Ed no longer caught up with her, when Lil backed away from him with a stumbling step.

‘This is no laughing matter… If I had gone to see him when he was in captivity, as he suggests, things might’ve turned out differently. But I’m getting sick and tired of imagining what would or could have happened if everything turned out to be just a simple misunderstanding. I’ve been unconscious for a long time and have no idea what is going on with my head… No, it seems like I’m already going insane…’

Lil tightly shut her eyes. Even after reaching this catastrophe, pity and sympathy resided. She couldn’t believe how this compassion was possible. Her urge to comfort Ed, who cried out that he’d been hurt so much, and her desire to hold him, the man that was still standing in front of her after he had endured such a horrible time, fluttered in her tongue.

‘If I take the easy way out by embracing him and whispering to him that I’m sorry, will his hatred towards me vanish? …Who knows, maybe if he feels better, he might be willing enough to release my crew from Gualtiero?’

Lil immediately dispelled those thoughts by swinging her head hard to drive away her weak delusions. She was ashamed of entertaining such ugly thoughts, even for just a moment. 

‘Did I really think that wagging my tail would be enough to get my crew out of Gualtiero? …I can no longer think straight when he’s in front of me. He needs to leave or I need to get out of here, either way I need to get away from him… I’m so angry that I’m losing my mind, and the thought of him betraying me is unbearable. But why do I keep…’

“Do the interrogation you love so much in Gualtiero, not here. Where is Gualtiero anyway? Please bring me there, the thought of staying here any longer gives me the chills.”

Ed tilted his head like he had just misheard something.

“…What?”

“For what crime are my sailors imprisoned?”

“…”

“Why am I the only one here? I’d rather you send me there too. For the attempted murder of the admiral or something. I don’t know why you took me here… Perhaps because you wanted to hear something from me, but I won’t utter a single thing that you wish to hear, actually, I have no intention of talking to you any longer. I won’t be needing my necklace or anything else, so just bring me to my crew…”

“…Where did you say you wanted to go?”

“What? You don’t like it? Then just cut off my neck and hang my head like a grape. You said it with your own mouth; Admiral Retiro is a madman enjoying such evil.”

“…”

Lil crossed her arms as she watched his face hardening.

“What’s wrong? I’m offering myself for your infamous grape farming.”

“…”

Perhaps because of her crossed arms, but Lil felt stuffy around her chest and the feeling of having her ribs squeezed hurt. Still, Lil managed to snort at Ed.

“…Is this year going to be a good harvest year?..”

At that moment, the door suddenly opened and someone shouted from the hallway.

“…Oh my God!..”

“..?”

Surprised, Lil turned her head. Ed, however, remained looking at her. By the door stood the woman she had seen by the staircase when she briefly went out. Lil squinted her eyes as the lantern the woman was holding was bright. The tall woman exclaimed.

“…Linhardt! Get in here quickly!..”

A sleepy voice answered from further down the hallway.

“…Why are you telling me to come in there in the middle of the night?..”

“…Oh, come on! We have to get him out…”

Frustrated, Ed glanced back at Levi and swept his face. As the red water ran down his jawline and dripped like blood, a voice flowed from under his palms.

“Be quiet.”

Levi firmly tugged at his chin and frowned at him.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Ed moved away and rubbed his face again. When a weary breath escaped, he dropped his hand and turned away without saying a word. At the same time, a man with a candle burst into the doorway shouting.

“What’s with this bastard’s manner of talking to Levi? Huh?”

Illuminated by the wildly flickering candle at the entrance, the shadow of a tall human fell over the door. Ed didn’t respond to the accusation that was clearly directed at him. Instead, he just continued walking. His silent back made its way toward the door. When the distance between the two had diminished enough, Linhardt, the one holding the candlestick, opened his mouth in anger at Ed. He probably waited until Ed’s face became visible in the light, but as soon as it did he stiffened in astonishment and shut his mouth again. Meanwhile, Ed never stopped and his shadow passed through the door like he exited a shadowy stage. 

Even though Ed had already disappeared into the hallway, Linhardt stayed nailed to his spot for a while before turning his head towards Lil.

Linhardt’s face, covered by the scarlet fire, only showed his twitching lip. Lil understood why he looked so shocked, as she had faced Ed’s bloody face quite a while herself, but when Linhardt’s gaze met hers, his blank black eyes gradually became sharper and more reproachful. Nervously, Lil was the first to turn away from the eyes that could seem to question her at any second.

‘I need to get out of this damn mansion. If I stay here any longer I’ll go crazy for sure. It feels like I’m still chasing Ed’s ghost, who had been abandoned somewhere in the Anatole Sea… It will probably lead me to make some kind of irreversible mistake in one way or another. So, it’s better and more comforting to believe Ed died there. In addition, no one ever confuses the character with the person who plays it. My sympathy for Ed shouldn’t be directed at the Admiral.’ 

Lil kept getting the two of them mixed up and finally realised that she was going back and forth.

“Excuse me..”

Lil reflexively slapped the hand from her shoulder. When she turned around, the uninvited guests had not left yet.

‘No, it’s safer to say that I’m the uninvited guest…’

As the other person seemed to be a resident of this mansion, Lil bowed her head at the strange woman.

“Sorry for causing a fuss.”

Lil didn’t blame her rudeness when she slammed the door open in an obviously occupied room. She was being held custody in this house anyway, so she wasn’t even in a position to complain about it.

“You just woke up today, so please don’t push yourself like that.”

“..!”

As soon as Levi said that, Lil’s stomach reflectively tightened. The pain cut through her belly as if her partly healed flesh was being torn apart again. Lil put strength in her leg muscles to avoid showing any signs of pain, but she couldn’t fool her opponent’s eyes. In the end, Levi supported Lil and led her back to the bed.

“You shouldn’t raise your voice like that because your blood circulation isn’t back to normal yet, and you shouldn’t move too violently because the pain relief has already begun to wear off.”

“…”

“Regardless of what happened between you and Edgar, you should go to bed for now. You really have to. Otherwise, I don’t know when you’ll wake up next… Be mindful of that the next time you guys fight.”

‘If I’m bound to lose my mind, I refuse to let it happen here. I’ll get out of that gate even if I pass out or die the moment I step past it…’ 

Lil stubbornly resisted Levi. She found it pathetic to see herself struggling with a strange woman in the middle of the night, especially considering that her initial plan was to quickly retrieve her necklace and find the blueprints for Gualtiero.

But Lil was slowly losing strength in her body. At some point, Levi overpowered her without using any extra force. While Lil was being dragged along, she suddenly smelled something familiar.

‘This is…’

“…Anaesthesia… incense…”

A scented candle had been lit and shone next to her bed. 

‘Wasn’t it out till now? …No way…’

Lil glared at the woman in front of her eyes…

***

Linhardt’s cabinet2 was busy for breakfast. 

Levi approached with a tray and sat down in front of him, who was drinking coffee. She spoke as she poured herself a cup as well.

“Why was Visha like that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you see the blanket she tied by the window to escape? What the hell, did Edgar kidnap her or something?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“Oh my god… I don’t know if I heard it right, but I think she told Edgar to cut off her neck…”

Linhardt felt his head throb and touched his forehead. He eventually put down his coffee cup and threaded his arm through a sleeve of the waistcoat a servant held out.

“Did you hear some more crazy things?”

“No, but isn’t it suspicious that she tried to run away as soon as she woke up? She was obviously not feeling well.”

“Is there still a possibility of delirium?”

“I don’t think it was like that this time. Usually, once a patient wakes up several times in shortening intervals, they’ll regain full consciousness. Visha has already woken up a few times, and, above all, Edgar’s reaction wasn’t one to be talking to someone delirious…”

 – – – – – 

Footnote:

2. Cabinet: An office or study.