She suddenly remembered her older brother, although they had different looks and personalities, though with the same taste that liked sweets.
Was this voice right? The more she tried to remember, the fainter it got.
It had been a while since she met her brother because he abandoned his family. The moment his older brother, who was more proud than anyone that his grandfather was a pivotal player in the revolution, fell in love, he changed.
“I will live for my family.”
“Family? The Revolutionary Army is our family.”
But, he resisted Sally’s suggestion.
“My children will not be raised like my father. My wife, like my father… Ha, damn it…”
“Are you crazy? There was no one better than our father.”
The revolutionary army was like a family, and the cause of making the world a better place for all. Eventually, her older brother gave up on all this and succumbed to the ugly reality.
Sally must have been the only one who felt heartbroken when she was pointed out by her comrades, who were once family, for being a coward. She called him once a year to restore his heart on every anniversary of their mother, who died honorably during the operation.
However, her brother said he had no regrets.
[ Rather, I am really happy now. Mother will be proud of you. ]
Were those words sincere? How could he be sincere…?
Moreover, her mother, who had devoted her life to the revolution, could not be proud of her son, who had run away cowardly.
[ You, too, come out of there. Let’s live together. Martha is looking forward to living with you. ]
No, that was not going to happen. Like her mother, even if she had to sacrifice her life, she would not run away. She would be the child her mother would be truly proud of.
Creak.
The bed creaked again.
Sally, who had been tossing and turning without being able to sleep, suddenly froze. It was because a man’s footsteps echoed outside the door.
‘Who…?’
At this time, the purpose of the man who comes to the room where the maid was alone couldn’t be pure. To make her run an errand, it was enough to ring the bell by pulling the cords all over the annex.
Sally put her hand under her mattress and picked up the little revolver pistol. As she double-checked that it was loaded, the blunt footsteps stopped in front of the door.
Pushing the magazine back in, an intruder from the night knocked on the door.
“…Who is it?”
She pretended to just be awake and paused for a moment before asking. She felt a little relieved once he knocked on the door. If he had turned the doorknob, it would undeniably impure intentions.
“it’s me.”
It’s me.
She was stunned, and a sigh broke out. She already knew who he was just by the voice. She had no chance to think about the arrogance of assuming that she would know who he was even if he didn’t say his name.
Sally turned her gaze to the clock on the side table. It was already past midnight, though what had brought him up here?
“Ah, Captain… Please, wait.”
Although her mouth was a steady maid, her act of sticking her revolver into the back of the pajama pants was of a seasoned soldier.
She strode towards the door. Before she opened the door, Sally pulled a small wooden wedge placed in the corner with her feet and placed it in front of the door. Then, she cleared her expression for a moment and unlocked the locks.
“Captain, do you need anything?”
The moment she opened the door half a span, she carefully pushed the wedge with her foot and slid it under the door. It would not be seen in Winston’s eyes.
As long as she stepped on the wedge she had set, he could not easily open the door, no matter how muscular the man was.
Sally held the doorknob in one hand and the revolver behind her back in the other. The narrow doorway barely let in the light from the hallway, making it difficult to see Winston’s face. This was because his huge figure had filled that long gap.
“Captain?”
He took a deep breath, and she paused for a moment before opening his mouth.
“…Hello, Sally.”
“Oh, yes. Hello. Are you back now?”
Pretending to wake up from her sleep, she deliberately opened her eyes in a drowsy way and lowered her voice.
“Yes.”
“You’re late. You must have been very busy.”
“It was rather boring.”
“Ah… Then Lieutenant Campbell and…”
“Sally.”
“Yes?”
She was going to ask him to go there as she saw the other soldiers playing billiards at night, but Winston cut off her words.
In addition, his voice as he greeted her, “Hello, Sally,” was heavier than when he politely said hello. Sally gave strength to her foot as she stepped on the wedge and stretched her index finger next to the trigger of the revolver.
“I did my job, so you have to do yours, too.”
An unusual sense of intimidation emanating from his instructions, which she did not know the intention of, crossed the narrow gap in the door and weighed her down. She slowly pulled out the revolver’s muzzle that had been lodged under her waist.
“What are you talking about…”
“I mean, you have to do the cleaning.”
Her mind went blank.
“…Yes?”
“The office.”
Sally swallowed a lethargic sigh again. The revolver’s muzzle rested quietly on her waist.
‘What…? Office cleaning?’
She originally thought he was insane. However, had he really turned crazy? At that, she stared blankly at the figure, who she still couldn’t see the expression, and took a deep breath.
‘…Is he drunk, you insane man?’
Nonetheless, there was no smell of alcohol at all.
In the middle of the night, too, well past midnight, the story of waking up a maid to finish cleaning the office. Sally didn’t know if the office was a mess like a pigsty, though it was the place she most painstaking cleaned after the torture room.
They had to break the status system because of people like him.
“Ah… Yes…”
Just as she answered, revealing her trembling heart, Winston pushed the door inward. The doorknob wobbled. Not only that, he muttered in a slightly bewildered voice when it didn’t even budge.
“…Good power.”
“Haha… Yes, I am originally… thank you.”
“Come on out.”
“I’ll just change my clothes and go down immediately, Captain.”
Even though she was about to close the door, this time, it didn’t even move because of Winston. He stood silently outside, clutching the doorknob.
Though she couldn’t see what he was doing, Sally felt it.
The skin that was hidden under the thin pajamas stung. He was now scanning her body with his eyes.
…Dirty horny.
She had already said she would go down, so she had no excuse to suddenly say she couldn’t go.
Should she force Lieutenant Campbell to sit down? She decided to bring a sleeping pill, just in case. If she saw any strange signs, she would put the sleeping pills in the carbonated water he would normally drink.
“Captain?”
“…Yes. I’ll go down first.”
As soon as Winston released the doorknob, she closed and locked the door. It took quite a while before she could hear footsteps moving away from the door.
‘Damn it…! I’ll be sure to call Jimmy tomorrow.’
The hard day isn’t over yet.
“Ah…”
As soon as she entered the office with her cleaning tools, she let out a mournful sigh.
The office was a mess comparable to that of a pigsty. Between the desk and the coffee table, the red carpet was strewn with large black stains. Should he see it as kindness for not asking what the mark was? There was still an ink bottle lying on the side.
Crazy bastard…
The crazy bastard was sitting proudly behind his desk, smoking a cigar.
She didn’t know if he had a plan, or if he was just venting his anger at the maid who has been ignoring that things weren’t going well.
“Are you here? It took a long time to come in wearing only clothes.”
If the other person were a normal person, she would have been relieved to see that bright smile on his face. However, the other person was a human who smiled as he saw a prisoner being chased by a bloodthirsty military dog.
Sally had a bad feeling about it.
Before she came here, she looked around the library. However, there was no one there as if everyone had gone to sleep. She thought about waking up Fred, who was sleeping on the first floor, but she stopped because she feared that the soldiers in the same room would find it suspicious.
Then, she would have to put him to sleep with sleeping pills…
Set down a bucket of cleaning tools next to the stain, Sally put on an expression that she had made a mistake as she deliberately walked over to the desk.
“Oh… sorry. I’ll bring you something to drink right now.”
There should be a bottle and glass of sparkling water Winston always drinks on the desk. She took the tray on her way out during the day and never brought it back.
“No, I don’t need it.”
As soon as she turned around, his words blocked her escape.
“Come here.”
As she turned around and glanced at Winston, their gaze intertwined through the ghostly smoke, and he lifted his straight index finger at Sally.
Her steps toward the desk, carrying the bucket again, were cautious. It felt like she was walking on thin ice rather than a soft carpet. The hot gaze that never left her seemed to melt the thin ice. If she fell into the black pit as it is, what kind of hell will open its mouth wide inside…?
Standing at the desk, Winston shook his head lightly.
“Yes…?”
“This way.”
Uttering so, the tip of his index finger pointed to his side.
Sally’s legs were as good as tortoises as she walked around the desk as instructed, though her heart raced like a hare.