Repercussions (2)
Christine met Theodora’s gaze as the knight commander looked up at her. “Is this concern coming from you as the commander worrying about one of her knights?”
Christine’s voice carried a chill. Theodora bit her lip, recognizing the frost in her tone. If she gave an order as commander, would Christine answer? No—she had no desire to worsen the situation by flaunting a title that felt almost laughable now. Instead, she simply replied with what came to mind.
“…No.” Theodora’s voice was heavy. “I’m just worried. About Maxim. About Maxim Apparte.”
Christine studied the woman before her. Theodora was a wreck—her right leg shattered, bandages wrapped around countless wounds, her body covered in cuts and burns. Christine sighed inwardly.
“Let’s go to your room first, Commander.”
“…Vice Commander.”
“We can talk there.” Christine picked up the discarded crutch and pressed it into Theodora’s hand. “You’re in no condition to make it back on your own.”
Theodora rose with the crutch and limped down the darkened corridor until she vanished into the shadows. Christine watched her go for a long moment before following.
When Christine reached the room, Theodora was perched on the edge of her bed, staring down at her own hands. The sight was nothing like her usual proud, cold demeanor. In the dim light that filtered in from the hallway, she looked small and desolate.
“I thought the vice commander would know,” Theodora said, lifting her head. Her voice was hoarse and broken. “What’s happening to Maxim.”
Christine lit the lantern, casting a warm brass glow across the room. “You’ve been with him for a long time, after all…”
Christine narrowed her eyes. “That almost sounds as if you expect me to know everything about your relationship with him, Commander.”
Theodora gave a weak laugh and nodded. “Maxim probably told you. He’s not the type to keep secrets from the people closest to him.”
Christine exhaled. “Yes, I know. That’s exactly why I’m questioning your attitude now. You’ve already broken up. Why would you still care so much?”
Theodora bit her lower lip as though she wanted to protest that Christine had no right to speak about something she didn’t understand. But Christine didn’t soften. After several hesitant attempts, Theodora cleared her throat and spoke like someone making a request.
“…I want to know.” She drew a deep breath. “Even so, I want to know. I… I still—”
Christine cut her off. She couldn’t bear to hear the rest. “I don’t know the full story either.”
“…I see.” Theodora nodded.
“I’ll tell you what I do know.” A sharp pang struck Christine’s chest. Perhaps everything happening now was born from her own original sin. Maxim’s warning echoed in her mind.
“Right now, Maxim can’t use aura.”
Theodora’s eyes trembled. “He can’t… use aura…”
“His body isn’t in good condition.”
Theodora looked at her, clearly wanting more. “Is it simply that his body is too weak to use aura?”
Christine shook her head. “There are circumstances.”
“Did Maxim ask you not to tell me?”
Christine didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Simply explaining everything wouldn’t solve anything. In fact, she wasn’t sure anything could be solved at all. She met Theodora’s gaze; their eyes held different lights and never quite aligned. Maxim’s face, pleading with her to keep the secret, rose in her mind. She wasn’t sure she had the right to speak for him like this. For a moment, she wished none of it had anything to do with her.
She looked at Theodora’s hollow face. A thousand words swirled inside her, but only one escaped her lips. This was her limit. She told herself as much.
“A curse.”
Theodora’s gray eyes spun. “A curse, Vice Commander…?”
“Exactly as it sounds, Commander. A curse. If he uses aura… no, if he uses mana, it threatens his life.”
Christine felt as though she were chewing on blades as she spoke. Theodora stared blankly for a moment, then snapped back to herself and began pressing for answers. Her voice shook; her entire body trembled with fear.
“Who… why…!”
“…I don’t know anything beyond that.” Christine lied. She had expected Theodora to keep questioning her, but the commander simply lowered her head, lost in thought. The rest was for her to figure out on her own.
Christine stood. “Why on earth… No, since when…” Theodora muttered, clutching her head. Christine had nothing more to say. As she turned to leave, Theodora grabbed her arm.
Scenes flashed through Theodora’s mind: the first time she met Maxim again, the selection exam where they crossed swords once more, the rainy day she pushed him back with aura and forced him to use it, the cold declaration stripping him of his vice commander rank. The moment in No Man’s Land when she had driven him into danger out of anger. To her it had been harsh terrain; to Maxim, unable to use aura, it might have been a place where life and death hung in the balance. And the fall from the cliff. The fight with the Deathworm, when she had only watched while he protected her, claiming she would only get in the way. When he had forced aura through his body to cut the monster down. How many times had she driven him into crisis? How many times had her emotions nearly killed him?
“Why… why did Maxim hide the fact that he was cursed from me…”
Christine watched Theodora crumble. There was no light left in her eyes. She gave no answer. She never would. She had never intended to say more.
“He must have had his reasons.” Christine turned away. Theodora stared blankly as Christine opened the door and left. The door closed without regard for her gaze. Theodora reached out toward it, then pitched forward. With a crash, a chair toppled over. She couldn’t think clearly. The string of shocking revelations was already too much to process. Every breath felt like cold wind against her skin. She lay on the floor like a bound animal, repeating the same words over and over.
“Why, why, why, why…”
But no one was there to answer her.
==
It wasn’t particularly late, yet the sky had already darkened. Maxim lay on his bed, unable to move, brooding over his tangled thoughts. Even now the curse gnawed endlessly at his body, waiting for the day it would finally consume him. He placed a hand over his heart. The beat was steady as usual, but beneath it he could feel another, faint and irregular pulse. Slowly, the curse was devouring him. What waited at the end? A painful death, or a life worse than death as a cripple? In the end, he had chosen the fool’s conclusion after all. Another version of himself mocked him from within his mind. Maxim accepted the ridicule without resistance this time.
You’re nothing but a hypocrite who can only live for self-satisfaction.
“It doesn’t matter,” Maxim muttered to himself. Even if she eventually learned everything?
So you can only satisfy yourself by leaving others with wounds they can never forget.
“Still, I was able to protect her.” Theodora had returned safely. No matter what happened next, Maxim would never call the choice he made that day a mistake.
“There’s nothing more important than that.”
A knock sounded at the door. Visiting hours were nearly over. Maxim opened it with a puzzled expression and found two familiar faces.
“Hey, Maxim.”
“How are you feeling?”
Maxim gave a tired smile at the sight of Roberto and Paola, both carrying bundles in their arms. “You’re causing trouble this late.”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean. You’re probably glad to see us too.” Paola laughed and dragged a chair over to sit beside the bed. “How’s the body holding up?”
Roberto asked the question while suddenly lifting Maxim’s shirt. Maxim yelped and swatted his hand away. “Are you some kind of pervert? Why are you lifting a man’s clothes out of nowhere?”
At least the scars didn’t show, Maxim thought, cold sweat running down his back.
“I was just trying to check your condition.”
“I’m fine, so back off.” Maxim pushed Roberto away. The man chuckled and took the empty chair beside Paola. “You look healthy enough, Maxim. Maybe you won’t even need leave.”
“Hearing that from you makes me feel worse again.”
Roberto shrugged and rummaged through the bag he had brought. When Maxim saw what he pulled out, he let out an incredulous snort. “A bottle of liquor? You’ve really lost your mind, haven’t you?”
“Paola suggested bringing it. If you’re going to complain, complain to him.”
Maxim turned his frowning face toward Paola. The older man scratched his beard with an awkward smile. “Well, I was the one who suggested it, but Roberto agreed. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to bring it like this.”
“Enough, old man. I don’t care—I’m drinking. Maxim, you have one too.” Roberto held the bottle out. Maxim accepted it with a sense of distant resignation.
“I’m reporting all of you later.”
“You getting dragged in too?” Roberto grinned as he popped the cork with his teeth. Maxim shook his head at the sight of him calmly taking several swigs.
“I can’t be punished.”
“Not sure the margrave will agree that a patient can’t be punished.”
Maxim only set the bottle down. Paola took it next and drank deeply. “Ah, that’s good.”
“This visit was just an excuse, wasn’t it?”
The two men got along far too well. It was almost a talent how quickly they managed to clear the complicated mess in Maxim’s head. Not much was said. Paola only asked what had happened between Maxim and the commander—Theodora—while Roberto asked nothing at all.
“Come to think of it, Maxim.” Paola pointed at Roberto with the mouth of the bottle. “This guy didn’t join the search party when you went missing.”
“No, old man, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to go—” Roberto protested, waving the bottle. Liquor splashed across Maxim’s bedsheets. “Hey, you’re spilling it everywhere!”
“Whoops, sorry.”
Maxim sighed. “Well, I came back safe, so it’s fine. Even if it was his fault.”
“True. This’ll be teasing material for a while, Roberto.”
Roberto tried to defend himself again while Paola and Maxim teased him. When the conversation wound down, Paola swept the empty bottle into his bag and stood. The room reeked of alcohol. Maxim pressed a hand to his forehead, already wondering what excuse he would give the medic tomorrow.
“It’s fine. They’ll just think it’s disinfectant.”
“Paola, are you actually drunk?”
Paola laughed loudly as he staggered out. Roberto stretched and rose as well. “Um… Maxim. About not joining the search party—”
“It’s fine, you idiot. Just get ready to return tomorrow.”
Roberto scratched his neck with an awkward smile. “Then take care of yourself.” He closed the door behind him and left.
==
Paola stumbled into his room while still drunk. After Roberto helped him inside, he wandered the streets aimlessly. “Told you he was a handful when drunk.”
Roberto drew in a deep breath of cold air and looked up at the sky. The bumbling expression he usually wore was gone. Only a cold-eyed, expressionless knight remained. He reached into his uniform and pulled out a small notebook.
“Just as expected.”
He took out a pen and scribbled across a blank page.
Maxim Apparte’s curse is progressing as scheduled. The plan does not appear to have gone awry.
Roberto tucked the notebook back into his coat. Behind him stood the hospital building where Maxim lay. “Sorry, Maxim. But there’s still far too much you don’t know.”
He gave a small, cold smile and walked into the night of No Man’s Land—the night before the Raven Knight Order’s return.