try begging

They brought him to the interrogation room and handcuffed his hands to the chair, so I thought it had been a long time since I'd had to interrogate him. I was wondering if that devil had died or something, since things had been so quiet for the past few months. But instead of Winston, it was an unexpected visitor who was interrogating him.

Staring blankly at Jimmy's face, swollen with bruises, Jimmy chuckled. He had the same look on his face for the first few months after he was captured.

He never thought he would see Grace like this again. And he never imagined he would hear this story.

"Do you know which hospital Mrs. Hattie is in?"

The twisted smile disappeared from his face as soon as he heard the name Hattie.

"Ahhh! My daughter! Why did you do this! Jimmy, why did you do this to me!"

The words Mrs. Hattie had screamed at him, three-year-old Jimmy, with a hot gun in his hand echoed vividly in his mind.

"Jimmy, please tell me where it is. If you help me find Ellie, I'll reward you..."

"Annie! Please open your eyes. There's so much blood, so much blood."

Annie. Ellie. Their names sounded so similar.

Usually, people don't remember when they were three years old, but he couldn't forget what happened when he was three.

He found a gun in his father's desk drawer and thought it looked cool. He took it to the village daycare to show off. And then the accident happened.

"Jimmy, why did you do it? Huh? Why did you do it, I ask you!"

Mrs. Hattie, who seemed to forget about the incident most of the time, went crazy every winter when Annie died. Whenever she saw him, she would bring up that day, reviving the memories he wanted to forget, so they sent him away. But now, this damned, cursed woman was bringing it all back.

Jimmy glared at Grace, who was begging with teary eyes, just like the crazed Mrs. Hattie, and then closed his eyes tightly.

It wasn't my fault.

"It wasn't your fault," the adults had said.

"Jimmy, you're a child who will lead a revolution. There are inevitable sacrifices for a greater cause. So forget the past."

"You're our commander. You can't let personal feelings get in the way. You need to think of the greater good, of everyone."

"Yes, Jimmy, you're a leader."

"A child is innocent."

"Yes, I was innocent back then."

"Are you going to let a child die? If Ellie dies, you're an accomplice."

"I've done nothing wrong."

From persuasion to threats, Grace tried everything to convince him.

Jimmy's eyes widened. He saw her as a woman who had betrayed him, unable to understand his deep intentions because of her narrow-mindedness. 

She was never meant to be a comrade leading a revolution. As the adults used to say, she was just a mongrel with dirty royal blood.

"You know, right? Because Uncle already told you, don't lie. Please just say something!"

Grace became increasingly agitated until she finally burst into tears. Winston, who had been standing behind her like a bodyguard, leaned down and patted her shoulder.

"Grace."

He soothed Grace, who was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. He took out a handkerchief, wiped her tears, and cupped her face in one hand, pressing her against his chest and stroking her gently, as if pitying her.

One of his fingers, which continued to fiddle with her shoulder, was groping her bare skin under her blouse as if that woman belonged to him.

Jimmy glared at his former fiancée who was crying in the arms of that filthy royal pig.

A filthy traitor. She must have enjoyed being in that devil's arms. She blamed him, saying she was forced to do it because he sent her as a spy, but it was clear that she actually liked that devil.

 If what Winston said about their first love was true, she must have liked him from the beginning and hid it, getting engaged to him instead.

Now he started to question whether her claim that she was exposed because of Fred's mistake was true. Perhaps she had secretly been happy when she was captured by him and lost her virginity.

"I'm not asking you to tell me for nothing." 

Grace pushed the man away and begged Jimmy again. She seemed to be trying to win his sympathy with her tears, but to Jimmy, her tears were simply disgusting.

"Is there anything you want? Just tell me."

Even her begging felt arrogant. The disgusting arrogance that implied Winston would grant her any wish she had.

"What I want is..."

When Jimmy finally opened his mouth, the woman stopped crying and nodded, urging him to continue.

"For that devil's child to go to hell."

The woman, whose face had been soft with a smile, suddenly hardened.

Creak.

Before Leon could do anything to the ignorant man, Grace suddenly got up from her seat and walked towards the door. As he expected, she held out her palm to the guard standing in front of the door, as if asking for something.

The guard looked at Leon with a bewildered expression. When he nodded in agreement, the guard hurriedly took off what he was carrying on his shoulder and gave it to Grace.

It was a rifle.

With the barrel up and the buttstock down, Grace returned with the rifle reversed, her eyes blazing with madness.

Leon drew his pistol and aimed it at Little Jimmy.

"Hit wherever you want. If you resist and even a hair on Grace's head is harmed, you're dead by my hand."

Did he finally remember his situation? The man turned pale and quickly shifted his eyes between Grace and Leon.

"Wa- wait!"

Before the man could open his mouth, the butt of the rifle slammed down on his cheekbone like a hammer.

"Say it again, you bastard!"

Bang. Unable to withstand the indiscriminate beating, the chair tipped over. Grace kicked and trampled on Jimmy, who was unable to cover his face because his hands were tied, and repeatedly struck him with the butt of the rifle.

She couldn't let him die because he was the only clue to finding Ellie.Knowing this, Leon didn't stop Grace. She had lost her reason more than ever, but she was cleverly avoiding any fatal blows.

Even in the most emotional moments, she never loses her calculations.

It was endearing.

"I told you to say it again!"

"Ugh!"

"Why can't you? Say it again, damn it!"

The man was beaten to a pulp, and the woman was beating him with the butt of a rifle. Who would believe that these two people had once been engaged to be married?

"You devil's spawn! She's my daughter!"

The sound of bones breaking echoed through the walls. In that moment, Jimmy saw Grace's enraged face as the face of a devil.

"I'll kill every bastard who dares to say such things!""Stop, ugh!"

"If anything happens to my daughter, I'll tear you to pieces!"

"Grace, stop it."

Leon gripped the barrel of the rifle.

"Your wound's reopened."

Crimson blood was seeping through the bandage wrapped around her little finger.

"That bastard knew but didn't tell me."

Grace meekly put down the rifle and burst into tears, burying her face in his chest as he examined her wound.

"Waaah..."

"Shhh, it's okay."

Leon held the woman who was sobbing in his arms, comforting her while secretly smiling. He took a deep, satisfying breath. The smell of blood filled his nostrils. But the overwhelming thrill Grace gave him overshadowed any excitement the smell of blood might have brought. Grace Ridley, who was once his fiancée, had turned a man she'd been involved with into a piece of meat and was now in his arms. 

An overwhelming thrill ran through his veins, making his whole body hot for the first time in a long while. If only he had a hobby to show others, he would have rolled around with Grace right here in front of this man. Yes, I'm a lost cause. Even just imagining it was one more sin that would make his god frown, but he was willing to be punished.

"Waaah, Ellie..."

"It's okay, darling."

"What's okay? You heard it too! That beast, that inhuman devil, dared to tell Ellie to go to hell. If anything happens to our daughter, I'll make that idiot suffer the most painful death in the world!"

Our daughter? He was such a fool to feel a glimmer of hope at such a small remark.

"Don't worry. Our daughter won't die. But he will suffer a painful death."

Leon glanced at the man lying on the floor, barely more than a corpse. Blood was pouring from his mouth, which was constantly coughing, and his broken teeth were scattered on the floor. He was barely conscious, his eyes darting around. It was time. Leon calmed Grace and sat her on a chair before walking towards Jimmy.

"Jimmy, we've been pretty close for the past three years, so you know."

As he leaned towards the man, his face turned pale again.

"I'm a man who believes in both revenge and reward."

The reward he offered was a reduced sentence.

"From the death penalty to life imprisonment."

To spare the life of the rebel leader. It was radical. The man stared blankly at him before spitting out an answer with a blood-stained tooth.

"From a death sentence to a pardon." Leon laughed.

Quite the ambitious fellow. But he was no match for Winston's ambition. He also had the ability to fulfill his desires, so there was no such thing as a reckless ambition.

Of course, Grace was an exception.

But for someone like him, who was just a death row inmate, everything was a reckless ambition.

"Negotiation, huh? You really don't know your place."

Not answering and holding out was probably just a trick to increase his value. Pretending like the greater good came first, but his life came first. Typical of Blanchard's rat.

"I was just trying to show you mercy considering our three-year relationship, but if you don't want it, I can't help it. The deal is off."

No matter how much power he had over their lives, a pardon was out of the question.

"Well, if I keep knocking, I'm sure an answer will pop out eventually."

When Leon picked up the rifle that had fallen to the floor, the man's eyes widened.

"Hmm, no."

As soon as he put the rifle down, a look of relief crossed the man's face. It was too soon.

Leon approached Grace from behind, who was sitting with her arms crossed. He gently massaged her stiff shoulders, tensed with anger and nervousness, and whispered in her ear.

"Honey, do you know how to golf? Shall I teach you?"

Despite the sudden question, Grace nodded without asking why. Though she could have easily demanded he spare her life, she willingly played along. Even as an enemy, she was not a bad woman, but as an ally, she was wonderful. He kissed her forehead and continued.

"I got a golf set as a gift last year. I haven't swung it even once because I haven't had the time."

"Bring it now."

"Br, Bratton State Hospital..."

As she rose to her feet, the man blurted out the answer they both wanted.

"Damn it!"

"You bastard."

As soon as he had served his purpose, Grace began to beat him mercilessly. Watching a woman stomp on the mouth of her former fiancé, whom she had once kissed tenderly, Leon felt a pang of sadness.

I should have made her wear high heels.

"Go to hell. How dare you say such things to a two-year-old?"

In the backseat of the car as they escaped the detention center, Grace was still fuming and eventually burst into tears.

"Someday, I'll send that bastard to hell with my own hands."

"You don't need to dirty your hands, darling. I'll do it."

The man sitting beside her pulled her into his arms. Grace suddenly lifted her head from his chest and glared at him. He was a step too slow. She had caught the secret smile he'd been wearing.

"I know why you were so willing to meet Jimmy."

You wanted to see the complete ruin with your own eyes.

"At a time like this, when our daughter is kidnapped, you're still playing games?"

"I got what I needed."

He pulled a note with the hospital name and address from his jacket pocket and waved it.

"When this is all over, I'll do the same to you."

Grace grabbed his collar and gritted her teeth angrily. The man pouted slightly, as if he was being wronged, and then suddenly tilted his head slightly to the left and smiled slyly.

"Ellie's adorable face?"

It was the same coquettish smile Ellie often made. How could he imitate it so perfectly? At first, she laughed. But the laughter didn't last long.

"Ellie, oh, my baby..."

"Don't worry. You'll see her again."

Leon held Grace, who was bursting into tears, and repeated his promise. The smile that had briefly crossed his face was completely gone.

* * *

They brought him to the interrogation room and handcuffed his hands to the chair, so I thought it had been a long time since I'd had to interrogate him. I was wondering if that devil had died or something, since things had been so quiet for the past few months. But instead of Winston, it was an unexpected visitor who was interrogating him.

Staring blankly at Jimmy's face, swollen with bruises, Jimmy chuckled. He had the same look on his face for the first few months after he was captured.

He never thought he would see Grace like this again. And he never imagined he would hear this story.

"Do you know which hospital Mrs. Hattie is in?"

The twisted smile disappeared from his face as soon as he heard the name Hattie.

"Ahhh! My daughter! Why did you do this! Jimmy, why did you do this to me!"

The words Mrs. Hattie had screamed at him, three-year-old Jimmy, with a hot gun in his hand echoed vividly in his mind.

"Jimmy, please tell me where it is. If you help me find Ellie, I'll reward you..."

"Annie! Please open your eyes. There's so much blood, so much blood."

Annie. Ellie. Their names sounded so similar.

Usually, people don't remember when they were three years old, but he couldn't forget what happened when he was three.

He found a gun in his father's desk drawer and thought it looked cool. He took it to the village daycare to show off. And then the accident happened.

"Jimmy, why did you do it? Huh? Why did you do it, I ask you!"

Mrs. Hattie, who seemed to forget about the incident most of the time, went crazy every winter when Annie died. Whenever she saw him, she would bring up that day, reviving the memories he wanted to forget, so they sent him away. But now, this damned, cursed woman was bringing it all back.

Jimmy glared at Grace, who was begging with teary eyes, just like the crazed Mrs. Hattie, and then closed his eyes tightly.

It wasn't my fault.

"It wasn't your fault," the adults had said.

"Jimmy, you're a child who will lead a revolution. There are inevitable sacrifices for a greater cause. So forget the past."

"You're our commander. You can't let personal feelings get in the way. You need to think of the greater good, of everyone."

"Yes, Jimmy, you're a leader."

"A child is innocent."

"Yes, I was innocent back then."

"Are you going to let a child die? If Ellie dies, you're an accomplice."

"I've done nothing wrong."

From persuasion to threats, Grace tried everything to convince him.

Jimmy's eyes widened. He saw her as a woman who had betrayed him, unable to understand his deep intentions because of her narrow-mindedness. 

She was never meant to be a comrade leading a revolution. As the adults used to say, she was just a mongrel with dirty royal blood.

"You know, right? Because Uncle already told you, don't lie. Please just say something!"

Grace became increasingly agitated until she finally burst into tears. Winston, who had been standing behind her like a bodyguard, leaned down and patted her shoulder.

"Grace."

He soothed Grace, who was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. He took out a handkerchief, wiped her tears, and cupped her face in one hand, pressing her against his chest and stroking her gently, as if pitying her.

One of his fingers, which continued to fiddle with her shoulder, was groping her bare skin under her blouse as if that woman belonged to him.

Jimmy glared at his former fiancée who was crying in the arms of that filthy royal pig.

A filthy traitor. She must have enjoyed being in that devil's arms. She blamed him, saying she was forced to do it because he sent her as a spy, but it was clear that she actually liked that devil.

 If what Winston said about their first love was true, she must have liked him from the beginning and hid it, getting engaged to him instead.

Now he started to question whether her claim that she was exposed because of Fred's mistake was true. Perhaps she had secretly been happy when she was captured by him and lost her virginity.

"I'm not asking you to tell me for nothing." 

Grace pushed the man away and begged Jimmy again. She seemed to be trying to win his sympathy with her tears, but to Jimmy, her tears were simply disgusting.

"Is there anything you want? Just tell me."

Even her begging felt arrogant. The disgusting arrogance that implied Winston would grant her any wish she had.

"What I want is..."

When Jimmy finally opened his mouth, the woman stopped crying and nodded, urging him to continue.

"For that devil's child to go to hell."

The woman, whose face had been soft with a smile, suddenly hardened.

Creak.

Before Leon could do anything to the ignorant man, Grace suddenly got up from her seat and walked towards the door. As he expected, she held out her palm to the guard standing in front of the door, as if asking for something.

The guard looked at Leon with a bewildered expression. When he nodded in agreement, the guard hurriedly took off what he was carrying on his shoulder and gave it to Grace.

It was a rifle.

With the barrel up and the buttstock down, Grace returned with the rifle reversed, her eyes blazing with madness.

Leon drew his pistol and aimed it at Little Jimmy.

"Hit wherever you want. If you resist and even a hair on Grace's head is harmed, you're dead by my hand."

Did he finally remember his situation? The man turned pale and quickly shifted his eyes between Grace and Leon.

"Wa- wait!"

Before the man could open his mouth, the butt of the rifle slammed down on his cheekbone like a hammer.

"Say it again, you bastard!"

Bang. Unable to withstand the indiscriminate beating, the chair tipped over. Grace kicked and trampled on Jimmy, who was unable to cover his face because his hands were tied, and repeatedly struck him with the butt of the rifle.

She couldn't let him die because he was the only clue to finding Ellie.Knowing this, Leon didn't stop Grace. She had lost her reason more than ever, but she was cleverly avoiding any fatal blows.

Even in the most emotional moments, she never loses her calculations.

It was endearing.

"I told you to say it again!"

"Ugh!"

"Why can't you? Say it again, damn it!"

The man was beaten to a pulp, and the woman was beating him with the butt of a rifle. Who would believe that these two people had once been engaged to be married?

"You devil's spawn! She's my daughter!"

The sound of bones breaking echoed through the walls. In that moment, Jimmy saw Grace's enraged face as the face of a devil.

"I'll kill every bastard who dares to say such things!""Stop, ugh!"

"If anything happens to my daughter, I'll tear you to pieces!"

"Grace, stop it."

Leon gripped the barrel of the rifle.

"Your wound's reopened."

Crimson blood was seeping through the bandage wrapped around her little finger.

"That bastard knew but didn't tell me."

Grace meekly put down the rifle and burst into tears, burying her face in his chest as he examined her wound.

"Waaah..."

"Shhh, it's okay."

Leon held the woman who was sobbing in his arms, comforting her while secretly smiling. He took a deep, satisfying breath. The smell of blood filled his nostrils. But the overwhelming thrill Grace gave him overshadowed any excitement the smell of blood might have brought. Grace Ridley, who was once his fiancée, had turned a man she'd been involved with into a piece of meat and was now in his arms. 

An overwhelming thrill ran through his veins, making his whole body hot for the first time in a long while. If only he had a hobby to show others, he would have rolled around with Grace right here in front of this man. Yes, I'm a lost cause. Even just imagining it was one more sin that would make his god frown, but he was willing to be punished.

"Waaah, Ellie..."

"It's okay, darling."

"What's okay? You heard it too! That beast, that inhuman devil, dared to tell Ellie to go to hell. If anything happens to our daughter, I'll make that idiot suffer the most painful death in the world!"

Our daughter? He was such a fool to feel a glimmer of hope at such a small remark.

"Don't worry. Our daughter won't die. But he will suffer a painful death."

Leon glanced at the man lying on the floor, barely more than a corpse. Blood was pouring from his mouth, which was constantly coughing, and his broken teeth were scattered on the floor. He was barely conscious, his eyes darting around. It was time. Leon calmed Grace and sat her on a chair before walking towards Jimmy.

"Jimmy, we've been pretty close for the past three years, so you know."

As he leaned towards the man, his face turned pale again.

"I'm a man who believes in both revenge and reward."

The reward he offered was a reduced sentence.

"From the death penalty to life imprisonment."

To spare the life of the rebel leader. It was radical. The man stared blankly at him before spitting out an answer with a blood-stained tooth.

"From a death sentence to a pardon." Leon laughed.

Quite the ambitious fellow. But he was no match for Winston's ambition. He also had the ability to fulfill his desires, so there was no such thing as a reckless ambition.

Of course, Grace was an exception.

But for someone like him, who was just a death row inmate, everything was a reckless ambition.

"Negotiation, huh? You really don't know your place."

Not answering and holding out was probably just a trick to increase his value. Pretending like the greater good came first, but his life came first. Typical of Blanchard's rat.

"I was just trying to show you mercy considering our three-year relationship, but if you don't want it, I can't help it. The deal is off."

No matter how much power he had over their lives, a pardon was out of the question.

"Well, if I keep knocking, I'm sure an answer will pop out eventually."

When Leon picked up the rifle that had fallen to the floor, the man's eyes widened.

"Hmm, no."

As soon as he put the rifle down, a look of relief crossed the man's face. It was too soon.

Leon approached Grace from behind, who was sitting with her arms crossed. He gently massaged her stiff shoulders, tensed with anger and nervousness, and whispered in her ear.

"Honey, do you know how to golf? Shall I teach you?"

Despite the sudden question, Grace nodded without asking why. Though she could have easily demanded he spare her life, she willingly played along. Even as an enemy, she was not a bad woman, but as an ally, she was wonderful. He kissed her forehead and continued.

"I got a golf set as a gift last year. I haven't swung it even once because I haven't had the time."

"Bring it now."

"Br, Bratton State Hospital..."

As she rose to her feet, the man blurted out the answer they both wanted.

"Damn it!"

"You bastard."

As soon as he had served his purpose, Grace began to beat him mercilessly. Watching a woman stomp on the mouth of her former fiancé, whom she had once kissed tenderly, Leon felt a pang of sadness.

I should have made her wear high heels.

"Go to hell. How dare you say such things to a two-year-old?"

In the backseat of the car as they escaped the detention center, Grace was still fuming and eventually burst into tears.

"Someday, I'll send that bastard to hell with my own hands."

"You don't need to dirty your hands, darling. I'll do it."

The man sitting beside her pulled her into his arms. Grace suddenly lifted her head from his chest and glared at him. He was a step too slow. She had caught the secret smile he'd been wearing.

"I know why you were so willing to meet Jimmy."

You wanted to see the complete ruin with your own eyes.

"At a time like this, when our daughter is kidnapped, you're still playing games?"

"I got what I needed."

He pulled a note with the hospital name and address from his jacket pocket and waved it.

"When this is all over, I'll do the same to you."

Grace grabbed his collar and gritted her teeth angrily. The man pouted slightly, as if he was being wronged, and then suddenly tilted his head slightly to the left and smiled slyly.

"Ellie's adorable face?"

It was the same coquettish smile Ellie often made. How could he imitate it so perfectly? At first, she laughed. But the laughter didn't last long.

"Ellie, oh, my baby..."

"Don't worry. You'll see her again."

Leon held Grace, who was bursting into tears, and repeated his promise. The smile that had briefly crossed his face was completely gone.

* * *