CAR 14

A shabby, boyish man stood hesitantly by the door. He had the face, goddammit, of Laurent Remit.

Dennis called on the student in the very front row.

“Read chapter one.”

With a reluctant face, he haltingly began to read the first chapter. In the meantime, Dennis stepped out of the classroom. As if curious about the classroom’s interior, Laurent Remit moved his head this way and that.

Dennis deliberately put on a blank expression to hide his confusion. Covering his mouth, Dennis looked up at Laurent Remit. He wasn’t some kind of imitation.

A perfectly living human being.

Resembling him down to the lightly scattered freckles… Dennis unconsciously reached a hand out to him. He traced Laurent Remit’s nose and cheeks. The other person pulled back, seemingly startled.

He felt as though he had been struck on the head.

Behind Dennis’s back, dozens of pairs of eyes were surely watching him. But more shocking than their gazes was the direct stare of the person he was confronting. Laurent Remit flinched as Dennis blatantly looked him over.

“…Are you messing with me?”

That was the first thing Dennis managed to get out. It could have been something Vittorio and Laurent had cooked up together. It was as if they had placed Dennis right in the middle of a card table and were shuffling the deck amongst themselves.

“Excuse me?”

“Laurent Remit.”

Laurent, looking flustered, even took off his hat. He had tried to dress properly, but no matter how you looked at it, his attire was plain. Dennis gripped his shoulders firmly. Perhaps this was a hallucination Dennis himself had conjured. Dennis impulsively raised his hand.

“My name is… Sami.”

Along with the false introduction, Dennis slapped Laurent’s cheek. The hat and luggage bag in his hand fell limply. He wore a dazed expression, like an innocent child being slapped for the first time. The blow was so forceful that Dennis’s own palm was stinging.

A stream of blood trickled from Laurent’s nose. He simply let it be, regardless of whether it was flowing down over his philtrum. His shameless demeanor, unshaken even by the sudden beating, was laughable.

Finally, he showed tears.

“They, they said this was a good school….”

“…”

“My brother always sent letters….”

“Stop your blubbering and speak properly, will you?”

“Laurent, Laurent is… he’s my twin brother. Laurent Remit.”

Dennis’s gaze momentarily subsided. The doubt and the truth, resolved so unexpectedly, just left him feeling chagrined.

“…Then you must be Sami Remit.”

“I’m… just Sami. My brother was lucky enough to be adopted, but that wasn’t the case for me.”

Picking up his hat and luggage bag, Sami finally pressed his sleeve to his nose. The man who identified himself as Sami only seemed to become aware of the time and place after revealing that he and his brother were from an orphanage, and his face reddened. His eyes were filled with confusion, as if he couldn’t forgive himself for revealing such a private matter.

Dennis let out a sigh and took a handkerchief from his back pocket. As he offered it, Sami’s eyes wavered.

The handkerchief was one Vittorio had left in Dennis’s room; it was the silk handkerchief that had been wrapped around Laurent’s severed neck. Technically speaking, it was stolen property.

Sami seemed to feel half fear and half curiosity toward Dennis, who had offered him a slap and a kindness at the same time. Dennis snatched the luggage bag from him. It was a gruff act of kindness.

“…How did you get here?”

He had heard that the gates of Volle only opened twice a year. He was neither a teacher nor a student… but perhaps it had been possible because he was the bereaved family.

“I was notified of his death… It’s been a long time since my brother and I lived apart, so I really wanted to be here for the funeral.”

“I’m sorry for slapping you out of the blue. I just…”

“I, I understand. My brother… he was mischievous and belligerent since he was young, so he had many enemies.”

Sami, having neatly folded the handkerchief Dennis gave him, clutched it and hesitated. Dennis shook his head, indicating he wouldn’t take it back. At that, Sami raised his voice, saying he would return it after washing it.

The man who called himself Sami was dressed in black from head to toe, as if this shabby attire was his mourning dress. The poor-quality clothing made his handsome frame look ridiculous.

Not adopted, and without a surname… And to top it all off, he was wearing the skin of Laurent Remit. Dennis was originally soft on these kinds of people.

The ones who were like him.

“…I haven’t been assigned here for long myself, but they probably won’t hold a funeral.”

“Excuse me? What kind of, inconsiderate…”

“More importantly, did you also come here blindfolded, Mr. Sami?”

He nodded. Dennis had been terribly curious about the terrain outside the school gates and the way out of this place. It seemed Sami would likely not be able to give him a single shred of the information Dennis wanted.

Feeling dizzy, Dennis leaned his body against the door. The classroom was quiet except for the student in the front row reading aloud. Sami took a step closer to Dennis.

“Um, excuse me… your face is red. And you don’t look well.”

“Don’t worry about it. Could it be worse than for someone who’s lost a family member… Do you know where the faculty office is?”

“Actually, I don’t know where it is… You must have been in the middle of class, I have been so rude….”

Even while giving Sami directions to the faculty office, Dennis doubted him. Even for twins, could their freckles and the look in their eyes be so similar? His height, his fingers, even the degree to which his cheeks were hollowed were the same as Laurent Remit’s.

If there was one single part that could confirm he was Sami and not Laurent… it would have to be his thighs.

Laurent Remit’s lower half was dark and messy. Dennis had recognized at a glance that it was a scar from ashes. But he wasn’t crazy enough to pull down Sami’s pants to check right here.

“I’m sorry. The interior all looks so similar… You couldn’t possibly guide me, could you?”

Ah. Dennis sighed. There was no need to check his lower half. Unlike Laurent, he was an idiot. Dennis, shaking his head, pushed his heavy body upright. He led him to the faculty office, his arms still crossed in a defensive posture.

It was as they were climbing the spiral staircase.

“Um, Sir…”

“If you feel like you’re going to miss a step, grab the railing. Do I have to tell you things like this too?”

“That’s not it….”

Dennis stood on the landing and looked down at Sami with a blank expression. As if burdened by Dennis’s cold gaze, Sami lowered his eyes. When he finally lifted his face, it was, goddammit, desperate and innocent. Perhaps Dennis, too, had looked that way to someone.

“How did Laurent die?”

Dennis grabbed the railing. Sami shook his head, as if he had no idea what was going on.

“It was an anonymous letter. It said my brother was dead… It said if I wanted to know more about Laurent, I should go see a teacher named Dennis Kahler, so I….”

“…”

“You are Mr. Kahler, right?”

Dennis stared down at the top of his head without a reply.

“I heard that in his life, my brother… respected you the most.”

Respected?

How many times had he even seen him?

Furthermore, Laurent Remit had tried to rape Dennis Kahler. Seeing as he had quite a hard time getting an erection, it must have been a mating attempt that even he himself was not keen on.

There was no way he could tell the truth—that he had died while being beaten by the prince of Volle with his pants down. That would be like throwing a rock into a quiet lake. The rock would sink quickly, but the lake would overflow, and Dennis, who threw the rock, would surely have both his arms broken.

He didn’t want to divulge anything to anyone just yet. At least, not until Dennis could find a clue for himself.

“Respect my ass…”

Dennis burst out laughing without realizing it. It was no different from the way Vittorio had roared with laughter once. Who sent the false letter to Laurent Remit’s bereaved family, and so, who instigated him to assault Dennis, and if by chance they were the same person…

Someone watched from a distance as Dennis suddenly cackled and laughed.

Sami seemed to feel extremely dizzy inside the maze-like faculty office. Dennis escorted Sami to a spot where an organizational chart was posted so he could pinpoint the department he needed to find. Then, with a cold face that showed not a single shred of lingering attachment, he turned away.

It was as he was about to leave the faculty office. A familiar roughness wrapped around Dennis’s wrist and pulled. It felt just like plummeting into a pit.

A large hand blocked Dennis’s eyes.

Dennis knew who this hand belonged to. Hadn’t he covered Dennis’s eyes just like this, even in his dreams? Even with the slight pressure, Dennis’s eyes flew open and he twisted his body irritably.

It was Vittorio.

Since it was during morning activities, he was in his school uniform. For someone who engaged in such disorderly conduct, his shirt, buttoned up to his Adam’s apple, was quite neat. Behind Vittorio, only a long couch and a desk lay empty.

“Sir…”

Vittorio’s low voice plunged to the floor. It was closer to the growl of a beast than a voice.

“You’re quite good at luring students to the faculty office.”

“…”

“Is this some kind of fetish, too?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why don’t you ever lure me?”

It was an obvious provocation. If Vittorio was a tempest, Dennis was a fisherman on a shabby little boat. After being shaken helplessly, he had finally managed to grab hold of the mast. He deliberately glared, trying not to be swept away by him.

“I don’t have the slightest desire to get it on with another fucking guy, it’s nauseating.”

“Fucking guy?”