I Pray That You Forget Me - Chapter 52
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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Finally, after receiving a sack of sugar, we swore to God and agreed to keep silent, finalizing a distasteful deal. I couldn’t know what Mrs. Becker truly thought of us, but since then, she had become quiet. Even her silence now made me uncomfortable.
‘I want to leave.’
Now, I found myself sharing the same sentiment as Johann.
* * *
However, thoughts did not lead to action. The only good thing that kept us from leaving was an event that happened ten days after that day.
The day Mr. Renner stood at the podium to teach.
But on this monumental day, when Johann was leaving for his first day at work, I couldn’t see him off because I had to leave before him. Major Felkner had summoned me as soon as the sun rose.
Once again, the major had called me to the bedroom.
I stood in front of the closed door with cleaning supplies, waiting for it to open. The door only opened after five officers had passed by, each heading to their respective areas of work.
Creak.
The young woman who emerged, hastily combing her tangled hair into a semblance of order, was a familiar face. She was also the woman I had encountered here on the morning of New Year’s Day.
“……”
“……”
Previously, we would greet each other cheerfully upon meeting, but since that day, we had only exchanged brief nods and awkwardly turned our heads to avoid further interaction.
“Excuse me….Mrs. Renner…”
But today, she did not avoid me but approached to speak. While the woman looked anxious enough to cry, she pulled a crisp ration card from her pocket and handed it to me.
“Please take this.”
“Why are you giving this to me…”
“I’m giving this to you so you won’t talk about my story anywhere, please?”
It was payment to keep quiet. I refused the ration card, which was surely one of the payments she received from Felkner.
“Don’t worry. I’ve never spoken about it to anyone, and I won’t in the future either.”
“Mrs. Renner, thank you so much. Please, I beg you to continue keeping it a secret.”
“In return, I have something to ask of you too.”
“Please, speak.”
“I want you to deny any rumors that I’m having an affair with the Major. Just say that I’m merely a cleaner.”
You tell the truth while I hide it.
“I’ll just say everyone uses the office and I’m only there to clean.”
I added another layer of deceit to this transaction of truths.
Out of concern for Johann more than my own reputation. If Johann found out that I cleaned the major’s bedroom, especially right after the major has been with a woman, it would be disastrous.
“Of course. That’s exactly what I’ll say.”
As the woman left after making her promise, I opened the door and entered the major’s bedroom. I also left the door wide open, even propping it with a heavy bucket to ensure it couldn’t close. I wanted everyone passing by to be clear that nothing improper was happening between the major and myself.
“Why aren’t you coming in? What were you whispering about with her? Were you gossiping about me?”
The major was reclining on the bed, half-covered with a sheet around his waist. He interrogated me about what the previous woman and I had discussed, but he didn’t ask me to close the door.
“I won’t enter while you are here, Major.”
This was a stance I had managed to maintain since being called into the bedroom for the second time. My initial request to not enter while he was present was ignored, but I had managed to get him to agree to keep the door open when I was inside.
“If you weren’t plotting my assassination, then there shouldn’t be any reason you can’t tell me, right? Huh? Mrs. Renner, were you really plotting the murder of a military officer?”
Ultimately, under the major’s pressing threats, I confessed.
“We just agreed to pretend we haven’t seen each other here, that’s all.”
I responded vaguely.
“Ah, the mere thought of a lady’s reputation being muddied by rumors of visiting this lowly army major’s bedroom.”
I was too busy with cleaning to engage further, pretending to be occupied while the sound of military boots echoed in the corridor outside. The major seemed to have no intention of leaving for work, while watching me intently.
“Has it already spread that you’ve slept with me?”
“……”
“That must be frustrating.”
While I wanted to ask him to deny the rumor, knowing the unfairness of it, such a rational request could only be made to a rational person. I continued to remain silent.
“Lady Rize, do you want to clear your name? I can clear it for you.”
The major flicked his hand at me in a commanding gesture.
“Take off your clothes and come over to me.”
I had anticipated another of his taunts when he slid his other hand under the sheet, grabbing and shaking something. Ever since he started calling me to his bedroom, the major had begun to openly ask me to sleep with him. He made demands but did not force them.
Initially, I wasn’t sure if he was serious, so I took my precautions seriously. Keeping a distance or secretly clutching a gun in my pocket seemed like a wise reaction, though trying to reason with the major was ultimately futile.
“Haven’t you said you don’t touch married women?”
“Leave your husband, come sleep with me, and then go back to him. Then it’s not adultery, is it?”
“Any physical relationship between unmarried individuals is adultery.”
“Ah, then let’s make Mrs. Renner into Mrs. Felkner.”
“I refuse.”
