The Devil Who Breaks My Neck - Chapter 42

“Instead, it’s good to kill them when you have the time and have mercy for the last time. The beauty of hunting lies there. Before I came here, I participated in the hunt held by Marquis Dyer…… The unlucky pig has a pretty good hunting ground, considering he can’t do anything except being flabby, even unable to climb a horse.”

“Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!”

As he grabbed the blade-shining dagger and scratched the bars one more time, Herace began to wriggle and scream silently. But her mouth that was once again blocked with a cloth couldn’t make a sound. And William, lost in remembrance, went on, ignoring Herace’s silent scream. Fortunately, he was intoxicated with his story and soon brought the dagger toward himself.

“The hunt was successful because there were many animals. Thanks to them, I was able to show mercy to my heart’s content.”

William giggled as he recalled that day, but Herace didn’t care how he looked or what voice he sounded like. Her eyes only alternated between the dagger and Erzen.

Having learned how to move her body and crawl forward, she gradually moved toward her son.

“The most exciting time was then. I caught two deer, a mother and her baby. The cub died while hunting, and the mother deer saw it…….”

When Herace didn’t pay attention to his story, William stretched his hand with the dagger. This time the dagger went through the bars. Then Herace struggled almost like having a seizure. She didn’t care about her skin being scratched on the wooden floor.

“Hmph… Uhmmph! hmm!”

“……She was behaving just like you.”

William, who saw tears streaming from Herace’s eyes, put the dagger on the table and approached her. The appearance of him stomping and walking was light and opposite to Harace, who was crawling on the floor. William, who reached Herace in a few steps, put one knee on the floor and put his hand on the cloth that was blocking her mouth.

“I’ll never forget those eyes and sounds she made. Actually, I wanted to ask. It’s a terrible feeling to see the baby die first. But animals can’t talk. I showed mercy at once with her.”

Looking closely at William, Herace noticed that the whites of his eyes were reddish and his hands were trembling. He, who cursed several times because he couldn’t pull the cloth properly, smelled of strong alcohol. When Herace realized that the man was drunk, she bit her lower lip tightly.

‘He’s drunk.’

William untied the knot after a long time. Herace spoke slowly in a calm tone, facing him as her mouth became free.

“I’ll do whatever you want.”

“What?”

William didn’t notice, though he stumbled a little at the end of the sentence. He looked at Herace, who looked calm, with absurd eyes. He thought she would cry and beg like that, but what are those eyes? The woman’s blue eyes, contrary to his conjecture, seemed so serene.

“I’m telling you that I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I’m not an animal. I can understand what you’re saying. So if you don’t want to hold a woman who lost her child and went crazy like an animal, stop showing mercy.”

However, in reality, Herace was putting all her heart into being calm. There was no way to save Erzen by crying here. And the man must have been prepared in his own way, reflecting on what he said for a short time. Herace understood that it was now only her job to save Erzen, since it’s difficult to expect the help of the priestess as it was then.

“Ha! You’re a woman who’s more arrogant than I thought. There’s no way you don’t know the taste of a man when you’re a woman who even gave birth to a child.”

Herace didn’t frown even at the random slap on the cheek. Instead, she kept her eyes down and posed as obedient as possible. William exclaimed vigorously when the woman with black hair didn’t do as he expected, and even came forward to agree.

“Wasn’t that what you were waiting for? In fact, you were waiting for this moment. Is it that easy for a commoner to seduce an aristocrat like me?”

“…….”

“Well, then…… If you want to save your child, act pretty. It’s fun to see a woman like you cry and scream. You know what’s funny? You can tell the mother deer’s feelings with your own mouth.”

Herace bowed her head deeper to untie the rope that tied her hand secretly. When the man’s rough breath came close to her face, disgust poured in like rain.

‘Erzen.’

With barely swallowing the rising tide, Herace called her son’s name inside. Please sleep until the end of work……. A tear flowed sadly from her closed eyes.

“……it’s worth the wait.”

William, who untied the rope, whistled while looking straight down at Herace. There was an uncontrollable dirty desire in his shiny eyes. He was watching, twisting her chin around and licking his lips with his tongue.

Bang!

However, when he was about to move, the wooden door broke and dust rose. Surprised William turned to look at the door.

“What… What!”

William’s body bounced off with the sound of bone crushing. When he thought he could see his men from somewhere through the gray dust, something else happened in the blink of an eye.

“Ugh… Argh!”

William, who was moaning as if he had hit hard, looked at his shoulder and turned his eyes up. A large sword was stuck like a spike on his shoulder, which was bleeding like being stabbed by a harpoon.

“Uh……oh, father. Hah… save, save me…….”

Originally, it was not strange to die in shock, but William, who was drunk, struggled with pain without even fainting. At least, he was wriggling on the floor with his arms intact like a worm that lived on earth as he was one.

“Ah……”

Herace, who saw William groaning like a pig, gasped with a pale face. He was the one who tried to take her by force, but she couldn’t believe how easily this person looks like that.…. Her mind turned white.

But her shock didn’t last long. A long leg seemed to appear in front of her, shaking her whole body who was unable to even blink. And a black cape hanging behind his large back turned into a wall to cover her sight to reach William.

“……a bug that won’t come back to life if you amputate its limbs.”

Herace’s head slowly went up in the unforgettable voice.

And she saw it. A beautiful face that she had tried to forget for more than three years, but she has never forgotten. The silver hair reflected by the light that came through the curtains, and the shape of gold pupils facing her straight.

Herace involuntarily jerked back. The man’s flexible jawline clenched seeing such a Herace and grabbed her back. She heard someone crying with the sound of footsteps and then disappeared. The sound of blood flowing like a river rang horrifically in the room. Soon red blood scattered diagonally across the wall.

“My wife is under another man, not her husband…….”

Blood stains decorated the floor clearly as the man took a step with a low voice. Herace quickly looked down at the sticky black blood, closed her eyes, and turned her head away. As she tried to block her view, a big hand wrapped around her face. He wiped the tears under Herace’s eyes with his right thumb.

Ezekiel said with a blank face toward Herace, who opened her eyes reflexively.

“It’s not something you can expect from your husband who you haven’t seen in a while. Isn’t that right, Herace?”

For a very short time, Herace stared straight at Ezekiel. The moment when the colour of her eyes clashed with the eyes of different colours, time stretched like a long thread and lost its meaning.

She didn’t respond to Ezekiel’s words. Ezekiel also did not rush her for an answer. However, one side had a vain expression and wet eyes as if would cry at any moment, and the other side only glowed with persistent eyes.

But it was just a moment. The time that stopped quickly turned again. Herace blinked and cried out, contemplating as if she had come to her senses.

“Erzen!”

She forgot Ezekiel as if the name of her son was magical. Ezekiel tried to push her back who tried to stand up. He grabbed Herace, who collapsed because of her tied ankle, with a cool look.

“……you are still.”

“Let go! Let go!”

The man in front of her no longer caught Herace’s attention. Herace hit the man who grabbed her again and hurriedly untied the rope that tied her ankle. They tied it so hard that her ankle was blue because blood did not flow in the meantime.

“Er, Erzen.”

Despite stumbling, Herace quickly went to the cage where Erzen was trapped. The child remained motionless as if he was dead. Herace grabbed the door of the cage and shook it. The thin bars were stronger than they looked, so they only squeaked and moved, but did not budge.

“Ah……”

Herace, who checked the lock on the door, looked around and looked blankly at William’s body. The body, whose shoulders were crushed and penetrated through the middle of his neck, made her cringe just by looking at it, but she quickly approached the dead. As the distance got closer, the fishy smell of death stuck to the tip of her nose.

Herace knelt down in front of William’s body, not caring about the blood on the hem of her dress. But as she reached to the body’s waist to find the key, a big hand grabbed her by the shoulder and threw her back.

“Argh!”

“Herace, you are my wife. So don’t touch other men recklessly.”

Contrary to the calm tone, the man’s body was full of pointed jealousy. He stared at William, who had already died, as if wanting to kill him again. Pushing Herace away, he began to search the body’s waist and pockets. Soon a bundle of bloody keys was caught in the man’s big hand and made a clatter.

“Hey, give it to me. Now……”

“…….”

Ezekiel easily blocked Herace, who was trying to snatch the key, and walked in a big stride without saying a word. Herace hurried after him and looked anxious.

Ezekiel, who arrived in front of the cage, put the key in the lock, but the first attempt failed. Ezekiel then calmly picked up the key.

But the second time was also a failure. Herace’s face turned pale. Eventually, when even the third key could not open the lock, Herace, who was in agony, shook and reached out to Ezekael.

“I, I’ll do it.”

In her eyes, Ezekiel was too slow. She was in a hurry. However, Ezekael said in a more subdued voice, pushing the fourth key into the lock after firmly refusing Herace.

“What do you mean I’ll do it? Keep your mouth shut.”

***