#45

05. Imitation

One late night.

“Wow, it was amazing. To think… he would walk in with such a thing, my God, goodness gracious.”

Winfrid, dressed splendidly that day, said as he opened the door and entered. Naturally, there was no greeting, and his pronunciation was slurred, unlike his usual sharp manner of speaking as if he had a razor blade in his mouth. His flushed face looked somewhat gleeful. He seemed a little, no, quite drunk.

“These days, elder brother… seems to be completely out of his mind.”

Thud.

Winfrid closed the door.

“What are you doing, come here.”

He staggered in, hastily reaching out his hands, but his knees buckled and he collapsed. Griselda, who had been standing still and pale, rushed to embrace and support him as he fell. Entangled with Griselda, Winfrid let out a chuckle.

Whoosh, the scent of rotten fruit spread throughout the cramped room. It seemed that the precious sinner had brought along a gloomy scent befitting himself. Griselda felt a weight pressing on her heart. Even though the man’s body she barely supported with her chest was two finger joints smaller and more diminutive than herself.

Winfrid’s golden hair tickled her chin. Griselda slightly raised her head.

The ceiling was dark. Breathing was a bit difficult, and there was a ringing in her ears. Whirring, whirring, her skull resonated. If only Winfrid would stop that chuckling, everywhere, the whole world… it seemed as if her soul had finally died and fallen, and she could be at peace.

Though her insides were in turmoil, in reality, the room was quiet enough to hear the rustle of clothes from the two people. Even though Winfrid was laughing now, he wasn’t one to laugh out loud usually. What could be so amusing to this cruel and ruthless person?

“Was there some incident at the banquet hall?”

Griselda said, enduring both the pain that felt like her temples were about to burst and the smell of alcohol rising from her nape.

“But it seems you enjoyed yourself, young master.”

“Ah yes, I enjoyed it, I enjoyed it. It was magnificent, truly…”

Winfrid answered with a broad smile. It was a smile that flushed his face red. He truly seemed to be extremely pleased.

“Listen to this. Our elder brother, you see.”

Winfrid, who had been burying his nose into Griselda’s stiff neck, suddenly lifted his face and shook his head.

“No, no! More than that…”

“……”

“You, why didn’t you attend?”

Then he asked reproachfully.

Griselda did not welcome his voice at all. Was it because he had forcibly drunk alcohol his body couldn’t handle? His tone, lacking the usual sarcasm, sounded like genuine disappointment.

Such an unexpected complaint. The arm carelessly wrapped around her neck felt overly affectionate. Griselda moved her lips, trying her best to hide her dislike.

“…What right do I have when there’s no longer a young lady for me to take care of?”

“Hmm…”

A disappointed moan softly emanated from under her chin. The arm around her neck seemed to lose some strength. However, Winfrid muttered in a tone similar to his usual one. A subtle mockery that looked down on the other person.

“You missed quite a spectacle.”

“A spectacle?”

“Yes, a spectacle. Elder brother was… magnificent. To think he’d lose his senses like that.”

Winfrid leisurely detached his upper body. The sleeve that had been pushed up to his forearm when embracing Griselda slid down along with his gaze. His eyelashes, half-lowered and finely holding the light, were visible.

After briefly staring at the floor, he embraced Griselda’s waist again. Pressing his entire body against her and rubbing his forehead, he let out a shallow, satisfied moan.

He quietly muttered.

“You know our father has been in a bad mood lately, right? Actually, it was all because of elder brother Johannes.”

“Within the domain… there are many tales of the young lord’s valor.”

“Is that so.”

Winfrid smirked with his face buried in Griselda’s neck. Griselda could rather feel a bit relieved at that familiar sneer.

“Even so, from what I heard today, while elder brother’s followers were excited, father seemed to be grinding his teeth. If he keeps killing every knight he faces without considering the ransom, what can he give in return for the loyalty of the vassals who participated despite their old age? The elders’ lower lips must have drooped a yard.”

Griselda remained silent. She had nothing particular to say about men’s affairs. Winfrid slowly separated from her, steadying himself on her shoulder. He spoke while pushing his hand inside his chest, as if trying to remove his cumbersome outer garment.

“It’s fortunate that those guys take after father and keep their mouths shut. Otherwise, he would have heard complaints at least a hundred times by now. Well… Having to suck their fingers without anything falling into their hands, they must have been quite pleased. Understandable…”

As Winfrid flung off his outer garment for the banquet, his simple attire was revealed. He gestured to stop Griselda, who was bending down to pick up the clothes thrown on the floor, and straightened his upper body. Though he swayed as if about to fall at any moment, he managed to stand upright.

Griselda quietly stood up and began to unfasten his belt. Her hands trembled slightly, but Winfrid ignored it and continued speaking.

“Given the situation, despite father’s scolding several times, elder brother didn’t respond even once, they say. And then it finally burst out today. He was sitting quietly listening as usual, when suddenly he kicked his chair and went outside the hall… and brought in a head, of all things?”

Griselda’s fingertips stopped. Plop. Winfrid’s belt fell to the floor. At that moment, for the first time that day, she met Winfrid’s eyes.

“A head?”

“Yes, a head.”

Satisfied with Griselda’s reaction, Winfrid’s lips curved into a long smile.

“The hall went quiet from the entrance. At first, I thought elder brother was dragging in some red silk. He seemed to have a fight with father and stormed out, and now was he going to make some kind of demonstration? I thought.”

“……”

“It was only when he passed in front of me that I realized that narrowing thing wasn’t cloth but fresh blood. My mind went blank… Elder brother didn’t run, nor did he walk hurriedly. He just walked to the high seat as usual, and then, ah… It was incredible, truly incredible.”

He shook his head and closed his eyes, as if trying to recall the horrific scene behind his eyelids. However, the faint smile on his lips remained.

“Elder brother… planted that head at father’s feet. He threw it so forcefully out of nowhere, the thud sounded just like my head cracking. Needless to say, the skull that was planted must have been shattered. It must have cracked in dozens of places…”

Griselda, who had been staring blankly at the silent Winfrid, moved her fingertips again as if a spell had been broken. Just hearing about it made her feel a bit nauseous.

Although she had often seen the corpses of executed criminals gradually rot on poles and eventually fall to the ground, it was rare to witness someone being beheaded who had been alive just moments ago. She could almost imagine how shocked the banquet hall must have been, with many women present as well.

At that moment, Winfrid’s eyelids half-opened. He continued speaking leisurely, as if savoring Griselda’s ministrations, heightening all his senses.

“That thing planted on the floor… rolled exactly half a turn. Until the side of the head touched the ground. Only then could everyone confirm whose head it was. Although it was hard to recognize immediately because the face was crushed, those dull eyes and messy eyebrows… It was clearly Milo’s eldest son.”

“……”

“Everyone in the banquet hall was shocked. Well, I didn’t know until I heard the guy’s name somewhere since I had never met him, but even those who had crossed swords with him didn’t expect it to really be him. Elder brother brought it in so rudely, just dangling it by the hair. Even luggage would have been treated better.”

“……”

“Everyone was silent, but their eyes all said the same thing. …Ah, we’re fucked!”

Griselda’s shoulders flinched at the final shout. Amused by her reaction, Winfrid grinned.

“That’s right. We’re fucked. After all, if you cut the throat of an enemy commander’s son who should have been sent back safely, what can be done about this? It was a mistake, human affairs are unpredictable, these things happen sometimes, so let’s turn a blind eye just this once. We can’t do that, can we?”

“……”

“Can you guess what our great elder brother said to father’s face after doing such an outrageous thing?”

“…No.”

Winfrid cleared his throat. He turned around, showing his back to Griselda. He took a couple of steps forward, emerging from his overgarment that had fallen to the floor, and stood up straight. Soon, he made a show of dramatically raising his fist and planting it on the floor, pretending to tremble. After a brief pause, he shouted lowly into the air.

“You, blinded by military funds, finally sold her off. You must not know it’s been a year I’ve endured by scraping my bones!”

The rather bold shout reverberated throughout the small room with barely any furniture.

To Griselda, it seemed that Winfrid was clearly getting more and more worked up as he continued the story. To be honest, it didn’t seem likely that the young lord with such a calm temperament would have shouted like that.

However, Griselda said nothing and just watched Winfrid’s thin back. By then, Winfrid seemed to have forgotten he was even with Griselda. A feverish silence settled low. It was because Winfrid stood still for a while, as if immersed in the afterglow of his role.

Griselda picked up Winfrid’s overgarment strewn on the floor and began folding it.

“Her!”

When Winfrid suddenly exclaimed, something dropped from inside the folded clothes. It seemed to be the cause of the foreign sensation that had been catching her fingers throughout the folding. What could this be? Griselda picked up the small wooden box that fit in her palm.

“Her… Who on earth knows who this ‘her’ is.”

Winfrid muttered quietly, shaking his head. Soon he slowly turned around. Despite the seemingly sarcastic tone, his face, half-revealed in the light, was all smiles. It was too devoid of even fragments of madness to be an expression after a bout of passionate acting. That expression was rather one of serenity.

The relief of someone who had finally shaken off sand they couldn’t grasp.

“…You know, and I know.”

Barely audible. Winfrid mumbled.

He puffed out his chest greatly and then deflated it, lamenting theatrically.

“Ah, you should have seen elder brother’s expression yourself. It was truly amazing. All the dark knights were sitting with bewildered faces, and father, for his part, just raised his eyebrows as if wondering what nonsense this was, and only after elder brother left the hall kicking his chair did he start grinding his molars…”

“So you enjoyed it?”

Winfrid, who had plopped down on the edge of the bed, paused for a moment before answering.

“…I enjoyed it.”