It Doesn’t Matter If You’re Broken - Chapter 1

“We have found Miss Elizabeth.”

The sound of the pen with the neat swine quill brushing the paper suddenly cut off.

The Duke raised his head. It was a beautiful face, as if it had come out of a famous painting, but it was too expressionless, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Michael, the aide, felt his mouth go dry with tension and clutched his hand behind his back.

“As expected, it is said that she appeared at the place where the funeral mass was being held.”

The man’s tightly closed lips slowly drew an arc, and his grey eyes gleamed coldly.

“What time is it?”

It was the question of how much time was left. Michael answered quickly.

“Enough until you arrive.”

“Excellent.”

With a rare compliment, the Duke rose.

When his master’s cold gaze scanned one office wall, Michael was taken aback.

No way, before he even thought about it, his eyes were quick to recognize his master’s outfit.

The thick-soled leather boots made a light sound as they rubbed against the smooth floor.

Soon the man stopped in front of the wall where several hunting guns were hinged.

The Duke slowly ran his fingertips through the long, slender barrels one by one. Savouring the feeling of the smooth and cold surface touching his skin.

“This would be nice.”

Michael held his breath at the melodious voice as if he were about to do something enjoyable. At the same time, he recalled that the Duke had bought a new shotgun not long ago.

The shotgun, which the gunman recommended to spit on, saying it had a long range and great power, was now in the hands of the Duke.

‘I heard he suddenly wanted to get a gun right after the hunting season was over… Oh my God.’

This was the reality that Michael tried to close his eyes and ignore even though he watched from the side.

He had cold sweat running down his spine. However, Michael did not even dare to dissuade his master.

The Duke was out of his mind. He looked perfect on the outside, but on the inside, he was slowly going mad.

Michael shuddered at the bad feeling.

“…Your Grace-“

Click, the Duke loaded the bullet instead of answering. With red, bloodshot eyes.

“Leave all the lights on in the mansion. Bright, no shadows.”

The man’s lips curled as he went to catch the prey caught in the trap.

* * *

Elise walked through the village cemetery with her tears welling up. She hadn’t even properly closed her cape because she had to rush out.

‘It’s probably just a rumour. There are a lot of baseless stories out there…’

However, her face, revealed through the gaping hood, was full of tear marks.

Carefully out of sight, she lowered herself to inspect the grave.

It wasn’t long before she glimpsed a group of people dressed in black.

She hid behind a large wooden pole and listened to them.

She longed for a futile miracle.

In the stillness, only the voice of the priest praying for the dead resounded.

“Rest to Marisa, who has returned to the arms of God…”

Ah… The thin string that was barely holding onto her snapped and Elise’s body collapsed to the floor.

Her heart ached as if it would crush.

Pain.

She was in so much pain that breathing seemed difficult, suffocating.

She hurriedly covered her mouth with her hands and wept.

‘Mother…’

Unbearable sorrow and guilt surged like waves.

‘It was all my fault.’

‘If only I had behaved a little wiser.’

‘If only I had suspected it just once…’

The more she thought of the meaningless assumptions, the more she grew out of breath.

The abhorrence of foolishness against herself thundered her like a blade.

Even after making it this far, she was contemptuous of herself and terrible at not even attending her mother’s funeral for fear that someone would find her out.

In the midst of pouring tears, Elise remained silent.

After the priest’s prayers, a white flower fell over the coffin, concluding the funeral service. Elise watched it all, half out of her mind.

Eventually, as those who had finished the funerals of those who had no association with her left, she was the only one left in the grave.

Elise stomped on her floor and raised her body up.

After barely getting close to the tombstone, she flopped down on the dirt floor. Her calves were chafed, but she couldn’t feel anything. The tears she thought she had shed all flowed down again.

‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry…’

‘I need to ask for forgiveness, I have to…’

Her throat choked and her voice couldn’t come out properly. The fact that she was not even allowed to wail was surely a punishment for the heinous child.

Elise let out a silent cry for a long time.

* * *

After she came to her senses, she offered up her prayers for her mother.

May her weary mother’s soul be at peace in God’s arms, and may her next life be happy in abundance.

How much time had passed like that, when Elise opened her eyes again after she had finished her prayer?

A sudden tingling sensation raced down her spine. She shook her shoulders and turned her body around.

She looked around, but there were only graves, tombstones and beautiful trees. The graveyard was silent.

‘There’s no one. It’s all right.’

Just as she tried to suppress her anxiety, assuming it was a mistake because of her nervousness, the wind changed direction.

Somehow the feeling of the air changed.

The excessive stillness was chilling unlike before.

Elise knew the identity of this cold energy.

‘I don’t think so. It was just for a second. Please…’

Her fingertips started to tremble. Eyes that trembled violently fumbled around.

Then, with a jolt, she caught something in her field of vision.

‘I saw it wrong…’

Elise hurriedly shook her head. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. But he still stood there, keeping his place.

Without moving, he just stared at her.

Elise stood up, winking, and stepped back. Her toes stepped on the ground unsteadily, and she took off.

A gruesome, eerie cry became the signal flare. Elise turned around and started to run away into the forest behind the graveyard.

Cardale, on the other hand, captured the laughable struggle one by one.

Elise was running away in exactly the direction he intended.

He walked leisurely. The sound of the piled leaves crunching under her feet was like a scream, which he loved to hear.

It was a desperate getaway. Not knowing that the tight transparent trap was waiting for her, and she was just busy running forward.

“Not even pitiful.”

Cardale’s lips twisted. Eventually, through his languidly relaxed lips, a hum leaked out.

The hunt, with its obvious outcome, made him less interested, but this time it was different. He drove his prey leisurely.

‘Until you are completely caught in the trap I dug.’

Cardale let out a low exclamation when he reached the downhill road with an open view. It was just like the picture he had drawn in his imagination.

The woman’s hood was already off as she ran frantically downhill.

Her soft silver hair fluttered like the wings of a beautiful butterfly, and her fluttering gestures were just as pretty as her desperation.

Cardale set his feet on a flat rock for support and raised the loaded shotgun.

The cold autumn sunlight passed over the leaves that were starting to discolour little by little and fell over his head. He took aim slowly at his target, happily enjoying the pouring sunlight as if celebrating his victory.

Elise stopped running and looked back at him, perhaps puzzled by the silence. Her clear blue eyes were instantly stained with fear.

‘Yes, I wanted to see that.’

Cardale pulled his finger without hesitation, feeling intense joy.

Taang!

A deafening gunshot rang out in the silent forest.

The woman’s frightened fall was imprinted on his eyes one by one, as if time had been stretched out.

Like a captive animal trying to free itself, the woman wriggled to raise her body.

‘The more you do that, the more restrained your feet will be. It would be convenient to give up, silly.’

Cardale laughed lazily and pulled the trigger again.

The bullet flew with a loud, piercing noise and hit the ground exactly above her head.

Finally, Elise stopped moving. Like an animal that encounters light without warning on a dark night.

He moved his feet slowly towards the frozen woman, counting each step.

Finally three, two, and a step.

The body of the woman who had been curled up was shaking. Cardale sat down on one knee, not caring that his pants were getting dirty.

The woman was startled as he laid his hand on her dry, emaciated back. The reaction was pretty cute. The warm body temperature and the soft, tender touch of his hands made her feel very uncomfortable.

He breathed in slowly for a moment.

It felt like the things that had been cluttered up with the mess had finally found their place.

“Elizabeth.”

He turned her body around and met his eyes with fear-stained blue eyes. Then he slowly skimmed down from head to toe. It was a tenacious gaze.

The skirt rolled up, revealing her white legs, which had scratches all over. He gently brushed her tender calves. A trembling as weak as that of a young deer passed through the skin in touch.

“The next time you do something like this…”

Elise let out a painful moan as he grabbed her slender ankle tightly.

“Then there will be no wrong with it.”

It was a threat that he let go even though he could have shot her.

Tears filled and poured out of Elise’s large, round eyes.

“Too bad.”

His large hands wrapped around Elise’s cheeks. Her face was wet with sweat and tears, but he was not offended at all.

Cardale’s warm tongue touched Elise’s cheek. Elise tried to escape, but it was futile. More strength was added to her gripped hands.

The man who followed the trail of her tears licked every bit of water around her eyes. The salty taste that signalled the end of the thirst he had endured for the past few days stung his tongue.

Clear water flowed endlessly under her blue ocean-like eyes, but he swallowed them all.

The woman’s despair was terribly sweet.

***