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The Frances soldiers gathered the bodies strewn throughout the church and burned them outside. Most of them were the bodies of the friendly soldiers who had come with Annette.
The only survivor among their troops was the sniper in the attic. Despite surrendering, he was not treated properly as a prisoner.
The Frances soldiers forced him to personally carry and burn the bodies of his comrades. The entire process was accompanied by verbal abuse, assault, and ridicule.
If you look closely, this too was a violation of international conventions. But in this situation, no one cared about such conventions.
That's what war was like.
Annette stared out the window at the red-hot flames. Her mind was a little dazed. She had no idea what was going on or what she should do.
'... He'll be furious if he finds out. He'll say I did something dangerous again.'
A thought occurred to her. The thought of Heiner's face hardening, his throat blazing with anger, somehow allayed her fear.
Come to think of it, he's gotten angry more often since they met again. He's someone who never raised his voice from their first meeting until their divorce, but she seen him angry more often recently than she seen him in the past six years.
'Is that the way he was originally, or has he become that anxious and nervous?'
Annette ran her fingers through the child's hair, her thoughts now meaningless. The child, who had been shivering the entire time, was now exhausted and asleep. She rubbed the soot off the child's pale cheek.
Come to think of it, she hasn't heard the child's voice even once. It would have been natural for him to cry or fuss, but he didn't.
The old woman sitting next to her, seemingly dead, suddenly opened her mouth, as if she had noticed Annette's gaze staring down at the child.
“He can’t speak.”
"...Ah."
“It happened because of the war.”
“This child’s parents are...”
“I don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
“Aren’t you your grandmother’s grandson?”
"It seemed like he'd lost his parents, so I took him in for a bit. If I'd known it would end up like this, I wouldn't have brought him in..."
“I see...”
“Hey! Don’t talk there!”
One of the Frances soldiers shouted fiercely. Annette and the old woman quickly shut their mouths. The child, who had been frowning and tossing, opened his eyes.
Perhaps because of the yelling earlier, the child rolled his eyes with a look of anxiety. Annette stroked his cheek again and whispered softly.
“It’s okay. It’s okay...”
These were words she said countless times to the wounded soldiers. And they were also words she broken countless times.
Just then, someone approached Annette. She raised her head and looked upward. Her face became wary as she recognized the soldier with long hair. It was Nicolo.
“Annette.”
He called Annette's name, his accent characteristic of Frances, often omitting pronunciation.
"Your real name is prettier. Why did you lie?"
“...”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Annette shook her head and averted her gaze. Nicolo, unconcerned, crouched down beside her. His face was a knowing smile.
“I can give you food.”
“...”
“Oh, that’s amazing... Madam...”
“..."
“Why are you at war? ...a woman like you...”
“Just.”
“When did you get married? When did your marriage end?”
“...”
Annette turned away from him, her mouth tightly shut. From the first impression, he was a person who didn't seem to like her.
Nicolo, who had been staring intently at Annette's profile, let out a chuckle.
“As expected, she’s cute.”
The mumbling sent shivers down her spine. The feeling of his constant glances at her face and body was also disgusting.
Despite Annette's consistent ignorance, Nicolo continued to talk to her, even subtly touching her shoulder or hand.
When they met earlier, he seemed to have treated her with the bare minimum of respect as a nurse, but now that she's been treated like a prisoner, he's become like this.
The other nurses and civilians glanced at Annette, but hesitated to step forward. Annette understood them. They didn't know what would happen if they stepped forward.
Annette imagined the worst-case scenarios: murder, assault, torture, rape... all of which could occur in a war without law or morality.
“Hey, Miss Rosenberg. You'd better watch out for that kid.”
Suddenly, someone spoke in a calm voice. Annette looked at him, startled.
Elliot sat cross-legged in a chapel chair, leisurely smoking a cigar. A small, red light flickered in the dim darkness.
“He’s a pretty bad guy.”
Annette barely managed to suppress a momentary laugh.
Who doesn't want to be careful? It was unlucky to just stand by and do nothing, and just talk nonsense.
But there was something more to it than that. It was the title the man used.
Miss Rosenberg.
Most foreigners didn't even know the face or name of the Commander-in-Chief's ex-wife, let alone her identity. This was because the media wasn't developed to that extent.
But the man knew her face, her name, and even her maiden name. It was natural to address her that way, of course.
“What, what did you say?”
“You... be careful...”
The Frances soldiers burst into laughter at what Elliot had said. Nicolo playfully lost his temper.
Elliot chuckled for a while before speaking to Annette again.
"Miss Rosenberg, the thoughts in the heads of dirty bastards like these are all similar. When you sleep with a woman in power, you delude yourself into thinking you're on the same level as that person."
“...”
"With a pretty face and an extraordinary ex-husband, how dangerous is it now? See how that kid's eyes are a bit crooked? Be careful. I'm just giving you advice with the best of intentions. It might not help, though, right? Haha."
"...Ha."
“Still, Ms. Rosenberg is a good hostage, so we can treat you well.”
“Is it for the purpose of threatening the Commander-in-Chief?”
“It’ll probably be similar. I think I can charge a lot for it.”
A sneer appeared on Annette's lips. She responded as if she'd just heard a particularly funny joke.
"You're mistaken. I have absolutely no value as a hostage."
"Hmm?"
Elliot tilted his head.
“What does that mean?”
"I see you're well-versed in Padania's affairs. Then you must also know about my ex-husband and my past. He destroyed my family, and we divorced due to discord. It's a fact known to the entire nation. Do you believe the Commander-in-Chief will try to save me?"
“Ah... hmm?”
Elliot simply tilted his head without giving a clear answer. His expression seemed to indicate that Annette's answer was unclear.
Annette couldn't figure out what that ambiguous reaction meant.
“Well, I do have a rough idea of the relationship between Heiner and you...”
Elliot muttered, stroking his chin. Even the way he addressed Heiner sounded strangely natural and familiar.
“Seeing the way he acted, I thought that wasn’t the case. Was I mistaken?”
At this point, it was no longer possible to simply dismiss the man's identity as an enemy officer with "a thorough knowledge of Padania." Annette asked in a trembling voice.
“...Who are you?”
"Well, let's say I was your ex-husband's training camp classmate. We were also colleagues."
“What the heck is that...”
The training camp Elliot spoke of was most likely Sutherland Island. That's the only place that could be considered Heiner's training camp.
But the logic didn't add up. It made no sense that Frances's soldier, a captain at that, was from an organization under the Padania Royal Army.
Annette wanted to ask them questions, but she couldn't. Everyone in the building was listening to their conversation.
Even if the Frances soldiers didn't understand Padanian, there were too many ears listening.
It was a secret that Heiner was a trainee on Sutherland Island. The list of trainees was kept confidential. She didn't want to bring up his past in a place like this.
But Elliot continued speaking calmly, as if he didn't care about any of that.
"I worked with Heiner on several operations. We were pretty good comrades. Oh, and I visited Margrave Dietrich's mansion several times... Don't you remember? Miss Rosenberg wasn't interested in the likes of us. There were quite a few soldiers who admired you, haha."
Annette's face turned slightly pale.
Father's subordinates and soldiers who frequented the Rosenberg mansion. Heiner was one of them.
If that were the case, then that man was truly one of her father's subordinates or a soldier. The fact that he was now an enemy officer meant two things.
After defecting, he went into exile and became a collaborator of the enemy.
“The name I used back then was...”
Or maybe he was Frances's spy from the beginning.
“Jackson. It was Jackson.”
The only survivor among their troops was the sniper in the attic. Despite surrendering, he was not treated properly as a prisoner.
The Frances soldiers forced him to personally carry and burn the bodies of his comrades. The entire process was accompanied by verbal abuse, assault, and ridicule.
If you look closely, this too was a violation of international conventions. But in this situation, no one cared about such conventions.
That's what war was like.
Annette stared out the window at the red-hot flames. Her mind was a little dazed. She had no idea what was going on or what she should do.
'... He'll be furious if he finds out. He'll say I did something dangerous again.'
A thought occurred to her. The thought of Heiner's face hardening, his throat blazing with anger, somehow allayed her fear.
Come to think of it, he's gotten angry more often since they met again. He's someone who never raised his voice from their first meeting until their divorce, but she seen him angry more often recently than she seen him in the past six years.
'Is that the way he was originally, or has he become that anxious and nervous?'
Annette ran her fingers through the child's hair, her thoughts now meaningless. The child, who had been shivering the entire time, was now exhausted and asleep. She rubbed the soot off the child's pale cheek.
Come to think of it, she hasn't heard the child's voice even once. It would have been natural for him to cry or fuss, but he didn't.
The old woman sitting next to her, seemingly dead, suddenly opened her mouth, as if she had noticed Annette's gaze staring down at the child.
“He can’t speak.”
"...Ah."
“It happened because of the war.”
“This child’s parents are...”
“I don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
“Aren’t you your grandmother’s grandson?”
"It seemed like he'd lost his parents, so I took him in for a bit. If I'd known it would end up like this, I wouldn't have brought him in..."
“I see...”
“Hey! Don’t talk there!”
One of the Frances soldiers shouted fiercely. Annette and the old woman quickly shut their mouths. The child, who had been frowning and tossing, opened his eyes.
Perhaps because of the yelling earlier, the child rolled his eyes with a look of anxiety. Annette stroked his cheek again and whispered softly.
“It’s okay. It’s okay...”
These were words she said countless times to the wounded soldiers. And they were also words she broken countless times.
Just then, someone approached Annette. She raised her head and looked upward. Her face became wary as she recognized the soldier with long hair. It was Nicolo.
“Annette.”
He called Annette's name, his accent characteristic of Frances, often omitting pronunciation.
"Your real name is prettier. Why did you lie?"
“...”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Annette shook her head and averted her gaze. Nicolo, unconcerned, crouched down beside her. His face was a knowing smile.
“I can give you food.”
“...”
“Oh, that’s amazing... Madam...”
“..."
“Why are you at war? ...a woman like you...”
“Just.”
“When did you get married? When did your marriage end?”
“...”
Annette turned away from him, her mouth tightly shut. From the first impression, he was a person who didn't seem to like her.
Nicolo, who had been staring intently at Annette's profile, let out a chuckle.
“As expected, she’s cute.”
The mumbling sent shivers down her spine. The feeling of his constant glances at her face and body was also disgusting.
Despite Annette's consistent ignorance, Nicolo continued to talk to her, even subtly touching her shoulder or hand.
When they met earlier, he seemed to have treated her with the bare minimum of respect as a nurse, but now that she's been treated like a prisoner, he's become like this.
The other nurses and civilians glanced at Annette, but hesitated to step forward. Annette understood them. They didn't know what would happen if they stepped forward.
Annette imagined the worst-case scenarios: murder, assault, torture, rape... all of which could occur in a war without law or morality.
“Hey, Miss Rosenberg. You'd better watch out for that kid.”
Suddenly, someone spoke in a calm voice. Annette looked at him, startled.
Elliot sat cross-legged in a chapel chair, leisurely smoking a cigar. A small, red light flickered in the dim darkness.
“He’s a pretty bad guy.”
Annette barely managed to suppress a momentary laugh.
Who doesn't want to be careful? It was unlucky to just stand by and do nothing, and just talk nonsense.
But there was something more to it than that. It was the title the man used.
Miss Rosenberg.
Most foreigners didn't even know the face or name of the Commander-in-Chief's ex-wife, let alone her identity. This was because the media wasn't developed to that extent.
But the man knew her face, her name, and even her maiden name. It was natural to address her that way, of course.
“What, what did you say?”
“You... be careful...”
The Frances soldiers burst into laughter at what Elliot had said. Nicolo playfully lost his temper.
Elliot chuckled for a while before speaking to Annette again.
"Miss Rosenberg, the thoughts in the heads of dirty bastards like these are all similar. When you sleep with a woman in power, you delude yourself into thinking you're on the same level as that person."
“...”
"With a pretty face and an extraordinary ex-husband, how dangerous is it now? See how that kid's eyes are a bit crooked? Be careful. I'm just giving you advice with the best of intentions. It might not help, though, right? Haha."
"...Ha."
“Still, Ms. Rosenberg is a good hostage, so we can treat you well.”
“Is it for the purpose of threatening the Commander-in-Chief?”
“It’ll probably be similar. I think I can charge a lot for it.”
A sneer appeared on Annette's lips. She responded as if she'd just heard a particularly funny joke.
"You're mistaken. I have absolutely no value as a hostage."
"Hmm?"
Elliot tilted his head.
“What does that mean?”
"I see you're well-versed in Padania's affairs. Then you must also know about my ex-husband and my past. He destroyed my family, and we divorced due to discord. It's a fact known to the entire nation. Do you believe the Commander-in-Chief will try to save me?"
“Ah... hmm?”
Elliot simply tilted his head without giving a clear answer. His expression seemed to indicate that Annette's answer was unclear.
Annette couldn't figure out what that ambiguous reaction meant.
“Well, I do have a rough idea of the relationship between Heiner and you...”
Elliot muttered, stroking his chin. Even the way he addressed Heiner sounded strangely natural and familiar.
“Seeing the way he acted, I thought that wasn’t the case. Was I mistaken?”
At this point, it was no longer possible to simply dismiss the man's identity as an enemy officer with "a thorough knowledge of Padania." Annette asked in a trembling voice.
“...Who are you?”
"Well, let's say I was your ex-husband's training camp classmate. We were also colleagues."
“What the heck is that...”
The training camp Elliot spoke of was most likely Sutherland Island. That's the only place that could be considered Heiner's training camp.
But the logic didn't add up. It made no sense that Frances's soldier, a captain at that, was from an organization under the Padania Royal Army.
Annette wanted to ask them questions, but she couldn't. Everyone in the building was listening to their conversation.
Even if the Frances soldiers didn't understand Padanian, there were too many ears listening.
It was a secret that Heiner was a trainee on Sutherland Island. The list of trainees was kept confidential. She didn't want to bring up his past in a place like this.
But Elliot continued speaking calmly, as if he didn't care about any of that.
"I worked with Heiner on several operations. We were pretty good comrades. Oh, and I visited Margrave Dietrich's mansion several times... Don't you remember? Miss Rosenberg wasn't interested in the likes of us. There were quite a few soldiers who admired you, haha."
Annette's face turned slightly pale.
Father's subordinates and soldiers who frequented the Rosenberg mansion. Heiner was one of them.
If that were the case, then that man was truly one of her father's subordinates or a soldier. The fact that he was now an enemy officer meant two things.
After defecting, he went into exile and became a collaborator of the enemy.
“The name I used back then was...”
Or maybe he was Frances's spy from the beginning.
“Jackson. It was Jackson.”
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