Shadows in Paradise - Chapter 12

“Since the blockade was enforced, no one has crossed this point.”

The knight at his side reported. The checkpoint at the entrance to the Marlhein territory loomed over the bridge spanning the Kelinz River.

“With her injured leg, reaching here so soon would have been impossible. The night was dark, the road unfamiliar. Even with a normal stride, it would take half a day at least. And she was wounded.”

Most likely, she had hidden herself somewhere nearby.

A wanted notice had already been issued: a small woman with chestnut hair and light green eyes, injured on her right leg, possibly in disguise. Knights spread through the villages, inquiring after her, ordering that if she were found, they were to report to the Duke immediately.

Shed pressed his fingers to his throbbing temple.

‘No… something’s off. Something’s still missing.’

“Carlisle.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Search every crossing along the Kelinz. Confirm if anyone’s crossed the river.”

The distance made it unlikely. The blockade should have been enough. Yet the unease in his chest would not settle without proof.

“As you command.”

Carlisle bowed low. He had served Shed for years, but he had never seen him like this before: restless and almost frantic.

This was not the Shed Lester he knew. Not the man who remained steady when others despaired. Not the man who remained unflappable in the face of unknown dangers, silencing even highborn knights and forcing them to obey.

And yet here he was, unravelling over the disappearance of a mere maid.

Carlisle did not understand, but as always, he obeyed. He and the knights scattered, checking every pier along the Kelinz. They questioned every boatman and scoured the smaller crossings, locking them down.

Shed stood at the checkpoint on the great bridge, waiting for their reports.Then—

“My lord, this man admits he ferried a woman across.”

Carlisle shoved a burly boatman forward. The man dropped to his knees before Shed, his face taut with fear.

“You ferried a woman across the river?”

“…Yes, my lord.”

Shed’s eyes narrowed.

“Describe her.”

“She had chestnut hair and green eyes. She was a beautiful woman.”

The boatman stammered. He claimed the woman had begged so desperately that he’d had no choice but to ferry her across.

“Hah…”

Shed let out a mirthless laugh at his words.

“Did you not see the banners of the blockade?”

By daylight, the decree would have already reached this crossing. And yet this fool had dared defy his command and let a woman pass?

“T-that is, at the time, the banners hadn’t yet—”

“If it’s proven you lied, not only you but your entire family will be executed. Answer carefully.”

The boatman’s eyes wavered under Shed’s chilling warning, and at last, he confessed the truth.

“She said… she had a younger sibling in Ashafen. Sick, and waiting on her for medicine. If she didn’t go at once, the child would die…”

It had been just as the banners of the blockade were being raised along the Kelinz. The boatman swore he had seen her weeping, pleading so earnestly that he couldn’t refuse.

“With the blockade suddenly declared and no telling when it would be lifted, I couldn’t leave a sick child to die waiting, could I?”

He lowered his head, insisting that anyone with a heart would have done the same.

Shed inclined his head slowly.

“You’re right. A truly unfortunate story.”

The softness of his tone made the boatman glance up hopefully.

“She said she was going to Ashafen?”

“Yes, yes! That’s what she told me. I put her ashore near the riverbank there.”

He bobbed his hooded head eagerly.

“Then thanks to a kind soul like you, that poor child must have been saved.”

“Th-thank you, my lord. It’s a hard world—we must all help each other, mustn’t we?”

“But you see…”

The iron rasp of steel slid past the boatman’s ear, freezing the blood in his veins.

“…because of that foolish kindness, you’ll lose your life.”

A wet slash. Blood splattered the planks of the bridge.

The boatman toppled sideways, lifeless. The assembled men gasped and fell silent.

Shed looked down at the crumpled body, showing no remorse.

He knew Luise Ideana far too well. She was not one to cry easily. She had learned to hold them back, not to summon them on command. For her to invent a story about family and cry just to escape?

It was absurd.

The boatman’s eyes had given him away. He had been bewitched by her beauty. Anyone would be — she was a woman one could scarcely hope to encounter in a lifetime.

And Shed Lester was not a man to let a liar defy his command and walk away alive.

“She’s left the duchy.”

The words, cold and sharp, slid through clenched teeth.

The reason the boatman had given might have been a lie, but it was true he’d dropped her near Ashafen.

Wiping the blood from his blade, Shed sheathed it and turned to Carlisle.

“Shall I send men to Ashafen?”

Carlisle asked quickly, reading the situation. Shed’s gaze lingered on the corpse sprawled across the ground. After a moment’s thought, he shook his head.

“No. Not Ashafen.”

He knew Luise Ideana too well. She would never be foolish enough to tell someone her true destination.

The boatman may have let her off near Ashafen, but she would never have gone there.

Eliminating Ashafen left only a few possible places. He discarded those where she might cross paths with Godwin’s men, and the cities where Lester’s ties were strong.

That left one.

“Brillon.”

He recalled the small port town of Marlhein. Although Brillon wasn’t a harbour for large merchant ships, it was a popular destination for fishing boats and smaller vessels.

If she were to board a ship there, it would be almost impossible to find her again.

Shed swung up onto his horse.

“We’re heading for Brillon. Now.”

He could not afford to lose her again. He would seize her—before she slipped away.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

“You leave before dawn. If you’re late, I won’t wait.”

The rough boatman smelled of salt and sea. Liana nodded.

Beyond the horizon, the sun had already begun to sink.

‘I barely managed to slip past the blockade… thank goodness.’

The decree meant Shed must have discovered her absence.

‘The cross banners went up on the Kelinz Bridge just before sunrise. Discovered earlier than I expected—but I still have some time.’

Even if he’d begun the search at once, it was nowhere near enough time to scour Marlhein lands.

Besides, Brillon lay half a day’s journey from Lester territory. He would struggle to send men here before nightfall.

Liana left the nets piled high at the dock and made her way toward the town. She needed a place to rest, if only until dawn.

She hadn’t closed her eyes since last night. Nearly a full day of walking. She had hitched rides on wagons here and there, but her legs still throbbed. The new shoes from the Lester estate rubbed her feet raw, leaving blisters.

Wounds she could heal in an instant if she dared use that curse.

But she didn’t want to face it again.

Instead, she turned toward a tavern near the harbor. Better to pass the hours there than risk missing the boat by sleeping in some inn.

From the seaside tavern, she could clearly hear the crash of waves and the cries of gulls. The harbor lay just ahead, the vessels in plain view. She would see at once when her ship was ready to depart.

The sailors’ loud, coarse laughter made it impossible for her to sleep. Even if she closed her eyes, she feared she would not wake in time for the dawn departure.

“What’ll it be?”

The tavern keeper’s voice was as rough as his arms, thick with coarse curls of hair.

‘My travel money…’

Liana hesitated, fingers brushing the light purse at her side. She had barely enough for a day after reaching her destination. There was no room to spare for food.

“…Just a mug of beer, please.”

At the very least, she could wet her throat.

She carried her cheap drink over to the long bar table by the window. There were no stools in sight, so she perched on an empty crate and stared out of the window.

The sun, which had stained the water a crimson colour just moments earlier, was now setting below the horizon. As the scarlet glow faded, the lamps in the tavern and along the street were lit one by one.

The darker the night became, the more crowded the tavern grew. Hidden among the crowd, Liana waited in silence, her nerves growing tighter as time passed.

The man who had bought her a mug of beer had left, and the beer was so flat and sour that it tasted of spoiled grain. Yet she sipped it carefully, making it last.

Her eyes drifted to the harbour in the distance as her thoughts turned bleakly to the future.

‘If I can just get out of here… somehow, I’ll survive.’

Her fingers traced the rim of the rough mug when, suddenly, a flare of light burst across the harbor.

Liana shot to her feet, rushing outside. The rowdy sailors followed, their raucous songs breaking off mid-verse.

Then came the shouts, tearing through the night air.

“Fire!”

“D*mn it, the harbor’s burning!”

The flames, born from a single spark, spread in an instant. Though no wind blew, they surged outward, swallowing everything in sight.

“No…”

Liana’s heart seized as she ran.

Every ship moored at the docks was already ablaze, engulfed in a roaring flames. It was as though the sun, just vanished beyond the sea, had been dragged back up to set the world aflame.

The crimson glow painted the heavens, the water, the smoke—everything. The burning harbor was a vision of despair.

And then—

“…So here you are.”

From within the searing light, a towering shadow emerged. He walked with the flames at his back as if they belonged to him, the false sunset blazing in his wake.

“So, Liana—was the escape enjoyable?”

Against the backdrop of the blood-red flames, his dark figure loomed large, his violet eyes sparkling like blades in the light of the fire.