CH 68

“…….”

Feeling Charles’ gaze, Herace nodded her head small, giving strength to her hand on her abdomen. Charles faltered back at her affirmation. His steps were somewhat unsettling.

“Yes, I’m going to have a nephew…… I’m going to be an Uncle. It’s a little surprising.”

“…….”

“Ah…… celebration comes before that. Congratulations, Herace! Since you are a pretty girl, the baby will be very pretty whether it’s a boy or a girl. I’m looking forward to it.… The face of my nephew.”

His voice was the brightest since he entered the greenhouse. However, Charles’ eyes were shaking everywhere without focus. He hurriedly said goodbye to Herace, hiding his trembling hand behind him.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Cha, Charles!”

Herace tried to catch him, but she couldn’t catch up with someone who ran away as fast as he could. Charles went to the door without looking back, and stopped while trying to get out.

“Herace.”

Charles showed his back to her and called her name. Then Herace slowly approached Charles.

The cold wind outside was coming through the slightly open door. When Herace had only a few steps left to approach him, Charles opened the door completely and whispered as if wishing he could not hear.

“……You have to live happily with Brother.”

***

Neigh!

On the snow-covered cliff, the horse that Charles rode on, ran away leaving its owner behind. Standing on the dizzying cliff, Charles looked very nervous at the shadow of the silver-haired man in front of him.

“Brother…”

Ezekiel was a few steps away from Charles, but the sword he held to Charles’ chest wasn’t far. Charles, who gulped at the feeling of a sharp blade on his throat, said in a calm voice.

“……nothing happened between Herace and me. I just went to her and said goodbye.”

Shortly after leaving the castle, Charles noticed that someone was chasing him. He wondered who would chase him, who had completely fallen out of grace without even having his status as an aristocrat, but he ran away desperately because there was nothing bad about being careful. But one of his pursuers drove his horse very familiarly, and Charles was soon caught.

At first, Charles was surprised but relieved to find that it was Ezekiel who chased him, but the appreciation did not last long.

Ezekiel suddenly pulled out his sword and pushed it into Charles’ chest, asking about his relationship with Herace. Charles was not very quick-witted, but he soon noticed that his half-brother had learned about the meeting between him and Herace. So he started to make excuses to resolve the misunderstanding.

“I’m aware that breaking into the castle without Brother’s permission and calling her out is a sin that deserves a hundred apologies. But there was nothing else.”

“…….”

“I’m telling you, Brother. We’re just…….”

Ezekiel’s golden eyes flashed furiously at the word ‘we’. He gritted his teeth and shouted at Charles.

“I know, so shut up!”

“Well, what do you mean…….”

Charles was frightened by the sudden fierce energy of Ezekiel and stepped back a little. The snow at the end of the cliff made a slight cracking sound. But neither of them had the time to decipher it.

“I know my wife and you didn’t do anything…… Ugh! Damn it!”

Ezekiel seemed to lost his sanity as he began to shake while holding the sword in hand. He lowered his head and held his forehead with his other hand. Surprised by his behaviour, Charles tried to move forward. But he stopped, looking at the sword that was still emitting a ferocious momentum, and only looked worried.

Ezekiel groaned for a moment and slowly raised his head. Charles, who thought his half-brother had improved, tried to start making excuses again, but froze at the bizarre madness in his amber eyes.

“No. On second thought, I don’t think I know, Charles.”

“Brother, Brother….”

“Herace and you…… have not committed adultery, but I can’t believe it. You two even got engaged. And I saw you two hugging each other.”

Delusions clouded his judgment. In Ezekiel’s head, the conversation between the two people, who he had not heard in person, was depicted at will. He took half a step closer to Charles.

“……The truth is that I wish you could kiss her. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about that. I could have doubts about my wife’s innocence, and I could have wielded this sword comfortably. But you… You didn’t do that. Should I say it’s a relief? Huh?”

“Brother! Wake up! Right now, you’re…… Ugh!”

Charles realized that his half-brother’s condition was somewhat strange and raised his voice, but Ezekiel ignored him and moved his sword. The sword that was pointed to Charles’ chest climbed to his neck. Ezekiel stared into the distance with bloodshot eyes and shifted his cool gaze to Charles’ neck.

“Charles, I can’t stand this voice in my ears. I can hear it again and again. There’s a child in her stomach……, She says that I’m the one who she loves. But is it true? Am I being fooled by her?”

“Brother! What…… Wake up! Brother Ezekiel!”

“As long as you’re alive, I’ll always suffer from this anxiety. I’ll have to tremble all night at the possibility that she can leave me and go to you anytime.”

At first glance, Ezekiel’s voice seemed insincere, but there was a condensed life in it. Charles took another step back from the approaching sword. The wind blew behind his back as his footsteps leaned closer to danger.

“Brother, once you get rid of this sword, I’ll explain everything…….”

“……I don’t think I can stand it.”

“Brother! What?”

Thud! Thud! Thump!

There were several sounds of something falling, and soon the floor cracked. Charles’ body was pushed away. As his body dangled from the cliff, Charles reached for Ezekiel with his eyes wide open. Ezekiel faltered for a moment and reached out to Charles.

But just one moment, a moment, was late. They couldn’t reach each other. In an instant, Charles fell down and Ezekiel, who lost his balance, missed the grip on the sword. And within seconds, a thud rang close by.

Only then did the focus return to Ezekiel’s empty eyes. He stiffened for a while with a shocked face, looked down, and found his half-brother buried in between the fallen snow and hurriedly went down the cliff. His entire right arm was injured, including his hand, while he was trying to overcome the steep wall with his bare body, but he didn’t have time to care about that.

“Charles! Charles!”

“Oh, argh! Brother, Brother…….”

The cliff where Charles fell was not very high. There was snow piled up below, so if he had fallen as it was, he could have lived without major injuries.

However, in the middle of Charles’ abdomen, the sword that Ezekiel missed was deeply embedded. Ezekiel tried to pull out the sword, but stopped his hand in the pouring blood.

“Charles! Wake up! Charles!”

“Brother… Brother Ezekiel…… Ugh!”

Blood gushed out of his mouth at every breath. Both Ezekiel and Charles knew that there was no hope. Charles shook his head while holding his half-brother’s hand tightly to help him stand up. Then, panting, he began to spit out the last word with difficulty.

“Brother…… huuhh. Brother, Brother….”

“Charles, look this way. Look at me! Look at me!”

“He, Harace…… Oh, have no doubt on her. Well, she’s…… Heuk… she loved you, Brother, Brother. A long time ago…… Even before.”

As Charles continued, Ezekiel’s face crumpled badly. Hot tears blocked the view and fell on Charles’ face.

“I mean… heuk…… Please, please, don’t…… Ugh!”

The breath that exited like wisps of white clouds met the cold air and gradually became faster but smaller. Charles painted Herace, starting with the blue eyes he had longed for all his life. And when a soft smile bloomed around his mouth, he breathed out his last breath.

“Live, happily…… Please…”

Please be happy. The will failed to finish with a few words left. Half-open eyes without being able to close them showed regret, sadness, and unexpected joy. His lifeless eyes were clouded. The name of the deceased leaked out from the remaining person’s mouth with a strange groan.

“Charles…”

The sinner raised his bloodstained hand trembling nonstop. Ezekiel, who put his palm on his half-brother’s face, barely opened his eyes that he could not open. And soon after, only a voice filled with deep guilt rang in the wide wilderness.

“Ahhhhh!”

Blood from the arms dripped down on the snow. At the same time, the despair of killing his brother penetrated Ezekiel’s mind.

“Brother!”

The voice of Charles, who always welcomed him, was bright. Ezekiel distorted his face while looking at his blood-stained hands.

“I’m sorry on behalf of my mother, but I like you. No matter what anyone says, you and I are brothers.”

His half-brother never said anything unpleasant to him in his life. Even when he, an illegitimate child, took his father’s attention, when he was fighting with bad rumours with Herace, even when he eventually married her and took the position of the Duke.

‘Blood…’

However, he stained his brother’s blood on his hand. Under the pretext of jealousy……. He led an innocent person to death.

The guilt he had not felt while cutting hundreds of heads on the battlefield engulfed him. Ezekiel buried his face in his blood-stained hands. He wasn’t confident to see his brother’s body right below. The figure of Charles was clearly embedded between his fingers.

“Ah……”

Ezekiel withdrew from Charles’ body, now a corpse, with a knee step. Then he jumped up to run away from this place.

“Haah……“

He didn’t want to remember anything. He didn’t want to see the results he made. He wanted to shake off this sin that weighed on him. But he couldn’t get away from it. While he was in despair, a group of men with weapons wrapped around Ezekiel.

The men were a group of barbarian vanquished soldiers who were defeated by the army led by Ezekiel and fled. A young-faced man, who must have hurt his leg, stared at Ezekiel and shouted.

“You murderer!”

“…….”

“I will cut your neck to honour the souls of my brothers. You murderer!”

Ezekiel, who was still, responded noticeably harshly to the word ‘murderer’. Bloodshot eyes turned to the man who spat out the word.

The man who received the gaze faltered. Then another barbarian man in the group instigated the group.

“Don’t be scared! There are no other guys around here with him!”

At the words, fierce shouts rang from all over the group and someone shot an arrow at Ezekiel. A sharp wind-cut arrow sank into Ezekiel’s shoulder.

“Revenge our brothers!”

“Dog of the Empire! Die!”

It was a situation where anyone could understand that they had to run away. Not only was Ezekiel injured, it was also difficult to deal with armed men with only a sword alone.

“I’d rather kill you here…….”

But Ezekiel did not run away. He muttered something and took his hand to the sword embedded in Charles’ stomach. The bloody blade of the sword flashed and the corners of his mouth was raised in a twisted glee.

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