I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling above me. It wasn’t the hospital room from that dream, it wasn’t the run-down apartment from my distant memories, and it wasn’t the now-familiar manor either.
Where the heck am I? I didn’t think I’d be waking up in a bed at all, honestly.
“Good morning, Lord Heinreid.”
A voice came from next to me, and I twitched in response. I reflexively tried to reply, but my throat was weirdly dry and stuck together, and I couldn’t get a sound out right away. I gave a single dry cough. After I closed my lips for a little while, saliva began to well up and moisten my throat again.
As my thoughts got clearer, sensation gradually returned to my body. I hurt. I couldn’t even tell where—my entire body felt achy, sluggish, and sore.
Wait, but... If I can still feel things, then...
“I’m alive.”
“I said that I would not let you die, didn’t I?”
The voice gave an earnest, straitlaced response. I knew who it was without even looking—but I forced my creaking body into motion, managing to turn just my head to face him.
My former guard, Craig, was sitting in a chair and gazing at me expressionlessly.
“Where...am I?”
“This is one of the suites issued to nobles residing within the palace. I’ve temporarily borrowed my family’s former quarters.”
Damn, he really got me a fancy room... Is this, like, a last bit of kindness for me while I’m on death row? No—if they’d left me down in the dungeons again, I would’ve died right there anyway, so they’re probably just looking after me until they can properly carry out my execution.
Anyway, having a conversation while I’m lying down is kinda awkward...
I tried to sit up, but the moment I twisted around, an even sharper pain ran through my foot, and I let out a pathetic scream.
“Stay still!” Craig shouted. “You nearly died from blood loss due to your injury. You need complete bed rest.”
“Oh. So that’s why I don’t feel so good...”
Faced with Craig’s harsh scolding, I had no choice but to lie back down. As I waited for the throbbing pain to subside a little, I remembered something important.
“Craig—thanks for coming to save me.”
That’s right. I’ve absolutely got to say this before I die, no matter what.
“Honestly,” I continued, “when you showed up there, I thought you were a total idiot. But if you hadn’t gone that far for me...I don’t know if I would’ve managed to properly regret dying. Eberhart told me off about it too. I realized just how much of a coward I’ve been.”
Even after Eberhart had pointed out my mistakes—even after I’d felt Heinreid’s sorrow—if there hadn’t been anyone here who’d miss me, I still would’ve ended up throwing away my life without a care.
“Lord Heinreid...”
“I do feel bad that I’ll still be dying on my own anyway, but, well... I’ll make sure to suffer plenty for however long I’ve got left, so I can properly get what I deserve. I just wanted to give you an apolohiiih?”
I’d been all ready to deliver a heartfelt apology, but Craig physically obstructed me. He hooked a finger into the corner of my mouth and tugged on it. It didn’t hurt—he was just keeping me from speaking. I had no idea what he was after.
“Whuh?” I asked sharply.
“You truly are a terrible listener. As I said—I will not let you die.”
Craig took his finger out of my mouth and moved his hand to rest against my cheek. I could see flames of anger starting to blaze in his eyes. I nearly lost myself once again in that deepening emerald hue, but my instincts whispered to me that I’d be in trouble if I didn’t control myself right now, so I lightly closed my eyes to get away.
“Wait, no,” I protested. “There’s no way they’ll just let me off the hook!”
I’d taken way too many lives to live on and make amends. No matter what excuses I gave, nobody would ever be on board with that. The fact that I couldn’t even will myself to keep on living was just another part of my punishment.
But Craig immediately dropped a bombshell, blowing my resolve to smithereens.
“There’s no hook to let you off. Officially, you’re innocent of any wrongdoing.”
The hell?
“Just how many of His Highness’s comrades do you think were in that room? The people who will be running this country from now on, and even the princess of a neighboring nation we plan to ally with, were all there to hear Eberhart’s dying words. He was known far and wide as the man who loved the Venom of the Nation more than anything—and he himself implied that you weren’t Heinreid.”
“You there. If Heinreid yet lives...give him a message from me.”
Memories of the tyrant’s death flashed through my mind. I felt my heart pound in my chest, but ignoring that and thinking carefully...that was what it had sounded like, I guess...?
“The palace guards we captured were spouting furious invective regarding the impostor duke as well—completely unaware that those words would save your life. In addition, we had witnesses take the stand to testify in your defense—myself, of course, but also Elmer Kisch, Lady Angelica Zechress...and Karl Anker.”
I couldn’t help but be startled by that final name. “Karl? How’d he even get involved?”
Craig had a bitter, dissatisfied look on his face, but he reluctantly explained.
“He weaseled his way into becoming a distinguished member of the rebellion. The moment he’d finished abducting you, he immediately defected to our side. He was the one who let His Highness and the other rebels into the palace through an entrance where security was understaffed while the king was focused on you.”
“Wow...”
I mean... Sure, I did tell him to stay alive out there when I said goodbye. But isn’t that a bit too smooth of him? That slick bastard...
Craig also seemed to have mixed feelings about the whole thing, and we didn’t continue that topic any further. Instead, we got to the main point.
“And so, the leaders of the rebellion have concluded that you are an entirely different person who closely resembles His Grace. The official story is that you were threatened by the villainous duke and forced to serve as his double, or something along those lines, and thus you were merely a victim of—”
“W— Hey, wait! Hang on!” I frantically cut him off. The way this story just kept going, all presented as a done deal, was starting to make my head spin. “That’s ridiculous! Do you seriously think those excuses are going to be enough to sweep everything away?! There’s definitely going to be trouble down the line, one way or another!”
“Even if that is the case, His Highness Prince Sighart—soon to be His Majesty—will not issue unjust punishment to an innocent man. If he were to do such a thing, he would be no different from that tyrant. Admittedly, we cannot simply let you roam freely outside—I expect that you will be confined to one of the palace’s towers for the time being, on the pretext of interrogating you to divulge the location of the real duke.”
“There’s no way it’s that easy—”
“Easy?”
Craig’s words were getting more and more absurd, and I’d shot back just as forcefully, but his reaction was sharp and immediate. His hand resting against my cheek suddenly gripped my jaw, holding my head in place.
Huh?
“Of course it wasn’t easy. I would ask that you refrain from speaking such nonsense. Would you like to know just how many dirty tricks I had to make use of in order to push things through this far?”
His anger-tinged eyes were lovely, beautiful, and so on, but the absolute blazing fury in his voice didn’t leave me any time to think about that. He wasn’t yelling at me, but the air prickled with tension.
Let’s just put it plainly: I’m terrified.
“You wished to suffer because that’s what you deserve, was it? And yet, even saying those words, you intend to take satisfaction in it, don’t you? It’s astonishing just how self-absorbed you can be. To be perfectly frank, that selfish side of yours is utterly, blood-boilingly infuriating. And so, as my personal punishment to you, I shall be robbing you of any and all freedom from now on. I will not allow you to make any excuses, and I will not permit you to shoulder any sins. I am the one keeping you alive, so your life will be mine to control in its entirety. Ah, how the tables have turned—and about damn time.”
A-About damn time...?
He was going overboard, but if I tried to argue back, I’d probably step on another land mine. I kept my mouth shut.
I feel like a kid getting scolded... But he’s younger than me, dammit!
While I quietly fumed, Craig lit the fuse on yet another bomb.
“Now then. Even having said all of that, I do not trust in the slightest that you will behave yourself, so allow me to make this clear: If, by any chance, you should happen to take your own life, I will be following right after you.”
“Wha—?!”
He smiled brightly at me, but his eyes still held that same burning anger—he looked scary as all hell. He delivered his finishing blow.
“You may be prepared to die, but you could never kill another person, could you?”
He got me.
I felt the phantom sensation of my back being slammed against a wall. When Eberhart had verbally cornered me, I’d felt like I was being pushed off a cliff—but this bastard was leaving me with nowhere to run in a different sense.
He’d dragged out the me hidden behind the villain and ordered me to admit my loss—to yield and surrender.
My body had tensed up involuntarily, but all the strength suddenly left me, and I fell limply back.
“Seriously... How the hell did you end up like this?”
Huh? Did I ask him something like that before too?
I felt a sense of déjà vu, but this time, I got back a way more messed-up answer.
“I had wanted to take our time talking things through, but my feelings have grown several times—no, several hundred times more complicated in the interim. I’ve obtained plenty of time for you, though, if nothing else... So I’ll simply have to spend the rest of our lives explaining it to you.”
Am I the only one who thinks this sounds crazy?
His voice was low and deep, like something slithering up from the bowels of the earth. I found myself squirming once again, but it was obvious that I was the one to blame for all of this; I couldn’t say anything back.
I was stuck face-to-face with reality—I couldn’t fight it anymore. He wouldn’t let me.
Damn... He caught me.