Chapter 7 (Part 4)
Helping someone as large as him onto the horse was harder than she expected, and by the time she managed to get him onto the saddle, her back was drenched in sweat.
Sitting behind his large frame, even gripping the reins was no easy task.
“We have to go now.”
Just as Therese was about to pull the reins, a strange noise reached her ears.
…Growl.
A monster had followed her. Half-burnt and grotesque in appearance, it lunged at the horse Therese was riding, trying to bite it.
If she started moving immediately, she could avoid the monster’s attack. However, the horse remained frozen in place.
“We need to go! Please!”
Despite her pleading, the horse only swished its tail.
The distance between them and the monster closed to the point where she could smell its rotting stench.
‘At this rate, we’ll be caught.’
As the monster lunged at them, Therese tightly shut her eyes.
At that moment, the Duke’s limp hand brushed against the horse’s mane, and miraculously, the horse began to move.
Neigh!
Barely escaping danger, Therese urged the horse on without stopping, quickly leaving the harbor behind.
“Where should we go now?”
Looking up at the semi-conscious Duke’s back, Therese bit her lips.
The wound on his shoulder, inflicted by the monster earlier, looked severe even at a glance. He needed medical attention immediately, but that wasn’t an option.
‘If the Duke receives treatment, word will spread about his injury.’
Given that the Emperor’s soldiers had stormed the harbor, it was clearly a trap set to capture the Night Wolf.
If they began searching hospitals and clinics in the capital for injured men, they might quickly uncover the Night Wolf’s identity.
‘That can’t happen.’
The Night Wolf’s identity was a secret that must never be revealed to anyone.
If it were exposed, not only the Duke but also the Richard and Demori families could all be executed.
But doing nothing wasn’t an option either. Without immediate treatment, the Duke would die from excessive blood loss.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Therese made up her mind.
“There’s no other choice.”
With one arm tightly wrapped around the Duke’s waist, she turned the horse toward the city walls. The guards were lax when leaving the city, so they were able to slip out easily.
The lights of the capital vanished as soon as they passed the walls, as if by magic.
Beyond the reach of the magic stones’ power, the area was illuminated only by faint moonlight.
But Therese knew this path well. Passing by the road leading to Roshan’s house and heading further into the outskirts, a small house soon came into view.
The house, bearing the marks of time, was so old and decrepit that it wouldn’t have been surprising if it collapsed at any moment.
Overgrown ivy completely covered the half-crumbled stone walls.
At the sound of the horse’s cry, the door of the eerie little house creaked open.
A tall, rough-looking man emerged from inside.
His bald head gleamed, and his thick beard covered his nose and chin, making it hard to tell his exact age.
Neigh!
At first glance, his appearance was so similar to the monsters they had faced at the harbor that the horse reared up in alarm.
When Therese removed her mask, soaked with sweat and blood, the man, who was limping on one leg, raised his hand in greeting.
“Derrick!”
“I thought a ghost had come knocking in the middle of the night.”
At Derrick’s jest, Therese’s tense shoulders seemed to relax slightly.
Jumping off the horse, she shook her head.
“I’m so out of breath I can taste blood.”
“Is it His Grace again today?”
Familiar with Therese’s tendency to disguise herself as a man, Derrick didn’t seem particularly surprised.
“By the way, is that a corpse? Should I dissect it for you?”
Pointing at the Duke, who remained motionless even while seated, Derrick grimaced.
“Stop saying such horrible things and help me get him inside.”
“He’ll bleed all over the place…”
Though he looked reluctant, Derrick lifted the Duke off the horse and carried him inside.
After tying the horse to the stable, Therese quickly checked her surroundings.
Creak—
When she entered, the interior of the house was entirely different from its shabby, eerie exterior.
The inside had a quaint charm. Though old, the floral curtains and the vase of wildflowers on the table gave it a cozy atmosphere.
“There’s no bed, so let’s lay him here.”
Therese quickly moved the vase off the table, and Derrick placed the Duke on it.
“So, are we saving him or finishing him off?”
Stroking his beard, Derrick studied the Duke’s limp body. His gaze was so calculating, it seemed as though he was deciding where to cut.
Therese snapped at his unsettling words.
“Of course, we’re saving him.”
“Miss, I’m not a doctor.”
“Derrick, please.”
Derrick was the only one who could treat the Duke now.
At Therese’s plea, Derrick hesitated briefly before shrugging.
“Will you bring me plenty of alcohol next time?”
“Of course, of course! I’ll bring you a whole barrel of the finest liquor.”
“But I can’t guarantee anything.”
Frowning as he looked at the Duke’s limp body, Derrick sighed.
“Do what you can. That’s all I ask.”
After lighting several more candles, Derrick prepared his tools: knives, thread, and needles.
With practiced hands, he cut away the blood-soaked clothes, revealing the wound on the Duke’s shoulder.
The injury was so severe it was a miracle his arm hadn’t been severed.
Clicking his tongue, Derrick examined the crushed shoulder and the wound with his hands, which he had roughly cleaned with alcohol.
“It’s a miracle his arm is still attached. What kind of life does he lead to end up in this state?”
Therese hesitated at his question.
Even though Derrick admired the Night Wolf, she couldn’t reveal the truth to him. The fewer people who knew his identity, the better.
That was why she hadn’t removed the Duke’s mask.
“He’s just a friend of mine.”
“I’ll need more alcohol.”
Fortunately, Derrick didn’t press further and shuffled over to the cupboard.
Hanging on the wall next to the cupboard was an old red coat. Derrick was one of the Empire’s most renowned executioners and a skilled surgeon.
Through his work as an executioner, he had studied human anatomy extensively and excelled in treating fractures. That was why the poor beyond the city walls often sought him out.
“…Ugh.”
The Duke seemed to have regained consciousness as he blinked and groaned. Confused by the unfamiliar ceiling, he attempted to sit up despite his condition.
“Stay still. This man can help you.”
Therese said as she held the Duke’s hand. He stopped struggling and rested his head back on the table.
“If you’re not careful, that arm might have to be cut off, so stay still.”
Derrick remarked, gulping down some alcohol before pouring the remainder over the Duke’s wound.
“Argh!”
The Duke writhed in pain, and Therese tightened her grip on his hand.
“You can trust him. He’s reliable.”
Derrick glanced at Therese’s face and wiped his alcohol-soaked beard with a swipe of his hand.
“If you don’t want to see your friend bite his tongue off, you’ll need to gag him.”
“…Alright.”
Therese’s fingers trembled as she hurriedly loosened the string tying her hair to use as a gag for the Duke.
Derrick examined the wound, which had been cleaned with alcohol, and spat on the floor.
“I’ve never seen a wound this severe in my life.”
He started by setting the bone.
The grotesque sound of bones grinding against each other and the Duke’s groans filled the room. Therese dabbed the remaining alcohol onto the cloth in the Duke’s mouth, hoping the strong liquor would numb his senses.
“I’ll start stitching now. Shine the candlelight here.”
Once the Duke stopped thrashing, Derrick quickly began closing the wound.
Despite the ghastly sight of the nearly exposed bone, Derrick worked without hesitation.
“Almost done.”
As Derrick spoke while carefully stitching the flesh, Therese let out the breath she had been holding.
“…Ha.”
While drops of candle wax fell to the floor, the Duke’s blood pooled in a bucket beneath the table.
The table itself was a horrifying sight, littered with pieces of flesh and scraps of thread. The scene resembled a slaughterhouse, and Therese struggled to suppress her nausea as she spoke.
“Derrick, how is he?”
She was worried that the Duke might be in critical danger due to the excessive blood loss or that he might lose his arm.
Derrick, cutting the thread’s knot with his teeth, replied indifferently.
“Who knows?”
He wasn’t wrong.
Having done all they could, all that remained now was to pray to Goddess Diana.
“Thank you.”
Therese sincerely expressed her gratitude to Derrick, who had risked getting involved in troublesome matters to help her.
Derrick, who had been grumbling earlier, seemed indifferent to her thanks.
“Friends don’t talk like that.”
“You’ve worked hard, Derrick.”
“Take care of the rest yourself, Miss.”
After washing his hands, Derrick removed his bloodstained outer clothing and tossed it into a wooden tub. He then grabbed a bottle of liquor from the cupboard, sat down on a bed in the corner, and drew a curtain around himself.
Now, only Therese and the Duke remained behind the curtain.