Please Forget Me - Chapter 135
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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I could see the trembling in his eyes as they moved toward me. He was not an emotionless demon after all. Yet, he still didn’t lower the gun.
“Then come out.”
“I told you to kill me first.”
Johann pushed me back and took a step forward. As a result, the barrel of the gun pressed firmly against his forehead. At that moment, I felt like my heart would stop from fear, yet Johann, who was facing death, seemed oddly calm.
“Then the children who come to school tomorrow will wonder why their teacher isn’t there. Among them is the son of Captain Hildebrandt.”
In that instant, the soldier’s eyes widened as he glared at Johann.
“That kid will go home and tell his father that the teacher is dead. How did it happen? Trying to stop Major Felkner from assaulting his wife. What will happen then? If I were you, I’d go tell the Major this before you kill me.”
The soldier quietly muttered curses under his breath, spitting onto the stone steps as he questioned Johann with a hint of accusation.
“Do you think a high-ranking officer would care about the death of a teacher?”
“I told you to go ask the Major what he thinks.”
“High-ranking folks cry for the dogs they keep in their bunkers, but lives like yours or mine aren’t worth even that. No one will care about how we die, so let’s just follow the Major’s orders quietly.”
“I have no intention of doing that, so go ahead and kill me.”
“Johann!”
Now both men fell silent, glaring at each other. My desperate pleas turned into frantic screams, despairing at the possibility that this silence might end in gunfire.
“I can go! Why are you risking your life for me? Sergeant Hoffman, I’ll go, so please don’t kill my husband! Please spare him! I’ll do whatever you say, just please don’t kill him!”
My cries echoed sharply through the quiet night like an air raid siren.
Creeeak.
Squeak.
Creeeak.
The sound of old, ungreased windows moaning followed, reverberating like an echo. Residents, woken from their sleep by my screams, opened their windows to listen.
It was hard to believe that people who were on edge waiting for an alarm siren wouldn’t have heard the commotion from the start.
Light seeped through the curtains of the windows that had been open since Johann and the soldier first confronted each other. The number of windows was increasing. There were likely more than twenty pairs of eyes watching from the other side.
Did the Sergeant sense the hushed murmurs of the street? As he turned his gaze away from Johann to scan the surroundings, several people leaned out from their windows to see what was happening.
Though they could not come out to intervene or openly take our side, simply observing seemed to weigh heavily on the soldier, who began to swallow dryly and hesitate.
Suddenly, his attention returned to Johann. The barrel of the gun, which had been pointed down for a moment, was now pressing against Johann’s forehead again. But this time, the barrel was shaking. It was trembling with uncertainty.
“Please, just let me live… I only have this man. If Johann dies, I will die too. If you spare me, I’ll go along quietly. Please…”
Hoping this would resonate with him, I began to plead for mercy once more, but the soldier only shouted as if to defend himself.
“I’m just following orders!”
There was no echo to his shout, which rang out like my own desperate cries a moment ago. His hand gripping the gun trembled helplessly. The soldier adjusted his sweaty grip on the handle and took a deep breath. He was about to pull the trigger.
“This damn world…”
But the silence was broken not by gunfire but by a string of curses laced with sobs. The soldier suddenly dropped the gun and turned away, muttering to himself as he trudged toward the car parked by the roadside. I could not take my eyes off him.
Bang.
Slamming the car door shut, the soldier drove off hastily, disappearing down the street. Only then did I hear the sound of windows closing all around, and the light spilling from those windows began to flicker out one by one…
“Ah…”
My consciousness, which had been hanging on by a thread, flickered out alongside it.
“Rize!”
I felt Johann catch me as my body crumbled. My last memory before losing consciousness was…
Thump-thump-thump.
The sound of his heart racing. A rhythm that was anything but calm for a man staring down death.
* * *
That night, Johann held me close, staying awake with his eyes wide open. I trembled in his embrace throughout the night, yet I felt a sense of relief.
“Thank you, Johann.”
“For what?”
“For risking your life to protect me. Thank you.”
“It’s only natural for me to protect you; why are you thanking me?”
Thank you for making me feel like I am a woman worth risking your life for. Whether your affection for me is pure or not, still…
“Thank you for cherishing me as if I was your own life.”
“That’s only natural, yet you still thank me. You’re more precious to me than my own life. I could willingly give up my life for you, but I’m still desperately trying to survive because my job of protecting you is not finished.”
