Chapter 62

The crowd ranged from gaunt old men to youths who still looked a bit immature.

Gareth whispered low.

“The route to the lodgings is blocked. We should take a different way back.”

“You handle it then. But who are those people?”

We moved slowly and acted like passersby so we wouldn’t stand out, then slipped into an alley to hide.

Only after catching our breath did I look more closely at the crowd.

“Am I their target, by any chance?”

“No, madam. Your identity has been kept well hidden.”

“The officials who came with Lord Ramon know me.”

“They don’t know Bellamare’s inner workings in detail. They’re low ranking clerks who fell out of favor with the governor. Ramon and the governor weren’t on good terms to begin with.”

So they’d brought in people who kept their mouths shut.

They were the duke’s appointed men and looked dull, not very trustworthy, but thorough enough that someone had done some checking ahead of time.

Then Gareth pointed quietly at something.

“It looks like that’s what they were after.”

“Huh…”

The crowd crept toward the warehouses by the docks.

An old man who looked like a laborer carefully picked a lock and young men slipped inside to start hauling out grain.

‘So those are the rats.’

Even seeing it with my own eyes left me feeling oddly unsettled.

Whatever the reason, thinking about it wasn’t going to help me.

I turned to leave for the inn without lingering when a sharp shout cut from behind.

“What are you doing there?!”

“Drop everything! Hands above your heads!”

Night patrol soldiers had found the thieves.

People with sacks of all sizes darted across the docks and scattered into narrow alleys.

Of course some of them ran right where Gareth and I had been hiding.

“What are you staring at?”

“I told you women shouldn’t come out. Hurry!”

Someone barreled over and grabbed my arm roughly.

Gareth reflexively reached for his sword but I shook my head quickly to stop him.

‘Master of the guild!’

‘Do not harm my people. That is an order.’

Before our silent exchange could finish the group holding Gareth and me sprinted and joined another fleeing crowd at the alley’s end.

There was no time to explain we weren’t from here. We were swept up among the masses in an instant.

‘How did this even happen?’

Behind us soldiers shouted and metal clanged loudly.

Regret was useless now. There was no choice but to run with these people toward whatever destination they had in mind.

* * *

It was an ordinary evening.

Edwin had finished reviewing the northern wall’s border reports, signed off on a few approvals, and wrapped up a short meeting before ending his day. He sat alone in the dining hall.

The table was vast but by the duke’s order the meal was simple.

Veal soup, two loaves of rye bread, and a glass of wine were all there was.

“Tired.”

Edwin pressed his temple and listened to footsteps in the corridor.

All the servants except steward Bertold were dismissed.

Only one person in the western residence could move about freely against his orders.

“Were you dining?”

As expected Brother Vincent stuck his head in after a little while.

“As you can see.”

“I saw a light passing by and thought I’d drop in. I hope I’m not intruding.”

He said apologetic words and then marched over and plopped into the seat across from him.

He even pushed it further.

“I haven’t had my before-dinner yet. If you don’t mind may I join you?”

“You’re sitting already.”

“What matter are such small formalities between us. We ate together at the monastery table, didn’t we? Ah, I miss that warm atmosphere.”

When Edwin gave a short gesture Bertold quickly brought another portion.

The same soup, two pieces of bread, and wine.

Vincent smiled in a way Edwin couldn’t read.

“Those high folks in the holy city should take a lesson in moderation from Your Grace. Though the wine is first rate.”

Vincent, who could discern wine quality at a glance, shared the palate of the so-called highborn.

Edwin normally had little appetite but Vincent across from him made the food wholly unappealing.

‘If he weren’t in the picture I wouldn’t have sent Elicia to Bellamare alone.’

He wanted to go but if he left the residence the inquisitors would run rampant in Lombard.

To keep them in check Edwin had to remain.

‘At least Elicia was willing to take Gareth. Thank goodness for that.’

Gareth’s loyalty was blind. He would carry out the order to protect the duchess even at the cost of his life.

So there was nothing to worry about. Nothing would happen to her. It was needless anxiety.

While Vincent prattled about wine Edwin drifted into a short reverie then snapped back when Vincent finally fell silent.

A heavy silence ended and Vincent looked at Bertold who’d been standing there.

“You’re out.”

“I only follow Your Grace’s orders.”

“Then have him show you out. What I’m about to say shouldn’t be overheard.”

Edwin set his wine down and gave a low nod.

Bertold bowed and left without hesitation.

Only when the old steward’s footsteps faded down the corridor did Vincent look back at Edwin.

His pale eyes gleamed.

“Are you a demon?”

“That’s abrupt and rude.”

“Rude? What’s with this stinking demonic energy over Lombard. What’s that disgusting creature that crawls around calling itself a cat that Elicia clings to. Is it your familiar?”

“…”

“The air in this place is suffocatingly revolting and unpleasant. I never felt such filthy twisted energy. What did you do?”

Edwin listened as the other man spat the words out with a twisted expression.

He looked on in silence and for Edwin the whole thing was amusing.

‘Am I a demon?’

He honestly didn’t know.

After repeating lives in a world like the primordial one, or one only subtly different from it, dozens or perhaps even hundreds of times, he had long since stopped trying to count.

At some point the self who had lived those repeats lost the certainty of being merely human.

Maybe he’s not a demon, but if you asked him outright whether he was human he couldn’t answer with confidence.

There couldn’t possibly be another being like him in the world.

‘But this life is special.’

Edwin’s eyes softened a fraction.

This was the first life in which he had found her again, the one who’d vanished as if she’d never existed across countless repeated lives.

Though she wore another body he recognized her like fate had marked her.

Back at the Castle Office.

Her bright eyes buried in paperwork, the set of her mouth, the little unconscious habits.

‘What are you doing here, madam?’

When he’d wandered searching all worlds except that first life and found no trace of her it had been a crushing fear.

Was he mad?

Was he the only one to burn with lonely longing for someone who’d never existed?

Maybe everything was a dream and he was just a broken man.

‘Still, I couldn’t give up.’

Even if everything else faded he burned that memory like a brand into his mind in each repeated life.

And it worked. Like fate, the moment their eyes met he recognized her.

‘How remarkable. Madam you missed me so much.’

‘What?’

‘Rejected on the first night so you came all this way didn’t you?’

The breath that always rose to his throat and the brain that twisted like a broken doll finally quieted.

He forced a calm face.

If he loosened his guard for a second he feared he’d grab her and never let go, ignoring her wish to live free and trapping her forever.

He clenched his trembling fist to crush the urge rising in his head.