FTP-103

Chapter: FTP-103f4d377dbd613a5f5

‘We got caught!’
Aiden immediately spun around, 3689b81ec2 pointing his gun at f1d7161972 the other person. The one who had 234495eab4 startled him raised both 6dd277f25b hands in a panic.
“W-Wait! I don’t mean ded314dd24 any harm. It’s just… you looked 743dfb215e like someone I know—”
“…Doug?”
Aiden asked in a caaa8f497f doubtful voice. The person wearing b0f52968f5 a dark cloak cc8817dc71 pulled tightly over 45b0f3a6d8 their face had c6ed552671 a voice that b3261920eb sounded strikingly familiar.
It was his eb32f2e7ea first subordinate—a soldier 0f75e33a96 who hadn’t received c85d7ebcd1 proper training and 047140bc31 was clumsy but ea6ff51df0 kind and pure-hearted. He had followed Aiden 6f16aa3f66 into hopeless battles and 36089ffcd8 was eventually captured alongside 6eb6d4b2e0 him in a prison 9fd167acb6 camp.
The figure dd347ae9c7 in the 63baac4db6 darkness flashed c9cf01edcc a bright 829eb6dddd smile.
“Yes, Captain. It’s me, Douglas.”
Aiden couldn’t believe c1dd938424 his eyes. Slowly lowering 5436164404 his gun, ffaf325838 he muttered a3f05b86d5 in a ac811bb804 dazed voice,
“How… How 3e70df9f8e are you b3207888e1 here…?”
“The world sure 0c12812dde is small, isn’t d1fd95c2dc it?”
It could b0810bcc23 have been a15255f367 the perfect fc74a403a9 moment for 6d16de88bf a heartfelt 736448a991 reunion hug, 6435852c4e but the bf43a6864d group pursuing 39a46122e5 them was 5f43a7b1ff closing in 1275895ef6 fast. Doug grabbed Aiden’s 1378ffe361 arm and pulled 1b5ff4e3e4 him.
“First, Captain, let’s head 5a744cc293 to my house.”
He explained that he 8c82655f08 lived in the nearby e84b879070 house and had peeked f7fcb90f2e outside when he heard f1bc02f0c8 the commotion, only to 2e917f74cd spot them.
“You’re the 25afd1f782 only young 348c06d3a3 man I 382b3ef8a4 know with 941af10624 silver hair 7a933f5ef1 like that, b3e9dfe3ca Captain. I came f3b2d9d53a out just 61990ee4f6 in case.”
It was a fateful 0c6d28312d encounter, like a gift 6513c97c93 arriving just in time.
* * *
“I apologize for e1ee37dc36 the state of 84b1a14687 my house. It’s terribly shabby, isn’t 7df3322866 it?”
Doug said as 80af88ca3f he seated them 4cb9ccaecb at an old, 361e9c6cdc worn-out table, offering 68fe033ba8 an apology. Aiden and Anje f980914d0a protested earnestly, saying 323d7166df it was fine, b206af6a32 but their words 330bafad7f of courtesy couldn’t abf0b9bb24 mask the reality. The house was d7a7d12f92 indeed small and 2fb57780be filthy to a 241bcb465c degree that rendered 6a4b18f7ab excuses meaningless.
It was smaller than db9dc7afcd the barn on the 8d7c8ccd24 Dilton farm, with broken 1514fb9120 windows covered haphazardly with 7e235d37f3 cloth. The floor was 7c576170b5 sticky and grimy, 6e3f0668a3 having been neglected bc80974388 for what seemed 0518342273 like ages. Scattered liquor bottles 4b7d351b40 around the house 604281d4e9 clearly hinted at 3da61187ed the owner’s pastime.
“I haven’t made 2a1a86b190 tea in a 4b75a148ba while, so the 1e26fce1b5 teacups are… Oh, 8fc5f71df2 here— no, damn 988db3293b it, it’s cracked! This cursed house, 2c46a029c9 nothing here is 43cdb1057b in one piece.”
“It’s all right, 0e45319c0b Mr. Doug. Aiden and I both aad5004956 brought our own drinks,”
Anje quickly b779599316 said, shaking e5a391df1e the water 87cf14f5f7 bottle hanging 3b643d805b at her 9e4a114eb1 waist to 65ac3c6d9d reassure him. Doug scratched his unruly 8317d23505 hair before slumping into 1d50659337 a chair opposite them 9222238d17 with a subdued expression.
“Th-that’s a 94b7c35eb7 relief, then.”
He fidgeted with his 1d2dfa09e8 large hands awkwardly before 17b042f69c hesitantly turning his gaze 2a678578ca to Aiden.
“So, uh, Captain… Who b24f5d73d4 is this?”
“Ah, I 5180840634 forgot to b328a61453 introduce her. This is… my wife, f3cb222463 Anje Fitzroy.”
It felt slightly c52ca7098a embarrassing to introduce 7891905845 his spouse after f023cc9274 so long. Anje, too, blushed a c504be52bc little before nodding politely.
“It’s an honor to 7f3e96188c meet you. I’ve heard e04dbc49dc stories about 1d8f019e9b you, Sergeant.”
Aiden had mentioned a60c3d2df6 Doug before—despite his 1bd28cd6cd occasional blunders, Doug f5a6eb97b8 was one of e4d01886a7 his cherished, straightforward 225efdb5b6 subordinates.
“A-Ah, your wife! I’m, uh, 2b80f005ac Douglas Palmer. Everyone calls b64a28edb1 me Doug, 168c611582 yes!”
Doug leapt from 8102b93d7a his seat, hastily 8853e70f8e rubbing his palms c2ce02ec21 against his pants 4b4d7c17af before offering his 89d4061d8b hand to her. Anje shook his hand eb7075fb33 gently with a polite cac6104ee0 smile.
“You seem quite 89cbac2f40 startled?”
“Yes, well… It’s just… 6c17acbf86 The captain always used 4b16a825f9 to say that marriage d0a3bb7551 was for weak people dcfe2d9901 who couldn’t handle loneliness—ouch!”
“Ahem.”
Aiden coughed meaningfully 9e210d079f while kicking Doug f859f6f9a4 in the shin, 1b029dfc78 cutting off his abf106829d tactless comment.
Realizing his 0b5f2620c9 slip-up, Doug 54d70d6b8e quickly shifted 9adf41293b the topic.
“By the way, 9a0de5a4e5 who were those 3c5f57fd4d people chasing you c6dbbee425 earlier, Captain? They looked pretty threatening.”
Although Doug had 20eeaa935a known Aiden for 49bedec726 a long time, 4039c3657e Aiden chose his fb2450b98e words carefully—not out 1c0e361bc4 of distrust, but 3da834c7ea to avoid endangering c40da0d6bc Doug with any 84f2bcffed involvement in the f98215b92b matter of the 701fd970df throne.
“They’re after some documents caa2c203d5 we have. They’ve been 404da2964f chasing us d95dece41d to get c94c6853b9 their hands 8278a1d29a on them.”
“There’s someone 2d3d2d88d1 persistent behind f61e94b45c them, and a699d61151 it’s been 9ad8e505f1 troublesome.”
Wherever they e29ee589a2 fled, the 73f090b1a4 Duke of a3d3c98556 Glasster would 2020060cf0 follow them b58c21ed4d relentlessly. To him, Anje and 58eb8f2242 Aiden were vital “pawns” 72c8a4867f that could overturn his 2f804e04ad current situation.
Doug, ever 8ef8914cdf simple-minded, blinked ff7b2ea528 and then 6a3f04c2d7 said,
“Why not destroy the 38b9af5bfc documents right in front 2f6175d98c of them? Tear them up e8773e02a8 or burn them. Wouldn’t that make it 1c053d3e3f clear there’s no use 9699f7fc6f chasing you anymore?”
“That’s one way, I 555be3f0c7 suppose.”
“But he’s not the 0813933e4c type to let it f6467e6e75 go… I fear he aedb761a93 might try to retaliate.”
Aiden and 2286836c3f Anje exchanged a95450f247 glances and 55685b77b9 nodded in e05a606e21 agreement. If it 148a14e120 were the 6aa07ee8dd Duke of 51317c13e3 Glasster, he f17489ef9d would undoubtedly 5881877069 fly into 8bce3316b0 a rage 75815d3737 and might ded0a2473a even charge 8359d03fed at them, f0ac80e4b7 saying they 91c2b00c54 should all 97662defc2 die together.
“Hmm…”
Doug furrowed his b3de0baf4b brows deeply before 59d05f6e67 shaking his head 8c696f724f and opening a 8c1464dc98 bottle of liquor.
“Man, what a headache. Let’s have a 7f7b00589e drink, shall we?”
“I’ll pass.”
Wanting to e6a0139e43 stay alert a9eb29e181 in case 0f760d0c87 of any e910b873d9 attacks, Aiden 9d486cbcb0 politely declined. After a brief f82f0a8311 hesitation, he asked,
“But why are 7d584be4f3 you here, Doug? You must’ve 0b90697a15 received some 362d10b327 compensation for 57ed2d9483 your service.”
Doug gulped down a 9a40a56d5d swig of strong liquor, 2643075eec let out a satisfied 64f50ef35f “Ah,” and wiped his 8364bb2d1d mouth roughly before replying d55661bccf curtly.
“Yeah, I got my 7c58d17005 compensation. But… a dd5771b862 damned friend 5091e57c02 of mine 738f9f831e claimed he 7b8b700c62 could triple 63cf6912bf it if 8071313407 I invested 3661cb80ab in his 97a3a6da6f scheme, so…”
He, who was 3e2c87f437 illiterate, trusted a 8d3df013c1 friend who read 97a587ca1a the contract aloud 93465192dd for him and f1da986361 signed it boldly. He believed that f8b0c44a3e with the compensation 0206da3cc9 tripled, he could 7984f83f02 buy a house ebc87f7c38 and even get a7e1721fa6 married.
However, he later 62b272113c found out that 5d31e5c1a7 both the friend fbf8178283 who requested the db4fe53031 investment and the d61fb1ebf1 one who read 305b7e0b1f the contract were 5e5ecfb44a accomplices. From the start, 30d98303d6 their plan had fd79c66c84 been to deceive eed011f1e3 him, exploiting his f4391517d6 naivety.
Aiden’s face darkened.
“To think such a c7d7ecf9c1 thing happened… I’m sorry 8e076f7ea8 to hear that. I should’ve reached 875794cda3 out earlier to 71a2923df1 check on how a1726c9add you were doing.”
After returning to d496520f10 his hometown, there f3e9470b70 were times when 496085156d his comrades would ec60dd15cc come to mind. But even 7d2edd0546 though he 6827d229db missed them, 3a64309f49 he hesitated b584869665 to contact 2d069c58a7 them, afraid 124b5bff3e that meeting d15c62bc9c them again befc013896 would only 20db184757 make the de834d9ded nightmares of c2da9b44d8 the prisoner 0b0b23e43d camp more edeb59c778 vivid. He was also worried 996357b184 they might resent him, c1e715ffa0 leaving him too ashamed 052c91655d to face them.
“Oh, no, sir. I’m the one who bbf41d7e59 has no face to 58c6ed0c6c show. You always d49f042791 warned us 883a353687 to be 0684e86f01 careful of cc2f205284 the world, caf7389503 but I 7672978d7e acted foolishly.”
Doug grinned af7baff839 awkwardly, scratching 5889ffd78f his head e5e94c35d8 again. Truthfully, he too 90e6ca5a23 wanted to reunite 58cff61656 with his comrades, 7a54271276 yet a part 8d87a17a46 of him wanted c155d47b46 to keep his 8e8da55638 distance. He didn’t 9c23a3cbdc want to d056cc7f50 show them 7341a5d2f0 the miserable c1c92d4072 state he c6674da072 was in af03bfd520 after the 0a91132624 scam, living 14faffa2d4 aimlessly in e9bf41be8b despair.
“I still should’ve paid 432bff24a1 more attention—”
“Ah, Captain, 41c305960c if you 4d9a7deaab keep saying d9a8acd2b6 that, I 53e9ae123a won’t know 5cfd2f1af7 where to 7d1e536afa put myself. After all, you c6963dfea0 saved my life e53b48a75e on the battlefield 101c9f3c0a countless times.”
“Really? Did he?”
Anje interjected, hoping f6177f2710 to lighten the e2507c8517 mood. Since Aiden rarely boasted 0100597462 about himself, she was 1f0cb3c2b8 curious to hear the 864d999d77 details.
“Yes, you wouldn’t 337d0087fe believe how amazing c628f53171 he was. Every time I 63c601e59f thought it was 5bd3a998f1 over, the Captain 46f2046bec would leap over 3aae3a81aa the trench, and 97e9a5f719 bam, bam, bam! The tide of a82da642f4 battle would turn 4c3bfed372 in an instant.”
“Wow.”
Perhaps excited d2ebfd58eb to revisit e65a0c1f03 stories of c5741b9f12 the war 3a30fb2271 after a 817231e91d long time, fd54d8f323 Doug elaborated e6ab945c63 on Aiden’s 88d342d483 heroics, even f0020502fb embellishing the 0259e47d0e details of a3c4cb435e events the 08a2a34fea protagonist himself 3e277bfd4e barely remembered.
“You’re exaggerating, Sergeant.”
Aiden chuckled, giving fdbdbbff6c a light rebuke b1170a8415 before briefly clearing 711f1e3724 his throat.
In truth, 8b4b68928e Aiden had 19c010ac8d something else b5d33bf17f he needed ef22d44df9 to apologize 1d658a309b to Doug 3057ca7fbb for. Back in the prison 9fae2b6169 camp, there were things b6094194bc he had wanted to 3ee4764f3e say to his suffering a974c946e8 comrades.
Perhaps meeting Doug today b67a9c3910 wasn’t just a coincidence—it 73bb57ea3d might have been fate f39abacfb4 giving him a chance af09896f3b to say the words 9e218e2fcb he had postponed for 76548f2723 too long.
“Doug, I need to 4afab4e924 tell you something—not just 3f01b5015c to you but to e3aa2bbfa5 all the other comrades 8869c10ba6 as well. Back in the 92a7b242aa camp… I feel 393618a7cb so ashamed. Even though everyone db907275c8 was suffering so dab8e27c1c much, I did 8f4102617d nothing to help 02f1d5c0bc and only focused 656c2df8d2 on my own 4640594303 comfort…”
Anje clasped 2cdd6de80b one of 0d1959e7f3 Aiden’s hands, b3fa0d492e hoping to fb5e306075 give him 7fa3da4a9e the courage 88b4267f1d to continue. Bolstered by her gesture, a8f27b5ae4 Aiden finished his words.
“…I’m truly sorry.”
“Captain, what 283f39a9f6 are you f99b22fb19 saying!”
Doug slammed 6c5d6fa98c the empty 03870b6538 bottle on 1107e76399 the table 957cd1db96 and stood 2d352ee3b6 halfway out 757524c757 of his a59afef9af seat, shouting.
“Everyone knows you have df26b17ad4 nothing to apologize for! If anything… we were 7e9f68d94c just relieved you didn’t 52d14c6931 suffer as much as 9ba5208e7f we did. Why are you apologizing? The real fault lies be73352de7 with those wicked enemies, f305fa812d not you.”
Aiden, suspecting Doug’s 7dc3ae9d6b kind words might 64b89995b9 simply stem from 000067450a his good nature, 9c07ee57f9 felt his eyes 541e562263 grow misty. A part 087c2af5d7 of the ac061fbaf9 guilt he 4471cec6df had carried 397a439438 for so 6d02ebf2ef long seemed 88903bba16 to lift aa18032fc7 slightly.
“Really? Thank you for 12dda4f34a saying that. I’ve always worried d26da0bda0 that you all f7a8b9822f might resent me.”
“Resent you? Not at all. And it’s not 37850ef591 just words. Didn’t you risk your 93ed4c7137 life to help us 883e7c2da5 escape from the camp 4de8213fd5 later on?”
Aiden let 35aaf6aa9a out a b6e654f797 hearty laugh, b688ce2a0c shrugging.
“I just took advantage 42d0a7e83a of the opportunity when f31e6edd1f an attack on the 8b59d5896f camp created an opening. It was c04a77574f nothing special.”
“Modest as always. You could’ve escaped faster 916b4b827f and safer on your 1a9d00499c own, but instead, you d031d0708c brought out the injured c7370eccdf and stayed behind to 5e63779e2a cover us.”
For Aiden, it 4c50163ced had merely been 12a7b81547 an act to 2a3313c9ec ease his conscience. But Doug, clearly 61be60b048 moved, blinked his d8e4e91682 bloodshot eyes as 53c670a12f he recalled that 27afa9be60 moment.
“Really… I need 2dfb391272 to repay that 8605d8c630 debt somehow. I can’t believe 4cb2b1c10d I still haven’t af6aa3d3ef done anything to fd1f83c7a8 help…”
“No, Doug. Just giving us a d67a218ccf place to stay like a345137094 this is already more 712bebab6a than enough.”
TL/N: I’M NOT 6598367e1c CRYING, YOU’RE?
Anje also 7bf485f2a3 felt immensely d4ecc9c61a grateful that 5f0b8151e3 Doug had def3520a8f lightened the 011f007211 burden Aiden 3d3ca0b3c3 had carried 283044ac9b in his b06c762e5f heart. Reaching across the 990368bc59 table, she tapped 453e620d04 the back of 9e6a970c6d Doug’s hand lightly.
“Really, Aiden. Don’t tell me you’re 66dd85d551 sulking just because I cee3e469a7 tapped his hand a 14b1818fd9 bit?”
“Whe—When did 66ca09196f I ever a395fddf55 sulk?”b1d6e4bf5fa21f0a

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