Chapter 20
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Sponsored by Tanseobang ? (½)
***
Noah did not hold Diana back. He didn’t try to kill her or save her.
He just stood there and watched as his Princess he had rescued left him and disappeared into the darkness beyond the snowy road.
He constantly recalled Diana’s leaving smile. It was a smile he had seen sometime before, an empty smile. The image of someone who had disappeared in the past was suddenly imprinted on his field of vision, which he had been overlaying as he wandered around the trail she had left. It was the mother with the long silvery-white hair, facing his adult self.
(*Noah remembered his mother who supposedly left him just like Diana)
‘It’s not that adults don’t cry. It’s that they can’t cry.’
The winter breeze blowing through the trees was accompanied by a glimpse of memories that had already been incinerated. Even the smiling mother’s gentle touch had somehow turned into a pale breeze and passed by, grazing his cheek. Noah, who stood there in a daze, made no movement. It was only by looking at the sudden breath that came from between his lips that he could tell that he was a living person.
He saw Diana disappear completely from his sight, and he raised one hand to signal somewhere. At the same time as the signal, the sound of swiftly moving military boots could be heard here and there, and the sound of deadly gunfire rang out everywhere.
The numerous Progen forces that had taken cover beforehand surrounded the remaining Belford forces and began to sweep them all away.
There was a mansion which was once warmed, but was now filled with the sound of gunfire and screams of agony. It was as good as a massacre, as the number of soldiers here was far greater, including those who participated in the engagement ceremony.
In the midst of the chaos, Noah, who still hadn’t been able to take his gaze off the direction Diana had left, didn’t move an inch during the battle, even when a bullet flying towards him grazed his arm as it passed by.
The arm was quickly stained with blood, and from a distance a soldier with a rifle saw it and rushed over.
“Colonel, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay.”
Noah’s voice cracked low. His face was completely devoid of emotion. The soldier who stopped the flowing blood flinched for a moment as he looked at the colonel, who seemed numb to the cold and pain that was cutting through him. Vincent, who hurriedly jumped out, was also very confused when he saw the blood trickling down on Noah’s fingers.
“You’re bleeding! Are you okay?”
“Stop asking.”
Noah’s tone was low and calm, but Vincent, realizing he was very angry, turned his head away and looked around the quiet area. The only sounds were the rustling of Progen soldiers’ boots as they hurriedly stepped over the crunching leaves, and the desolate wind rustling the branches of the trees.
“Did you sweep them all?”
“I didn’t kill the most important person.”
Vincent’s mouth opened slightly as he took stock of the situation. Diana was nowhere to be found.
“You didn’t kill her, did you?”
“The black war dog. He finally took Diana.”
Noah, who had been consistent and expressionless even after being shot, frowned slightly. Vincent, who had been turning his wheat-colored eyes this way and that, finally finished assessing the situation.
“Did she get caught?”
“I think she followed him herself.”
Noah replied in a calm tone, sweeping his face with one hand.
Vincent felt a twinge of anger at Diana. She followed the man? There was no man who was so nice and kind to her than his boss! How much did his boss spend money on her!
He was a man who worked like crazy without even having time to fall in love, but he was a man who assisted his boss and helped him with his love business. Vincent had a certain amount of respect for him*. (*Noah)
Suddenly he wondered and looked at Noah with eyes he was not used to seeing. There was no way he would let her go like that. There was a reason why he had risked himself to go to an enemy country and bring her here.
“The moon is pretty. I couldn’t wish her a happy birthday.” (Noah)
The insane man looked up at the moon in the sky and smiled vacantly, shaking out his breath. What if he really goes crazy? Even if he didn’t, he was still a strange man.
Concerned about his state of mind, Vincent cleared his throat and struggled to think of comforting words for the breakup. However, he couldn’t think of any comforting words, so he just asked Noah why.
“Why did you let her go?” (Vincent)
“You told me. You don’t want your favorite object to die.” (Vincent)
Noah raised his head and looked up at the upper floors of the mansion. Vincent followed his gaze.
“And, the sniper must have been pointing at the car. Diana would be dead if she got out of the car.” (Noah)
From the third floor window that faced the back gate, there was a racket and the glass of the window broke with a sharp sound. Shards flew into the air and at the same time a man in a tuxedo who was disguised as an orchestra player crashed down.
The man’s body hit the floor with a dull thud. Noah’s dead eyes went to the man who had fallen into the flowerbed.
“It was the Admiral, wasn’t it? Isn’t he the one who would be in trouble if she died?”
“But he would have shot her nonetheless. It wasn’t just the Admiral’s idea. It wasn’t even worth weighing because the weight of life is different.”
Vincent pondered Noah’s unkind words as if they were a habit. Currently, with the loss of the trench warfare, Belford was like a lost cause to Progen.
If Noah, a duke and high-ranking executive, died, Progen’s negotiation demands would become even more excessive, so they must have received instructions from the top. In the event of an emergency, the order was to immediately kill Diana and flee with Lieutenant Colonel Grenendall.
Noah’s gaze rested on the seriously injured man who had crashed. Red blood spread over the white snow.
“Vincent, the only one that really tried to save Diana in Belford was that black war dog (Jeffrey). It’s a horrible sense of justice.”
He (the Admiral) was going to kill them today. It was obvious why they dared to send Lieutenant Colonel, the son of the Prime Minister.
It was to hide the fact that Belford was likely to lose the war and that negotiations were underway. To show Progen that they would not flinch.
The Lieutenant Colonel (Jeffrey) would not know that fact. He could pretend not to know, and that all the soldiers in the rescue mission were expendable, prepared to help him alone.
And that Diana was about to be sacrificed to his* heroics (the Admiral). Whether or not the rescue mission would succeed was not the point. President Belford had to protect his pride and watch Progen’s countenance, so he only cared about the execution of the operation, with the intention of quieting public opinion with a death toll even if it failed.
Noah pointed his gun at the man lying face down on a flower bed, moaning in pain. He couldn’t get her out because everyone was aiming at Diana. His cloudy blue eyes showed deep thoughts.
He (Noah) thought his plan to kill the Lieutenant Colonel (Jeffrey) was perfect. Then Diana would be completely his and he could keep her hidden forever. It was unlike him to be so careless and overlook it. He had thoroughly calculated the numerous variables and possibilities, but there was one thing he missed. He was not to leave her alone, even for a moment.
He did not know that Diana would make the choice to follow the Lieutenant Colonel herself. He (Noah) went to see her every day, bought her clothes and jewelry, and did everything on the level of common sense that he knew how to do… It was unthinkable that Diana would choose to do this on her own just because she wanted no one to interfere and no one to take her away.
Three people on the third floor and eight people at capacity all aimed at the car. They must have been waiting to stop the escape and rescue Diana. Admiral Claire would have to kill Diana, who had lost her usefulness and had become his sinecure and weakness.
‘How could that gap create an uncalculated situation? What should I have done? No, what should I do now?’
Noah’s face, immersed in thought, twisted violently like a fierce beast with a wrinkled nose and revealed his fangs. The yellow dry leaves of the winter dead trees trembled in the wind. Six gunshots rang out at regular intervals.
***
I came back to the Admiral’s mansion.
I wasn’t treated like the kitchen utensils like I used to, but they gave me proper room and board, clothes, and even a servant. I guess the Admiral was aware of the Lieutenant Colonel and the public’s gaze.
But the cold glare and disdain touched me, stirred an inexplicable emotion in me that made my stomach churn. When I arrived at the Admiral’s residence with Jeffrey, I was so disgusted by the scene of Celine weeping and hugging me in front of him that I vomited my stomach juices on her clothes. I was nervous, I got motion sickness in the car, and I hadn’t eaten anything, and I felt nauseous.
“I knew you were treated well there. But now they won’t be harsh.”
It was what Jeffrey said to me before we arrived at the Admiral’s mansion. What is the standard of harshness?
Making me do hard work with no food, locking me up in the stable. I almost froze to death in the stable that day. But someone covered me with a blanket and I lived.
But now this situation is more frustrating and I am dying. Ever since I came back, I’ve been spending my time in my room, doing nothing, being lethargic.
I read books, lay down and contemplated, and occasionally thought about Noah. And so I spent each meaningless day as the sun rose and set.
The windows of my room were darkly tinted, signaling that today was the same night as ever. A red-gold haired servant with a cold expression opened the door without knocking, entered, and handed me my pajamas with one hand.
“I’ve been wearing them. Bring me a new pair of pajamas.” (Diana)
She brought me the pajamas I had been wearing again, and when I requested a new one again, she growled in a small voice.
“Hey, you, you’ve been treated like a fish cake, haven’t you?”
“Bring me some water too.” (Diana)
The maid, who frowned at my commanding tone, brought a water bottle without a cup.
“Here you go.”
The maid, who had placed the water bottle on the table with a popping sound, turned around with a “sheesh” sound.
The glass water bottle was thrown on the floor and shattered. The water flowed onto the wooden floor without a single carpet, wetting the floor as it flowed along the shards of glass and the grain of the wood.
The maid who had been behaving so rudely turned into a startled rabbit-eye and looked at me sitting in the armchair. I was the one who threw the glass bottle roughly and broke it. I stuck out my chin.
“Drink it.”
The maid, seeing my expressionless face, only opened her mouth in dismay.
“What are you talking about!”
“You gave me the water like this. Do you understand?”
“I don’t understand!”
“You brought me no cup, just a jug. I’m going to tell my father that you lack basic skills and need more education and fire you.”
The maid’s expression became stunned at my calm voice. The maid, who had been thinking for a long time, suddenly brought a mop and a dustpan and began to wipe it passionately.
She seemed to have realized that I now had room and a reason not to be treated as a servant. I sat down and looked down at the maid with a cold gaze. The maid stopped mopping for a while and bowed her head again.
“I’m sorry….”
“People can’t understand until they experience it firsthand.”
It’s this very dirty feeling.
A good attitude and heart can inspire people and change the world. It can only be led by the premise of a special person who takes on the role of the hero. Because the world revolves around the hero. If I, the supporting and expendable character, adapt and behave well, I will only be discarded as a victim of circumstances and developments in the service of the protagonist.
I vowed to outlive the supporting role played by Diana. I would not die in a supporting role with no power, so I would add madness to evil. I want to trample on the earnest justice of the original story, which never resigned itself to someone else’s sacrifice, to teach a lesson. The maid, who had cleaned the floor, bowed. However, as she stepped out of the door, I heard a small murmur.
“A crazy b*tch.”
I looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then called the maid back.
The most common phrase I’ve heard in my entire life is ‘crazy b*tch’.
The crazy circumstances around me drive me crazy. It is the world that has gone crazy.