profound longing, or perhaps a torment he was forcefully suppressing.

Either way, it was a demeanor he had never seen before. Ezekiel, despite his young age, rarely revealed his emotions, even to his family. That's why he found him more unsettling and disliked him more. He looked down on people so casually, acting as if he were the only one who was capable.

Achenaus glanced at Ezekiel's unfamiliar face.

Wasn't the content of the letters important? Was the woman who sent them the crucial part?

Something suddenly came to mind. Come to think of it, he had been quite bewildered when the Red Diamond was finally won at auction by the Valdemara mansion of Derosa.

At the time, he thought Madam Serva, shrewd in business, had competed with him. After all, rare gemstones tend to increase in value when held. He had assumed she was showing off her skills after a long time to prepare for the future of the former owner who had lost his sight, but if there was another reason...

Could it be that he wasn't dying alone in the countryside, but was with a woman?

But he was blind? He kept a woman whose face he didn't even know by his side? What did he trust?

He wasn't someone who easily let others into his life...

It was surprising and strange. Moreover, given his rigid personality, if he had gone so far as to search auction houses for a gem as symbolic as a diamond, it couldn't possibly be for ordinary reasons.

What kind of woman had captivated him to this extent?

If his body felt even slightly better, and if the situation were a little more relaxed, he would have delved deeper. However, the instinct for self-preservation rang a louder alarm.

He absolutely could not test that patience now. Trying to probe him with the letters would lead to a worse outcome than not mentioning them at all. First, he needed to figure out how to save his life. He had to survive to plan for the future.

"Handing over the letters isn't difficult, but..."

Achenaus pressed his palm against his injured eye socket to stop the bleeding, trying to hold onto his dizzying consciousness.

"You have a gun. How can I trust that you won't shoot me dead after receiving the letters?"

As he spoke, he remembered hearing a similar question somewhere before.

Achenaus recalled that woman after a long time. The one who had knelt before him, begging him to save her parents, who had rushed so desperately that her clothes were disheveled, but whose face was quite to his liking.

"...How can I trust that this promise will be kept?"

That was the question she had managed to ask after trembling for a long time, when he threw poison at her and told her to find a way to save her family.

Experiencing it in reverse, he understood a little. That woman must have felt pretty damn awful.

He wondered if she hadn't thought of killing him if she had the means. Just like how he felt about Ezekiel now.

"Alright."

In response to Achenaus's doubt, Ezekiel threw his Rifle behind him without hesitation.

Only then did Achenaus take a deep breath. The gun aimed at his eyes was gone, and he felt a slight sense of relief. But he still couldn't trust Ezekiel. Disarmed and severely injured, it would be nothing for Ezekiel to overpower him. That's why he had so casually tossed the Rifle aside.

Achenaus glanced sideways at Ezekiel and set a condition.

"Don't move from that spot until I leave through the door."

First, it was important to secure a safe distance from Ezekiel.

"The letters."

"The letters... are in my possession. I'll throw them to you as I leave the door. Until then, don't move an inch. If you approach, I'll crumple them up and eat them."

There was no reason not to hand over a letter that could open a path to survival. Achenaus planned to create sufficient distance beforehand and escape while Ezekiel was picking up the letters.

Ezekiel let out a hollow laugh at Achenaus's pathetic attempt to ensure his own safety.

"Fine."

As soon as he agreed, Achenaus slowly backed away, crossing the garden. He kept his eyes fixed on his brother's legs, which stood firm, lest Ezekiel break his promise and move.

Gradually increasing the distance, he neared the main gate. Conversely, Ezekiel's figure grew distant. He was so tense that his back was already damp, sending a chill through him.

Stopping briefly at the main gate, Achenaus fumbled in his coat pocket with his blood-stained hand. Ezekiel was still watching him with a chilling gaze, unmoving.

Achenaus pulled out the crumpled paper bundle and threw it at Ezekiel with all his might. Then, he immediately turned and fled.

Ezekiel coldly glanced at Achenaus's retreating back, then walked with long strides to pick up the letters rolling on the ground.

"...He didn't leave a single letter for me."

He hadn't expected to obtain a letter written by Rose from his family home.

He opened the envelope and took out the letter.