The Devil Who Breaks My Neck - Chapter 36

“Don’t touch my child!”

“Mom! Mom!”

At the touch of rough and inconsiderate men, Herace was helpless. She struggled not to lose Erzen somehow, but could not beat the strength of several adult men. In the end, she was overpowered by two men and Erzen by one man.

William approached Herace, who was on her knees, caught by his minions. She struggled vigorously, calling the name of her son, not noticing whether William approached her or not. Erzen also cried and called out to his mother.

“I was worried about how I was going to pass my time in this rural corner, but I won’t be bored anymore.”

William grabbed Herace’s chin again and made her look at him. Herace tried to move her face away because her neck, which was forced upward, hurt. But William did not lose his strength or let her go as he did a while ago. He asked, sweeping the thick lips of Herace with his thumb.

“Will you obey me calmly, now?”

Herace clenched her teeth and looked at him with sharp eyes. She had been in many dangerous situations before, but she had never seen anyone act so frivolously. What should I do? She looked sideways at Erzen and bit her lips.

“You’re rude even at this point.”

When Herace didn’t answer, William approached Erzen with a mean smile. The child, who cried for being taken away from his mother, cried louder because of fear when an adult man approached him.

“Noisy… What should I do? I think I’ll punish your baby instead of you who is rude.”

William grabbed Erzen by the collar like pinching salt. Then, the child who was crying hiccuped before suddenly stopping. Herace’s face turned pale as Erzen fainted. She twisted her body as if she was about to jump out.

“Erzen! Let go of me! Let go! Erzen!”

“What? What’s wrong with this?”

William’s face was also flustered for a moment. He dropped Erzen’s collar and looked at her. A guard, who looked nervous, put his ear close to the child’s nose. He sighed as if it were a relief, and said to William.

“What a relief, he just fainted.”

William’s face was distorted. He was momentarily embarrassed that he had to feel relieved by this commoner child. He yelled at his subordinates with a fit of anger.

“What relief? It’s none of my business if he dies!”

William, who had been struggling with his embarrassment, grabbed Erzen’s collar again. The small child’s body was pulled up randomly and dropped to the ground. Herace gave a high scream and twisted her body.

“Argh! Erzen! Don’t do it! Don’t!”

Her pale, parched face was filled with tears. When Herace screamed at the child with convulsions, the men, except William, now stiffened their faces as if they were uncomfortable. Although they moved according to the owner’s order, they also had a family and had wives or mothers. It was hard to erase the guilt.

But William only smiled at Herace. He gently touched Erzen, who fell down while facing Herace, with the tip of his shoe. Every time he tapped her son with his feet, Herace cried out with a gasp.

“……… Say that you will do as you are told by the young master. That’s how it’ll end.”

One of the men who subdued Herace murmured only to her. Hearing that, Herace stuttered desperately and said to William.

“I, I’ll do as you say. So don’t do this. I’ll do whatever you tell me…….”

As if satisfied, William nodded and approached Herace. Herace only saw Erzen, whether the man approached or not. One of William’s men picked up Erzen on the ground and nodded pitifully at Herace. It meant the child was fine.

“I wish you had done this from the beginning. You are a mother but still made your son suffer like that. You don’t deserve it.”

William, who put his hand on Herace’s shoulder, looked around. It was a hill road, but the road with dense trees was not overshadowed by the fact that it was a mountain road. He raised his lips disgustingly, looking at a large rock a little away.

“You will do what you’re told. First of all…….”

He removed his white gloves and stretched out his arms towards Herace’s arm. However, William’s hand, which was about to snatch up Herace’s arm, paused with the sound of an urgent step.

“What are you doing!”

Everyone looked towards the voice, there was an old priestess coming down a low slope with a cane. The old woman, who carefully braided and rolled up her white hair, showed her anger, abandoning her usual calm face. The wide sleeves of the temple and management flapped wildly.

“What are you doing here, in a place which is supposed to be sacred?”

Behind Yulina were other priestesses, who followed her. They also had a stern and angry face like Yulina, not a normally gentle look they always wore. When Yulina looked scornfully at the men, all but William hardened.

“Goddess, help us.”

“Erzen!”

Yulina ran to Herace and tried to help her, rather than being conscious of her robes being dirty. However, as soon as Herace was free from the man’s hands, she rushed at the man holding Erzen. The man hesitated and tried to back off, but when he saw Herace’s face, he calmly gave up the child.

“Erzen…”

Herace hugged Erzen tightly and knelt on the floor as if her legs had lost all strength. Embracing the child without caring about the dirt ground, she shook and stroked Erzen’s face, wondering if her son was okay, who didn’t open his eyes.

“Erzen……Erzen. My baby, Erzen…….”

Yulina approached Herace and bent down to look at Erzen. She patted Herace on the shoulder and slowly told her to relax.

“He’s just asleep, so don’t worry. You have to stand up. If you keep sitting here, your clothes will get dirty.”

At Yulina’s words, Herace faltered and stood up as if she had finally come to her senses. Yulina sent the trembling Herace behind her and blocked her as if protecting her. Erasing her usual soft expression, she did not hide her disdainful eyes at the men with William.

“What are you doing? The girl has already decided to follow me! What are you doing with the girl? You have to explain!”

William gritted his teeth when the situation that was going his way changed in an instant. However, the old priestess stepped forward without lifting an eyebrow and hit the ground hard with a cane.

“This is the land of the temple protected by the Goddess. How dare you try to commit such an atrocious crime in a place like this!”

How dignified the old priestess was, William unknowingly stepped back, bumped into the subordinate right behind him, and blushed.

“Who do you dare to…… Did you forget who I am? I’m Count Ford’s…….”

“Did Lord William forget why the count sent Lord William here?”

William frowned at the priestess’ ugly self and raised his voice to reveal his identity. However, the old priestess cut off his words and mentioned the Count. She even took a step forward and openly criticised William.

“He eagerly asked me to help you clean up your sin, so I accepted it. But it seems you can’t be cleaned…… Tsk.”

“What? Say that again? Are you trying to criticise me, saying I did something wrong?”

“Then who do you think I said that to? Did I say that to the poor woman?”

It was William, who lived almost like a king in his father’s estate. He never thought anyone would dare to say that to him in his father’s lands. His red face was almost bursting now.

“You crazy old woman! What are you doing? Grab that woman right now! Catch her and make her kneel before me!”

William sprang in rage and pointed his finger at the priestess. But the minions didn’t move as fast as they did when they tied up Herace.

Under William, they had a tendency somewhat similar to that of the young master, but all of them were from the religious East and long-standing employees of the faithful Count of Ford. They easily touched a common woman like Herace, but they were reluctant to touch an elderly priestess even if it was the order of a young master with a bad personality.

“Do you think this old woman is wrong? Then shall I send someone to the Count immediately?”

The priestess Yulina, pressed William more. Then Yulina helped Herace and led her up the way to the temple. William had bloodshot eyes as he saw Herace disappearing before his eyes, but he couldn’t do anything more. It was because he was really afraid that the priestess would send someone to his father, and he guessed that the faltering subordinates were not on his side.

“Young master, if the Count knows about this…….”

In the end, William turned away, pretending he couldn’t resist looking at the priestess anymore. From behind, he could feel his subordinates looking at him with a pathetic look. He gritted his teeth with a brooding face and said in a low voice.

“Things will be different. We’ll see. I would never step down like this.”

****

“The place to stay is shabby. Since I haven’t used it in a long time, I’ll help you clean it up tomorrow.”

Priestess Yulina said, frowning at the dust on her hands while sweeping the table. Spider webs and dust were all over the corner, and luggage and wooden boxes piled up randomly below them. Although people stopped staying here for a while, the annex of the old temple looked embarrassingly miserable.

“No, Priestess. I’m just grateful that you let us stay here. I’m sure Lady will appreciate it.”

Anna waved her hand at the sorry tone of Priestess Yulina. Where would they find someone who would give their room for them to stay for a while? The priests were no better than beneficiaries to Herace’s party.

“It’s natural to help the people in need, so you don’t have to feel pressured. And you work for us. You work for the Goddess, so I’ll give you this much.”

After the fiasco during the day, Herace tried to leave the village right away. However, the leading priestess, Dianna, dissuaded Herace and pointed to practical problems.

‘It’s winter soon. Where are you going with the child? Besides, what if you run into that rascal while you’re leaving? What are you going to do then?’

Dianna’s white-haired head showed her age. Herace recalled last winter hearing her.

The first winter came shortly after leaving the castle, but by that time, she had enough money in hand, so she passed it without much difficulty. But the second and third winters……, it was fortunate that the people of today’s village sympathised with Herace’s group, otherwise they would have already died of cold and hunger.

***