It Begins with Isaac – Chapter 10.1

Author: nicotine

Asil’s estate was perched atop a gentle hill, backed by a large mountain and overlooking the village where the estate’s residents lived. Upon entering the estate, the small mansion situated at the front came into view at a single glance, a sight Asil quite liked. Up close, the mansion was worn and shabby in every corner, but from a distance, it resembled a serene, ancient castle. Whenever Asil returned from a journey abroad, he would occasionally pause at the estate’s entrance, gazing quietly at his mansion. When he was there, it felt dreadful, but when observed from afar, it was beautiful. Such was the place—Asil’s hometown, his family, his home.

“No, no…!”

All of it was burning and crumbling away. The mountain visible behind the mansion blazed with a fierce red glow, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky, while the mansion itself, charred black from roof to pillars, had collapsed in several places. Asil leapt off his horse and ran toward the mansion. His legs trembled, causing him to stumble once, but he felt no pain from his scraped knees. His breath came in ragged gasps, and an indescribable moan echoed endlessly within his slightly parted lips.

As he passed through the gate, the sight of the mansion engulfed in flames struck his eyes immediately. Facing the mansion, now entirely blackened with nothing left to burn, Asil’s pupils shook uncontrollably. He rubbed his eyes once, then again. He even slapped his cheeks a few times, but the scene before him was not a fragment of a dream. The acrid, stinging smoke repeatedly awakened Asil’s reason, which sought to deny reality. Flinching as ash coated his gray-tinged cheeks, Asil surveyed the garden, now a mess of embers.

“Get a grip. Get a grip.”

It was just a house. As his father had said, such a mansion could be replaced with a new one at any time if they achieved success. The essence of the Richard family was not merely this small mansion or this narrow estate. As long as his family was alive, that was enough.

“Father! Kana!”

Choking on the smoke invading his throat, Asil called out his family’s names. Olin, Graim, Clark! Is no one here? Is there no one at all?

“Olin, Gra…”

Having circled the mansion and reached the back of the garden, Asil’s throat seized up, rendering him unable to speak. The horrific sight before him made him want to gouge out his own eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Rubbing his trembling fists roughly over his eyelids, Asil soon let his head drop.

He must have seen it wrong. His body, exhausted from days without proper rest, had long been consumed by fatigue. Surely, he had seen an illusion. Even as he muttered self-deceiving words, the afterimage of what he had seen continued to haunt his tightly closed eyes. A body lay lifelessly on the charred garden lawn. Familiar blond hair, beginning to gray, always dressed in formal attire, a face pale with a ghostly hue… It was his father.

“Father, Father…”

Asil called out to him, his voice faltering. But his father’s closed eyes remained shut. No matter how loudly he shouted or how softly he murmured through tears, no response came. He had expected a scolding voice asking why he had come here, what he was doing neglecting school, but all he heard was the sound of something continuously burning.

Unable to deny it any longer, forced to open his eyes and face it directly, his father had vanished completely. Asil took slow steps forward. Blinking his tear-soaked eyes, droplets fell to the ground. He looked down quietly at his father, lying motionless at his feet, sniffled once, and then lifted the cold corpse onto his back. Perhaps it was the heavy weight pressing against his back, but goosebumps rose and fell endlessly on the nape of his neck.

Asil alternated between sobbing and obsessively wiping away his tears. His mind buzzed, but he had no time to soothe his grief, even momentarily. He had to find his siblings. He had to find them no matter what… But before he could take more than a few steps, a sudden mental shock combined with accumulated fatigue overwhelmed him. As his knees buckled while he staggered forward, he fell to the ground, crushed beneath his father’s body. Feeling the heat of the fire-warmed earth with his entire body, Asil lost consciousness.

He hadn’t always hated him. There were more days when he tried to control his resentment, striving to understand, than those filled with blind hatred. Even when his father abruptly placed a heavy sword in his hands and demanded he swing it, even when he trained in swordsmanship until his arms felt like they would fall off only to receive a disapproving tongue-click, even when the swordsmanship instructor his father hired covertly used violence under the guise of discipline… He endured it all. He thought, how much must his father have wanted this? So he persevered. He wasn’t without a desire to fulfill his father’s desperate wishes as a son.

He always strove to meet that lofty standard. On the rare days when his father praised him, saying he had done well, his heart swelled, and he wanted to do even better. Even when what his father demanded felt harsh and unjust, he bore it. He hated him, yet loved him. Feeling wretched for his own foolishness, he acted coldly at times, but when his father occasionally called his name with kindness, he couldn’t resist outright. Though a flawed man, one who prioritized the glorious future of the family over his children, to Asil, he was still his father.

There was a time when he cursed, wishing his father would disappear. If he were gone, Asil and his siblings might breathe a little easier. If a father who was more absent than present wasn’t needed, he should vanish forever. That would be a relief…

“Brother, Brother!”

Perhaps that wasn’t true after all.

“Are you awake?”

As he blinked, a tear fell near his temple. Wiping his eyes, Asil looked at the young boy shaking his shoulder. Curly blond hair, a pale face, and unusually long eyelashes. His youngest sibling, Graim, was sobbing as he woke Asil.

“Where are we?”

Asil muttered softly, scanning his surroundings. Several tents pitched on unfamiliar ground were made of light blue fabric, unlike the ochre fabric used by the imperial army. Struggling to clear the heavy pain rising in his head, Asil tried to think clearly. These tents… their shape and color were unmistakably those of the Jenuka Kingdom.

“I was definitely at the mansion…”

“Those soldiers dragged you here. Brother… you didn’t see Kana or Olin, did you? I was the only one brought here. Father and Clark said they’d leave later, so we got on the carriage first…”

Graim buried himself in Asil’s arms, sobbing quietly. From his fragmented words, it seemed Jenuka soldiers had invaded the estate, forcing them to prepare to flee. His father and Clark had put the children on a carriage and sent them ahead. They must have had the same thought as Asil—that the old horses pulling the carriage couldn’t carry everyone.

During the attack, Graim had lost consciousness and didn’t know where Kana and Olin were. Shaking off the weight of his father’s body that had pressed against his back, Asil tightly embraced Graim. For now, just focus on the present. Breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating, Asil gently stroked Graim’s hair as he began to cry and opened his heavy mouth.

“Stop crying. I’ll handle it…”

How would he handle it? That question came first, but he couldn’t show weakness to a sibling ten years younger. He slowly surveyed his surroundings. Not only he and Graim but also prisoners from various parts of Maron were kneeling in front of the tents. They weren’t bound or threatened with insults, but being in the middle of an enemy camp made it impossible to relax. Unlike the other prisoners, Asil wasn’t a civilian.

Realizing this, Asil startled and ran his palms over his body. The long cloak over his uniform was still on, but there was no way the enemy hadn’t searched him. He reached inside the cloak, feeling his body. Noticing the absence of the pager and dagger he had tucked deep in his pocket, he quickly groped the belt at his thigh. The revolver he had taken from Valery’s room was gone too.

Damn it, damn it! Asil cursed under his breath. Clutching the edge of his cloak tightly and raising his head, he saw someone stride out of a tent. The man, fully dressed in the Jenuka Kingdom’s military uniform, clearly appeared to be a high-ranking officer. Without wasting a glance, he stared directly at Asil and gave a slight nod.

“Bring him in.”

At the concise command, two or three soldiers surrounding the prisoners rushed toward Asil. They pulled Graim away and roughly grabbed Asil’s arms, yanking him up. Graim wailed loudly behind him, but the soldiers paid no heed. Asil, being dragged along, turned back and shouted gently to calm his brother, “Don’t cry, just stay there! Wait!”

“Get inside.”

“Ugh!”

Pushed hard from behind, Asil tumbled onto the tent’s floor, obediently allowing his wrists to be bound. He didn’t resist. He had no weapons to fight back, and more importantly, Graim was crying pitifully outside. Provoking the soldiers might direct their anger at innocent Graim. The soldiers meticulously tied Asil’s wrists, then left without a word. Asil wiggled his overlapping fingers and looked up.

The man who had given the order walked toward him. He stopped so close that an outstretched hand would touch Asil’s face. As expected, the man grabbed Asil’s hair tightly, jerking it side to side.

“You look young.”

“…What’s your business?”

Looking down at the still-defiant Asil kneeling, the man smirked and muttered.

“I have no business with you.”

He released Asil’s hair. Moments later, something dropped in front of Asil’s knees.

“Do you know the owner of this gun?”

The man, Martis, kicked the gun’s muzzle lightly with his toe, asking in a bored tone. Though he feigned it as a casual question, Martis’s heart was pounding wildly. If he wasn’t mistaken, this revolver…

“I don’t know. I picked it up on the way here.”

“Is that so? I see.”

It was definitely from the Grand Duke’s household.

Martis narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the imperial soldier seated before him. The uniform partially visible under the cloak differed slightly from standard imperial army attire. Judging by the youthful, spirited face, he seemed to be a military academy cadet, meaning he couldn’t be unaware of Grekosha. Especially if he was from the First Military Academy, where Valery was based.

Martis held the pager taken from Asil, examining it closely. After a short while, he chuckled softly, tossing the pager into the air and catching it. The pager’s call number began with a zero, a privilege exclusive to the elite cadets of the First Military Academy. To Martis, who knew everything about the Tarian Empire’s military, a naive cadet’s lie was a trivial thing, easily seen through.

“I’ll ask again. Do you know the owner of this gun?”

“I said I don’t know.”

“This is the last time I’m asking. If you keep giving me unsatisfactory answers, not only you but the kid outside won’t be safe.”

Even though he was an enemy prisoner, Martis didn’t want to resort to threatening a child, but he couldn’t afford to show weakness to someone who might be the key to luring Valery. Valery Grekosha… Just thinking of that name made Martis’s heart pound with a mix of fear and exhilaration.

Over a decade ago, facing a teenage Valery, how terrified he had been. Countless comrades had fallen to Valery’s hands. After losing hundreds of subordinates sent covertly into the Tarian Empire to him, Martis earned the nickname “Priest” back home. A priest offering countless sacrificial lambs to the enemy’s war god. Enduring that humiliating moniker, Martis had pursued one goal all this time: to claim Valery Grekosha’s head and present it to the kingdom, proving himself the one to do it!

Martis picked up the gun and held it before the cadet, whose face grew paler by the moment. The trembling eyes looking at the gun suggested he knew Valery, yet his lips showed no sign of opening.

“Are you really going to make me drag your brother in here to get you to talk? Your loyalty is impressive. What’s so special about that guy!”

He knew Valery was revered as the embodiment of honor and glory in the empire, but seeing even an insignificant cadet lock his lips in loyalty was infuriating. Compared to the insolent subordinates back home who called him Priest, it wounded his pride. Enraged, Martis was about to shout for the soldiers to bring the cadet’s brother when Asil, forcibly averting his eyes from the thorn pattern engraved on the revolver, cautiously spoke.

“If I tell you, will you really leave my brother alone?”

“Yes.”

“That gun… belongs to Lord Valery.”

It was just a gun. All he had to do was name its owner. Why had he hesitated so much over someone like Valery? If asked whether Valery was worth weighing against Graim, Asil could firmly say no. There was no reason to hesitate, no minimal duty to uphold toward him. Yet Asil squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his bound fingers tightly. Breathing heavily to calm his heart, pounding with inexplicable anxiety, he tried to steady himself.

“Is that so? Then why do you have Grekosha’s gun?”

“I stole it from his room.”

“Why?”

“I was excluded from the supplemental troop selection for some reason but followed to contribute somehow. That’s all.”

Asil’s response was full of holes. Why was he excluded? Why did he defy orders and risk punishment to follow Valery? Why, of all weapons, did he steal Valery’s gun? None of his answers addressed Martis’s curiosity. Annoyed by Asil’s response, Martis rummaged through hazy memories and suddenly recalled a subordinate’s report.

“The First Military Academy’s supplemental troop deployment was postponed. Why? I’m not sure… Oh! There’s talk it was delayed because a recruit Grekosha favored got infected. He probably wanted to deploy the recruit, but there’s also a rumor Grekosha personally nursed him, though the exact reason…”

He had dismissed it as nonsense, not worth considering, but why did the phrase “favored recruit” now bother him? Circumstantially, it seemed the recruit Valery favored was the one before him, but there was no solid evidence.

Martis reached out and stripped off Asil’s cloak. Asil, angered by the act, tried to pull away, but with his hands bound, his resistance was limited. Martis pinned Asil to the ground and roughly tore off his uniform jacket. Loose buttons flew into the air, and Martis finally saw the pale neck, collarbone, and chest clearly exposed.

“What the hell are you doing…!”

“Ha!”

Asil, his face flushed red, kicked his legs frantically. Martis calmly rose from atop him. Touching his slightly upturned lips, he chuckled softly to himself, then sneered at Asil, who was panting heavily.

“Looks like Grekosha was quite fond of you.”

No blood flowed to his bound hands anymore. Only a faint numbness lingered, tormenting Asil. He was dragged from Martis’s tent to another location. Blindfolded the entire way, he couldn’t discern where he was being taken. When the blindfold was removed, Asil found himself in the middle of a dark tent, seated at a communication hub. Placed on a hard, cold metal chair, he glared at Martis, who was pacing busily before him, holding a sheet of paper. Martis’s suspicious, gleaming glances suggested he was about to begin a serious interrogation.

“Whether you’re a military academy cadet or Grekosha’s lover, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that your relationship with him seems quite complicated.”

Seemingly convinced of this, Martis stared intently at Asil’s exposed chest. A large bite mark faintly lingered on his pale skin. To think Valery, of all people, had left such a mark, bitten so hard it bruised. It was unbelievable. Martis, who had sent countless spies to target Valery, knew better than anyone that he wasn’t someone to fall for cheap seduction. Yet, to think he had taken a burly subordinate as a lover and rolled around with him? If not for the intercepted communication he had just received, Martis would have dismissed it as pointless fantasy.

“I’m sorry, Instructor! Recruit Richard knocked me out and escaped. It happened in the middle of the night, so we lost him.”

“…”

“I’m sorry!”

“Asil?”

The Jenuka Kingdom didn’t rely solely on its expertise in poisons to wage war against the empire. Over a decade had passed since their first clash. During that time, Jenuka had made strenuous efforts to catch up with the empire’s weapons technology. In the past, crippling Grand Duke Grekosha’s leg had luckily ended the war, but with the kingdom and empire sharing a border, another conflict was inevitable. After years of struggle, the kingdom’s army developed machines for mutual communication and eavesdropping devices, as well as a central signal device to control machine signals.

Valuable information had been obtained from an eavesdropping device a spy had barely hidden at the First Military Academy…

“So you’re saying Asil is heading to Mailyn now?”

“I’m not sure. I’m sorry.”

Hearing Valery’s voice through the eavesdropping device, Martis couldn’t hide his shock. It was unmistakably Valery’s voice, yet instead of ordering pursuit and punishment for Asil’s defiance and desertion, he said:

“Let him be. He’ll come here anyway. I didn’t entirely expect this.”

He was letting it slide with leniency, as if he had intended to overlook it from the start.

Having pursued Valery for years, Martis knew everything about him. Valery tamed weapons and beasts for long-term use but treated people as disposable. The only subordinate he kept long-term was Cain Ride, with whom he had worked closely. According to detailed intelligence, Valery didn’t tolerate even minor mistakes from Cain.

This meant Asil Richard was not just a subordinate to Valery.

“Asil.”

When Martis muttered his name, Asil, seated on the chair, flinched. Martis grew curious about how this ash-covered youth had managed to secure the role of Valery’s lover. If the situation weren’t so urgent, he might have bombarded him with personal questions under the guise of interrogation… What a pity.

Martis plastered on a friendly smile and sat down in front of Asil. Sliding the paper toward him, Asil’s gaze naturally fell upon it.

“Let him in!”

Asil’s dark eyes darted chaotically, reading the text on the paper. So absorbed was he that he didn’t notice the sound of small footsteps echoing in the room.

“What… is this?”

“Brother!”

Before glaring at Martis, Asil noticed Graim standing close beside him. The small face, streaked with dried tears, looked at Asil anxiously. Frightened by the oppressive atmosphere, Graim kept trying to press himself against Asil.

“Look, Asil. Or rather, Soldier Richard. I was willing to be lenient if you were just an ignorant cadet, even though you’re an imperial soldier. Seeing you dragging around a little brother, it’s only natural to feel some human compassion, right?”

“Let my brother go, and then we’ll talk!”

“But here’s the thing. If you’re not some common cadet but Grekosha’s lover, that changes everything. Why should I pity a man who’s been intimate with him? Why should I feel sorry for the kin of such a whore?”

As Martis sneered softly, Graim buried his face in Asil’s arm, trembling. Fortunately, Graim was too busy sobbing to hear Martis’s words clearly.

“You said if I told you who owned the gun, you wouldn’t touch my brother. Are you, a soldier, going back on your word?”

“I said I wouldn’t touch him, not that I’d let him go. And sorry, but I can break promises with the enemy anytime.”

Asil closed his eyes tightly. He wanted to hold Graim tightly to comfort the fragile warmth buried against his arm, but with his hands bound, he couldn’t. With Kana and Olin’s fates unknown, Graim was the only family he had left. The little brother he had promised to make happy, even at the cost of everything. Yet the enemy before him was threatening to harm that child if anything went wrong.

“You don’t have to follow what’s written on this paper. What matters is luring Grekosha out alone. If we succeed in capturing him, you and your brother will be free.”

“Free? If that happens, I’ll be a traitor in this empire. What’s the point? I’ll be a fugitive either way.”

“Do I have to care about that too? Want to die now?”

Martis extended his long arm like a whip, grabbing Graim’s neck and yanking him away from Asil. Startled by the tight grip around his neck, Graim, who had barely stopped crying, began to sob again. Asil, seeing Martis draw a gun behind Graim for show, thrashed his limbs. The metal chair clattered loudly, and Asil’s bound wrists turned purple.

“Even if playing Grekosha’s lover is comfortable, it’s not worth more than your brother’s life, is it?”

“…I’m not Valery’s lover.”

“Then what are those marks? Grekosha’s gun? Why does he favor you so much? Valery Grekosha isn’t someone who treats subordinates like that. You think I don’t know?”

“No, I’m not! I’m not his lover!”

Asil suddenly shouted, his voice raw with anger. Graim, seeing his brother’s enraged expression for the first time, wailed loudly, tears streaming. Feeling a splitting headache, Asil shook his head, loosening his stiff neck. Graim’s cries piercing his ears, the faint tinnitus from days of accumulated fatigue, and Martis’s nonsense all muddled Asil’s reason.

What does he know to call me Valery’s lover? If he knew the truth, he wouldn’t treat me like a filthy prostitute… I never wanted this.

“Never wanted it?”

As Martis echoed the words Asil had thought, Asil realized he had unconsciously moved his lips.

“What, did Grekosha rape you or something?”

“Shut up! Damn it, shut up!”

“Look at you getting worked up. Guess I hit the mark.”

Martis clicked his tongue dramatically, gently placing the exhausted, collapsed Graim on the floor. Asil’s eyes darted to Graim, then slowly rose to Martis’s face.

“Then what are you hesitating for? Don’t you want to screw over Grekosha, given how things are? Or what, is your loyalty to Valery greater than your brother?”

As he spoke, Martis moved behind Asil, slowly untying his swollen, blood-engorged wrists. Feeling blood rush from his fingertips to his shoulders, Asil clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Screw him over?”

In his mind, he had wanted to kill Valery dozens, hundreds of times. He had prayed every night for him to disappear from the world. When the damn pager buzzed, he wished Valery would die horribly before he arrived. On days when Valery left the academy for urgent matters, he hoped he’d never return. Standing before him, Asil felt suffocated; facing his large hands, his body stiffened. Learning to endure violence, rebuilding his broken self, shaking off contempt, swallowing sorrow to grow accustomed to insults… All of it was because of Valery. As Martis said, Asil had no reason to hesitate over his life.

He had to choose between Valery and Graim. And Valery was not someone worthy of being an important choice for Asil.

“Then why can’t I say anything? Why…!”

In that moment, Asil hated himself. The stupidity of hesitating for incomprehensible reasons felt wretched. He realized that what he had long feared was happening now.

He had been tamed. Despite vowing not to hope, not to be deceived, not to grow numb, he had become accustomed. He could no longer discern what was wrong or strange. Recognizing this, Asil couldn’t suppress the explosive rebellion surging within him. He wanted to scream at himself for hesitating even briefly because of Valery.

How did that bastard treat you? How did he crush you, humiliate you?

“…Let’s make a deal.”

Clenching his jaw, Asil clasped his hands and looked up at Martis.

“What do you want?”

“Find out where my missing siblings are. They might be held by another unit. Also, check if my father’s body is here. He had blond hair and wore a blue vest. If you find a green-eyed old man’s body, bring him too. They’ll be where I was found, so it shouldn’t take long.”

“Fine. Anything else?”

“That’s enough, so keep your word. If you break it, I’ll kill you.”

Rising on trembling legs, Asil slowly buttoned his loosened shirt. Adjusting his clothes neatly, he moved his lips toward Martis.

“You have a phone… Can you change the caller ID?”

On the third evening after hearing that Asil had fled the dormitory without permission, Valery keenly sensed something was amiss. Expecting the adept rider to reach Mailyn quickly, Asil remained completely out of contact. Valery tried signaling through the pager, but whether Asil was too scared to respond or the signal wasn’t reaching, no reply came. The central signal’s waves covered Mailyn and the entire northwest, so did that mean he was still far from arriving?

“What did I tell you to find out?”

Wiping the gun’s muzzle with a handkerchief, Valery asked. Cain, standing at attention, mumbled in a weak voice.

“I’m sorry. We haven’t found him yet.”

The previous day, Jenuka forces had set fires across the northwest in a deranged act. There were no reports of civilian massacres, but forests and estates had been devastated by severe fires. It was likely an attempt to disrupt the imperial army’s food supply for a prolonged war, but it was a crude method. Valery knew Martis, the kingdom’s commander, was a fool, but this exceeded his expectations.

Receiving a report that Asil’s estate had been heavily damaged by the fires, Valery ordered an investigation into the missing Richard family’s whereabouts. Believing they were safe since other residents had escaped, the search order, meant as a precaution, was unexpectedly prolonged. What should have taken hours dragged on for a full day. He needed to find them before Asil arrived. If Asil heard the news upon reaching Mailyn, he’d insist on heading to his hometown immediately. He was the type to do anything for family. The same Asil who despised being intimate with Valery had willingly offered himself to pay off family debts, so there was nothing more to say.

Tossing the handkerchief used to clean the gun onto the desk, Valery let out a soft chuckle. To come alone to a place like this—what a reckless guy. He hadn’t entirely failed to anticipate it. The guard posted outside Asil’s room was a weakling, no different from a civilian except in intellect. Subduing him wouldn’t have been difficult. Being clever, Asil likely outwitted the others too, and being skilled with animals, the journey wouldn’t have been hard. On his way out, leaving the sleeping Asil, Cain had asked, hadn’t he?

“Lord Valery, the measures are too lax.”

It was a kind of permission. A permission to say that even if Asil did such a thing, Valery would overlook it generously. He couldn’t really lock Asil in a hospital room as his heart desired, and it seemed better to keep him close and watch him.

Valery rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a cigar. Shoving it between his lips and inhaling roughly, bitter-sweet smoke filled his mouth. As he smoked, he habitually pressed Asil’s pager number. As expected, the signal didn’t connect. When the crackling interference sound rang several times, the personal phone on the desk vibrated loudly. He shoved the pager into his pocket and picked up the phone.

The number seemed vaguely familiar. Given the war situation, Valery answered, his eyebrows twitching sharply at the voice on the other end. Hearing it, he immediately remembered. It was the number of Asil’s estate, one he had considered calling several times during the summer break.

“…Asil? What’s with this number?”

[Lord Valery.]

“Where are you right now? You’re not seriously deserting, are you? Going somewhere other than Mailyn is desertion. Want to be locked in a solitary cell?”

[Lord Valery, please help me.]

Valery, about to scold him, stopped at Asil’s whisper. Asil had never once asked Valery for help. No matter the situation, he endured alone, never coming to Valery with pleas. For the first time, Asil was begging for help. Even when he sought Valery for money, he had provoked him with talk of payment. What could make him ask for help now?

Stranger still was Valery himself. He thought hearing Asil beg would feel good, but his heart felt oddly troubled. It almost seemed like Asil was crying softly.

[My home burned down… My father, my father…]

He didn’t want to admit it, but he was worried about Asil.

[I don’t want anyone to see me. I’m too wretched.]

Asil’s voice, punctuated by long exhales, sounded deeply unstable even over the phone. Listening to his trembling tone and wet breaths, Valery pressed his brow. Cain, asking what was wrong and offering to take the call, was waved off. If Asil didn’t want to be seen, Valery would ensure no one saw him.

“I’m coming now, so wait there. Are you alone?”

[…Yes.]

“Asil, don’t worry. Don’t think about anything, just stay there, understand?”

Though Valery finished speaking, there was no response for a long time. Feeling inexplicably anxious, he called Asil’s name again, unable to hide his unease. A very small voice hesitantly emerged. Asil, stammering as if trying to say something, finally said he understood and hung up.

Leaving Cain, who offered to come along, Valery drove alone and arrived at Asil’s estate an hour later. Having sped so fast the car’s rubber tires nearly wore out, he flung open the door. Asil’s anxious voice had lingered in his mind the entire time.

“I don’t want anyone to see me. I’m too wretched.”

It was unlike Asil, who always remained composed, to mutter such words. The seemingly trivial phrase wouldn’t leave him. Why was it so bothersome?

“Asil!”

Valery shouted Asil’s name loudly. Stepping into the blackened, collapsed mansion, he looked around. There was no reply. Only his desperate voice echoed through the hall.

The mansion, without a single flame, was pitch dark. The collapsed ceiling in the hall made entry difficult. Valery climbed over fallen furniture and charred wooden beams, calling Asil’s name. Shining a flashlight around, he found no sign of Asil. He searched the entire first floor—reception room, dining room, kitchen—but there was no trace of anyone.

Valery tried to relax his frowning expression. He had no intention of intimidating Asil on a day like this. He would comfort the exhausted Asil and return to Mailyn together. After days of hardship on the road, he’d let him rest on the way. Originally, he planned to scold him for defiance, but if Asil cried like he had earlier…

“Damn it.”

Hadn’t Asil cried before him plenty of times? Even a slightly rough thrust made him wail in pain. Valery had sometimes thrust harder just to see his cute crying face, enjoying the sight of Asil sobbing with tears and snot. There was no reason to feel upset or pained by Asil’s tears now, so why was he worried about him crying?

Forcing away the uneasy question, Valery swept his hair back. Climbing the fire-damaged, hole-ridden second-floor stairs without hesitation, he soon spotted a faint light at the end of the corridor. It wasn’t Asil’s bedroom or Lord Richard’s study, which he had visited before, but an unfamiliar door emitting a soft glow. Valery slowly pushed open the door, marked with clear burn scars.

“…What are you doing here?”

Asil was sitting on a wide bed. Perched on a dirty piece of cloth that must have once been a white blanket, staring blankly at the floor, he slowly raised his head. His pale face was smudged with ash and dust. His eyes, swollen and red as if he had been crying, and his wrists, visible under his uniform sleeves, were covered in scabs and bruises. Despite being so filthy, he was still neatly dressed in his uniform, making Valery feel as though their reunion after just a few days had been long overdue.

“Why do you look like…”

“You’re here.”

Asil muttered, clearing his hoarse throat. Standing at the doorway, Valery silently gazed at him before striding forward. They faced each other so closely their knees touched, sharing a long silence. When their gaze, akin to mourning, ended, Valery realized Asil’s father had truly passed. Without needing to hear the news, Asil’s face openly revealed the emotions he was feeling. Did someone who had lost something vital in life wear such an expression? Valery had neither experienced nor wished to experience Asil’s emotions and had no intention of feigning empathy. He simply reached out, grabbed Asil’s arm, and pulled him up.

“Where’s Lord Richard? Did you bury him here? Let’s go to Mailyn first…”

“Do you know whose room this is?”

Pushing Valery away with a firm but not rough hand, Asil asked an unexpected question. Instead of reprimanding him, Valery listened.

“This was my late mother’s room. I always hesitated to enter when I stood at the door, turning away instead. If I had known it would all burn down, I would have come more often when there were still traces of her.”

Asil turned and walked to the window, looking out into the darkness as he continued.

“There’s my mother’s grave behind the garden. I’ve been sitting here thinking, and the place where my father collapsed was on the path to the grave. He must have been heading there. He never visited her grave normally. Isn’t it funny? Only when facing death did he become honest with himself.”

“…Asil.”

“Clark must be around here too. He’s not the type to abandon Father and flee far… How did they end up like that? I wonder if they inhaled the fire’s smoke, but Father was the kind of man who’d rather take his own life than lose the estate. He loved this tiny piece of land more than his children.”

The muttering, akin to a soliloquy, was not directed at Valery but closer to a private monologue Asil was quietly chewing over. Instead of responding, Valery simply listened to what Asil was saying. Asil, standing and clutching the window frame, kept swaying unsteadily. Worried that he might accidentally tumble out the window, Valery, in truth, had been unable to focus on Asil’s words for some time.

As Valery approached from behind to support Asil’s body, he heard a faint sound coming from outside the open window. It wasn’t just one or two people. At least twenty individuals were approaching swiftly, their sounds deliberately muffled. Had Valery’s hearing not been so sharp, the soft, eerie rustling of their crawling advance might have been mistaken for the gentle whisper of the wind. Valery grabbed Asil’s shoulders abruptly, pulling him away from the window. It would be troublesome if a sniper’s bullet struck him. Asil appeared too weak to even lift a finger, and Valery himself carried only a light pistol with limited range. The surroundings were entirely burned, leaving nothing that could serve as a weapon. Even for someone like Valery, facing dozens of trained soldiers barehanded was a daunting task.

Had he been too careless? It was true that upon receiving Asil’s call, he had driven here without taking the time to assess the situation fully. However, he had made the decision knowing that the kingdom’s army, which had set fire to the Maron region, had completed their task and withdrawn. Perhaps the report was inaccurate. In wartime, betrayal and schemes were commonplace, so the possibility of a kingdom spy infiltrating his ranks could not be dismissed.

“This is going to be a headache.”

Determined to initiate a thorough investigation upon returning to Mailyn, Valery turned Asil to face him. As they stood face-to-face, Asil’s eyes traveled sequentially from Valery’s chest and neckline to his firm jaw and, finally, to his bright pupils.

For a brief moment, Valery reflected on how foolish he had been. Why had he prioritized this critical wartime situation to rush to Asil’s side? A petulant remark about not wanting to be seen by anyone could have been ignored with one ear. Sending Cain with an elite unit would have resolved the matter cleanly, so why on earth…

“I’ve thought it over carefully, and I can’t afford to lose any more… So, what I mean is.”

Valery had no intention of quietly listening to whatever Asil was rambling about anymore. There was neither the time nor the patience left for it.

“This isn’t the time. It seems the enemy is nearby, so…”

“I’m sorry, Instructor.”

“What are you saying now…”

Thud.

Valery, about to order Asil to escape through the back of the mansion, quickly bent over and clutched his stomach tightly. Before he could even ask what Asil meant by interrupting with an abrupt apology, Valery was unable to finish his sentence, overwhelmed by the effort to stem the searing pain spreading through his abdomen. A large amount of blood began to seep through the fingers pressing firmly against his stomach. Such a wound was nothing compared to the injuries he had endured in the past, but Valery was too shocked by the situation and the person who had inflicted this upon him to regain his composure. He looked up at Asil. For a moment, Asil appeared impassive, but his lips kept curling inward, bitten as if his mouth had gone dry.

“What…”

Asil, holding a dagger, cautiously stepped back from Valery, their bodies still close.

“I said I’m sorry.”

With a feeble voice as his final words, Valery’s knees buckled and gave way. The blood from the relatively small wound refused to stop flowing. The sensation of his entire body stiffening and going numb, starting from his abdomen, was ominous. Collapsing haphazardly onto the floor, Valery stared intently at Asil’s pale ankles bustling back and forth in front of him. Asil paused momentarily in front of Valery, then muttered softly once more, “I’m sorry.”

Having encountered the symptoms of Jenuka Kingdom’s poisonous herbs multiple times, Valery slowly closed his eyes. Before losing consciousness, he scoffed and muttered.

“How do you plan to handle the consequences of making things this big…”

Submerged in a shallow, expansive fog of unconsciousness, Valery tuned in to the faint sound of a conversation.

“I’m sorry about your siblings. As a member of the kingdom’s army, I apologize on their behalf.”

“…Are you saying they’re dead?”

“They suddenly grabbed a gun and caused a commotion, I hear. It was a panicked new recruit acting on their own without orders from a superior. I’ll make sure the culprit is punished.”

“…Punished?”

“You know we can’t execute a kingdom soldier just for accidentally killing an enemy prisoner.”

“…”

“I’ll return the boy’s body. But the girl, even after being shot, rode off on a horse and escaped… We couldn’t find her body. Given the severity of her wounds, she’s likely not…”

Someone was talking incessantly. It was a hoarse voice he had heard a few times before. Now familiar, that voice gradually roused Valery’s consciousness.

“Everything is prepared at the mansion’s entrance. We found your father’s body… Your brother has been given a sedative and is sound asleep, so don’t worry. I’ve included some gold coins for the journey, so you won’t feel shortchanged.”

“…”

“Once Valery is dead, there’s no need to hold back, so just be patient a little longer. Few know what happened here. Or, how about defecting to the kingdom? I can protect you until things improve.”

“…You don’t seriously think a mere kingdom can defeat the empire in war, do you?”

“This is just the beginning. Publicly executing Valery will surely crush the imperial army’s morale. It’s a chance to take down not just the Grand Duke but his heir as well.”

Aha, it’s Martis. Realizing the owner of the hoarse voice, Valery slowly lifted his eyelids. His body remained limp. With his nerves and muscles below his neck paralyzed, the only action he could manage was opening and closing his eyes. Valery did not enjoy the sensation of being in such a defenseless state. Unable to move his limbs freely and having his body restrained by another provoked a creeping displeasure within him.

Footsteps approached. Valery quietly gazed at Martis, who knelt before him with a broad smile.

“Long time no see, huh?”

“…Mm.”

“Still not fully loosened up, I see. Well, that’s better. You have a knack for pissing people off the moment you open your mouth.”

Martis reached out and tightly gripped Valery’s jaw. He made no effort to hide his excitement. Having long anticipated this ultimate life goal falling into his grasp, it was no surprise he was thrilled. Martis was itching to slit Valery’s throat on the spot, but for the kingdom, capturing him alive was far more advantageous.

As soon as the royal court gave approval, the kingdom’s forces would assemble, and a public execution would be held before all. Even Valery, who strutted about fearlessly, would tremble before death. Broadcasting that scene across the empire would reduce the honor the imperial citizens revered to a mere illusion, scattering like dust.

Martis gestured to Asil, standing silently behind him. Come closer and take a look at this pathetic sight, he laughed and chattered, only to notice Valery’s lips curling slightly at a subtle angle. It was as if he were sneering. The audacity of this man, showing futile bravado despite his severe injuries and bound limbs, sent a surge of anger through Martis. He wanted to crush Valery, who still acted as though he held the upper hand, oblivious to his situation. As Martis, trembling with clenched fists, raised his arm to strike Valery’s face, Asil, who had crept up close behind, drove something sharp and solid into Martis’s neck without hesitation.

“Gah! Urk, what…!”

Martis, clutching his neck, let out a single groan before collapsing backward. He could neither curse nor scream. What Asil had swiftly and forcefully plunged into Martis’s vital point was the same dagger that had paralyzed Valery. Even a plain blade piercing the center of the neck would cause instant death, let alone one sharpened to a deadly edge and coated with poison. Martis met his end with his face buried at Valery’s feet, dying miserably at the feet of the man he had so desperately wanted to kill.

Asil tucked the dagger used to kill Martis into his waistband and checked the activity outside the room. The soldiers who had come with Martis were busy with their tasks. Some were preparing a carriage for Asil to depart in, while others had gone to report Valery’s capture to their superiors. The rest were keeping watch around the mansion in case of an imperial ambush. Inside the mother’s bedroom, there was only Valery, bound hand and foot, the lifeless Martis, and Asil himself.

Asil kicked Martis’s corpse hard. Why should I go along with this for anyone’s sake? It was Martis who had held Graim hostage and threatened him, and it was his subordinate who had killed Asil’s siblings. Long before facing Martis, who entered the bedroom with a gleeful expression upon hearing Valery had been captured, Asil had already resolved to break their deal. He had agreed to Martis’s proposal with that very intention. As an imperial academy cadet, Asil had no reason to sincerely engage in a deal with the enemy.

“Ahem, Asil…”

Feeling the paralysis in his lips gradually ease, Valery called Asil’s name in a small voice. Only then did Asil slowly turn to look at Valery, who had been left in tatters because of him. Asil barely suppressed a reflexive scoff. The expression on Valery’s face was far too easy to read. Though Asil had never fully grasped what Valery was thinking or why his moods swung so unpredictably, in this moment, he felt he understood what Valery wanted.

“Do you think I’m going to save you? Or do you think I regret tricking you and that’s why I’m doing this?”

Though he had deliberately avoided looking at Valery, once their eyes met, Asil couldn’t contain the surging emotions and let them spill out. With a mix of fear and excitement in equal measure, Asil approached Valery. Kneeling slowly, Valery’s gaze, leaning against the wall with bound hands, poured fully onto Asil’s face.

He had hesitated until the moment of the stab. Could he really stab him? Would Valery even let himself be taken so easily? Yet Valery had been attacked with an ease that Asil himself could scarcely believe. Until the moment Asil drew the dagger while standing close, Valery had been oblivious, merely staring intently at Asil’s face as if to engrave it in his eyes. It even made Asil wonder if Valery was the one deceiving him. Even as Valery was stabbed, collapsed, lost consciousness, was searched by the intruding Martis, and had his limbs bound, Asil was gripped by an anxiety that Valery might spring up at any moment.

But that wasn’t the case. Even now, Valery was looking at Asil as he had before, openly revealing eyes filled with fear that Asil might suddenly stand and disappear. It wasn’t something he could hide. Asil couldn’t comprehend it, but unbelievably, he realized that what Valery feared most in this moment was not his own predicament but Asil’s absence.

It was truly strange. Why on earth…

All this time, it had been Asil who was tested, judged, and hurt by Valery. Suddenly, in a way that felt out of place, Asil wanted to test Valery.

“…I’m leaving.”

“Asil!”

At Asil’s muttered words, Valery growled fiercely, biting out his name. Though his body still lacked strength, with no movement below his neck, the tension in his jaw was clearly visible. Asil soon felt a certain conviction.

Valery kept trying to exert force in his toes and fingers. He even bit his tongue hard to hasten recovery from the paralysis, but all it did was leave a bitter taste of blood in his mouth, with no change in his condition.

“What reason do I have to stay here? What’s left for me…”

I’m here, aren’t I? Valery hesitated, his lips trembling as he nearly spoke those words. He suddenly realized an obvious truth. Even if he shouted that he was here, it would only earn Asil’s scorn and derision. To Asil, Valery was nothing, not a reason for him to stay, not even a trivial cause to make him hesitate or consider remaining.

Valery blinked slowly, his mind drifting, before managing to open his mouth.

“You said you wanted to be a soldier, Asil. You have the skill, so…”

“That’s right. That’s why I stubbornly stayed at the academy despite what you did to me. But do you know something?”

“…Asil.”

“Unlike my father, I don’t have some grand sense of duty to rebuild a ruined family. Honestly, if I could, I would’ve abandoned being a soldier dozens of times over.”

Asil looked at Valery, who called his name with veins bulging in his neck. The familiar face was terrifyingly distorted, but Asil was no longer afraid of him. He had noticed a desperate glint in those bright eyes. Valery was at a loss, his pale face showing his helplessness. To think that he, Asil, had reduced the great Valery to this state—Asil twitched his lips to mock him thoroughly, but strangely, no laughter came.

“…Asil. I won’t hold you accountable for this crime. So there’s no need to leave. If you just come with me to Mailyn from here…”

“Why should I?”

At Asil’s question, Valery was at a loss for words. As he said, Asil had no reason to do so anymore. Valery suddenly recalled that he himself was the one who had made Asil’s school life a living hell. Words like promising not to punish him or begging him to stay would only prompt Asil to scoff and turn away defiantly.

Valery quickly changed tactics. He was adept at subjugating and manipulating others. Controlling Asil was the easiest thing of all. He had always done so and always succeeded, hadn’t he? But as he spoke, Valery found it increasingly difficult to suppress the growing anxiety within him.

“Desertion, treason, attempting to assassinate royalty… Asil, if you’re caught again, you’ll die.”

“If I kill you here first, that’s the end of it. Wouldn’t it look like you and Martis died together in a friendly scuffle? A lowly cadet like me disappearing wouldn’t keep me on the suspect list for long.”

To Valery’s menacing words, Asil retorted mockingly, raising his knee. Watching Asil rummage through his pockets, Valery quietly asked.

“You’re going to kill me?”

Asil looked down at Valery. Blood was still seeping slowly from his abdomen. Though Valery himself seemed unaware of the pain due to the paralysis, leaving him like that for a few hours would surely result in death. Killing Valery cleanly and leaving wasn’t a bad option. Then, placing the dagger used to kill Valery in Martis’s hand and exiting the room would suffice. If he claimed Martis had ordered no one to enter until summoned, as he was interrogating Valery, it would buy him a couple of hours to escape. During that time, he could drive the carriage carrying his family’s bodies as far away as possible… But would that truly make him feel more relieved than he did now?

“I’ll repay the debt.”

After endless deliberation, Asil reached a single conclusion. He must not kill Valery. He was practically the commander of the imperial academy. As the Grand Duke’s heir, he was a vital figure responsible for the empire’s military future. Though Asil had become akin to a traitor and would live as a fugitive from this moment, he didn’t want the imperial army’s future to collapse.

“That’s an excuse…”

Yes, an excuse. In truth, it wouldn’t bring relief. Valery’s death wouldn’t feel liberating to Asil. If he gave in to the impulse to kill Valery now, the memory of this moment would haunt and constrict the rest of Asil’s life. Asil wanted to free himself at last. He wanted to break free from everything that bound him. If Valery’s death would shackle Asil’s future, then he simply wouldn’t plant that seed to begin with.

Thrown a few steps away from Valery was Asil’s pager.

“With this…”

The debt owed to Valery for nursing him through illness was fully repaid.

“The debt for the gold you lent me is all settled.”

Glancing at the pager on the ground, Valery let out a low “Ha” and glared at Asil. As Asil approached the door without hesitation, Valery whispered in a very small voice. Though clearly a warning, his tone was incongruously soft and fragile.

“If you leave that behind, we’ll meet again in a matter of hours. Can you handle that?”

Asil grabbed the doorknob, stood for a few seconds, then smiled faintly and slowly opened the door. He said.

“There won’t be any need to meet you again, Instructor. So I don’t need to handle anything.”

Thud.

The door closed. Through the narrowing gap, Asil faintly heard a sound akin to a choked sob. It was Valery, crying out his name.