Please Kill Me - Chapter 69
The scene appeared to have been created just a few hours ago. The traces left on the bodies were all neat and precise, suggesting that Yekaterina had not been in trouble.
If Yekaterina had been in a disadvantageous situation, there would have been more evidence of struggle or injury on the bodies.
This indicated that, while not much was known for certain, Yekaterina was not just well, but actively moving through the forest with vigor.
‘If Sister is here, perhaps I could find her.’
How much trouble had he faced in searching for Yekaterina?
After Yekaterina disappeared, Sergei could not hide his fury.
– “Yekaterina has vanished?! What have those fools been doing all this time?!”
– “That, that’s because… no one could stop the Miss…”
The subordinate who made the excuse quickly lost his head.
If Yekaterina had truly exerted her full strength during her escape, it would be impossible for that subordinate’s head to remain attached.
It wasn’t entirely wrong. Like other members of the Offenbach family, Yekaterina Offenbach wasn’t someone who struggled to eliminate a few obstacles. She knew it would be easier to simply kill them and escape.
But Yekaterina hadn’t done that. While all those who attempted to detain her were injured, none had died. Sergei thought this was because his men hadn’t given their all, but Dmitry knew the real reason.
‘It’s because it’s Offenbach.’
She had spared them because it was Offenbach. Dmitry was perhaps the only one who knew how much Yekaterina cherished the Offenbach name and how much she had suffered under it.
Dmitry could confidently say that no one in Offenbach understood Yekaterina as well as he did.
‘And yet I thought I would find Sister soon.’
Despite his confidence, Dmitry and, indeed, all of Offenbach had not only failed to trace Yekaterina’s whereabouts but hadn’t even found a clue as to her location.
It certainly wasn’t due to a lack of intelligence capabilities within Offenbach.
The internal strife was crucial.
Sergei, blinded by Dmitry’s interference, couldn’t locate Yekaterina, while Dmitry was preoccupied with keeping Sergei in check, preventing him from dedicating full effort to the investigation.
Sergei was not one to be easily deceived. It would take considerable cunning just to distract him.
Moreover, the fact that Yekaterina generally didn’t have many enemies made the search more difficult. Having lived almost in isolation since her registration with the Offenbachs, it was tough to imagine where she could go after leaving.
As the search for Yekaterina seemed increasingly hopeless, the traces of her monster hunt emerged right in front of Dmitry.
Dmitry followed these clues without hesitation, as if this was his last mission.
It wasn’t a difficult task for him. After all, Dmitry was also an Offenbach. Sergei might have been harsh in raising his heir, but he certainly didn’t raise him to be weak.
Dmitry moved through the forest and soon encountered her.
Even in the darkness, her striking silver hair stood out as alien. Her calm expression hid an immeasurable depth of sorrow. She was neither innocent nor pure.
As if symbolizing her past path, her body was covered in red marks. Despite having passed through numerous killings, her serene face seemed almost bizarrely out of place.
But to Dmitry, this sight was painfully familiar.
Of course, it was. This was precisely who she was. This current appearance was the very essence of Yekaterina that Dmitry had been observing all along.
The Sister he had always pursued, yet had never managed to truly connect with.
– Dmitry, you and I are alike.
His Yekaterina.
* * *
It would be incorrect to say Dmitry and Yekaterina were particularly close siblings, but their relationship was not bad.
Their interaction was superficial, consisting of a few polite exchanges– a somewhat bleak relationship.
To outsiders, they could seem close. Due to their strikingly similar expressions, they looked like biological siblings.
No one ever recognized the dark obsession that lingered beneath one’s deep black eyes.
That was still true, even after Yekaterina had been locked away in the underground dungeon by Sergei.
“Sister.”
A hollow voice echoed through the dungeon. There was no response; only one person was imprisoned here.
Offenbach’s dungeon had a notorious reputation—unless one pointed a sword directly at the head of the family, it was a place from which no one returned alive. Only she, an incongruously bright figure against the dark backdrop, was trapped beyond the gaping maw of the cell bars.
Always wearing an expression detached from the world, she had never once rebelled against the harsh realities assigned to her. A woman of exceptional talent, used and discarded like a hunting dog after the hunt had concluded.
Dmitry, who loved his sister more than his own life, spoke again into the silence:
“There is no reason for Sister to die.”
