The Gap Between You and Me - Chapter 154

“What about Herietta?”

“That is…….”

Jonathan couldn’t answer Bernard’s question so easily and paused his words. Bernard’s complexion darkened.

Herietta, who trembled from the great shock, passed out in his arms. As soon as she was conscious, she had already been briefed enough of where things were heading and what a commotion had happened in the process.

“Your Highness.”

Jonathan cautiously called Bernard.

“Does Your Highness know? That he is the very person Miss Herietta was looking for?”

“…… I wasn’t sure.”

Bernard answered softly.

“When we met on the battlefield, he told me his name. At that time, his name sounded familiar. I thought so but…….”

Bernard stopped thinking and meaninglessly moved his hand. Then the pieces of twigs he had broken into small pieces fell to the floor.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“What do you mean you did something wrong? Your Highness, that’s ridiculous.”

Jonathan hurriedly shook his head to Bernard’s remorseful murmur.

“Miss Herietta said she was looking for a slave from Brimdel who belonged to the Mackenzie family. But who would have imagined that the slave would become a knight of Kustan, not Brimdel, and then invade Velicia?”

“Sir Jonathan. In fact, I have recently suspected that the two may be the same person several times.”

Bernard said with a bitter face.

“In the first place, people with the surname Redford aren’t that common. On top of that, the time when he was known to have appeared in Kustan and the time when the Mackenzie family was said to have fallen coincided. Even though I thought it was a ridiculous speculation, I couldn’t shake off my suspicion.”

Bernard interlaced his hands and rested his elbows on the armrests of the chair. Then he leaned back on the back of his chair and looked down. He recalled the past that had already passed.

“The day Redford infiltrated the fortress, I intended to inquire more closely about who Herietta was looking for.”

“So did you ask?”

Bernard silently shook his head to Jonathan’s question.

“No. In the end, I couldn’t ask. I asked her if he was more important than me, and she couldn’t answer anything in the end.”

Herietta was visibly taken aback and was at a loss of what to do. It was only for a moment, but that moment’s hesitation she showed was enough to break Bernard’s courage.

“It was really petty and selfish, but I couldn’t ask. If he was really the Redford she was looking for. And if she finds out. Will she choose me over him? Would she stay by my side instead of him? I was not sure.”

“Do you…… regret it?”

Jonathan’s voice was filled with sadness that could not be hidden. Bernard glanced at the honest knight.

I regret it.

“Well.”

Bernard murmured with a shy, self-deprecating laugh.

“Sir Jonathan. You know what? That day, Herietta couldn’t even let out a small scream?”

Her body trembled in his arms. The feeling of her body, which had been limp without strength, was still vividly lingering throughout his body.

“How can she scream so desperately that she can’t make a sound and collapse again?”

Bernard looked at the pieces of twigs that had fallen on the floor.

“People’s emotions are so wide and deep that their range is unfathomable. Like an abyss.”

It was something that he broke. Through a thoughtless, inadvertent action.

* * *

The shadows of the torches shimmered on the cold, damp stone floor. Drip, drip. There was the sound of water dripping over a puddle. Since the passageway to the outside world was limited, there was a heavy layer of stale air that would have stayed in one place for a very long time.

A prison that can only be reached by going down two flights of stairs. Currently, only one prisoner is held in it.

A young general who destroyed a country and immediately attacked the next country in succession. Despite his relatively short period of activity, he was already quite famous in the Western Continent because of his unusually aggressive tactics.

Herietta was standing in front of the prison where that man was being held. A face that seems to have lost all motivation to live. She stared blankly at him lying dead on the floor with wide eyes.

Why are you?

Herietta reached out and grasped the iron bar that separated him and her.

Why are you here when you should be far away?

She looked at Edwin, holding down her trembling breath.

It didn’t even feel real. Even though she was capturing his image clearly in her eyes, the man lying in front of him, barely breathing, felt like a stranger.

Maybe she’s still dreaming. She could still be trapped in a terrible nightmare.

Herietta unknowingly tightened her hand that was holding the bars. Then the feeling of the wet, cool metal traveled through the palm of her hand.

Herietta’s desire to see Edwin again was sincere. Just when she thought everything was lost. When she decided to end her life. It was Bernard who stopped her from jumping out of the window, but at that moment, it was Edwin’s face that appeared in front of her eyes.

The simple but happy days, monotonous but happy days.

It didn’t have to be brilliant. It was nice not to have to enjoy lavish wealth.

If only she could meet Edwin once again.

If only she could live the same life with him again.

She thought that if she could do that, she would give anything.

Edwin, who had been drooping, trembled like he was having a seizure. Seeing that, Herietta’s face suddenly darkened.

She didn’t want to reunite with him this way. Even if it took longer than this, or if she ever saw him again, she didn’t want to see him again in such a miserable state.

Herietta, who had been rock-still, slowly moved her steps.

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