THM 03

Chapter 3

I followed the man toward the Naval Headquarters. The cruel sound still echoed in my ears.

After walking a while along the road that led to the opposite side, a large modern building came into view. Beneath it, neatly laid tiles shimmered under the sunlight.

When we entered the building, a soldier built like a bear spotted the man and hurried over. He immediately snapped into a crisp salute.

“Colonel, you’ve arrived.”

The man returned the salute briefly, and the soldier lowered his hand. Then he looked at me and asked,

“And the woman beside you is…?”

The man introduced me as a bereaved family member. Hearing that, the subordinate tried to guide me.

“Ah…! Then this way—”

The man raised his hand and stopped him.

“I’ll guide her.”

“Pardon?”

The soldier’s small eyes widened. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly with his thick hand and stepped aside.

“Yes, sir… then.”

As we headed down the corridor leading underground, the navy personnel were all busy with their work.

Whenever they spotted the man, they stopped what they were doing and saluted in unison. Then they would glance at me trailing behind him, their faces unable to hide their curiosity.

But it wasn’t something important to me.

“Have the other bereaved families already come? Ah… it seems like I’m the only outsider here.”

“Most of them have already visited.”

The man replied while opening the door at the bottom of the stairs.

Here as well, the navy personnel greeted him with great respect. After walking a bit further, someone approached us.

“Commander, we’ve recovered all the belongings from the Balt Fleet. We should be able to deliver them to the families within the designated period.”

Commander…?

For some time now, the way the navy personnel addressed the man had been scratching uncomfortably at the back of my mind.

Naval colonel. Balt Fleet. Commander…

It didn’t take long for me to realize where that uneasiness was coming from.

‘Johannes Schultz?’

I looked up at the man with wide eyes. My tightly closed lips slowly parted, and a faint sigh escaped.

“Are you… Lord Schultz, the young duke?”

At my barely managed words, the man raised an eyebrow. Then he looked down at me with an indifferent gaze.

“If you’re asking about my birth status, then yes.”

He confirmed it shortly.

“My goodness.”

I stood there for a moment, unable to continue speaking.

I thought I was the only one burdened with misfortune. But there was someone else who bore even more.

Not only had this man witnessed his father’s execution right in front of him, he also had to endure all the accusations from the crowd gathered at the harbor.

Yet how could he be so calm? How could he face those painful moments without avoiding them at all?

“How can you—”

“Are you asking how I can act like nothing happened?”

I slowly nodded my stiff head. Johannes Schultz didn’t answer and simply continued walking.

We walked down a long, white corridor in silence. Then he stopped in front of a door, grasped the handle, and said,

“I simply believe that if someone commits a crime, it’s only natural they receive the punishment they deserve. That’s what my father taught me.”

I unconsciously inhaled.

There wasn’t the slightest tremor in his voice. He spoke as if he were talking about someone else entirely—someone unrelated to himself.

“But how can you not doubt it even a little? He could have been falsely accused—”

“Would that change anything?”

“…What?”

He slowly turned his head and looked straight at me with his blue eyes.

“A soldier must follow the orders of the commander-in-chief, regardless of the reason. And right now, that’s the royal family.”

I couldn’t say anything.

Perhaps it was just my imagination, but for a brief moment, I thought I saw sadness flicker in his eyes.

“This is the morgue. Would you like to confirm?”

He asked again with a stiff expression—whether I was ready to see my father’s body.

Instead of answering, I slowly nodded. He pulled the door open.

The morgue was colder than anywhere else. A strange smell filled the air—the sharp scent of chemicals mixed with the odor of corpses.

Slowly scanning the room, I found a bed with a nameplate bearing my father’s name.

“It’s more decomposed than the other bodies. It may be unpleasant.”

“…It’s fine. I have to see with my own eyes if it’s really my father.”

That confidence lasted only a moment.

“Ugh—”

The moment I saw the body, an instinctive wave of nausea rushed over me. I quickly covered my mouth and rushed out of the morgue.

Only after standing there for a long time, catching my breath, did disgust toward myself begin to rise.

How sad my father must feel.

After steadying myself, I stepped back into the morgue.

My father’s body was so distorted that it was impossible to recognize. On top of that, it emitted a terrible smell. His body, covered with dark purple blotches, looked utterly miserable.

Because of that, I was struck with shock once again.

Was this truly my father’s body if it was so decomposed that identification was difficult?

“Is it really my father…?”

I wasn’t expecting an answer. I simply needed to say it out loud—to face reality.

Johannes didn’t reply either.

While examining my father’s unmoving body, I grabbed his hand. It was the first time I had ever touched a corpse. The hand was damp and slippery.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the navy personnel guarding the morgue turning their faces away, unable to watch. But I had no room to care about them.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

The cold touch of the corpse—devoid of even the slightest warmth.

Only then did it fully sink in.

My father was truly gone.

But then I realized something. It felt different from the hand my father used to hold mine with.

I quickly lifted the hand I was holding and examined it.

“…This isn’t my father’s hand.”

I said hurriedly while looking up at the young Duke Schultz. His eyebrow rose. I stammered as I tried to explain.

“My father’s—my father’s right index finger is bent. I’m sure of it! So what I mean is, my father might still be—”

I couldn’t finish my sentence. Then the navy soldier—the only one who hadn’t turned his head away besides Johannes Schultz—carefully spoke.

“Um… I’m not sure if I should say this, but during the process of decomposition, a body can swell, and it may temporarily look like the finger has straightened.”

“But—”

“All the belongings recovered from the body belong to Sergeant Prim.”

Young Duke Schultz interrupted while handing me a box of belongings placed in the corner.

“Ah…”

The faint hope I had instantly disappeared. A hollow feeling wrapped around my body.

So it’s true.

A navy badge engraved with the name Isaac Prim, his clothes, and the handkerchief I had embroidered and given him.

The moment I saw my father’s belongings, the emotions I had barely been holding back began to shake violently.

The tears I had suppressed threatened to burst out, so I widened my eyes and bit my lip tightly. I clenched the shroud covering my father’s body, trying desperately to hold them back.

Meanwhile, the navy personnel guarding the morgue quietly left. Only Johannes Schultz remained by my side.

Then I heard a low voice.

“You can cry.”

A simple sentence from someone who shared the same pain felt more comforting than anything else—even if he hadn’t meant it that way.

In the end, the tears I had been holding back burst out. I collapsed in front of my father, buried my face, and sobbed.

A large hand hovered awkwardly in the air before gently patting my back.

For a long time, I stayed beside him, pouring out my grief.

After finally composing myself, I finished applying for the death insurance with the help of the young Duke Schultz.

If one were to measure the value of the death of a man named Isaac Prim in money, the amount was truly pathetic.

“Only six million Berk…?”

It was ridiculous and miserable to deal with such calculations right after sending my father off, but I, who was still alive, had to continue living in reality.

“Sergeant Isaac Prim’s insurance payout wasn’t large to begin with. He often took advances on his military salary, and he was only a soldier.”

“But if he hadn’t gone to war, he wouldn’t have gotten sick!”

“I’m just a low-ranking soldier myself. Arguing with me won’t change anything. If you’re that desperate, go find a military officer you know and ask them.”

The soldier waved his hand dismissively, looking annoyed.

“Then…”

Those who died lonely deaths fighting for their country were worth less than a single month of luxury spending for high-ranking nobles.

“If you keep this up, it’ll make things difficult for us too. We have to explain this to every single person.”

The soldier glanced around to make sure no one was listening, then lowered his voice.

“The amount Duke Schultz embezzled was enormous, so there’s barely any insurance money left for the fallen soldiers.”

His answer sounded stiff, as if he had memorized it.

Almost as if he wanted me to blame Duke Schultz.

That made it even harder to believe.

He added that the insurance paid to the families of other fallen soldiers was also very small, and essentially pushed me out.

When I arrived home, countless letters were stuffed into the mailbox.

Most of them were overdue tax notices or water bills.

“Ha…”

Poverty didn’t even give me the chance to grieve my father’s death.

Without any time to remember his final moments, I had to earn money to face the harsh reality standing right in front of me.