Chapter 40
“Let’s jump.”
I quickly assessed the situation and pushed the carriage door.
When I confirmed that the door wouldn’t budge, it suddenly occurred to me that the escort carriage could only be opened from the outside, not from the inside. Kyle must have locked it earlier.
“So, are you really trying to kill me…?!”
“Veronica!”
I lifted my head and saw Kyle spur his horse, charging at full speed. He raised his sword.
“I’ll break the latch, so jump out of the carriage!”
Clang, clang.
The sound of Kyle striking the latch echoed. I struggled to keep my balance inside the swaying carriage, barely holding on.
As I bit my lip anxiously, the latch finally gave way, and the door swung open.
“Jump! Now!”
I held onto the door frame. Strong wind and patches of green grass blurred past me. If I jumped at this speed, I’d surely roll along the ground. But if I didn’t, I would die.
I steeled myself and lifted one foot—but hesitated.
“What are you waiting for? There’s no time!”
I heard Kyle shouting. I looked up and stared at him.
His face was tense with urgency.
A single, strong impulse gripped me.
“If I stay here, I’ll die in this carriage accident. Faster than execution.”
“Veronica!”
Kyle yelled desperately.
“Am I going to die like this?”
Thinking I was afraid to jump, Kyle pressed himself close to the carriage and spread his arms toward me.
“Trust me. I’ll catch you—jump!”
Instinctively, I thought, “How can I trust you? Would I trust you?” But now was not the time to be picky.
As the edge of the cliff drew near, I abandoned my thoughts of dying and bent my knees. The moment I leapt, Kyle grabbed me.
My vision spun, alternately catching glimpses of the blue sky and the pale green grass. As we tumbled, I felt the firm weight of his arms constricting around me.
Once the rolling stopped, I lifted my dizzy head and sat up. I looked around to assess the situation.
The carriage had collided with a tree at the end of the road and lay toppled, barely avoiding the cliff.
Kyle’s horse was grazing in the field nearby, and Kyle himself lay on the ground beside me.
He had thrown himself to protect me as we fell.
“…Who are you?” I asked.
“Are you okay?”
“You’re the one bleeding.”
Considering I had fallen from a moving carriage, my body was relatively unscathed—just dirty from rolling on the ground, with a few aches in my back and limbs from the impact.
Kyle, on the other hand, was not in good shape. He had a long cut on the back of his hand, likely from a sharp rock or branch.
Seeing blood oozing from the wound confused me.
“Why… why are you going this far?”
Memories of what Kyle had done and said came back sporadically.
“Want me to help you? In return, you’ll be my woman.”
“It’s not your fault the victim died. Actually, I did it.”
“If I said it’s because I like you, would you believe me?”
“Try hard. If you come to truly love me… I might clear your name and set you free.”
“If you want to leave Fortress, you’ll have to love me.”
“You seduced me, claiming you’d hear my confession, and then asked me to save you after revealing the lord’s plan.”
I couldn’t contain myself and shouted in frustration.
“Why are you doing this to me?!”
Kyle untied the cloth wrapped around his hand. Dried blood clung to the wound.
Veronica, screaming in fury, came to mind.
“Why are you doing this to me? Why me? Just leave me alone. Don’t you get it? I wish I were dead. Is that why you’re doing this?”
“Wait, calm down—”
“Better if you die! Just disappear from in front of me! I can’t even look at your face without wanting to curse you!”
She vented everything that had built up inside her, then panted heavily.
The prison guards who had arrived late tried to restrain her, but Kyle raised his hand, stopping them and making them back away.
Her punches stung his chest and shoulders, but not enough to truly hurt. Compared to what he had done to her, this was nothing.
Perhaps he didn’t stop her because her pain mirrored his own guilt and anguish.
Hearing Veronica’s words, he felt ashamed of his selfishness.
“Do you hate me that much?”
“You lied in court and still expect me to like you?”
As Veronica said, he might indeed be the “blackhearted villain” even a demon would envy. Yet he hadn’t lied, at least not to himself.
Kyle held both of Veronica’s wrists firmly and glared at her.
In her eyes, he saw his own repulsiveness reflected.
“Even if you hate me, I can’t help it. I shouldn’t have loved you with a face like my mother’s. You shouldn’t have been at risk from that guy! I shouldn’t have made you let me save you!”
Veronica stared back coldly, her calm, icy expression like a doll carved from ice.
He begged, hoping she’d say something.
“You have to know I’m not a mad murderer. It was the first time. Even if my way was cruel, it was sincere.”
Veronica shook off his hands coldly. Her gaze held no warmth.
He realized what it felt like for his heart to drop. He couldn’t bear her look, even for a short moment.
Her lips parted slightly. Her calm voice cut clearly into his ears.
“I really can’t understand your way of thinking.”
“…”
“You had many chances to tell me the truth before this happened. You never sought forgiveness or understanding. You violently and forcefully imposed your emotions, and you expected me to just accept them.”
“…”
“See how terrible your actions were.”
“…”
Veronica rose from the grass. Kyle could only stare, silently, at her retreating figure.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound broke the silence. Kyle lifted his head from inspecting his wound. The chief guard entered the office cautiously, holding a medical kit.
Kyle looked away and said,
“Put it there and leave.”
“I heard the back of your hand is torn. Treating it alone will be inconvenient.”
“I’ll manage.”
“If you prefer, I can call a doctor.”
Kyle sighed and shifted his position, watching the guard carefully clean his hand with antiseptic cotton.
The sting made him frown.
“Getting older just makes me more stubborn, I think.”
“Going to call this overstepping again?”
“Don’t waste words. Say what you came to say.”
Having spent so long guarding their posts, they understood each other without speaking. The guard, eyes fixed on the wound, cleared his throat and spoke in a dry tone.
“The other guards all know about the relationship between you, Chief, and inmate 14356. I think they suspected it for a while, but this time, it was very obvious. The rumor is that you broke the carriage latch and rolled on the ground holding the woman. You even came with that wound as proof.”
“Enough. Stop.”
Kyle covered his eyes with his hand in embarrassment. He hadn’t had the presence of mind to notice the guards while instinctively saving Veronica.
Even if the guards had intervened, he would have acted the same. His gaze suddenly hardened.
“By the way, why did the carriage’s latch come undone? That wasn’t the usual transport carriage.”
The guard’s pupils trembled slightly. Maintaining calm, he wrapped a bandage over Kyle’s hand and replied,
“It was a special carriage due to the special treatment, but apparently it wasn’t properly maintained. I’ll make sure to supervise more thoroughly next time.”
“No. This must never happen again.”
The guard picked up the medical kit and began to leave. Pausing, he asked,
“If that’s the case, why did you make 14356 a murderer? Even if you hadn’t… it would have been better than now.”
