His Kindness Is A Lie

When she came to her senses, she found herself out of the forest, as if by a miracle. Relieved by the sight of the plain before her, she turned around to see that the man was not following her.

Her already shabby clothes were now torn in places, and cold sweat dripped down her pale face.

She paused to catch her breath and looked back toward the forest. The memory of meeting that man was so vivid that it felt like a dream—a nightmare that made her heart race upon waking.

Yes, it would be more realistic to think of it as just a bad dream.

She tried to console herself with that thought, but the man’s face, staring at her, kept surfacing in her mind.

Only then did she feel the pain in her ankle, causing her to sit down on the spot. She rolled up her clothes to examine her ankle and found it badly swollen.

“Ouch…”

She had run so vigorously to escape the forest, but now that she saw the injury, even staying still made it throb. In this condition, she couldn’t imagine making it to the village. She would have to cover her eyes to blend in with the people.

While she was sitting on the roadside, sighing in frustration, a middle-aged woman cautiously approached her from behind.

The woman observed her closely, but Bella was too preoccupied with holding her ankle to notice. Deciding that Bella might need help, the woman gently tapped her on the shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

Bella turned around in surprise and quickly lowered her gaze.

“Yes? Yes, I’m fine…”

Fortunately, the woman didn’t seem to have seen her eyes. Instead, she looked at Bella’s disheveled appearance with concern.

“Oh dear, your clothes are in terrible shape.”

Bella could only hang her head low, unable to muster a response. Her habit of shrinking away from strangers was the result of long years of experience.

The woman, however, glanced at the forest behind Bella and asked in shock.

“Don’t tell me, you went into that forest?”

Bella glanced at the forest the woman pointed to. She quietly nodded, and the woman sighed deeply.

“My goodness. Are you from out of town? That forest is a sanctuary; no one is allowed to enter.”

Bern was the only place in the empire without a temple. Rumor had it that the famous Duke Belliard was such an enemy of the current pope that he even demolished the temples in his territory. Of course, she had only heard this from Ian, who always brought her news from the outside.

A sanctuary in such a city? What an odd combination.

“…I didn’t know.”

And now, they were saying that the forest was a sanctuary because there was a witch’s hideout in Bern? You really couldn’t believe anything you heard from rumors.

“Anyway, do you have a place to stay for the night?”

The woman’s question brought Bella back to her current reality. The sky had darkened, the wind had grown colder, her ankle throbbed painfully even as she stood still, and she wasn’t even near the border yet. A deep sigh escaped her lips.

Seeing Bella’s silence, the woman took it as a sign of agreement and helped her to her feet.

“Come with me, then. I run an inn in the village. The sun will set soon, and it’s dangerous for a young woman to be out on the streets at night.”

The woman’s kindness was genuinely appreciated, but accepting it filled Bella with a strange sense of unease.

Perhaps it was because she had never experienced such kindness before, or maybe it was because she feared how the woman might react once she saw Bella’s eyes.

Even so, there was no other choice. Refusing the woman’s offer would only mean searching for another place to stay in the village, and that wouldn’t be easy.

“…Thank you.”

For the first time in a long while, Bella took the hand of a stranger who offered her help.

***

Eric greeted his master as he returned to the castle with a concise bow. In the quiet castle, where not a sound could be heard, Eric was usually the only one to welcome him.

The grand castle, which should have been bustling with servants, echoed only with the sound of his master’s calm footsteps. Eric’s eyes were drawn to the gun in Duke Belliard’s hand.

“How is the weapon?”

A few months ago, Heron, who exclusively supplied weapons to the famous duke’s household, personally brought the gun now in Belliard’s possession.

He had brought a few more for the knights to practice with, but the one he presented to the duke was particularly adorned with crystal decorations.

The gun was almost too luxurious to be considered a killing weapon, but it failed to pique the duke’s interest. Belliard glanced briefly at the gun before casually tossing it to Eric.

“It’s unsatisfactory. It’s too cumbersome to be widely used by the knights. It needs more refinement, and only a select few should use it.”

It seemed there were still too many flaws for it to be practical on the battlefield.

However, it wasn’t bad for hunting. It was more powerful than the bow he usually used, which increased his success rate in hunting.

While the animal pelts were a bit more damaged, this wasn’t much of a concern for Belliard, who primarily hunted large beasts.

“I will convey that to Heron. Did you hunt, my lord?”

At Eric’s question, Belliard recalled the impudent prey he encountered in the forest. The one who dared to intrude deep into his territory, sitting there with an innocent face as if she owned the place.

As he crossed the lobby, he vividly remembered the small, pitiful figure frantically running through the forest to escape him. The more he recalled and dwelled on the memory, the more it stirred strange and unpleasant emotions within him.

“I caught it, then let it go.”

“What? You let it go? What do you mean…”

Eric rarely showed a surprised expression, but he did now as he asked again, “You let it go?” He couldn’t even finish his sentence, overwhelmed by the absurdity of it.

As Duke Belliard’s cold gaze landed on him, Eric quickly closed his mouth and composed his expression. However, internally, he couldn’t hide his astonishment.

His master had never once let go of prey he had caught. In fact, he had never failed to catch prey he had decided to pursue. Yet this time, he had let it go himself.

The idea that he had shown mercy did not seem like a good sign.

“Master, a messenger from the High Temple has arrived.”

Eric brought up the topic he had temporarily set aside, addressing Belliard, who didn’t seem to be in a good mood. Though he would have preferred to bury the matter, the messenger represented the Pope, so it couldn’t be ignored.

There was a rumor among the people of the Empire that there was another powerful authority on this land aside from the imperial and ecclesiastical powers.

The Duke of Belliard, who lived quietly in the northern territory, was a family that could not be disregarded. Jokingly, people even referred to them as the third power.

Duke Belliard treated the emperor and the pope with a mix of disdain and respect. When a messenger like today arrived, he would usually receive them appropriately. However, today, he seemed intent on ignoring the messenger altogether.

“Is that so? Then tell them to leave.”

“But His Holiness specifically requested that the message be delivered to you in person.”

“Then you listen to it and relay it to me later.”

Though Belliard typically wasn’t fond of communications from the High Temple, it was rare for him to outright dismiss a messenger. In such cases, the best course of action was to withdraw, but Eric decided to take one more step forward.

“…Did something happen?”

As Belliard reached for the office door, his expression twisted slightly, followed by an irritated sigh. Whatever had happened, it seemed to have left him deeply angered, prompting Eric to quietly take a step back.

Even Belliard himself couldn’t fully understand why he felt so irritated and frustrated. No matter how much he tried to recall, the only thing filling his mind was that woman.

Had he let her go too easily? Perhaps he should have broken her ankle to prevent her from running away.

Even imagining shooting her with a gun didn’t quite satisfy him.

So what was the problem?

It was probably the desperate look on her face as she tried to flee from him that irked him the most.

Should he have captured her after all?

Yes, he shouldn’t have let her go. It didn’t suit his nature to let go of prey he had marked, so it was only natural that it bothered him. The crumpled handkerchief in his pocket provided him with an answer.

Belliard identified the cause of his discomfort. Whether he killed her or not, he would need to bring her back into his hands first.

Having made that decision, he felt a bit of relief from his frustrations. Turning to Eric, Belliard asked, “Did you say the messenger is from the High Temple?”

Despite the sudden change in topic, Eric’s expression remained neutral. He answered with a slight nod.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

As Belliard changed direction and headed toward the reception room, Eric, unable to suppress his curiosity, spoke up.

“Didn’t you say to send them away?”

“Remember the prey I mentioned letting go earlier? The more I think about it, the more I regret it. So I’m going to catch it again.”

It wasn’t the answer Eric was expecting, but as a loyal subordinate, he focused on Belliard’s words.

The prey that came to Eric’s mind was either a large wolf with thick fur or a bear that roared loudly enough to shake the forest.

Whatever it was, if his master found it valuable enough to regret letting it go, it must have had quite a remarkable pelt. Eric nodded in agreement, imagining it was a shame to lose such a fine specimen.

“It must have had a beautiful coat. If you catch it again, we could skin it and make it into an ornament. Or perhaps we could stuff it and display it in the garden?”

Stuffing it wouldn’t be a bad idea, but… doing so would cause the eyes to lose their light, which would be troublesome.

He was particularly fond of the violet eyes that sparkled in the sunlight with a hint of moisture. They would especially shine beautifully in the night.

“No need for that. This time, I’m after the eyes.”

Eric began seriously contemplating how to extract the creature’s eyes and craft them into jewels.

He wondered if they would need to call in the Empire’s top jeweller. Were there even artisans skilled enough to work with eyes?

Deep in thought, Eric soon found himself in front of the reception room.

As he placed his hand on the doorknob, it suddenly occurred to him why he had been having such thoughts. Glancing back at his master, he saw that Belliard had regained his composure.

To Eric, this was quite a relief since he was about to ask a slightly impertinent question.

“…But what does that have to do with suddenly deciding to meet the messenger?”

At his question, a crooked smile tugged at the corner of Belliard’s mouth.

“I need to set a trap.”