Escape (2)
Escape (2)
I shoved through the crowds packing the corridors, navigating the maze of hallways with no destination in mind.
My feet simply moved on their own.
I didn't want to be shut inside a suffocating little room, but I had no desire to head toward the open plazas either.
Students walked past laughing with their friends.
They looked unbearably happy.
The sound of their laughter drove splinters into my ears.
They probably wore those same expressions while I burned to death in the plaza.
It was just entertainment. Nothing more.
After walking for what felt like a long while, I ended up on a familiar path.
A street I'd walked with Serepina a handful of times.
I could see the terrace of the café we'd visited together. She always insisted on the window seat, drawn to the sunlit spots.
I walked past without stopping. I didn't feel like going inside.
The junk shop came into view, a dusty little store that sold useless trinkets. Serepina had loved the crude ornaments there, the paintings by no-name artists. She'd buy them and hang them by the window in my room.
Now only the nail marks remained on the wall.
My wandering eventually brought me to the old tower. The same spire I'd climbed once, back when I used to stare out my window at nothing in particular.
I pushed open the heavy door and ascended the narrow spiral staircase. Footsteps echoed hollow against the stone. The air was thick with damp moss and dust.
I stepped through the small door at the top, and the wind rushed to meet me.
The entire city sprawled out below. Back then, all I'd seen was the Academy buildings. Now, for some reason, my eyes took in everything — the market spread across the plaza, the walls beyond it, the distant mansions. The world looked a little wider.
I leaned against the railing and looked down.
A dizzying drop. People moved along the streets like ants.
The thought of falling crossed my mind, but I didn't particularly want to die.
The annex Levina mentioned. Some remote village in the countryside.
It didn't matter where. I just wanted to leave this wretched place behind and live quietly.
I stood there for a long while, letting the wind beat against me.
I left the spire and walked without direction again. I didn't know where to go. I didn't want to return to my room — not with Serepina still sitting there. At least not today.
At some point I found myself in a narrow alley near the rarely used rear gate.
"Well, look who it is. Young Master Edelgard himself. Been a while, hasn't it?"
Marcus.
He sauntered toward me with his usual swagger, entourage in tow.
This was the second time I'd watched this scene play out. It just felt tedious.
"You look like hell. Where've you been rolling around? Lady Serepina kick you out again?"
Marcus circled me, his laugh light and jeering. The others behind him snickered in chorus. The laughter bounced off the alley walls and grated against my ears.
"I heard about it. They're kicking you out of the family too, yeah? That woman's going to toss you aside now. Goes to show — even the high and mighty turn into gutter trash in an instant, Ravin."
He brought up Serepina's name and licked his lips. It wasn't a pleasant sight.
One of the others gave my shoulder a shove. At the same time, a foul smell hit my nose — cheap cologne mixed with sweat.
Marcus must have been in the plaza too, watching me burn.
Good entertainment.
My stomach lurched. The world seemed to spin.
That stench. The smell of burning flesh I'd breathed in amid the flames — it layered over everything.
I dry-heaved.
My body began to tremble. My hand moved to my waist on its own.
Cold metal against my fingers.
Someone was talking in front of me, but the sound didn't reach my ears. All I could hear was the shredded shriek of a broken microphone.
I wanted to silence the noise.
I drew the revolver and aimed it at the source.
The smile vanished from Marcus's face. His eyes flooded with terror.
His expression was suddenly sharp and clear.
I pulled the trigger, pointing at the man frozen before me. The heavy recoil traveled up my arm to my shoulder.
But I couldn't hear the shot.
I'd aimed for his head, but the barrel had dipped on its own. The bullet buried itself in his stomach.
His body lurched. Red bloomed across his shirt like a flower opening. Marcus didn't even scream — he just stared stupidly down at his own abdomen.
The others caught on and fled, shrieking like frightened animals.
I fired at their backs.
One collapsed, shot in the leg. Another vanished around the corner, screaming.
I didn't pull the trigger again.
I pressed the heel of my palm against my throbbing brow. My head was too loud.
I lowered the gun. The smell of gunpowder filled my nostrils. At least it covered that other stench.
Marcus lay on the ground groaning. Blood pooled beneath him, dark and viscous.
If only Kyle could be dealt with this easily.
The thought surfaced, idle and unbidden. But I knew better. Hard to imagine bullets that just curve away.
I looked down at Marcus for a moment as he begged for his life, then turned and walked off without a word.
I was beginning to grasp, in a vague way, why Estelle had beaten those priests to death.
Didn't mean I wanted to burn alive over it.
I went back to my room.
It was empty. Serepina was gone — a small mercy. The sofa where she'd been sitting had gone cold. Had she picked up the torn scraps of the letter? The floor had been swept clean. Even the empty liquor bottles had been tidied away. Serepina must have cleaned up before leaving.
I tossed the revolver onto the table and collapsed onto the bed.
The ceiling stretched above me.
I wanted a cigarette. But I'd become the kind of wreck who couldn't even light a flame anymore, so the best I could do was grab the cheap bottle beside the bed and drink straight from it.
I uncorked the dust-caked bottle. A sour, alcoholic smell wafted out. I put it to my lips. The harsh liquor burned its way down my throat. It didn't taste like anything.
I took a few more swallows and closed my eyes.
I must have fallen asleep. When I opened them again, my head was splitting. A metallic taste coated my mouth.
Faint light seeped through the gap in the curtains. I couldn't tell if it was morning or evening.
I sat up and took in the room.
And I saw the person sitting on the sofa.
Levina.
She sat with her legs crossed, wearing a uniform pressed to its usual immaculate perfection, watching me. The revolver I'd thrown aside rested on her lap.
"You're awake."
Her voice was as calm as ever, but there was something almost buoyant underneath.
"At least you keep the place clean now. Last time I thought I'd walked into an animal pen."
We looked at each other for a beat. We weren't the sort of people who made pleasant conversation.
"Ravin."
Her voice came low and steady, just like always.
"Don't call me Ravin."
Levina shrugged without answering.
"Yesterday. Two people were shot in the back alley near the old spire. Nobody died, so it can be smoothed over, but..."
She ran her fingers gently along the barrel of the revolver, her eyes fixed on me.
I met her gaze and said nothing.
As if she'd expected my silence, she went on.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"..."
"You're already tangled up in the Forbidden Archive matter. The least you could do is lock yourself in here and keep your head down."
I listened half-heartedly and set the empty bottle from the bed down onto the floor.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"I'm listening."
Levina seemed to glare, though her face remained blank.
"Say what you came to say. You're here to throw me out."
"I am. I'm here to throw you out. I'm not smoothing this one over either. I'll have you expelled, one way or another. I told you — this place doesn't suit you."
"What does suit me, then?"
She hesitated, but only briefly. Then she answered in that flat tone of hers.
"I wouldn't know. You could have stayed at the estate. Given up on wanting to learn things. Given up on staying close to your fiancée. If you'd done that, at least I could have... no. Never mind."
She stared blankly at the revolver, then turned it around so the muzzle pointed toward herself. She looked at it like that for a long moment before straightening it again.
"I spoke with Father about everything that's happened. He's decided to strike your name from the family register. As of today, you are no longer a member of House Edelgard."
I nodded. There was nothing else I could offer.
A faint twitch crossed Levina's brow. She leaned forward slightly.
"Do you understand what this means?"
"I do."
"You have nowhere to go now. No one to lean on. Your fiancée wants the engagement broken. Your noble title, the family's influence, the power to push someone to the brink of death and have it quietly buried—the kind of power you just used. Everything you've enjoyed until now: gone. No one will welcome you. No one."
I knew there was at least one person who would welcome me, so Levina's words didn't sting.
"Looks that way."
The only thing I feared was being burned alive again.
I wanted to see Estelle. I wanted to lean against her. Talk with her about this and that.
But the thought was too painful. Painful enough that I never wanted to face her again.
She would have forgotten everything by now anyway. The kiss. The words she'd spoken — that she no longer saw my brother's shadow when she looked at me. All of it, erased.
The Edelgard degenerate and the merciful Saintess had never met.
"Even so, I... you..."
She opened her mouth, but the next words didn't come. Her lips just moved, silent.
After a long pause, she let out a weary sigh. The flicker of emotion on her face smoothed away, and she was expressionless again.
"Ah. Right. Father will step down soon. I'm going to become Family Head. You were raised in House Edelgard. You've learned a few things. So when you graduate, I'll arrange for you to stay in the annex — you won't be able to live in the main house, but the annex will be yours."
She rose from her seat.
"The heating won't work well. It's been empty a long time. If you need anything..."
Her voice had returned to its usual register.
"Thank you."
"...What?"
"I said thank you. I'll go. The annex. I don't care where, as long as it isn't here."
A faint tremor ran along my lips, but I managed a weak smile. I wanted to flee somewhere — anywhere — right that instant.
At that moment, I think I actually meant it.
The gratitude. Toward Levina.
She looked at me with confusion in her eyes. Our gazes met.
Levina set the revolver down on the table and stared at it for a long while.
I don't know why, but clear tears slid from those dull gray eyes.
She turned her head abruptly and fled the room. I didn't even hear the door close.
I sat staring blankly at the revolver on the table.