Chapter 9 (Part 2)

Intercourse in the solitary room was difficult in many ways. The bed was narrower and more worn than the one in the Madam’s room, creaking as if it would collapse, and the sound of rain threatening her seeped in through the open window.

Most of all, if she collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep there, the servants bringing him meals would see her in that state, making it impossible for her to sleep deeply.

Despite that, she visited Edan’s solitary room every day. After repeating intercourse that might be comforting someone, she would lie on his chest and fall into a brief, shallow sleep, then return to her room at dawn.

Among the servants who didn’t know the situation, rumors spread that Madam had sleepwalking, and Ellenia grew increasingly emaciated, but no one could stop it.

Not even the people involved.

In the morning, Edan trembled with self-reproach.

He returned to serve her nights even a little peacefully, perhaps to share those moments that might be her last.

But as late feelings helplessly mixed in, he began to wish for more time with her and wanted to keep her rather than let her go.

But because of all the time he wasn’t with her, every minute and second he spent with her seemed to sap her strength.

If only he had acted more calmly.

If he had secretly killed Schultz, or not given Schultz any reason to threaten her in the first place.

Such thoughts even led him to remember the final decision he made on the battlefield of Schwafelt years ago and the memories before that, tormenting him.

Knock, knock.

The knock sound broke his thoughts, followed by the sound of the latch clicking and the door opening. It was Greta, who brought his breakfast every day.

She also knew that Madam visited this room every night, but knowing how rough the nights were without him for those two days, she couldn’t say anything.

Moreover, this young man was the hero who dealt with that greedy collateral family head.

Greta, who had a twelve-year-old son, placed the meal on the small table with a motherly heart.

This boy had endured several days without eating, but since the Madam started visiting, he had been eating much better.

Perhaps finding that a bit endearing, she spoke warmly as she gathered the bedding he had rolled around with the Madam for washing.

“The Madam’s story is famous in the lord’s troops.”

“Really?”

“They even made a song about Madam.”

“We soldiers wouldn’t know well…”

“They said no soldier in the unit didn’t know. They even used it as a password.”

Soldiers, doing all sorts of things…

Edan mumbled the excuse he had used effectively for the past few years.

“…I was quite young back then.”

Greta was slightly surprised as he scratched his neck with a wide grin. Well, he was just over twenty. His age suddenly felt more real to her.

“Ugh, Thomas, are you always hanging around the castle?”

“It’s my job to be here. The elders love hearing stories about the lord from me.”

As Greta headed to the water tap with the laundry for the day, Thomas was again at the stable where the servants always gathered. The two, who had grown up in the same neighborhood despite a six or seven-year age difference, were as close as siblings.

When Thomas spoke cheekily again today, Greta lightly punched him.

“Enough, you braggart. How can there be no one in the Kingdom of Schwafelt who doesn’t know the song you made about Madam?”

“It’s true, why?”

“Why, the castle guest said they’d never heard of it.”

“Huh? That’s strange. That can’t be. By the end, there were barely a few hundred of us left, and we were incredibly close.”

“Maybe because he was young.”

The old carpenter waved his hand dismissively. Though the relationship between the Madam and Edan never reached the elders working in the yard, they saw him as a modest, obedient, and commendable young man.

The elders nodded in agreement, while Thomas tilted his head in confusion.

“They’d tease you as a foreigner if you couldn’t sing it, so everyone knew it. Except for high-ranking knights or the lord.”

Only the tousle-haired man’s eyes gleamed slyly as he listened.

***

Edan was released from solitary confinement ten days after he was put there. The servants who came to fetch him tied his hands with a rope in front, possibly to show the collateral family.

He was dragged to the audience chamber, where he had first set foot on the day he arrived in Tarnu. Like before, Ellenia sat in the lord’s chair, but this time, the bishop of Nux was in front of her, with the collateral family members on either side.

During regular meetings in the lord’s lifetime, the vassals would always stand on either side of the lord.

Edan knelt in the middle of the hall with a bitter smile. Far away, Ellenia’s eyes shone with sorrow.

“I, Bishop Antanius of Nux, swear to deliver a righteous judgment before the glory of the Lord.”

The bishop of Nux solemnly recited with his hand on the scripture held by a servant on a silver tray. The glory of the Lord, which he had wielded as a weapon all his life, rolled cheaply off his tongue today as well.

“I will question the murder of Schultz Opellus, sixth cousin of  Lord Edarson Tarnu.”

The trial of a territory should rightly be conducted by the lord, so it was proper for Ellenia, the proxy, to preside, but inconveniently, the bishop of Nux was taking that role.

This was why the kingdom’s claim to be a theocracy was problematic. The church’s authority took precedence over the territorial system.

With lingering resentment, Edan’s lips twisted into a crooked smile. The faces of the branch family members turned red with anger.

“Did you take the life of Schultz Opellus?”

“Yes.”

At his straightforward answer, the servants behind him murmured. 

Shouldn’t he make some excuse? It was self-defense, wasn’t it? Schultz tried to assault Madam.

“Grandfather, that matter is—”

“I am questioning as the bishop of Nux, the territory closest to Tarnu.”

The bishop’s gaze was oppressive as he glared at Ellenia. Whenever she met that gaze, memories of being slapped or hit somewhere flashed through her mind, causing her to shrink back unconsciously.

There are no rods. They were all burned.

But nothing ever went as I wanted…

“While Schultz Opellus may have been rude to Edarson’s widow—”

“That was not mere rudeness!”

Ellenia, sitting in the lord’s chair, raised her voice again. The fervent support of the servants behind her shone in their eyes.

“What happened there is known only to Edarson’s widow and the deceased. Conveniently, the accused is said to have an intimate relationship with Edarson’s widow.”

The bishop’s voice hissed like a snake. The Opellus members nodded vigorously at his words.

The servants who knew about Ellenia and Edan’s relationship glared at the bishop with contempt, and those who only vaguely knew but didn’t have the full story stared at his mouth with distrust.

In any case, they must not give any leverage to that bishop.

“How can the widow’s testimony be impartial?”

“That…”

The bishop raised his hand without even looking at Ellenia. Though wrinkled, the large gem-set ring on his finger reminded Ellenia of the oppressive authority she remembered from her childhood.

Flinching at his gesture, Ellenia bit her lip painfully.

Kneeling in the middle, Edan kept his eyes downcast the entire time.

He felt sorry for making her plead with the bishop because of him. 

I should have been more thorough…

“The fact is that the accused killed the relative of the lord of Tarnu, and since the accused is a commoner, the crime of murdering a noble must be judged more severely.”

Murmurs of discontent arose among the servants.

Madam tried so hard not to hold the trial until the collateral members were driven out, so how did it come to this?

“Then I will ask. What is your name, where are you from, and who are your parents?”

“My name is…”

“There happens to be someone who can testify about the accused’s identity.”

As if Edan’s answer was irrelevant from the start, the bishop cut him off and waved his hand toward the far end. When the bishop’s attendant opened the door at the entrance of the audience chamber, Thomas entered.

The familiar face of the tousle-haired boy who had suggested this to the bishop brightened among the servants.

“The accused claimed to have brought the lord’s relics. If he did not fight under the lord’s banner, it would all be deceit. He might even be the one who killed the lord. Let’s first hear the testimony of someone who fought in all of Edarson’s battles.”

The bishop’s words raised a murmur of discontent. In the midst of it, Thomas entered with a very polite demeanor.

When Thomas first set foot in this castle, he never imagined he would testify. At most, he thought he could relay the lord’s heroic tales of taking countless foreign lives over seven years.

But who could have known that the one who brought the lord’s relics would fall out of favor with the bishop, the Opellus family head, and even the tousle-haired boy?

It was awkward and distressing for Thomas, as he didn’t want to betray the expectations of the tousle-haired man he had been close to since childhood, nor did he want to slander the Madam’s lover and make her sad, which would feel like a sin against the deceased lord.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable and troubled, Thomas stood before the bishop with hunched shoulders.

“Witness Thomas, son of Peter and Gemma from Tarnu, who served in Edarson Tarnu’s army for seven years, correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then. You might recognize the prisoner, who followed the lord’s banner and brought his relics.”

“Yes, probably…”

“Then, can you identify the accused?”

At the bishop’s words, Thomas sighed and looked down at Edan. He couldn’t understand the point of this. Even if there were only a few hundred left at the end, remembering each face wasn’t easy…

Edan, kneeling, didn’t raise his head easily. His defensive posture caused murmurs among the servants.

Look at this. 

The bishop, with a wrinkled face and a sly smile, nodded to his attendant. The attendant swiftly approached Edan and swung a club.

“Ah!”

Thud! As the dull sound echoed from Edan’s back, causing him to collapse to the floor, Ellenia’s sharp scream resounded in the audience chamber. The servants sighed in distress.

“Do you recognize this face?”

The attendant, who heard the bishop’s words, immediately forced Edan’s head to turn towards Thomas. With his face pressed to the floor, Edan’s green eyes shone desperately towards Thomas.

Damn it.

Thomas froze momentarily as he looked at Edan’s face.

“Th-That man.”

Everyone in the audience chamber held their breath at his pale face.

“He is the, the, the son of the chieftain of the foreign tribe captured by the lord.”