IPTYFM

CHAPTER XXXV

I was relieved, but my luck did not extend to me.

Two days later, soldiers driving a military truck knocked on our door.

“Rize Renner! Major Felkner is looking for you!”

It just so happened to be when Johann was away for work. I realized the soldiers had come well past the time they usually mobilized workers from the village with their military truck.

It wasn’t a coincidence; they had deliberately chosen a time when my husband was away. The Major had made his intentions towards me blatantly clear.

Knowing all this, I still had no choice but to open the door and ask.

“What does the Major need me for?”

“All citizens of Hyland must comply with the military’s mobilization orders without question. Come out now!”

“Just, just give me a moment, please.”

There was no escape. Even if there were, fleeing would brand me as a draft dodger, possibly forcing us to flee our new home forever.

I wish I had a weapon to defend myself when that beast tries to pounce on me…

The weapon I chose to protect myself was our wedding ring, which I had hidden away intending to sell someday.

Maybe reminding him that I was a married woman would make him lose interest?

When he knew that I was married and still summoning me likely meant it was futile.

With a heavy heart, I picked up a pen with trembling hands.

‘I need to let Johann know I’ve been taken.’

But after writing ‘To Johann,’ I couldn’t write anything else. I had no idea what message to leave.

‘If Johann knows I’ve been taken, he’ll come after me to the bunker.’

I imagined the worst. I envisioned Johann trying to enter the bunker without permission, getting beaten up, or worse, killed by the soldiers.

Hesitating, I eventually left without leaving any message for Johann and followed the soldiers.

As if to highlight the Major’s purpose, the truck, carrying no one else but me, left the only commercial area in the mountains and headed into the deep forest.

I was sure I had been in a vehicle before. The distinct rattle of the tires on unpaved roads, the pungent exhaust fumes, and the engine noise made my stomach churn with a sense of deja vu.

After a while, an old farmhouse hidden in the dense forest appeared. The truck passed through the heavily guarded fence and went straight into a large barn, where it stopped.

“Get out.”

I followed the soldiers down a staircase at the corner of the barn, passing through a door on the floor that led us underground. Crossing through an iron door in the basement, we entered a corridor lit intermittently by electric lights, branching off in three directions.

‘This must be the bunker.’

It felt like entering a tomb.

“Major, we’ve brought the woman you requested.”

The soldiers escorted me to where Major Felkner was. Fortunately, it was an office space, not a bedroom. But I was no longer naive enough to think that a bed was necessary for intimacy.

Major Felkner, leaning back with his chin propped on his hand behind the desk, stared at me with hungry eyes. I felt like prey thrown into a predator’s cage.

“You may leave. I got it from here.”

After the soldier who brought me left, the door closed behind me, leaving me trapped in a windowless room alone with a man who could do whatever he wanted with me.

‘No.’

The thought of being intimate with a man other than Johann was revolting. But if he wasn’t planning on forcing me, he wouldn’t have used his power to bring me here against my will.

I felt as if blood was draining from my body. I was suffocating.

Feeling like I was about to faint, I mustered the last of my strength to keep myself from collapsing. Then, the Major, who had been eyeing me disgustingly, smirked.

“Why are you trembling like a cornered mouse? You think I brought you here to ravish you? Haven’t you heard? I don’t do such things.”

It was true that there were rumors that, despite his lascivious nature, the Major did not force himself on women. Yet, I couldn’t fully trust these rumors, especially since the one about him not being interested in married women was proven wrong by the current situation.

“Clean my office.”

He gestured towards the cleaning supplies in the corner. Though he said he called me to clean, I remained uneasy. There were other women for such tasks, so there had to be a reason he specifically summoned me.

Eager to finish and leave, I hurriedly worked, occasionally stealing glances at the Major seated at his desk.

Wondering when he might change his mind and pounce on me.

Every time I did that, our eyes met. It was clear that the lieutenant was continuously watching me. Each time, he snickered at me who was scared and on guard.

“So, you are wearing the ring today.”

He mocked me with that comment too.

“Do you only wear your wedding ring when a predator like me comes around?”

Calling himself a predator. It was an admission that he harbored lustful thoughts towards me. My heart skipped a beat.

“What a naive idea. A teacher trying to protect his wife with nothing but an ax against a man with a gun.”

The lieutenant mentioned my husband while I was frozen, stopping midway through wiping the table.

“Johann Renner. How did such an insignificant teacher manage to land such a stunning beauty?”

To call Johann insignificant. The man must have inhaled too much poison gas on the battlefield to be so blind.

“Rize Einemann, what did you see in Johann Renner?”