CH 28

Campbell sat at his desk, occasionally squinting at his boss by the window.

It was already a week. Captain Winston was working in the Western Command’s Domestic Intelligence Office, not in the outbuilding.

Even though it was normal for him to work in the office instead of his home, it was unusual for Captain Winston. The upper management had so far turned a blind eye to the way he worked, that could be a security breach because of his position and performance.

But, why was he suddenly working in the office these days? Perhaps, it had something to do with the annex maid leaving soon…?

Campbell laughed at himself at the end of his absurd imagination. There was no way a man who was fearless enough not to be afraid to break the rules without hesitation would be afraid of a maid who was not half his size and would avoid the annex.

“Campbell.”

Campbell, who had smirked again and flinched.

“Yes, Captain.”

He straightened his back and looked at the captain, who was only looking at the papers on the desk. His eyes were sharply fixed.

Goosebumps grew on the back of Campbell’s back because he didn’t feel good. As soon as the captain lifted his index finger, he sprinted from his seat as if there were a spring attached to his hip, and walked up to the desk.

“What’s the matter?”

On the desk lay a pile of reports Campbell had submitted this morning. It was the result of investigating the domestic intelligence department and the personnel in charge of Winston’s annex.

While he didn’t notice anything that stood out, so he thought it was just a matter of unnecessary suspicion, the captain collected three files from them and pressed them with his index finger.

Immediately he lowered his voice and added,

“Under headquarters’ knowledge, covertly.”

º º º

After today, this mission is over.

“Come back safely.”

As she vacuumed the floor of the building’s hallway, Sally remembered Jimmy’s voice again from a few days ago and smiled. He seemed to regret that she was fired while trying to do her mission but didn’t say a word to her.

It seemed that he added that he wanted to see her soon. At that moment, the sad feelings melted away.

‘…Tomorrow I will see Jimmy after a long time.’

It’d been over a year already. She hadn’t returned to her hometown since she infiltrated the Winstons.

Sally sighed as she pushed the vacuum toward the entrance to the annex. It was because the nose of a pair of black shoes came into the edge of her view while looking down at the floor. She had just finished cleaning the carpet, and the shoes were about to get dirty again.

“Hey. Please, go out again…”

Sally, who was about to scold them to brush their feet on the rug on the stairway and come back in, hardened her face the moment she lifted her head.

Winston walked in with Campbell and several of the annex’s soldiers.

“Hello.”

Sally leaned her body against the wall of the hallway, avoiding him and only nodded her head.

When Winston stopped her in front of Sally, those who followed him stopped as well. Fred’s eyes met hers. He smiled faintly at Sally, and a look of sadness emanated from the drooping eyebrows. When she said she was leaving, he was very sad.

“Now, I don’t know who to turn to.”

“There is Peter, and there is Nancy. You will do well.”

Fred rubbed his lips and kicked the lawn in the garden with the toe of his shoe.

“Are you going to marry the commander-in-chief when you return?”

He was talking about Jimmy.

Sally shrugged her shoulders with an ambiguous smile.

“I do not know either. I don’t think it’s time yet.”

“If it weren’t for that dirty monarchy pig, you would have been able to work here with me for a long time.”

Rumors that Winston had tried to assault the maid had already spread widely among the soldiers in charge of the annex. Hearing the rumor, Fred gritted his teeth. He didn’t know that part of the reason Sally almost suffered was because of the orders from Jimmy.

“…I will definitely avenge you.”

Sally placed her hand on his fist, clenched so tightly that his veins swelled.

“Don’t do that. Just do the tasks assigned to you. Don’t stand out in front of Winston. I failed brilliantly.”

Saying that, a bitter smile spread across her face.

“And, it would be nice to have you running Winston aground as a wedding present someday.”

Recalling the conversation from a few days earlier, Sally took her eyes off Fred and glanced at Winston. He was still standing in the middle of the hallway beckoning to the men behind him.

“Go to the office first.”

As soon as he gave the instructions, the soldiers passed the two of them and climbed the stairs.

Fred kept looking at Sally with concern.

“What’s the matter?”

She asked Winston with a cold tone. However, he didn’t answer and just took off his black coat. Then, he winced as he swept up his cold blonde hair with one hand.

“Sally, I will never forget you. You’re the first woman who almost smashed my head. Isn’t it romantic?”

He had deliberately touched his wounds to make her feel guilty.

Hearing that, Sally asked back as she imitated the twisted smile on his lips, “Can I smash the right side, too?”

Winston laughed to himself before showing his true face and clasped his arms tightly.

“You don’t have to be so sharp. There’s only one thing I need you to do as a maid.”

“What is going on?”

“The torture room. I think there will be something to clean, so stop cleaning here and prepare for it.”

“Yes.”

Sally snapped back and swallowed a gulp.

…Who else was caught? Apparently, a new ‘guest’ was coming the day before her withdrawal. Because of that, she was even more worried if Fred would do well on his own.

Winston immediately turned his back and headed for the stairs. Sighed as he unplugged the vacuum cleaner, he climbed the stairs and turned around abruptly.

“It’s too bad. To be honest, none of the guys under me did what I did to my liking as well as you do.”

“I know. How did this happen?”

After an exaggerated sarcasm, Winston raised a side of his lips in a smile. It was a smile that looked bittersweet. Sally stared at him for a moment as he turned his back without saying anything and headed towards the office, then headed to the basement.

º º º

The atmosphere was unusual.

Fred sat upright on a chair in the hallway in front of the office and glanced around. At each end of the hallway stood a soldier. It seemed to keep him from escaping. Two hours ago, Lieutenant Campbell had a job and called out to three of the soldiers, so he followed without a second thought.

In front of the annex, the lieutenant brought four more soldiers.

‘Until then, I thought I had to move heavy furniture…’

But, Campbell took two of them to the office and placed the other two in the hallway. The three of them, including Fred, were seated in a row on a chair in the hallway.

After Winston entered the office, he called in one by one. And now, Fred was the only one left.

‘…What did I do wrong? Did they find out? I didn’t do anything.’

Cold sweat filled his fists on his lap. His hands were slippery and as he was about to wipe his pants, the office door swung open.

It was the second corporal, who entered, came out. However, his face was pale blue.

…What the hell happened inside?

“Private Fred Smith.”

As he watched the Corporal’s back dash away, Campbell stood over the door and called him.

“Yes, yes…!”

Fred gasped for breath and dragged his shaky legs into the office.

Nevertheless, the tension in the office was absurdly harmonious. On the chess table in front of the bookshelf, as light jazz was playing on the radio, the two soldiers Campbell had brought inside were playing chess.

Campbell shut the door behind his back and went straight to the couch before sitting down next to Captain Winston. The captain was in a comfortable position with his legs crossed and his back reclined at an angle. He held a half-burned cigar in one hand and a crystal glass about a finger full of whiskey in the other.

“Ah, Private Smith.”

Winston smiled, curling the corners of his eyes at Fred, who stood at the doorstep. It seemed that the person who exuded dangerous energy that could explode if touched mistakenly these days was drunk.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Sit down.”

He pointed to the chair facing the sofa with the tip of his cigar. Fred still couldn’t relax, so he moved his stiff legs towards it. As he sat down and swallowed a gulp, Winston and Campbell filled each other’s whiskey glasses and chatted.

Finally, Winston turned his gaze to Fred and stared at him without saying a word. The corners of his eyes were still softly curved though his eyes were sharp for some reason.

Was it because of that terrifying blue light…?

“Excuse me… Captain.”

Instead of answering, Winston raised his eyebrows and urged him. The smile on his lips seemed quite generous, but Fred couldn’t help but ask.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Winston smirked as he tilted the crystal glass to his mouth.

The unpredictable reaction made Fred even more nervous, while Winston put his glass down and shook his head slowly.

“No such thing.”

“Ah…”

“Why? Is there anything that bothers you?”

“No, nothing.”

Winston raised an eyebrow and tilted the whiskey bottle into the empty glass in front of Fred.