Chapter 7
“I need to stop the bleeding first.”
Lea grew more anxious as Terran’s blood soaked her shoulder.
Holding him up with her own strength, she kept walking through the thick forest. Thankfully, she wasn’t the type to get lost and could remember any path after seeing it once.
“I didn’t expect there to be bandits.”
“They were… runaway slaves,” Terran answered, even while wincing in pain.
The rain began to fall harder than before. It was still early spring, and the cold was sharp enough to make their teeth chatter.
“We’re almost there.”
At last, they made it out of the forest and arrived at a wide, open meadow.
“Let’s go to that cabin on the hill.”
Lea’s voice was shaky, out of breath. It was no wonder. She had been supporting a man much larger than herself for over an hour, and her small frame was starting to give in.
With what little energy she had left, Lea climbed the hill with Terran at her side.
She was out of breath, but she didn’t want him to notice. She tried her best to hide it.
When she opened the rough wooden door of the cabin, they found shelter from the rain. Inside, there was nothing but a wooden floor and an old, worn-out blanket.
“Please sit here.”
Lea helped Terran down onto the boards and quickly began removing his wet clothes. His bare shoulder was revealed, completely soaked in blood.
“The bullet went through.”
That was a relief. At least she wouldn’t have to dig it out.
She looked around for something.
“I need a bandage.”
Of course, there was none. If she had even a scrap of cloth, she could wrap his wound.
Then she remembered the petticoats she was wearing under her dress. Without hesitation, she began undressing.
“What… are you doing?”
Even in pain, Terran looked startled by what she was doing.
Lea didn’t answer. She tore her petticoat into strips to make long, makeshift bandages.
“I’ll stop the bleeding first.”
She pressed the cloth onto his shoulder to keep the blood from flowing. But when she saw his face, her heart skipped. His skin had turned pale, and his lips were turning blue.
“His temperature is dropping.”
Lea finished applying pressure to the wound and reached into the bag she had brought from the carriage. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey.
“I’ll clean the wound before wrapping it.”
“Where did you learn how to do this?”
“At girls’ school.”
“Grace went to school?”
“I misspoke. I read about it in a book.”
Lea quickly corrected herself, trying to cover up her slip.
She had actually attended a girls’ school run by a convent until she was fifteen, where she learned basic first aid.
But that was Lea Hamilton, not Grace. She had no idea if Grace had ever gone to school.
“Keep quiet, Lea.”
She pressed her lips together and carefully wrapped the bandage around his shoulder.
Terran silently watched her.
“This really is a different person.”
She was calm and quick in a crisis. She had patience. Her hands were steady and skilled. And most surprising of all, she wasn’t crying or panicking.
“Grace, give me some of that whiskey.”
He was thirsty.
“It’s not good for your injury.”
“It’s fine. On the battlefield, we used to treat everything with alcohol.”
He had been through worse and knew this wouldn’t kill him.
Lea hesitated, but eventually handed him the bottle. Terran took a long drink straight from it.
While he drank, Lea looked around to see if there was anything they could use to start a fire.
“Of course there’s nothing.”
For a moment, she thought about tearing down the cabin just to build a fire.
Instead, she shook out the old blanket and wrapped it around Terran to keep him warm. Thanks to the whiskey, he soon drifted off to sleep.
“He’s asleep. But…”
Her eyes landed on him. His clothes were half-off, exposing his chest and stomach.
His well-built body hadn’t lost any of its appeal. Even now, his appearance was striking enough to steal her attention.
Realizing she had been staring, Lea shook her head quickly, trying to snap out of it.
“This is my problem.”
Her outer clothes were too wet to wear again.
All she had left on was her corset and the shredded petticoat. It would be better to take it off completely. Thankfully, she still had her long underpants.
“I’m freezing.”
Lea could barely hold back a shiver. At this rate, she felt like she might freeze to death before Terran did. She took a deep breath and tried to think of a solution.
Allen rose from bed and slipped on his silk robe. He poured himself a drink into a crystal glass and walked toward the window.
“Terran Courtois. I heard he recovered Lea’s body and took her belongings.”
That’s what the bishop had told him after the funeral, once Terran and Grace had left.
The item had to be the necklace. Without it, he couldn’t fully claim the Hamilton Trading Company.
“He didn’t consider me a relative of Lea’s? That look he gave me was irritating.”
Those sharp eyes, like a panther. That cold, commanding presence could make anyone shrink back, and Allen hated it.
Even more than that, Allen could tell that Terran was suspicious of him.
“Damn it. Of all people, why did he have to end up with the necklace?”
Allen drank deeply from his glass.
He had already heard plenty about Terran. He was the hero of Lubeck, heir to a prestigious family, and owner of unimaginable wealth.
“Grace Vizak. I heard she’s his fiancée.”
Allen’s expression shifted. The frustration in his face gave way to something else.
He had been surprised the first time he saw her. She was a rare beauty. Her voice was elegant, her emotions rich. She reminded him of a freesia in full bloom on a spring day.
And there was something about her that stirred a man’s instinct.
“I need to know more about her.”
He had never felt this kind of desire for a woman before.
Lea Hamilton was smart, but too forceful. Her looks didn’t appeal to him, and she was too well-informed. She was too much like her father, skilled in trade and politics.
“That’s why I never liked you, Lea. You always tried to outdo me.”
His gaze shifted to Sara, still lying in his bed.
“Someone like her is beneath me. Grace Vizak is more fitting for my status.”
Allen began thinking of ways to meet Terran and Grace again.
The air was filled with smoke and the stench of blood. Bodies of fallen soldiers were piled like mountains. The battlefield was cold and gray.
Terran moved among his fallen men without crying.
“What right do I have to mourn?”
All he could think was how sorry he felt for his soldiers. They died under the command of someone as unworthy as him.
He looked around at the gray, lifeless world.
“Hell isn’t far away.”
It was right here beneath his feet. Then, a bloodied hand grabbed his ankle.
“Save us. We died because of you.”
The dead soldiers reached for him, pulling him down. No matter how hard he struggled, they wouldn’t let go.
“Why are we the ones who had to die? Why did you send us to hell?”
Their voices clawed at him. They crushed his spirit.
Aiden stood in front of him. His body was covered in blood. One of his legs was gone.
“Terran, did you send me to die on purpose?”
“No. Aiden”
Terran cried out. The piles of corpses began to rise, hands stretching out, closing in. They wrapped around his throat and began to squeeze.
“I didn’t mean for you to die”
He shouted at the sky, dark and heavy with clouds. Then, a light broke through.
“It wasn’t your fault, Lord Courtois.”
The voice was soft and warm, like sunlight.
Terran slowly opened his eyes. Grace was holding his face gently in her hands.
“It wasn’t your fault your soldiers died. One man doesn’t carry the whole war.”
“Grace”
“Because of your sacrifice and theirs, peace came to Lubeck. If you hadn’t fought, even more would have died. Children, women, the elderly. Fathers trying to protect them.”
“But Aiden died because of me.”
“That was Aiden’s choice, not yours.”
She wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
“You fought with everything you had and helped bring peace. Please stop blaming yourself.”
Terran stared at her, dazed.
At first, he thought he was still dreaming. But he could still hear the rain outside, and she was here, under the same blanket with him.
Then he realized it had been a nightmare. He had screamed in his sleep, and she had heard everything.
He had never shown this side of himself to anyone. He had probably confessed it all in his sleep without even realizing it.
“I know it’s improper, but we have to survive the night. Even if it’s uncomfortable, please bear with me.”
Lea pulled the blanket tighter and pressed her body close to his.
At this moment, their body heat was the only thing keeping them alive.
Her small head rested gently against his chest.
She then wrapped her thin arms around his waist.
Terran let out a short breath.
Something inside him that had been tightly locked up suddenly came loose. The tightness in his chest eased for the first time in what felt like forever.
He had always been tied to the battlefield, to the darkness and death. But now, it felt like he had stepped outside of it.
He didn’t know why his nose stung or why emotion was welling up inside him.
This small woman was comforting him. It was something he had never received from anyone.
He had never expected praise or kindness.
He had just kept everything buried and endured it alone.
The words he had longed for were simple. Honest comfort. Nothing more.
Terran gently held the white dove that had flown into his chest with his left arm, as if afraid it might fly away.
“You’re a good man, Lord Courtois. You never hurt anyone.”
Lea hadn’t meant to uncover his pain, but she meant every word of her comfort.
Terran had never harmed anyone with intention. He was a victim of war too, someone deeply hurt and carrying invisible wounds.
“The real sinner is me. I was blinded by love, and I destroyed myself. I even dragged my father into hell.”
That was something she could never tell him. Lea couldn’t hold back the tears as they streamed down her face.
“Don’t cry, Grace.”
Terran’s voice was soft and low, wrapping around her like warmth.
“I don’t even deserve to cry. But it’s getting harder to carry this pain.”
