FTP-103

Chapter: FTP-103989642c83cdf2699

‘We got caught!’
Aiden immediately 9fd550c613 spun around, 4675dcfa87 pointing his 7f50b40517 gun at 34e9b3c204 the other 3d03ffc6b1 person. The one who 4ee5fafc89 had startled him 4aae353bc0 raised both hands 70d22aaf55 in a panic.
“W-Wait! I don’t mean any 4dc3226846 harm. It’s just… you 971f56d68e looked like someone 5a90c0edf5 I know—”
“…Doug?”
Aiden asked in a 9f417d284c doubtful voice. The person wearing a fc0fde49ec dark cloak pulled tightly c342905420 over their face had 2f71704b38 a voice that sounded b53685ad55 strikingly familiar.
It was e149866824 his first 755442bb15 subordinate—a soldier 138ac843cb who hadn’t 66216f8c9c received proper c8ccee5e0b training and a687d8c2eb was clumsy 2d79aa61d4 but kind b05679a78b and pure-hearted. He had followed 842ffafbbb Aiden into hopeless 2f1b51c162 battles and was 9dc72b97c5 eventually captured alongside 9349c39ad8 him in a 2122a5a851 prison camp.
The figure in the 57f4f85ffc darkness flashed a bright 314b8f2e47 smile.
“Yes, Captain. It’s me, Douglas.”
Aiden couldn’t believe his d1c477c992 eyes. Slowly lowering his db87e6d242 gun, he muttered 68113560af in a dazed 8641d71b32 voice,
“How… How 421f38e276 are you 9d28fa1c04 here…?”
“The world d728e56f23 sure is b88b3212ca small, isn’t 7191c601fb it?”
It could have 3172e271b9 been the perfect 0d129e393a moment for a 9e071baa9d heartfelt reunion hug, 72b3fdc7b4 but the group 62f6dc42c6 pursuing them was 824719c123 closing in fast. Doug grabbed Aiden’s arm 30d8fdc7fe and pulled him.
“First, Captain, let’s head a60034f93e to my house.”
He explained that he 49d9f3d3a4 lived in the nearby 900608c45c house and had peeked 92b750fade outside when he heard 3fa2a24bdc the commotion, only to a75661a726 spot them.
“You’re the 0076007d02 only young 2e86d1c15e man I bfffdc5395 know with 15ed6363a1 silver hair 321a931f99 like that, d299613e75 Captain. I came 64778ec167 out just b16b0d9c5c in case.”
It was a fateful 52c8b1f60c encounter, like a gift 503b938621 arriving just in time.
* * *
“I apologize for 4da1bc50d8 the state of bc598c9776 my house. It’s terribly 7ad73892f4 shabby, isn’t 959a5921cb it?”
Doug said as he c4ba112ede seated them at an b7e8325047 old, worn-out table, offering a22c43073b an apology. Aiden and 429a679194 Anje protested 5ec3e009ed earnestly, saying 2d17326add it was 319204912e fine, but 336966cff2 their words c0b56d49ca of courtesy 8ae7b1ca59 couldn’t mask 8d07fd4a7d the reality. The house b41071c3d6 was indeed 06d51614ff small and 506986bc8c filthy to da382a3bae a degree b6c2716fed that rendered 8bb5346f41 excuses meaningless.
It was smaller fecc622000 than the barn 5156e526c7 on the Dilton bc58dbd495 farm, with broken abdf5896c9 windows covered haphazardly fd01af858a with cloth. The floor c4c38c0b99 was sticky 15fe97a9b8 and grimy, 47039ddc7b having been 34b3ac0533 neglected for c6334ba9c4 what seemed 629aa2a4c7 like ages. Scattered liquor bottles around d0d8ccbf3c the house clearly hinted 735957d5bd at the owner’s pastime.
“I haven’t 4e7ea9f4df made tea 660ef96723 in a 4f84b6d2b4 while, so 4f0e0c4545 the teacups bf9c4c5bb9 are… Oh, df337afe8b here— no, 23f5ff0360 damn it, ecf4de0218 it’s cracked! This cursed house, nothing 79d5581af9 here is in one 2112b1dc6e piece.”
“It’s all right, b2344adca7 Mr. Doug. Aiden and I 848babf15c both brought our 9295321de4 own drinks,”
Anje quickly said, shaking b248ce9b1c the water bottle hanging ba135454d7 at her waist to c3a91a4353 reassure him. Doug scratched 7c4b0225e2 his unruly a16f2450d3 hair before b06d37e87f slumping into 34d5169e4c a chair 59a131828a opposite them 0606063dd0 with a ddf7e7a091 subdued expression.
“Th-that’s a relief, 92fc1a8301 then.”
He fidgeted 687de731e4 with his fd9f9c0dc0 large hands 1923121066 awkwardly before 5475bd4025 hesitantly turning ec0150c841 his gaze 413d2a1f02 to Aiden.
“So, uh, Captain… 6bdd0b2ae7 Who is this?”
“Ah, I forgot to 48e71f3d77 introduce her. This is… 19c580f364 my wife, b48c3711d8 Anje Fitzroy.”
It felt c589efcf4c slightly embarrassing 2ab3cda0b8 to introduce d20ea853a6 his spouse 5b9321b2ca after so 9d3887407c long. Anje, too, 2129d4e3b6 blushed a c3d8f4e6be little before 2a3ce0808c nodding politely.
“It’s an honor 2498f23f87 to meet you. I’ve heard c376693ce5 stories about d9d4eae617 you, Sergeant.”
Aiden had mentioned Doug 35e5c0370f before—despite his occasional blunders, 42fcb0f6f1 Doug was one of 275886c21a his cherished, straightforward subordinates.
“A-Ah, your wife! I’m, uh, Douglas fba53a9d59 Palmer. Everyone calls bdb35ca2da me Doug, 8348ae8e35 yes!”
Doug leapt 214bf13a09 from his 0b60c571ef seat, hastily c157865217 rubbing his 3712a65d0b palms against e15b627be9 his pants fc4e1b1401 before offering 819785800c his hand ba1d386ddf to her. Anje shook his hand d535ac3d03 gently with a polite ee22a81c09 smile.
“You seem quite startled?”
“Yes, well… 3e18a63fef It’s just… 0fb0cf7cf1 The captain 27bb4e8c5c always used 8b2461fc2e to say c77ea7e94c that marriage 6e8fac2f22 was for cf1fd28495 weak people cdc95428cd who couldn’t 421f3970b2 handle loneliness—ouch!”
“Ahem.”
Aiden coughed meaningfully fcf4c6347a while kicking Doug 0215cab588 in the shin, e90255279f cutting off his 5fb770c04e tactless comment.
Realizing his slip-up, e27337141c Doug quickly shifted 7b8d945b0d the topic.
“By the 8d1147f7dd way, who 15ac641886 were those e15d2c6213 people chasing 14052a08d1 you earlier, 7fbda7d684 Captain? They looked pretty threatening.”
Although Doug had 3d7a7643e3 known Aiden for 7573b180c2 a long time, e53b9f2d66 Aiden chose his a284262aac words carefully—not out e8b6ed26a3 of distrust, but 988714fbc3 to avoid endangering b96de74ee7 Doug with any 508ef420c9 involvement in the 12c7efd70f matter of the 2033115297 throne.
“They’re after ff8a17dfcd some documents 3ae7517922 we have. They’ve been chasing 1cdcc8f7e3 us to get cc0913fb5f their hands on 6ecbf4d3f0 them.”
“There’s someone persistent 4fdfbff5d4 behind them, and 491c8380c8 it’s been troublesome.”
Wherever they fled, the 59333ff02f Duke of Glasster would e8e0b0f763 follow them relentlessly. To him, Anje a34b3a4c2a and Aiden were 679ad45ccf vital “pawns” that d319fab384 could overturn his 85b152b3d1 current situation.
Doug, ever simple-minded, 1b78cd91ac blinked and then 3c4d105b79 said,
“Why not destroy the ae176cd783 documents right in front 663a74fa6f of them? Tear them up f546316e2a or burn them. Wouldn’t that 290f0d88be make it e229a361c6 clear there’s bcc66a7f8e no use 9f00bec5f2 chasing you 0104cfa13d anymore?”
“That’s one way, 79a7d9a5db I suppose.”
“But he’s not the e21d5e11d8 type to let it 43021adf89 go… I fear he 663dae50b0 might try to retaliate.”
Aiden and Anje 0591713734 exchanged glances and 632c209491 nodded in agreement. If it were the e134b18d5b Duke of Glasster, he cab04df8f8 would undoubtedly fly into 1dfc8944dd a rage and might 9d672460ac even charge at them, 3108df92e9 saying they should all 769b09c930 die together.
“Hmm…”
Doug furrowed 1553135aa5 his brows 6afc0fbb4b deeply before 3f3989843e shaking his 1d24a16caf head and 79e432e73f opening a b7b236be9e bottle of ed0030819f liquor.
“Man, what a headache. Let’s have a 65515b1f5c drink, shall we?”
“I’ll pass.”
Wanting to 9d764aba77 stay alert fe2b2f4b12 in case 87f0e622d1 of any 4c61d27976 attacks, Aiden 5ed4d0d940 politely declined. After a brief hesitation, 6533b3eb7e he asked,
“But why are c4f473a9e7 you here, Doug? You must’ve received some 3d6ea5efff compensation for your service.”
Doug gulped ed17818c36 down a b7c67694d0 swig of 0def34c56c strong liquor, 049e914e03 let out f763614bfe a satisfied 02a2586852 “Ah,” and 8c17877e53 wiped his a43abd54a7 mouth roughly 28c6bd7cf8 before replying 9dc6449753 curtly.
“Yeah, I 2559182734 got my 8d1c480e1a compensation. But… a 91b0912966 damned friend 9e0278be26 of mine b60b3d93a8 claimed he d24e0f37ae could triple 947e9530a0 it if e2d0a3f129 I invested bf78c7b8ab in his bfb9e1ce2d scheme, so…”
He, who was 89fde8eef6 illiterate, trusted a fa3026f42b friend who read 92413e0bb4 the contract aloud 26b6b95239 for him and cc88ba394d signed it boldly. He believed that 1632a6095e with the compensation d6a028196b tripled, he could 435f974445 buy a house 092d964905 and even get dfbf18c939 married.
However, he e3588c9ee3 later found 0d86ea0a63 out that f1afa538c4 both the 906bedd09a friend who 38fee3be69 requested the ccb64e2894 investment and 8223c99968 the one 6d1a03f4ff who read 30f0991c90 the contract 5bf09f36e0 were accomplices. From the b404f594ca start, their 9b0f3c84a7 plan had 0509cc2e04 been to 6c1d6662e0 deceive him, 1b098c4bc1 exploiting his 2a1d207c1e naivety.
Aiden’s face darkened.
“To think 347142c146 such a 72793f60df thing happened… f05c881c50 I’m sorry 23925bc182 to hear ee4a01e16f that. I should’ve reached out 43c589eb2b earlier to check on 305f1ed9fc how you were doing.”
After returning to his 5b05fbd7f3 hometown, there were times 7969454da8 when his comrades would c7db1f245e come to mind. But even 8d23ba54df though he 5ee856c2fe missed them, 01a2b503e8 he hesitated b9bdcae03f to contact 0abcf6a090 them, afraid 98245aef84 that meeting a85c0827fe them again 0f5214ea85 would only 02d56b6fc2 make the bc6ee4631c nightmares of 632b1e3c80 the prisoner aecf9c6df9 camp more 7acafe7349 vivid. He was also ac15747b90 worried they might 64790f67a0 resent him, leaving 18c82f84c7 him too ashamed caf4c48f8c to face them.
“Oh, no, sir. I’m the one 791e866686 who has no 1ef7396610 face to show. You always warned c1ea856989 us to be e2b6e196fb careful of the 6cdf15a0ae world, but I 2356f6f9a1 acted foolishly.”
Doug grinned awkwardly, e407091f4a scratching his head f72468187f again. Truthfully, he too 70273c8cbf wanted to reunite 3f8c4b9891 with his comrades, 0b1c8be8ba yet a part 9dda023bfa of him wanted 651114b368 to keep his 1977a9ec72 distance. He didn’t 7b2235b2e8 want to 866bd71822 show them 9502bf3c51 the miserable d979909c2e state he 59fe3c588f was in e78ffa0c0f after the 9c8ab593fa scam, living fc7d5c1e29 aimlessly in ae2290dc10 despair.
“I still should’ve paid e89c8b3c02 more attention—”
“Ah, Captain, 2e87d11946 if you fd22953480 keep saying dd8323e7a5 that, I bc8a9ca1e2 won’t know b4cf979971 where to e7f73a293c put myself. After all, you saved 65109f9c71 my life on the 8af7718f18 battlefield countless times.”
“Really? Did he?”
Anje interjected, hoping to 1b90cd7b5c lighten the mood. Since Aiden rarely boasted 15126f1655 about himself, she was 2bc6769419 curious to hear the f1cd2cddfd details.
“Yes, you wouldn’t 47d9345396 believe how amazing c01e973b9b he was. Every time I thought 2604fe7fcf it was over, the a56a7bb7cb Captain would leap over ebe1c4227f the trench, and bam, 06089d5cf1 bam, bam! The tide of battle ec4d8bacaa would turn in an 63eaef66a0 instant.”
“Wow.”
Perhaps excited 2e8212ddf0 to revisit 03a1b7211e stories of e9091b9560 the war 71d814af0d after a dd9f278c09 long time, 1e7ce50e62 Doug elaborated 10be0cd9e1 on Aiden’s 769294cd63 heroics, even 769677be62 embellishing the e69e9a3ff6 details of 017c1e271f events the 6df7e9c670 protagonist himself b09135f846 barely remembered.
“You’re exaggerating, Sergeant.”
Aiden chuckled, ea985f7795 giving a fd22ca03bc light rebuke aadcdcf3b0 before briefly e73e3077a8 clearing his 14cf16dec4 throat.
In truth, ed2fa71e34 Aiden had f19f065f57 something else 7b81fc6407 he needed 1bc06f9a4e to apologize 70050f8336 to Doug f91d30e450 for. Back in the prison f23bb21937 camp, there were things a67b35854e he had wanted to 6c14011958 say to his suffering 2974142bbe comrades.
Perhaps meeting 1c7a15152f Doug today 9a02462716 wasn’t just a582546f87 a coincidence—it 0f7ef7b3ba might have 96e1f46e20 been fate 4f6f85a0f8 giving him de3423bb05 a chance bbcb747891 to say 5d8b52d076 the words bfae48eaa5 he had 7b9e4d7e8f postponed for 0c66348d74 too long.
“Doug, I need 691fead71f to tell you 8b0fd6c888 something—not just to 544e2d729c you but to 5754bb2c0f all the other 12be70563b comrades as well. Back in the c222c0290b camp… I feel 911cf6f2f0 so ashamed. Even though 68ffddcc4c everyone was 66aa42cded suffering so 90ecf40808 much, I 3ab7274ecc did nothing f123a40011 to help 5f572a8412 and only 9008ad452c focused on 05d8b13fb4 my own 826b30f859 comfort…”
Anje clasped one 0990123e8f of Aiden’s hands, a4b4a4e173 hoping to give e6ed080095 him the courage 316def875c to continue. Bolstered by her 548ef133e9 gesture, Aiden finished 0da27754cb his words.
“…I’m truly sorry.”
“Captain, what are 7c2bdc26d9 you saying!”
Doug slammed the empty f619f2b418 bottle on the table f3225db889 and stood halfway out e62daee9cb of his seat, shouting.
“Everyone knows e2cd8b4ffd you have 53023f3a81 nothing to 0bb3c413e1 apologize for! If anything… we 8d071073f2 were just relieved c8869b3103 you didn’t suffer 2547105e34 as much as e4de71d666 we did. Why are you f2bf17179a apologizing? The real fault lies 8bae083464 with those wicked enemies, a3922f589c not you.”
Aiden, suspecting c376be5d23 Doug’s kind 0327abad9c words might 62348a2339 simply stem 46219bb7aa from his c6e4b3587f good nature, faf5f7d5e3 felt his bd3ee85c81 eyes grow 90c35497c7 misty. A part a3a392aad0 of the 96d78042a5 guilt he e219f7cb24 had carried 1a9ca92d56 for so 68515aa718 long seemed 4b9511ebe7 to lift 3b362a39b1 slightly.
“Really? Thank you for saying 100fd2e3f6 that. I’ve always worried e87a78edaf that you all ead659fd84 might resent me.”
“Resent you? Not at all. And it’s 29d1a9a520 not just 19322ba041 words. Didn’t you risk a59d14daac your life to f45a6abe84 help us escape 5b56183b2e from the camp 8423e6daa7 later on?”
Aiden let 9e990f45e5 out a 661325d099 hearty laugh, 44bafd0fa3 shrugging.
“I just took advantage 3e316262f5 of the opportunity when 8c5078d69f an attack on the 41e1bf4474 camp created an opening. It was nothing special.”
“Modest as always. You could’ve escaped dd042c53ee faster and safer 61e1c8a311 on your own, 1d5e360c2f but instead, you 860119674f brought out the c4044d5d39 injured and stayed 1f37e598ab behind to cover 4c4ac027f3 us.”
For Aiden, edc45b5983 it had a57842092b merely been b8e31ad278 an act c92534377f to ease a371fccb20 his conscience. But Doug, clearly moved, 8ea471eb81 blinked his bloodshot eyes 2620dedf3d as he recalled that 319f19ae54 moment.
“Really… I need to 4c4e7b0807 repay that debt somehow. I can’t 844171743a believe I f8c7465f20 still haven’t 7f21c8fc47 done anything 0263026e21 to help…”
“No, Doug. Just giving us a 7143bc3c5f place to stay like 5515bbf8f5 this is already more 9ff6b66cc2 than enough.”
TL/N: I’M bca5f2200e NOT CRYING, 1c2afe6cb4 YOU’RE?
Anje also felt immensely fa36f0a4e0 grateful that Doug had bfb71d5b4c lightened the burden Aiden abd176e47c had carried in his 213f28e181 heart. Reaching across the table, 579eb770f4 she tapped the back fedd15eaf6 of Doug’s hand lightly.
“Really, Aiden. Don’t tell 4b206d4048 me you’re 516da73622 sulking just b02c930615 because I ba7c076aeb tapped his de61972b44 hand a c06056eb5c bit?”
“Whe—When did 261d05fcad I ever 399a866bf7 sulk?”8c420e24a99b559e

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