The misfortune 2

 Chapter 2

***

The eerie sound of sharp metal rubbing cut through the air.

Delnia froze, unable to breathe. Sophie did the same.

"Running away means admitting guilt, I suppose."

"Hey, hey, Roan..................."

Sophie stammered his name. She tried to sound friendly, to somehow shake off her fear.

But instead of sheathing his sword, Roan stared down at them, his eyes fierce. For a moment, Delnia felt his gaze was sharper than the blade he held.

As if it was ready to stab her at any moment...................

"You'd better not rebel uselessly."

He didn't bother to explain what would happen if she rebelled, but it was enough to immobilize her.

"There's no one left to save you anyway."

At that moment, Delnia's screams hit her like a thunderbolt. It was the voice of the little boy she'd heard in her nightmares every night.

Her eyes, shaking with confusion, focused on him again. Delnia Eperne of Belfort's only weakness, the master of her nightmares.

Alas, it was so.

It was her turn to be strangled by his hand.

The strength drained from her body at the same time as the unreal realization hit her, and it was the next thing she knew, her vision, which had been fixed on him, was slowly turning.

"Lady!"

Delnia's vision closed as she saw Sophie's strong grip on her, pulling her to her feet. The world went black.

***

The world swirled around her like she was underwater. From that alone, Delnia realized she was lost in a dream again.

“If you keep your promise, I'll think about what you said last time…”

The little boy's voice rippled in her ears. The face she'd seen repeatedly so many times in her dreams, but could never picture clearly, was a blurry afterimage.

"Yes. I promise.”

If only she could stop her mouth from opening with the promises she couldn't keep.

“You promised...... Why...!”

The howling screams gradually grew farther behind her. No matter how much she shouted that she had to go back, that she had to face that resentment, her body wouldn't listen. As it always did.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, she stopped. Something was blocking her path.

She looked up. What she thought was a giant wall took the shape of a man.

"Are you trying to run away?”

Delnia's eyes flashed open, as if she had been chased out of a dream.

Before she could regain consciousness, pain shot through her body like she had been beaten.

"Ugh..............."

"Miss, are you awake?"

She let out a faint groan, and a familiar voice immediately cut in.

"Sophie."

Delnia's eyes searched for the voice's owner. The world in her field of vision continued to shake, not to mention Sophie, who was still awake.

"This is.................."

Delnia's eyes widened as she pushed herself up off the floor, unable to comprehend what was going on, and suddenly found a person lying next to her.

"Mother?"

"Be careful not to touch Marianne, young lady, her fever hasn't gone down and the slightest touch is too painful for her."

Sophie fussed, carefully turning over the damp towel on Marianne’s forehead. Delnia did as she was told and leaned back. The vibrations of her buttocks on the floor and her palms were palpable.

She couldn't make out the words, but they were in a carriage now. Delnia opened her mouth in disbelief. 

"What the hell is going on? Why are we.................."

"Don't even talk. Last night the soldiers were carrying people into the carriages, starting with the Count, and................... What a horrible mess!"

"What?"

Delnia was appalled at Sophie's lament. At the same time, she remembered clearly the last time she'd seen those frosty eyes before she'd lost consciousness.

It hadn't all been a dream. Her eyes lowered to the unbelievable, the reality she didn't want to believe.

But no matter how devastating the reality, she had no choice but to accept it.

After calming her breathing, Delnia opened her eyes again and asked. 

"Do you know where we're going?" 

"I'm not sure, but from the way the soldiers were talking, it sounds like the capital city..................." 

Delnia's already pale complexion turned white.

The capital was the domain of the emperor, not the navy. If the Emperor had to get involved, it meant that the Count's crimes were not light.

"But what does it matter now, with Marianne’s condition she’ll be dead before we get anywhere. I really don't know what to do, my lady."

Sophie sobbed. Even as she spoke to Delnia, she couldn't take her worried gaze off Marianne.

Sophie was Delnia's nanny, but before that, she had been Marianne’s caretaker. And because of Marianne’s natural frailty, Delnia would quickly take a back seat at the slightest sign of illness.

Delnia, therefore, stayed around with Sophie, who was familiarly giving Marianne her full attention.

It was an old wooden wagon, barely fit to be used as a carriage. The decaying wooden floor creaked and stank of rotting wood with every step, and the few windows that remained were jammed with iron bars.

The floor on which Delnia and Marianne lay was nothing more than a thin sheet of wool over a pile of straw.

Taking in the harshness of their surroundings, which seemed to breed illness where none existed, Delnia rose to her feet with determination.

"Wait a moment."

"Miss?"

Delnia stepped up to the bars and called out to the soldier escorting the wagon.

"Stop the carriage at once."

"Uh, eh?"

The soldier's eyes widened as he realized she was awake.

Like it or not, Delnia spoke again, her voice stern.

"Stop the carriage now and go tell the major I'm looking for him."

The soldier stood there, unsure of what to do, and soon he was out of sight. Soon afterward, the carriage came to a stop.

Delnia flashed Sophie a quick glance, straightened her robes, squared her shoulders, and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

‘Get a grip.’

The man she was about to meet was not the Roan she knew.

To convince herself of that, Delnia went over and over what she knew about Major Barthez.

It wasn't hard to do, he had a reputation that had spread even to remote places like Belfort.

Roan Barthez. The first commoner to be knighted and promoted to the rank of Major for his role in defeating the privateer ships of the Kingdom of Dalos. The future of the navy and an idol.

When Delnia saw his name in the newsletter, she didn't associate him with the Roan she knew.

The name Roan itself was unremarkable and common, and he certainly didn't have the surname Barthez, which had been bestowed upon him by the Emperor during his time in Belfort.

The Roan she knew was just Roan. A skinny, wary boy who had to be constantly hovered around until he let her in.

The times she'd stroked the name Roan Barthez on the newsletter over and over again, even though she knew it wasn't him.

But then she realized it was Roan..................

‘No, he's just Major Barthez, not Roan.’

She kept screaming at herself, trying to steady her weakening heart. There was a commotion outside, and then the carriage door opened.

Delnia stepped out of the carriage with all her strength. Her eyes immediately fell upon the man who stood in front of her like an iron wall, the man who had always haunted her nightmares, but who was both terrifyingly beautiful and cold.

"What do you want?"

His low, deep voice was eerily cold, but she looked up anyway.

He was no longer the Roan she'd known, no matter how much his blue eyes seemed to be filled with the cleanest water in the world.

Locking eyes with him, Delnia reminded herself of that fact, and finally spoke.

"I have a favor to ask of the Major."

"A favor?"

"First of all, I'd like you to call a doctor for the Countess's illness, as there is no improvement, and secondly, I'd like you to replace the carriage as soon as possible, as you can see, it's not fit for a patient."

Delnia finished, glancing at the ramshackle carriage. Her tone was more of a polite command than a complaint.

Roan's usually friendly brow creased slightly. He opened his mouth, not bothering to hide his displeasure.

"Are you sure this is a request, and not an order?"

"Because it's also a legitimate request."

The calm, even voice asserted itself once more.

"I only ask that we be treated as we deserve."

Despite the fact that she was facing off against several stronger men, she didn't let up. The soldiers exchanged surprised glances with each other at the strength that radiated from her petite frame.

"I don't know."

But Roan dismissed her as if it had happened many times before.

"If we were treating the guilty as they deserve, we'd have been doing it already."

***

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