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Emily was right. You look more suspicious if you are nervous. Just like if you want to steal something expensive, you must be brazen. In Rosen’s experience, trembling or being scared didn’t help much. While chewing on the candy, she tricked herself into believing this was a journey to happiness.
How many times had she repeatedly nodded while looking at the line and t
moving forward?
It was around the time when bluish dawn rose over the platform that the long line began to come to an end.
Five people.
Four people.
Three people.
They were finally able to stand in front of the ticket office. The soldier sitting in the booth was the one who guided them to the line earlier. The rest seemed to be tired of collecting money, so they sat, playing cards.
Rosen uttered quietly, hoping he wouldn’t remember her at all.
“Two tickets to Malona…”
“Give me your ID.”
Rosen took the fake ID out of her bag and held it out as he instructed. But things didn’t go smoothly. The soldier in front of her looked at the ID card Rosen gave him and stared intently at it.
“He looks just like that sissy earlier.”
“Oh, that sweet little wretch and his wife?”
“Is he finally here?”
The soldiers who were playing cards turned their heads in unison with interested expressions. Rosen kept her mouth shut, not knowing what was wrong.
Was she caught forging her ID?
A cold sweat ran down her back. Emily was also fidgety and gripped the straps of their bag.
Suddenly they grabbed Emily’s wrist, throwing her ID card away, causing her to scream. Rosen was startled and shouted at them, forgetting for a moment that she shouldn’t make a fuss.
“Pay seven times.”
“What?! It was six times earlier… ”
“If you don’t like it, let me bed your wife once.”
“Dogs!”
“Eight times for your arrogance. Or you can give me your b*tt instead because you look pretty.”
They giggled.
“I knew it would be like that.”
Rosen realized. It had nothing to do with forging her ID or not paying enough money. They were doing this for fun. Just like the soldiers who walked around Leoarton, teasing married women and threatening maidens…
She looked weak ‘like a girl’ and Emily was a woman.
Rosen jumped in and tried to get Emily away from them. But she didn’t have enough strength. Screams and laughter intertwined in the air.
“Let me go. I’ll pay eight times. I’ll give you what you want.”
Rosen finally begged. That was always the only thing she could do. But they didn’t seem to want to let go of the toy they had caught.
She thought of Hindley Haworth woefully at that moment.
If it was Hindley standing here, would Emily be safe?
Yeah, Hindley wouldn’t have looked easy because he was big. At least he wasn’t helpless like her.
“I’ll give you what you want!”
There was no place they could go. Maybe he was right…
As soon her despair and misery peaked, Rosen noticed a handgun lying on the table. She stared at the pistol. It was calling her.
‘Get him, Rosen. Just kill him.’
‘There’s no other way. Just kill them all, and you, too.’
She soon realized the identity of the emotion. It was a murderous impulse. When you reach the bottom of your despair, the idea of giving up is expressed destructively.
It was when she started reaching for the gun, possessed.
“What are you doing?“
At that moment, someone shouted and burst into the ticket office. The disturbance stopped at once. While she shouted until there was blood in her throat, the b*stards who acted as if their ears were blocked let go of Emily and lined up in perfect order.
“Captain!”
It was a man who looked quite old. There were a lot of unknown badges and symbols stuck to his chest. He must’ve been a man of high rank. Rosen looked up at him with a ray of hope, leaving misery behind.
His eyes met hers.
‘Oh, he has gray eyes.’
Unconsciously, Rosen thought of Ian Kerner.
Of course, Ian Kerner was completely different in appearance, age, and atmosphere, but they were similar in color.
Driven by an irrational impulse, she opened her mouth to tell him how wrong she had been treated. Maybe he would listen. Because he’s tall, he might be different from these fucking b*stards.
Like Ian Kerner…
[I’ll protect you.]
[I’m from Leoarton…]
But before she could say anything, he reached out and ripped the fake beard off her face. Rosen came to her senses as if she had been drenched in cold water. Her mind went blank.
And someone came into the ticket office.
It was Hindley Haworth with a mean smile.
“Here you are my wives. That’s right.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I couldn’t be more grateful, Captain.”
They murmured about something. Then they smiled at each other, exchanged words of blessing, and shook hands. Rosen didn’t understand the situation at all.
How was it so easy?
How did Hindley Haworth do it so easily?
It was so hard for her to buy a train ticket…
When Rosen came to her senses, she was being dragged by the hair. The captain handcuffed Emily and carried her to the carriage brought by Hindley.
Rosen hung on like a madman.
“Please don’t send us home. We are going to die if we go back. He’s right. He’s right, but… he hit me!”
She rolled up her sleeves and raised her skirt. Showing her scars, Rosen shouted.
“We did run away! But he hit me! I’m going to die!”
But no one listened. They didn’t even look at her. No one helped her.
“You said you’d protect me…”
Rosen realized that asking for help was stupid. The world wasn’t on her side.
It wasn’t her they were protecting. It was Hindley.
[I’ll protect you.]
But even after she realized it, she shouted to the end. She felt like she had to shout.
She didn’t want to give up.
It was so unfair.
“You said you’d protect me! You dogs! You said you’d protect us!”