Chapter 12

“Um… Liche?”

Gisela, who had been hovering nearby, approached Edith as she was putting away her cleaning tools after the day’s work. Edith straightened up, almost as if she’d been expecting this moment. After hanging around all day, it seemed Gisela had finally worked up the nerve to speak.

“Yes, Gisela? What is it?”

“Well, um…”

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, words hesitating on the tip of her tongue.

What could she be so hesitant to say?

Growing a little impatient, Edith prompted her in a low voice.

“Isn’t there something you wanted to tell me?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s okay, go ahead.”

“Would you… um, would you have some time for me after work? Just for a bit, I mean…”

“Oh…”

The unexpected request made a hint of discomfort flicker across Edith’s face. Though the workday was over, in truth, her real duties were only just beginning. She needed to share everything she’d learned about city hall’s interior with Perel, Sasha, and Karon—and hear what they’d learned as well.

While Edith worked inside city hall, the others were carrying out their own tasks. Perel was preparing the explosives they’d use for the operation, Karon was searching for a low-level Stifts official with a similar build whom he could impersonate the day of the job, and Sasha was gathering news of Loris’s group, who’d been detained in the camp. Each of them was busy with their own responsibilities, meeting in the evening to debrief and plan.

“I’m sorry, Gisela, but I’m pretty tired tod—”

Edith was just about to politely refuse when something Karon had said that morning suddenly crossed her mind.

“Our family has a prior engagement tonight, so we’ll be late for the meeting.”

With his promise to come back as soon as possible, Edith declared she would skip the meeting today. She didn’t want to interrupt the couple’s rare, ordinary evening, and, honestly, she wanted to take a break herself for once. If she accepted Gisela’s request in this situation, any hope of a restful evening would be lost.

“Just for a little bit—really, just a moment. Please? I really have something I need to say.”

“……”

“Yes?”

After a moment of hesitation, Edith finally gave a faint smile and nodded lightly.

“All right.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Gisela immediately brightened, and Edith smiled gently back at her.

Even if she couldn’t reveal her real name, even if their relationship was built on lies, Gisela was genuinely a decent person, and Edith didn’t dislike her at all. That’s why she didn’t want to turn down the first favor Gisela had ever asked of her.

“I’ll just stop by home for a bit and come back. I got covered in dirt working outside today. Where should we meet?”

“Oh, um… ah! In front of the clock tower!”

Gisela, stumbling through her words before blurting out her answer, made Edith let out a sigh-like laugh. It seemed the matter was heavier than she’d thought—maybe something like…

‘Borrowing money, perhaps.’

If it wasn’t a huge sum, she’d probably lend it, Edith decided as she picked up her cleaning tools again.

“All right. Then let’s meet in front of the clock tower in an hour.”

“Thank you… really.”

A deep relief settled over Gisela’s brown eyes.

***

“…Two hours.”

Standing at the edge of a deserted alley, Gisela spoke in a trembling voice.

“I’ll try to keep her as long as I can, but that’s really the best I can do. Like I said, I’m not all that close to Liche…”

The man behind her didn’t answer. Still, Gisela knew better than to complain. The click, clack of metal—him checking his gun—said enough.

‘What is he planning?’

He’d given her this strange order just yesterday. After asking about Liche’s “unusual temperament” and then vanishing for a while, he’d suddenly appeared and ordered her to stall Liche after work. How was she supposed to keep such a reticent woman with her? She had no confidence she could pull it off, but she’d agreed—she had no choice after hearing the condition he tacked on at the end.

“This really is the last time, right?”

“……”

“Yes? You promised. If I do this, you said you wouldn’t bother me anymore…”

“Yeah.”

At last, his answer brought out a small sigh from Gisela. The wave of relief, though faint, washed away what little curiosity she still felt about the man. Of course, her guilt toward Liche remained.

As the man continued to prepare in silence, Gisela finally spoke up when she heard his approaching footsteps.

“What are you going to do with Liche?”

Again, there was no answer. This time, though, Gisela allowed a rare note of resentment to slip through. She wasn’t even that close to Liche—they were hardly friends—but if something bad happened to her because of this, Gisela wasn’t sure she could handle the guilt. She couldn’t help but resent the man who had dragged her into it.

“If you’re going to make me do something like this, you could at least tell me why.”

“……”

“You’re not… going to kill her, are you?”

At that, Zechart came to a complete stop as he was turning away. His lips, pressed into a straight line, twisted with bitter self-mockery.

“Who knows?”

His answer was ambiguous, but honestly, his actions made it clear. He was about to break into Sasha’s house to search for the Enigma. If he’d meant to kill Edith, he wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of luring her away from the house.

‘Why, though?’

Once again, the question spun restlessly through her mind, and again, there was no answer.

Could it be he was simply bewitched? She was a rather pretty woman, so the thought had crossed his mind for a moment—but the timing didn’t add up. He’d started feeling unsettled by her from their very first meeting, when he hadn’t even properly seen her face.

‘Then is it sympathy?’

That didn’t hold much water either. More than anything, Zechart didn’t know enough about her to feel true empathy or pity. All he knew was that she had a young son, a dead husband, and that she couldn’t let go of the man she’d lost. In times like these, in the lingering aftermath of war, there were plenty of people with stories just like hers.

Zechart shook off thoughts that threatened to run too deep. Then, still facing the wall, he tossed out a remark to Gisela, who was trembling so hard her whole body shook.

“If you run into me.”

It sounded almost like a warning. Whatever the reason, if she got in his way again, he’d have to kill her. He’d already given more than enough senseless mercy.

“So you really have to stick to those two hours.”

“……”

“Don’t let us cross paths.”

With that, Zechart turned his back on Gisela.

Meanwhile, around the same time, Edith hurried through Sasha’s house after work, feeling the heaviness of fatigue. She showered, changed clothes, and made a simple tomato stew—the one dish she was most confident in, and the one she’d prepared for Perel to eat alone that evening.

But even after finishing all that, Perel still hadn’t returned. Normally, he would have arrived home around the same time as Edith.

Hmm. He’s late tonight.

It was just as she was starting to worry that she noticed a note on the living room table.

[To Miss Edith. I’ll be late tonight. I got a message from the black market dealer I mentioned before. I meant to tell you earlier, but I forgot. Karon and Sasha will also be late, so please be sure to lock up.

Perel.]

“Idiot.”

Clicking her tongue, Edith shook her head. He must have been in such a hurry to keep his appointments that he left the note in such an obvious place and only now had she seen it.

Returning to the kitchen, Edith poured the tomato stew from the table back into the pot. Then she scribbled a few words onto Perel’s note and put it back where it was. She was going out as well. Since Perel said he’d be late, she would likely return first—but just in case, she wrote it down.

Before leaving, she pulled out a thick cape shawl and draped it over her shoulders, then did a thorough check of the house. She put out the fire in the hearth, locked every window securely, and shifted the bookcase to conceal the entrance to the cellar. It was rare for the house to be left empty, even if only for a few hours. But with so much to hide, it never hurt to be careful.

Dusk was quickly falling.