Dry Drowning - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was as if someone bleached my memory. I remember everything clearly that has ever happened to me since a very young age except for the memory of that man which is completely murky.

‘What is this?’

Come to think of it, everything was blurred just before I woke up here. There was a sense that time had passed, but I couldn’t recall what had happened.

‘Does that make sense?’

It seemed like he was almost going to laugh bitterly, but realising that he couldn’t even remember why he died, Ian tightened his lips into a thin line.

Even though it suddenly occurred to me, if I hadn’t had any doubts, I might have lived unknowingly for a long time.

I even remember stabbing myself on the neck with a canvas knife.

The problem is that it’s unclear why.

Despite being lost in thoughts for the past two weeks, Ian had never thought of such important things. It’s strange that he hasn’t been interested in it. Even though there was a strange emptiness in his head, he never cared about it before.

What the butler was feeding him was just a sleeping pill, so the fact that he cannot remember those important things could not be a side effect of the medicine.

In the first place, I had never heard of a drug that only makes you forget a certain person. All my efforts were in vain.

I was commissioned.

I killed anyone if the money was deposited. He may be one of them because I have killed countless people.

Ian’s occupation in modern times was like that. Ian has lived a life hurting someone ever since his childhood.

The reason why I didn’t feel a single guilt about taking other people’s lives maybe is because I thought my life was cheap.

So it wasn’t a big deal.

***

Ian realised that the distance between him and the man was too close, so he released his strength from the tip of his fingers which were gripping his collar. It had wrinkles that didn’t match the hard pressed uniform, but he didn’t have time to worry. He was in a mess because the meaningless emotions were tangled.

If this was the place where he originally lived, he would have booked a psychiatrist, but it was something he could not dream of among the people wearing a sword in their waist, an armor, and walking around casually in a dress fully covering the lower body. Even those who can’t use their wits for medicine would know that this is wrong from a medicinal point of view.

It was likely to happen only in the movies. However, the complete silence doesn’t feel right at all , the man in front of Ian pulls him back into reality. They stared closely and maintained eye contact with each other. Ian, who had been distracted for a while, felt Logan’s stare, who had been silently standing there.

“Agh.”

In the background multiple screams broke out..

The ladies, whose cheeks had turned pale, covered their eyes with their fans without seeing anything, perhaps because they thought they would draw out their swords. He is a terrible man that attacks people casually after waiting for a while. In the first place he might have accepted Rox’s proposal simply because he wanted to see the blood of a foreigner.

However, opposed to everyone’s fear, nothing happened in the hall.

Ian, who didn’t know what he was in, only looked at the man’s hand rubbing his wrinkled collar lightly.

“Lord.”

Looking at the person who called me, I opened my mouth and realized it was a title for me.

It was an unfamiliar word, but it didn’t matter because everything was unfamiliar to Ian. But everyone in the hall knew that the one word Logan uttered softly was an insult.

He took a knight’s vow hurriedly just before he came here. He didn’t have any title, so he was trying to get his a$$ together. However, nominally, he came here as a member of the royal family of a country for a cultural exchange.

Despite Logan’s trampling, Rox’s prince didn’t even become flustered.

Was he prepared to be treated like this or is this just his personality?

Contrary to the aristocracy’s assertion that it was not easy to touch Logan. Ian didn’t have any ideas.

“It might be wrong to force a man who has spent his whole life wandering on the outskirts.”

He heard he was the 12th prince from the lowest concubine. The present Ian pushed himself into the deepest part of the palace, fearing that he might want the throne, and didn’t even look at it.

It was hilarious to see him dressed like that and come but Logan swallowed his words.

“I think you are not at peace, both physically and mentally, because you had a terrible experience right after you crossed the border.”

His tone of voice was stained with frustration as he wrinkled his eyebrows. Had it not been for the following words, the Arch Duke might have thought that he had genuine sympathy for the Prince. It was something that might have been considered by many. Of course those who knew the reality, would stick out their tongues.

“One, this is the northern part of which your country first stumbled.”

In the territorial dispute 50 years ago, Rox first attacked the area where the Archduke was located. Even a child knew that they had a lot of intentions. The imperial people must have thought that the blind faith should be overthrown first.

The timing was very good as the previous generation’s chronic illness got worse. Most of the Archduke’s knights had gone west because of the suspicious atmosphere of the Shuyen kingdom.

Those who never imagined they would march across the black forest, figured out the situation only after the enemy’s horses were just around the corner.

The village which remained snow-covered all season was burning on fire.

Logan said softly, recalling the time when blood formed a river with innocent screams,

“Your white body will be stripped naked and put atop a horse. And like that you’ll get dragged to the streets, where the people will pelt you with stones and will hit you every other hour.”

Everyone knew that the prince who had come here would receive all the anger that had arisen. That’s why Logan cared for him so that he couldn’t kill himself.

A life that doesn’t kill, but doesn’t die either.

“……….”

Ian retreated a little, but he didn’t say anything. Apart from his inability to say anything, he seemed to realize that his situation was far more unanswered than he had expected. Logan’s fingertips touched his cheek as he tilted his head sideways.

The texture of the smooth gloves tickled his smooth skin. Logan was even careful about the way he brushed Ian’s flowing hair behind his ears. It’s as if the scary words he said earlier were a hallucination.

“But what can I do to you, my dear.”

Lies, I could tell without having to go through the fact that a man looking down this way was a man who could do much more than that without a hitch. Logan led out a small laugh as if he had found a little distrust in his expression. Now I could see who the butler’s smile, which was mechanically distorted, imitated.

“So thank you, for your name,”

It was a long time after Ian was able to understand the word correctly.

Looking at him with an incomprehensible look on his face, Logan added,

“You’d better get some rest today.”

He gracefully uttered the word “disappear” in front of him.

The knights, who understood the meaning contained behind those sweet caring words, hurriedly tried to capture Ian again, but they couldn’t touch him recklessly because Logan was staring at him.

As they walked Ian out of the room, there was a strange silence that followed in the hall. When the protagonist who was in curiosity disappeared, he finally realized who was left behind.

It was the second son of the family, the noble lady who was looked down upon by her husband, or those who had been brought in by the Imperial command. It was no exaggeration to say that there were people who could not say anything even if they were killed by the Grand Duke.

Whether or not the atmosphere of the party was ruined, Logan, who was looking at Ian’s disappearance, took off his gloves.

“Bring me a new one.”

Black gloves fell on the floor as if something dirty was on it. He looked cool as if it was a lie that he was smiling like a spring day until just now.

There were countless teeth marks on Logan’s exposed fingers. Ed, who handed over a new glove as if he was waiting by his side, immediately hid them, but everyone in the Empire knew that they were evidence of old blessings.

Logan, who was not far away, opened his mouth with a glass of champagne as if he knew where their eyes were.

“By the way.”

The glass was lit with a chandelier decorated with dozens of crystals, and the champagne swayed like a shower of glittering gold. An unintentionally nearby baron held his breath. He had no idea when, where or what he would do.

“How long are you going to stay without notice?”

He looked at the cup and said, but it was clear who he was talking to. It was them who were going crazy about going home, but no one answered cheerfully.

It was originally scheduled to only stay for a few days and then disappear like a wind. Two weeks passed because the prince didn’t wake up, and after that two weeks passed because the Archduke went out on an expedition. If they knew they would be stranded in this creepy place for over a month, they wouldn’t have come at any cost.

But they didn’t dare to open the gate.

Each thought filled the hall and the glass of champagne in Logan’s hand fell to the floor.

A sharp “whiz” burst out and screamed that they couldn’t swallow. They know what the champagne on the floor reminds them of.

“I’ll give the Knights.”

They’ve been waiting for these words to be said for a month now.

Each of them nodded in tears and the next day a fight broke out about who would leave first.

It took less than a day for the people who went to the Royal Road to spit out everything they saw and heard.

The whole empire was shaken by the story of the prince of Rox, who had been on the verge of his death for being rude and the story of Archduke who laughed at him, insulted him and threw away his gloves.

He was, both in a good and a bad way, the most interesting man in this country.

No one wanted to go against his will because there were countless lives to die according to his intentions.

That’s why they couldn’t say anything at that time. Later, the Prince of Rox, who they looked down on, would grab the uncontrollable Logan’s collar.

And because of that, a lot of things will change in the near future.

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