Please Forget Me - Chapter 32
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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‘Who is that? What’s going on here?’
As I gazed bewilderedly at the procession, my eyes met those of a young man in one of the following military vehicles. I shivered and quickly turned my head away.
‘Why is he looking at me like that?’
His gaze reminded me of a wild dog I had encountered in the forest recently. No longer interested in watching the passing vehicles, I lowered my gaze and just rubbed my goosebumped arms.
“Huh? What happened?”
But when the man muttered this, my curiosity got the better of me, and I looked up again. One of the military vehicles had broken away from the formation and stopped by the roadside.
I thought there might be a problem with the vehicle, but it was not the driver or a mechanic who got out, but a passenger from the front seat. The same man whose gaze had met mine.
Wearing a uniform and cap, he wasn’t just any soldier but an officer, judging by his attire. My past self might have known military ranks well, as the sight of his shoulder straps immediately made me think of the rank of Major.
‘What is he trying to do?’
If I could see his rank insignia clearly, it meant that the officer had come closer. And he was walking straight towards our wagon. When the winery owner saluted, the officer snickered and pulled out a cigarette to light.
“He’s handsome.”
The ladies whispered among themselves, stealing glances at the smoking officer. I, who was haunted by the gaze I had seen earlier, focused not on his face but the gun at his waist.
The thought that the officer might draw his gun and shoot me was unnerving…
“Blondie.”
The moment the officer flicked his hand, calling out to a blonde, my confusion ceased. Although there were three blondes on this wagon, I was certain he meant me because his eyes were fixed on me.
Despite my fear, I obediently got off the wagon and stood on the forest path. The officer began to approach me.
Thud, thud.
I wanted to turn and run into the forest. Why did I want to flee as if he were an enemy soldier, despite him being one of our own?
Thud.
The officer stopped just a step in front of me. As I anxiously looked down at his boots, a hand in a leather glove suddenly appeared in front of me, grabbing my chin and lifting my face.
“Ah…”
I was forced to meet that wolf-like gaze again.
Disgusting.
The officer scanned me from face to chest with a hungry look, then barked a short and harsh command.
“Name.”
“…Rize Renner.”
“Rize. It means ‘full of excitement’. Quite fitting.”
The officer said, blatantly staring at my chest. I wanted to cover myself with my shawl.
But doing so might provoke him into doing something worse.
In the end, I stood there like a fool, helplessly enduring his lewd gaze.
“Where do you live?”
A premonition told me that answering would lead to trouble, so I hesitated and aroused suspicion.
“If you’re not a spy for Falkland, there’s no reason you couldn’t tell a trustworthy and noble officer of the Highland military where you live.”
“Well… in the village of Mullenbach…”
“Which house?”
“I live at Mr. Bauer’s farm.”
Whether it was fortunate or not, the officer asked me nothing more. However, his gaze, lingering on my face as he licked his lips, was far from reassuring.
After staring at me as if he was about to devour me, he suddenly let go and walked back to his car, leaving behind an ominous remark.
“We’ll see each other again.”
* * *
All the villages in this secluded mountain area quietly turned upside down.
There was a bunker hidden in the forest, and the Prime Minister had taken refuge there. Thus, the remote mountains became the new seat for the Highland government and military high command.
The reason the village didn’t erupt into chaos but quietly turned over was because the command center had summoned the village leaders and imposed a gag order.
Still, rumors spread quickly within the mountain, especially since the bunker issued a draft order for the surrounding villages to send workers.
Since the command center already had many men, most of the drafted villagers were women, needed for menial tasks like laundry and cleaning.
I tried to hide at home to avoid being called to the bunker. Not because I feared the hard work without pay, but because I was uneasy.
And our unease wasn’t unfounded.
“Today I ran into Mrs. Bauer, and she said a soldier came looking for Rize Renner yesterday.”
Major Felkner had ordered that Rize Renner from Mr. Bauer’s house in Mullenbach village be brought to him. It was clear, even without seeing his face, that he was the officer I had encountered on the forest path the day we were harvesting grapes.
“Mrs. Bauer thought it suspicious too and told them she didn’t know where we had moved to.”
“That’s a relief. Be grateful.”
After that incident and hearing that the command post had been established in the forest, we quickly moved to a rented house near the school.
Johann didn’t just laugh off my worries that the officer might come looking for me.
“Since it’s the same area, it’s only a matter of time before they find out where we’ve moved.”
Johann was even more anxious than I was, suggesting we leave the area entirely. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
We had just settled down, and the thought of leaving our home to wander again was unbearable.
Besides, hadn’t Johann secured a good job here? It would be impossible to find such an opportunity elsewhere. We couldn’t abandon it so easily.
