Your Eternal Lies - Chapter 75

Remember Our Names (2)

* * *

“It’s more annoying because he pretends to be decent.”

“Well, technically… It’s true that he is a decent man.”

“Yes, I will admit it honestly! I’m just annoyed because there’s nothing to complain about! No flexibility!”

“Violet, someone will hear. Watch your language.”

Lucy Watkins’ soothing reply followed. Ian Kerner soon found out. They were talking behind his back. He was used to that kind of talk. But it was the first time he had heard his squadron speak ill of him…

It was a little embarrassing.

It was just boss-cursing. Everyone did it. He just had to pretend he didn’t know.

He would be truly tactless if he went in now. He missed the timing and stood in front of the door, unable to do this or that… he had to listen to his squadron members curse him.

Lucy and Violet quarreled but alternated in their speech about how frustrating, obnoxious, uninteresting, strict, and demanding he was.

“Why can’t he be a little more humane? Does he ever see us resting for a moment?”

“Thanks to him, we cannot even have fun. We literally have to live like him.”

“Does he actually like guys? According to rumors, everyone thinks that… Have you seen the commander’s military locker? There aren’t any photos of those common pin-up girls or actresses.”

“Violet, you really hate people who put up things like that…”

“Of course, I agree that Sir Kerner is one of the few conscientious men in this disgusting school. But since there’s not even the slightest bit of interest, it’s disgusting in its own right! Henry, the youngest member of our squadron, also carries a picture of a woman in his pocket!”

“That’s Henry’s sister. She died during the Leoarton raid. Don’t bring it up in front of him.”

“I’ll shut up. I didn’t know.”

Ileria Lev, who thought she would just listen, butted in.

“Be quiet, both of you. Sir Kerner will be here soon.”

“Ugh, fine.”

“In addition, our ace is a boring person, but he doesn’t like men.”

Violet and Lucy, who noticed that Ileria knew something interesting, began to ask excitedly.

“Do you know anything?”

“Did you see anything?”

Ian wasn’t nervous. He swore to heaven that he had no shame. Unfounded rumors, even if they spread for a short time, were bound to lose their power.

“Certainly, our ace isn’t the kind of person who carries around pictures of pin-up girls and acts messy… I mean, there seems to be a woman whom he likes. He carries a woman’s photograph in his pocket! I saw it with my own eyes!”

“I really can’t imagine. It isn’t a sister? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“As far as I know, he doesn’t even have a fiancée!”

Ian was about to open the door and enter. He managed to put up with patience. However, Ileria smiled and revealed his secret in detail.

“She is a famous woman, and Violet, you know her. She’s a woman you like, too.”

Violet immediately understood the hint given to her by Ileria.

“Are you talking about Rosen Walker?”

“Yes! The best escaped prisoner in the Empire! It’s nothing strange. After breaking out of prison, she became more famous than a decent actress.”

“It really doesn’t suit him. Why does he like my Goddess? Urghhh!”

Violet pretended to vomit. Violet, unlike him, made it no secret that she liked Rosen Walker. Her locker was plastered with Rosen’s pictures, along with a copy of her escape story as if to be seen.

That was understandable. It wasn’t strange at all that Violet liked Rosen Walker. It was only natural that a rebellious cadet who would always spit on the floor when assigned a mission, and who would occasionally get caught and slapped for wrongly mouthing the Empire’s national anthem would come to like the escaped prisoner who deceived the Empire.

“Really? Where did you see it?”

Lucy asked. Ileria replied.

“He took it out when he was alone in the locker room.”

“D*mn it, I can’t believe it.”

“Violet, it’s because you didn’t see Sir Kerner’s eyes. Honey dripped from his eyes when that calm man took it out and looked at the woman. The least is admiration, and the greatest is love.”

“You must be crazy.”

“After seeing that, my soul… No, I’m dead. He is not the kind of person who would do that. But keep an eye on him. Maybe you’ll see him kissing a picture of Rosen-”

Ian couldn’t take it any longer and stormed through the door. As soon as he came in, the squadron members coughed in vain and dispersed to their respective seats in an instant.

“I have never done such a thing.”

Ian glared at them and opened his locker roughly. He had nothing to look for, but he had to pretend he was doing something since he had just burst through the door. Through the mirror attached to the locker door, he could see the members of the squadron holding back their laughter.

“I will never do that.”

As soon as he left the room, the locker room became noisy again. He had to endure the laughter and fuss that poured from behind his back.

“You saw it? You saw it, right? Making such a serious face.”

“Wow, but he didn’t deny that he liked Rosen Walker.”

“That’s right. He didn’t deny it. I guess it’s real.”

Ian covered his face with his hands and walked quickly down the corridor to avoid their voices.

* * *

As it was now, there was no women’s locker room at the military school. The military only reluctantly allowed female cadets to fill the air force’s quota, but no one was concerned about their lives. The female cadets took turns watching like guards while they changed or took a shower. Every time they did canter training or took commemorative photos, bad jokes and ridicule aimed at them poured out.

Ian Kerner was the squadron’s ace and the oldest. He was obliged to discipline himself to prevent that from happening to him. He dragged the cadets who were harassing his squadron members to the yard, beat them until they bled with the butt of his pistol, putting some in the military hospital as an example.

He didn’t know until he witnessed it in person. The more he stepped forward, the more ridicule they got, saying, ‘Girls hide behind Ian Kerner and cry or drag out tears’, ‘Things that touch the captain’, and ‘Things are getting worse out of sight’.

He found Violet Mihak one day, in the locker room. Aside from Henry, she was the youngest, least social, and most hot-tempered cadet in his squadron. Lucy Watkins and Ileria Lev put up with most situations, but Violet didn’t. She always rushed in without thinking about the consequences. And the price of defiance had always been harsh.

That day, Violet was surrounded by three or four male cadets and was being kicked.

It was a scene of brutal violence. It was a strange sight. He had never been beaten unilaterally by anyone since his body had grown. So he hardened in front of that one-sided beating. As he regained his senses and hurried forward, his eyes met Violet’s. Ian had to stop in his tracks.

Violet was staring at him, shaking her head.

And he realized. His squadron never wanted his intervention.

After the beating, Violet looked at him with a bruised face and limped away.

A hypocrite.

Violet Mihak’s eyes were talking to him. He was a hypocrite.

Maybe it was really hypocrisy. Even if it wasn’t hypocrisy, it was hypocrisy if Violet Mihak felt it was. He shut his mouth. He did not offer consolation or help. He didn’t say anything. Because that was the only thing his squad mates wanted from him.

***