Chapter 24

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Shaken (2)

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“Sir!”

Someone shook him hard. Ian Kerner opened his eyes in surprise. Instinctively, he checked the gun at his waist, picked up the boots he had placed on the bedside, and stretched his arms.

“Calm down, why are you grabbing for your gun when the war has already ended?”

‘Oh.’ 

Ian sighed and frowned at the bright sunlight. He felt strange. His body and mind were strangely refreshed. Soon he realized that the headache that had been bothering him for days had gone away.

‘I didn’t have any nightmares.’

“Sir Kerner!”

Henry’s bewildered face caught his eye. Ian was half-asleep and tried to grasp the situation. It was the first time in years that he had not watched the sun rise. He went to bed late and got up early, both on the battlefield and in the military academy.

“What time is it, Henry?”

“Is that the problem now? Sir, look at yourself!”

“What are you talking about?”

He had a long sleep. Ian ignored Henry and tried to tidy up his messy hair, but he became stiff. His hand was stuck in something. He had a handcuff on his wrist. Henry freaked out even more when he saw it.

“Oh, my God, have you gone mad? What did you do last night? No way…”

It was only then that Ian came to his senses and looked around. There was something warm in his arms. He was in bed, in chains, and right next to him,  Rosen Haworth was sleeping. She was sleeping so soundly that she wouldn’t even know if someone picked her up and threw her into the sea.

‘Oh, my God.’

His tired body betrayed his head. He was so tired that he habitually crawled into bed.

Ian rubbed his forehead. As soon as Henry entered the cabin, his headache came back to him.

“Please tell me that Rosen Haworth came into the Sir’s bed on her own.”

“…No, but I did.”

“Are you crazy?”

“It was a mistake. And don’t scream, she’ll wake up. She just fell asleep. At last, she became quiet.”

“Do I look like I won’t scream? It doesn’t matter if she wakes up or not! Is that important now? What is this?”

“…”

“…It’s not what I think, is it? Please say it isn’t!”

Henry appealed to him, on the verge of tears. Knowing what kind of misunderstanding he had caused, Ian firmly shook his head.

“Whatever you’re thinking, that’s not what happened.”

“You expect me to believe that? Hurry up and give me an explanation that I can understand!”

Henry glared at Rosen, who was still clinging to him. Ian was speechless for a moment. It felt strange to be scolded the same way he had scolded Henry. Unlike usual, his brain didn’t work well. He would not have been able to give Henry an understandable explanation, even with ten mouths.

Ian finally threw back the duvet after much thought. Henry’s eyes softened a little when he saw that Ian was still in the uniform he had worn last night. However, Henry also checked Rosen’s clothes, as if that wasn’t enough.

Ian felt a surge of irritation for no reason. He carefully separated himself from Rosen and pulled himself out of the bed to stop Henry.

“We are dressed, so go away. I told you. You can’t come within a 1-meter radius of Rosen. Was the bathroom not enough?”

Henry scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed.

“Wow, I’m being kicked out then. Though I’m not in a position to listen to my nagging superior who slept in the same bed as a prisoner.”

“…”

“Are you really the Sir Kerner I know? Do you like her?”

“Wha-“

“Why the hell isn’t she tied to the bedpost and why is Sir Kerner with her? No, you’ve been strange ever since you needlessly interviewed her every day. What the hell-”

“It’s called monitoring.”

Ian couldn’t stand it any longer and cut Henry off. He removed the handcuffs that tied him to Rosen, took a cigarette out of his front pocket, and lit it. Henry had already decided not to believe anything Ian said, so why did it matter what he thought? Henry looked at him suspiciously and picked up the handcuffs.

Ian gestured roughly.

“Put it down.”

“You’re going to let her loose, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“Crazy…”

Ian added before Henry had another seizure.

“She tried to kill herself. We must keep Rosen Haworth alive until we get to the island.”

“What are you talking about? You need to tie her up.”

Ian shook his head. Rosen’s blood was still fresh in his memory. It was likely the same for Henry.

“I told her not to commit suicide. I promised to release her while under surveillance. And Rosen promised to stay calm.”

“And you believe that?”

“I’d rather let it go. Otherwise, she will try to commit suicide again.”

“…”

“As you have seen, she has an extreme personality. The more you suppress her, the more aggressive she becomes. When I’m with her, I have to be a little more comfortable.”

“Why would she try to commit suicide when you’re watching her? That’s impossible.”

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“We didn’t think it was a problem to treat her to dinner yesterday. But look what happened!”

Ian tapped his cigarette over the ashtray and pointed at Rosen, who was sleeping as if she were dead. Henry would usually retort, ‘It doesn’t matter if she dies or not since she’s going to Monte’. However, he just bowed his head, unable to answer.

Henry panicked yesterday when Rosen vomited blood, and was taken to his room to rest. After the war, Henry had become particularly vulnerable to death, but the guilt must have been greater. Ian thought Rosen Haworth was definitely smart.

Henry prepared the stewed fruit, and Ian fed it to Rosen. It wouldn’t be easy to fault a superior and a lieutenant at once.

–Rosen!

Ian held the fallen Rosen in his arms and ran to where the doctor was. At that time, he was in a hurry and forgot that there were people around him, and he was calling out Rosen’s name. If the situation hadn’t been urgent, someone would have thought it was strange.

That was too intimate a title for a guard to use for a prisoner. He was surprised by the name that came out unconsciously. Although he had called her ‘Rosen’ countless times inwardly, he never said it out loud.

“Why does she want to die? She won’t live long if she gets to the island anyway, so why is she trying to end her life with her own hands?”

It was a question that Ian knew the answer to. Ian stared silently out of the cabin window. Henry did not wait for his reply, but instead glared at Rosen, who was still asleep.

“If you’re going to be strong, you need to be strong until the end. It’s annoying.”

“…Just tell me why you’re here.”

Henry responded without hesitation, having given up on questioning him further.

“It’s not a big deal, but a group of sea monsters are passing in front of our ship. They’re a bit large. My fath- no, the Captain told me.”

Henry stopped him from getting dressed and going to the Captain’s office.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“How can a group of sea beasts be so insignificant?”

Ian countered, recalling a bird strike. He knew what kind of catastrophe a bird could cause. It was not enemy planes, but birds that pilots were most afraid of when they flew. If a bird got sucked into an engine, no matter how good the airship was, it would fall.

“The sea and the sky are a little different. Besides, we discovered it early. There’s a big crowd, and at this rate, they might block our course… It’s said that such a big ship will deter monsters but I guess they’re wrong. You don’t have to worry too much. If we can’t scare them, we’ll just have to adjust our course a little.”

“…”

“Even in the worst case, our arrival will only be delayed by a day or two. Though, if the ship is delayed, I have to report it to the upper management.

Father told me that you should know about that, too.”

Henry glanced at Rosen, who was still sleeping, and left the room. Until he closed the door and left, Ian tried not to reveal the strange sense of relief that spread across his chest.

Henry was right. Ian realized as soon as he heard that the route would be changed, the schedule would be disrupted, and Rosen could live another day or two. He had finally gone crazy.

At last, the moment Ian was left alone, he slowly sat down beside the bed. He crouched and examined Rosen’s sleeping face, then shook her small shoulder with his hand.

“Get up.”

Rosen frowned and opened her eyes. He tried to speak in the broadcasting voice that Rosen Haworth liked. The voice that had repeatedly comforted her.

“What drinks do you like?”

***

It had been raining since morning, but it didn’t matter since rain did not interfere with the navigation of large ships. She thought that when it rained at sea, the sound of the waves would not be heard. She was right, but other sounds became more prominent. Raindrops pounded on the window non-stop, the boat wobbled more than usual, and the air was cold.

The sky turned grey and water flowed over the decks, as if the ship had become a submarine.

Henry taught her a board game played at the onboard casino. It was a really boring strategy game about two countries fighting with airship models. It was a waste of time in many ways for someone who would be sent to an island within a few days. Moreover, the confrontation between beginner and expert was enough to tire both of them. After an embarrassing one-sided defeat, she threw the model airship away.

She wanted to win something other than this stupid game. She had to deal with Ian Kerner, not Henry.

“Can’t I go out? Let me take a break. The cabin is small, and this is not interesting.”

“It’s not small.”

“It’s small and suffocating.”

“How did you spend your time in prison if you’re so bored here?”

Since the morning, Henry had been sitting in the cabin and glancing between Ian and Rosen alternately. For the first hour or two, she had nothing to do, so she left him like that, but he seemed unwilling to leave. After breakfast, he brought a board game and started torturing her.

Ian Kerner condoned Henry’s actions, like he was entrusting his child to a nanny. She didn’t know which of the two was the nanny; Henry or Rosen.

‘That’s great. Play with each other.’

Then he sat motionless at his desk, reading a newspaper for hours. It had been a few days since they boarded the ship, so it wasn’t the latest edition. Even if there were a variety of newspapers, the general contents would be the same, but he still read several newspapers alternately. It was hard to understand the hobbies of high-ranking people.

“I broke out of prison because I was frustrated. I love freedom.”

“Well… I’m afraid I can’t leave today. If I do, Sir Kerner and you will be alone. It would be a terrible thing.”

She had played a mind trick on Henry, and he immediately revealed his innermost thoughts. He was such a pushover. Rosen reluctantly shoved the game board away.

“You’re not done talking about it? Didn’t I convince you? I told you that you should believe your boss even if I don’t.”

“Oh, I believed him. I believed him until yesterday, but not now.”

Henry mumbled something insignificant, glaring at his boss. She couldn’t understand how Henry’s blind loyalty to his superior had suddenly disappeared. 

‘Did you get brainwashed overnight?’

“You trust each other, don’t you? And Sir Kerner-”

“I know. Having said that, it’s scary when someone loyal turns around, isn’t it?”

Henry was openly sarcastic. The sound of pages turning stopped for a moment.

“Did you two have a fight? In a peaceful country, allies fight each other. Henry, aren’t you supposed to obey Ian?”

“A loyal lieutenant must be courageous when his superiors make wrong decisions.”

Her conclusion was that he was offended by something Ian did and wanted to make him feel bad. Maybe he was upset because Ian said he wouldn’t trust him yesterday. She just wanted to throw Henry Reville into the sea. 

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‘The two of you get along well, so why bring me into this? Thanks to you, I can’t talk to Ian Kerner alone today.’

In the end, Rosen changed her goal to something more trivial; getting out of the cabin. If she stayed here, she’d just stare at Henry until she got to the island.

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