I’d finished my visit to my fiancée—along with the business I’d actually been there to take care of—and returned to my estate. Now, it was finally time to start releasing the hostages for real. It had been a while since my confrontation with Sig, and I knew he and his allies would make their move soon. This calm before the storm would be the decisive moment for me. After all, it’d be harder for me to take action once the rebellion was in full swing.
I sent out all the letters I’d prepared, and I went through Karl’s list of traitors to select escorts for the hostages. I did my best to assign escorts whose hometowns were near those of the hostages they’d be accompanying. Maybe it wouldn’t make any difference, but I was hoping they’d be able to help share information during the upcoming nationwide rebellion.
In the meantime, the prisoners in the First Dungeon were also dwindling. Slowly but surely, the estate was emptying out.
Now I’ve gotta figure out what to do about the guys on “my” side. They’re all so devoted to Heinreid that I can’t come up with good excuses to fire them... Well, even if they’re not as bad as Heinreid, they’re still all scumbags, so if worse comes to worst, they’ll just have to share my fate. But, wait, I also don’t want them fighting to the bitter end and hurting civilians... Hmm.
As I looked through documents and puzzled things over, there was a knock at the door to my study.
“Who is it?”
“Craig Bauer, Your Grace.”
“Don’t come in.”
“Please excuse me.”
With a ka-chak, Craig opened the door and walked right in anyway.
What the actual hell, man?! If you were gonna come in no matter what, then why’d you even bother knocking?! This asshole isn’t taking me seriously at all!
“What do you want? I’m busy.”
“Busy releasing hostages, Your Grace?” he asked, his voice firm and unyielding.
Even from across the room, I could tell there was something different about Craig—something in his demeanor had shifted. Still sitting at my desk, I slowly raised my head to look at him. Our eyes locked, and a silence hung between us for a while.
Eventually, Craig opened his mouth. “You aren’t the duke, are you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t try to deny it.”
It wasn’t a question—it was a statement of fact, spoken with total conviction. His green eyes were utterly unwavering. I looked him over carefully, then placed my elbows on my desk and rested my chin on my interlaced hands.
“And what basis do you have for that conclusion?”
“I became certain of it after our return from the Pieira River—in the garden, when you allowed me to approach you.”
The garden. From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the freshly replaced rose on my desk, blooming in the same vivid scarlet as always.
“Though His Grace might sometimes approach and touch others, he would never permit anyone to do the same to him,” Craig continued. “Least of all, to touch his neck—if anyone were to reach a hand toward such a vulnerable point, His Grace’s whip would lash out in a heartbeat. And yet, you allowed me to do so without the slightest resistance. In the days that followed, no matter how much disrespect I displayed, you still administered no punishment whatsoever—even your verbal barbs felt like little more than jests. After all that I have done, it is absurd that I should be standing here alive and well with all of my limbs intact.”
Craig spoke matter-of-factly, and I quietly listened without interrupting. I didn’t have a counterargument. If Craig was saying that the old Heinreid would’ve acted that way, then he was probably right, and I expected I’d find much the same if I looked through Heinreid’s memories.
“Not only have you completely stopped torturing or executing the people of your duchy, but now you have begun freeing all of your hostages, just as you did Elmer Kisch. At this point, I can only conclude that even you yourself no longer have any intention of hiding the truth.”
Well, he’s got a point there.
There was plenty of circumstantial evidence on his side. I’d figured there was no way I could keep things under wraps, so I had gotten pretty bold—I’d give him that.
“I will ask once more. You aren’t His Grace the Duke... Are you?”
He repeated it with the same absolute certainty.
Excellent work... Or, no—it didn’t take any work at all, did it?
Craig was right—I’d been acting unnaturally in all sorts of ways. I’d imitated the words and behaviors of a villain at every opportunity, but upon closer examination, I clearly wasn’t following through with my actions. So Craig had closely examined me, and he’d concluded that I wasn’t Heinreid.
Well, sure. Maybe strictly speaking, Heinreid and I aren’t the exact same person.
I spoke slowly. “You really are—”
But...
“—so entertainingly predictable.”
So what? What difference does it make?
“What?” he asked, caught off guard. His brow furrowed.
“It’s an experiment, Craig.”
I stared up at him, narrowing my eyes. I just needed to look as much as possible like I was mocking him. For some reason, the corners of my mouth refused to lift into a smile—but I put everything I could into all the other muscles of my face and the tone of my voice.
“You find it odd that you stand here alive and well? You ought to have learned better eight years ago. I have never administered your punishments to you directly, have I? Instead, I’ve had you watch others—those you care for and those you know not at all—suffer and break. That has always been your punishment.”
As I wove the cruelest words I could find, I kept on thinking.
Maybe... Maybe if I’d awoken before Heinreid started doing his evil deeds. Or maybe if I hadn’t kept any of Heinreid’s memories at all—maybe then things would have been different. Maybe then I would have felt differently. I wouldn’t have been tied down by any sense of duty, and I would’ve raged against my fate—why should I have to die? Maybe then, I would have been able to tell Craig that he was right and cling to his words for salvation.
But that’s not what happened, is it?
“So, you suspect that I am not His Grace the Duke—that I am someone else entirely? Well, unfortunately for you, the answer is no. I, and no other, am Heinreid von Rodvelia. I am no double or impostor, but the very man himself.”
After all this time I’d spent settling my affairs, I was certain of it. Even if I wasn’t purely Heinreid—even if there was something else mixed in there now—I was still undeniably him.
Well, Craig? Maybe if I’d been someone else, even if I’d had the same face, you would’ve been able to bury your grudges. But no matter how merciful you are...you’ll never find it in your heart to forgive Heinreid himself, will you?
“N-No...” he stammered. “Then, why—?”
“If you don’t believe me, then shall I prove it to you?”
I opened the floodgates of villainy inside me. Like a geyser erupting, countless sickening memories rushed up to fill my mind.
That’s right... I remember it all.
“What might I say to convince you? Should I recount the occasion I kicked an unkempt child to death for daring to cross my sight? Or perhaps the night I set fire to a tavern on the outskirts of town and sliced open the innkeeper’s stomach as she tried to flee? Or maybe... Shall we recall that man in my dungeons whose limbs I tore off and then had you deliver the killing blow?”
“Stop it...”
“Now that I think of it, that was the first act of villainy I ordered of you, wasn’t it? The man was already certain to die, but even then, oh, the look on your face when you brought down your sword—!”
The chair I’d been sitting in toppled over backward with a loud clatter. Craig had grabbed my collar to yank me forward. The tips of my toes were just barely scraping the floor, and I let out a small groan as one of my legs smashed hard against the desk. I grimaced slightly in pain, just for an instant—and then, the next moment, none of it mattered at all.
“I said stop!” Craig shouted in my face.
Ohh...
A shiver ran through me.
See? There it is. This body gets aroused by your hatred. No matter how guilty “I” feel, the pleasure blots it all out. How the hell can a man like me be allowed to live?
The blood in my veins was rushing with ecstasy, and I lost myself in Craig’s gaze.
“It’s those eyes, Craig. I wanted to see that look in your eyes again—so I performed an experiment.”
Just as I said to my liege, it’s important to have rises and falls. Lately, you’ve grown thoroughly accustomed to the motions of obedience. It bored me, Craig.
Something like that spilled out of my mouth on its own. Meanwhile, I reached out an arm to grab Craig’s head and pull him in close... Then, I said what I needed him to hear.
“Never avert your eyes from the truth, Craig Bauer. Never avert them from evil.” My gaze was locked with his. “I. Am. Your. Enemy.”
Silence fell over the room.
Craig looked like he was ready to kill me right this second...but eventually, he shoved me away and stormed out of the study. The door slammed shut with a bang, loud enough that the room shook.
I just stood there, watching the closed door in a daze. But the sound of stomping footsteps didn’t continue away down the hall. Even after everything I’d said, Craig was still on guard duty right outside the door. He was out there right now, biting his lip while directionless rage wracked his body.
The villain inside me was cheering with joy. Inwardly, I yelled at him to shut up, and I wished with all my might for Craig to be free of me soon.