🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 35
“Xina!”
Mrs. Pensler turned pale and grabbed her arm. I asked back, puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“How can you live under the same blanket with such a crazy boast? Huh?”
Her face was completely innocent, without a trace of malice. That made it even more embarrassing.
I first held her arm to calm her down.
“Sorry, but my husband isn’t crazy.”
We weren’t even sharing a blanket yet. I swallowed the rest of my words.
Xina didn’t seem to calm down at all. She grabbed Mrs. Pensler’s hands with a surprised look.
“Mrs. Pensler, I thought you were joking when you said no one here knew what kind of man Johannes Schultz was when he was in the navy! But it was true.”
Mrs. Pensler held her forehead. Sighs followed one after another.
I started to feel a bit annoyed.
Even if a marriage lacks love, others don’t know that. How can someone insult a person like that in front of the wife herself?
I was about to speak when Xina said,
“How can a wife know nothing about her husband’s true nature?”
I stared at her, bewildered.
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘true nature.’”
“He’s a demon to our continent’s people.”
Xina paused, then added,
“As you said, I’m from the Scandia continent. And I’m from Bordin, which was a major battlefield.”
“Bordin? Why would a Bordin person be here…?”
Most national leaders avoid using their home countries as direct battlefields. This is to protect their citizens and to avoid pouring huge sums into repairing war-damaged buildings.
The Scandia continent, particularly Bordin, was used as a direct battlefield by one of the victorious countries in this war.
Why, then, was Johannes called a demon?
He was just one of the soldiers used by the state in the war. The soldiers of the victorious country were no different.
I spoke to Xina, whose dull gray eyes blinked.
“If it’s just because he was an enemy commander…”
“If you call someone a demon just for that, then you’d have to call all soldiers that. No way.”
When I still didn’t seem to understand, Xina grabbed my shoulders and made me sit down in a chair.
I sat down in surprise and gestured at Mrs. Pensler. But she only sighed, taking no action.
Apparently, she judged that Xina could not be restrained.
Xina then sat across from me, smiling brightly. Looking closer, there was no trace of life in her eyes.
The sight was strange, even eerie.
“I ended up here while looking for a place to live. Although we’re a defeated country, Dochilia is still prosperous.”
“Prosperous? Are you kidding? They still have to pay all the war reparations!” Mrs. Pensler muttered beside her.
“It’s livable! Other defeated countries are facing bankruptcy.”
Xina pouted. Mrs. Pensler slapped Xina’s back repeatedly.
“I should have told her to watch her words. Sorry. She’s fine, but whenever war comes up, she loses all sense.”
Xina refused to stay quiet, so Mrs. Pensler forcibly grabbed her wrist. But Xina, much bigger in stature, couldn’t be moved.
“No, Mrs. Pensler. Miss Mekeli…? Can you tell me more?”
“Of course. Please, just call me Xina.”
She eagerly began explaining just how dangerous Johannes was.
Xina said that whenever Johannes’ fleet appeared at sea, no enemy in the vicinity would survive. Even if prisoners begged tearfully for their families, he showed no mercy.
A cruel killer who tortured and forced confessions from prisoners, regardless of whether they were true.
“He will do anything to achieve his goals.”
I had to pinch the back of my hand hard just to stop myself from trembling.
Coincidentally, the mail that had piled up in front of the house came to mind—letters desperately opposing my marriage to Johannes.
“Could it be…?”
It probably had nothing to do with Xina’s story.
“Why do people say that not even orcas rise to the surface when the Baltic fleet appears near enemy coasts?”
“……”
“Us Scandians, especially people from my hometown Bordin, call Commander Schultz a bloodthirsty killer. I’ve even seen him kill his own men!”
I held my breath for a moment.
“That was the eyes of a murderer. Eyes of someone who feels nothing about killing.”
Xina smiled faintly.
“But strangely, people here don’t know anything about Commander Schultz. They say he’s a popular duke. How can that be? Is he kind to you too?”
She looked at me with curious eyes.
Edward Windsor’s warning suddenly came to mind. Had he known about these rumors and warned me?
As I felt confused, Mrs. Pensler sighed deeply.
“I didn’t believe it at first either. But it was so detailed, and also…”
She trailed off and looked out the window. Hoofbeats grew closer and then stopped in front of the house.
“Who could it be at this hour?”
Mrs. Pensler went out to the entrance, looking puzzled. The sound of the wooden door opening was followed by a faint sound of her shock.
“Edith! Edith!”
She came running, pale. “In front of the house… the Schultz family carriage! No, Duke Schultz himself…!”
At the mention of Duke Schultz, Xina panicked and hid under the table. Her large body trembled.
The cheerful woman from just moments ago was gone. Only a tiny, terrified figure remained.
A strange emotion churned in my chest.
I looked away at the pendulum clock on the wall.
‘If you stay out past curfew, I’ll come fetch you.’
Now that I thought about it, I was long past the curfew I promised Sir Pratt.
I hadn’t expected Johannes to come personally.
It was already getting dark outside. I rose from my seat with a troubled expression.
Outside, the Schultz family carriage stood, the emblem on its door. Johannes waited there for me.
“You’re late.”
He gently said, showing his wristwatch. A faint smile spread across his face in the dim twilight.
Having just heard Xina’s unreal story, Johannes’ seemingly drawn smile felt slightly eerie.
“I’m sorry.”
I bowed my head slightly, trying not to show it. Quietly, so Mrs. Pensler behind the door wouldn’t hear, I added,
“I was talking so long because I met Mrs. Pensler after a while. I was enjoying it and lost track of time…”
Truthfully, I was just surprised by the new information about Johannes Schultz.
My gaze, lingering on the well-pressed coat collar, rose to his face. His eyes, colored with a strange light, looked down at me.
“It’s still dangerous outside. I hope you return before dark; we don’t know what might happen.”
My eyes widened.
Could he have come personally because he was worried about me?
I soon dismissed the thought. He had probably come to fulfill his role.
Perhaps tomorrow’s newspaper would show the kind Duke Schultz in a headline.
I hid the truth from Mrs. Pensler and said,
“This is Mussen. You know that best, don’t you? That crazy…”
My voice rose unconsciously, but I trailed off, remembering Xina calling him a bloodthirsty murderer.
“…The killer has been caught, hasn’t he? And the security has been tightened.”
Johannes’ eyes narrowed.
“For now.”
He quickly adapted to my words.
“But the reins we had on him have been loosened.”
“……”
“It took so long to catch one culprit, so the crazed horses that had held their breath might run wild.”
Johannes smiled faintly.
I sensed Mrs. Pensler approaching. I should probably act how he wanted here.
To prevent him from meeting Xina, I had to leave quickly.
I looked into his deep blue eyes, whose emotion I couldn’t read, and said,
“Johannes. I know you love me deeply, but you don’t have to come fetch me like this.”
His face filled with bewilderment.
…Was this not the right response?
