Contract of Submission with the Enemy - Chapter 22
Rité unwrapped the bandage tied around Aster’s thigh. A long, bloodied wound appeared, much deeper than what his words of a “small cut” suggested. She couldn’t believe how he had managed to hide such a wound from his subordinates so calmly.
Suddenly, Rité noticed the scattered bandages, disinfectants, and scissors on the sofa. He must have administered first aid himself in his office to avoid being found out. He would have been in trouble if it was known that he couldn’t heal his own wound. She really had shown up at the perfect time.
Taking a deep breath through her nose, Rité placed her hand over his wound and used her power. Soon, a green aura gathered over the wound, healing it completely.
As she lifted her hand, Aster smoothly stood up from the chair, pulling up his pants and zipper as he casually said,
“Now we’re even.”
“…Even for what?”
Aster gave her a sly smile.
“Remember last time, when you were upset about being the only one naked? Now that you’ve seen my underwear too, it’s a tie.”
Once again, Rité’s face flushed as she glared at him fiercely. His words made it sound bizarre, twisting the situation with his wording.
The sound of his belt clinking echoed as he neatly arranged his shirt. Aster calmly continued,
“I’ve seen your resolve to save the commander. At three o’clock this morning, I’ll let you meet him.”
“What…?”
Aster, still looking at Rité who was sitting on the floor, handed her something. It was a key.
“It’s the key to the torture chamber.”
Rité’s eyes widened.
“Really…? You’ll really let me meet him?”
“Just to say your final goodbyes.”
At that, Rité’s face hardened.
“This isn’t what we agreed on.”
Aster spoke without a change in his expression.
“That man won’t join our army. Torture is useless. We can’t waste any more manpower, so at dawn, he’ll be executed. Persuade him to join us before then. Otherwise, it’s death.”
Rité reached out but couldn’t easily take the key. Her hand trembled in the air, burdened by the heavy responsibility. Watching her, Aster spoke calmly.
“Whether you take the key or not is your choice. I gave him a final chance too. Whether he takes it or not is up to him. I respect his choice, but he must bear the consequences of that choice. Remember my words, Rité.”
With that, he dropped the key in front of her.
“I’ve lost the key.”
Leaving those cryptic words behind, he turned and leisurely exited the room. Left alone, Rité was confused and at a loss, but the thought of seeing the commander one last time quickly brought her back to her senses, and she began to organize her thoughts.
Three in the morning. It must have been a time with the least amount of surveillance, a considerate gesture on Aster’s part.
Swallowing hard, Rité waited anxiously for three o’clock to come.
Time felt impossibly far away, yet paradoxically, it seemed to fly by with just a blink of an eye.
When three o’clock finally arrived, Rité carefully sneaked out of her room, avoiding everyone’s eyes, and headed to the torture chamber. She had bread and water from that evening’s meal, and a knife and fork that could serve as weapons.
Deliberately skipping a meal to bring food for the commander, she thought it was a small price to pay if it meant he could eat.
When she reached the torture chamber, she was surprised to find no one guarding it. Checking the schedule posted on the door, she saw that there was a twenty-minute gap during the shift change. She now understood why Aster had given her the key at this time.
It was the perfect timing. Feeling a sense of significance, she swallowed nervously.
Inserting the key into the lock, the heavy, eerie click sent shivers down her spine. She recalled the day she was captured and found herself trembling uncontrollably while holding the doorknob.
After taking a deep breath, Rité mustered the courage to open the thick iron door.
Inside the torture chamber, Maud was tied up in the exact spot she had been, his head drooping. He was a mess, drenched in sweat and blood.
“Commander…!”
With tears in her eyes, Rité rushed to him. Maud’s swollen eyes slowly opened, recognizing her face.
“Rité, how did you…?”
“Don’t talk, just eat this first.”
Rité quickly unwrapped the towel, revealing the water and bread she had brought, and held them to his mouth. Maud weakly accepted and slowly swallowed them. When he coughed, Rité carefully poured water into his mouth.
After he managed to swallow the bread and water with great difficulty, he muttered weakly.
“Thank goodness, Rité… I’m so relieved… you’re safe…”
Rité silently cried. The exhausted commander looked at her with a tender gaze. Despite being betrayed and joining the Carta army for survival, he smiled warmly, as if none of that mattered.
Rité blinked away her tears, then looked at him resolutely.
“At dawn, they’ll execute you. We have to escape before then.”
Maud’s eyes widened.
“Escape… Rité…”
Looking directly into his eyes, Rité spoke firmly.
“Now is our only chance.”
Using her power, she untied his hands. From the start, she had no intention of recruiting Maud into the army. She would rather suffer to her core than make him endure the tragedy she and Nox had faced.
Most importantly, she respected Maud’s decision. As Aster said, he would rather die than be persuaded. She had abandoned her pride and her identity as a vigilante to join the army, but as a commander, she wanted to protect his pride and self-respect.
Maud held Rité’s hand with a face full of confusion and worry.
“Rité, that man, Aster,” he said, his brows furrowing deeply with seriousness, “you must be cautious of him.”
Rité’s eyes widened as she looked at him. Maud continued with a serious expression.
“My ability is to obscure vision with fog. But for some reason, it didn’t work on him. In the thick fog where even I lose my way, he found my location without hesitation, as if he could see me through the fog, as if he was aware of my every move.”
Every ability has its activation conditions and penalties. Just as Rité’s ability to create weapons came with pain and she couldn’t heal herself, Maud could manipulate fog but also lost his sense of direction in it. Yet, according to Maud, Aster had precisely located him in the fog where even Maud would be lost.
Rité couldn’t understand how that was possible. Truly, Wilder was an extraordinary being. She felt a strange sensation that, like hiding the penalty of his healing ability from everyone, Aster might be hiding something from her too.
“He’s on a different level from other Awakened. If you confront him recklessly, you won’t come out unscathed.”
“I know. But we don’t have time to devise a more elaborate plan. Let’s go together. Even if one of us can hold him off, if two Awakened attack together, he’ll have a harder time.”
Maud looked at Rité with trembling eyes and then nodded once.
“Yes. Let’s go home together.”
The word “home” made Rité smile faintly. It was a word that warmed her heart just hearing it.
Rité quickly healed Maud’s wounds and led him outside.
“Can you use your ability?”
“I’ll try my best.”