North x Northwest

Chapter 154

Chapter 154

Lil was about to say something to Cesar, but looked back when she heard the content coming from the sailor. The mans sweaty face was distorted with fear and agitation.

As I asked you before How many times have you forgiven him?

Theres a Mahin Royal mark on its mainmast! Its a battleship, a battleship!

Lil couldnt hear Cesar as the sailor started to shout again. That was why she wanted to turn her head to ask him to repeat himself, however, the swearing sailor grabbed her arm and began running. Cesar on the other hand didnt open his mouth nor held her back. Instead, he simply moved away and closed the door. As Lil was being dragged helplessly, she could only watch as the gap between her and Cesar disappeared.

Suddenly, the completely shut wooden door appeared to be as thick and heavy as a stone wall. Lil, losing herself in another hallucination, saw prison bars slamming down.

Its as if Cesar is imprisoned somewhere A castle that he cant escape on his own

The entrance of his cabin began to stretch upwards and to each side, several pointed towers with roofs rose. Lil looked up in horror at the citadel. The dark grey stone structure exuded an all-too-familiar majesty.

Upon seeing such a vision, Lil stopped abruptly in the middle of being dragged along.

No! What are you doing, Captain?!

The sailor forcefully yanked on Lils arm. As Lil stumbled along with him, she turned her head and looked up at the unbelievable figure. Cesars enlarged cabin was undoubtedly transforming into something similar to Mortus castle.

Cesar will also be confined within those cold walls.

Lil was reminded of the hand from her nightmares, the one that always reached out to her from the darkness.

How come I thought I was locked up alone all this time? When, in fact, there was someone by my side who was also bleeding, losing flesh, and suffering. Ive always been there with Cesar, who tenderly held my hand and presented me his heart

She never knew it was Cesar emerging from the darkness as Lil only saw a hand holding a heart. It became clear to her that he, too, refused to reveal more of himself.

Knowing this now, she couldnt bear looking up and facing him. The realisation that she had been repaying him with a mere pool of blood was too overwhelming. She had been obsessed with digging into her own chest and giving back as much as she got, but she couldnt reach her heart no matter how hard she tried.

That was also the moment where Mortu offered to help her. He cut off different pieces of her flesh and moulded it into a heart. Lil felt relieved when she was able to cheat in this way. However, she became so engrossed in it that she had no idea how much it was costing Cesar or how miserable he became. She always thought he was far from feeling that way because he always dressed neatly, with a shirt buttoned up to his neck and a crisp, scented vest.

Its strange. The sight of Cesar merely looking down on me as I was in a state of despair, doesnt suit him at all

After passing several bulkheads Cesars cabin disappeared from view. The artillery deck, where sailors shouted and prepared for battle, was in a frenzy. Dozens of people passed by, but Lil couldnt see anything. Her consciousness was still in that castle, immersing herself in the darkness. For the first time since she began to have those nightmares, Lil raised her eyes and stared straight into the shadows.

Someone yelled aloud.

Captain! Their red flag is up! Theyre asking us to stop for inspection

The startled sailor pulled Lil to urge her to make haste. As her feet walked the stairs, the faint light on top of the stairs came closer and closer. With the midday sun at its peak, her vision became hot and bright as she made her way to the upper deck. The glaring light was intense enough to reveal Cesar who had been immersed in the dark.

Blood flowed from the place where his heart had been cut out. Although he stood on his own two feet, he clearly struggled with the excruciating pain. It looked like he couldnt breathe probably, seeing how he grabbed his empty chest with a distorted expression. Mortu, who shrouded around Cesar, found Lil and stepped aside. Blood dripped from the scythe that the reaper was holding. His gloomy voice chuckled. The god of death started polishing his scythe with a sliver of his darkness and then laughed at the woman who could only stand there dumbfounded and unable to blink.

You silly customer. Why are you so surprised? What? Did you think that the heart came from the fields?..

..!

***

Sir Edgar. A telegraph arrived from the Ashtoro. Theres a galleon spotted a thousand morts ahead of our fleet. How do you want them to proceed?

Ed didnt look at the reporting Sagastar. When Ed remained silent, Sagastar cleared his throat in embarrassment.

Ed originally intended to leave Sagastar on that uninhabited island, but unfortunately for him, the commodore wasnt so ignorant. On the morning they would leave the island, Ed moved the Visha before dawn as he planned. However, there was one variable that Ed didnt take into account; at that point Sagastar had already boarded the Visha. Ed heard later that after their operating meeting was over, Sagastar took a boat straight to the ship.

Ed glared at Captain Long who together with Sagastar had tricked him. The captain, busy on the deck, noticed Eds gaze and flinched. After he followed the captain with his eyes for a while, Ed eventually opened his mouth.

The Ashtoro is one of the vassals in the scouting squadron that followed the Serlio route

Thats correct.

The Ashtoro belonged to the squadron that was assigned a scouting mission ordered by Sagastar. Even after the commodore found Ed, he didnt give up on his pursuit of solving the attempted murder and kidnapping of the admiral and dispatched patrol ships in all directions. For a change, Ed didnt consider Sagastars stubbornness as useless, so the scouting squadrons continued to carry out their mission.

Upon review, we found out that its a merchant ship departed from Marchand, the owner is Sir Mesonnier, and the captain is Well, he didnt write down the name of the Captain as they already found the owner However, Durin, the pilot that was in charge of the ship, stated that the captain was a small man of mixed race. Unfortunately, thats how far the description of his appearance goes. Apparently, the man always covered his face with a hat, but its said in passing that he was a fine looking man I mean, the records say

Sagastar flipped through the papers and criticised Legardons poor reporting system. Nonetheless, Ed held out his hand while leaning against the wheel.

The ships owner

Its Mesonnier.

Sagastar frowned in dissatisfaction upon handing over the report. He was never happy about having to present something crappy. Downcasted, Sagastar blamed himself for not reviewing all the records beforehand. However, contrary to Sagastars concerns, the report contained just the right amount of information for Ed to work with.

Mesonnier The pilot from Marchand addressed Cesar that way

Is this the sailboat you were looking for?

No.

Then why

Its interesting to hear about a small, mixed-race man as a Captain.

Ah, yes.

Using the steering wheel as a pedestal, Ed placed the rapport on top of it. He then took out his glasses from his chest pocket and placed them on the bridge of his nose. His fingertips trembled slightly as he pushed up the thin temple of his glasses. Sagastar, who had already noticed those subtle actions from earlier, looked anxiously at Eds complexion. As far as Sagastar knew, Ed only wore his glasses whenever he wasnt feeling well.

It was usually when he stayed up all night for a few days in a row and devoted himself to some strange research When that happened he would take out his glasses from the third or fourth day But now, despite eating and sleeping well, his eyes seemed to be dim. In addition, his pale complexion feels ominous, as though its a harbinger of disaster Of course, Edgar is originally a bit pale, from his face to his hands and feet. Despite having spent many years on the ship, he hasnt tanned his skin even a little Everyone assumes thats because of his Northern blood

Yet Sagastar has never seen this degree of severe paleness before. Not only was there no blood left in his face, but even the redness of his lips had completely disappeared

TN:

Hi guys, we can understand that this was a difficult chapter to understand as it differs from hallucination and reality. Just to give a quick hint; Every time Cesar is mentioned after he closed the door is part of Lils hallucination. So the Cesar standing in the darkness is in Mortus castle and the Cesar standing on deck with Mortu around him is also happening in Lils head. If you still have questions about this chapter, let us know!