Chapter 19
As I worked on the roof with the contractor, I could feel Eden’s piercing gaze burning into me from below.
‘Even if it looks suspicious, I have no choice.’
When I first arrived in Brunel, my plan was to turn this place into a “secret” shelter.
But seeing how things were going, it seemed I’d have to give up on the secrecy part. The apocalypse was right around the corner. Even if I was treated as a suspicious person, preparing properly for the end of the world came first.
Standing on the roof, I raised the opera glasses I’d brought along and scanned the surroundings.
‘Monsters might show up here, too.’
It was mentioned that right before the fall, monsters began appearing sporadically in various villages. This meant I had to keep a constant lookout while preparing for the end.
Well, for now, the village looked peaceful.
‘Still, I should come up here and check often.’
I watched the contractor finish installing the catapult before heading back down. The wall repairs seemed about half-finished.
‘I should probably call in another worker.’
If I wanted to get this job done as quickly as possible, that is.
“I’m getting more and more curious about what exactly you’re trying to do with this mansion.”
Eden approached me, his axe propped over his shoulder. He wiped a bead of sweat from his chin with the back of his hand and waited for my answer.
“I told you. It’s my private villa.”
Eden looked at me with an expression that said he didn’t even know where to begin with what he wanted to say.
Then, he slowly scanned my outfit once more. I was wearing a jumpsuit, rubber boots, and a straw hat—fashion perfectly optimized for farm work.
“I really have to wonder if you’re truly that Cherry Sinclair. You’re certainly different from the Cherry Sinclair the newspapers and the public talk about.”
Eden said, stroking his chin.
He was right. If it were the old Cherry, she wouldn’t have even touched clothes like these. There was a reason she had made a name for herself as the most extravagant girl in high society, surpassing countless nobles.
“I don’t like wearing this stuff either. It’s not pretty.”
“No one forced you, yet you’re the one acting out of character, Miss Cherry.”
True. No one forced me. I let out a long, heavy sigh.
It was while I was engaged in this pointless conversation with Eden that he suddenly yanked my hand. Pulling me into his arms, he spun half a turn to dodge out of the way.
Thump—!
Large pieces of wooden building materials crashed onto the ground and shattered. They had fallen from the roof of the mansion.
‘Wow. His reflexes are insane.’
While I was leaning against Eden’s chest, trying to calm my racing heart, the contractor on the roof shouted down to us, his face pale with fright.
“Heck! I’m so sorry! Are you two all right?”
“You almost…! You could have hurt her!”
Eden glanced at me, swallowed a curse, and barked up at the contractor. He pointed his index and middle fingers at his own eyes, then turned them toward the man in a fierce silent warning.
No matter how I looked at it, that man was only suppressing his foul temper in front of me. He probably had something to gain from me, so he was holding back.
Like, say, uncovering corruption in the Sinclair family?
“Oh dear, what have I done? I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
The contractor bowed repeatedly toward us, his face white as a sheet. After nagging the man a couple more times to be careful, I turned back to Eden.
“Thank you.”
“You aren’t hurt, so that’s enough.”
Eden gave my head a blunt pat with an indifferent face and turned away. He picked up his axe again and went right back to splitting logs.
I stood there blankly, watching his retreating back before turning around.
‘What was that?’
I absentmindedly touched my hair and tilted my head. It was strange for Eden to be kind. Of course, he had always been selectively gentlemanly.
Anyway, I grabbed a hoe and stood in the vegetable garden. Since I’d pulled all the weeds yesterday, today was the day to till the soil.
I had to till the field and spread compost today so that I could plant seeds in two weeks.
Just as I was about to start working, I heard an unfamiliar voice from somewhere.
“Hahaha! Lancaster, what on earth are you doing? Are you a woodcutter now?”
Knox, who had entered the garden at some point, burst into laughter while pointing at Eden’s appearance. If Eden was the rough type, Knox was the annoying type.
‘There’s no way Eden would put up with that…’
Whish. Just as expected, Eden hurled the axe he was holding. The flying axe slammed into the ground right at Knox’s feet. Knox backed away with a strained smile.
“I believe I told you not to buzz around in my sight.”
At Eden’s irritated warning, Knox held up both hands.
“I’m only here at Miss Cherry’s request.”
Both Eden and Knox stared at me simultaneously. I let out another deep sigh and nodded.
“Mr. Rudfercher agreed to catch bugs for me today.”
“I did?”
“Bugs?”
The first question came from Knox, and the second from Eden.
“Were you actually serious about that yesterday? I didn’t realize you meant literally catching bugs ourselves.”
Knox shook his head smoothly, saying that while he would help cultivate medicinal herbs, catching bugs personally would be difficult.
“Then I have no use for you, Mr. Rudfercher. Please leave—”
“As a gentleman, I cannot do that. I shall catch the bugs.”
I narrowed my eyes and watched Knox as he began diligently hunting for insects. To see a man who looked as noble as a prince stooping over and roaming the garden in search of bugs…
The reason Knox was doing this was undoubtedly the same as Eden’s: to keep a close eye on me. Of course, his objective was clearly different from Eden’s.
As Knox had mentioned before, while Eden was extremely wary of me, Knox was suspiciously favorable.
I watched Knox catching bugs and Eden splitting wood and simply shook my head.
‘I guess making a secret shelter is out of the question. Completely out of the question.’
However, I actually felt more at ease. Regardless of the original story, I would leave everything to fate and focus only on the path I had to take.
Then, I asked Knox something I was curious about.
“Mr. Rudfercher, how long do you plan to stay in Brunel?”
“Why are you curious? Are you interested in me?”
“Yes.”
Specifically, in your physical prowess.
I swallowed the last part, of course. Knox’s startled gaze fixed on me.
Since I’d decided to accept his help, shouldn’t I run the numbers on how to squeeze the most efficiency out of him?
“I haven’t set a return date, but I plan to take a good long rest. I’ve lived my life only working, so shouldn’t I have days like this?”
At Knox’s words, I looked at a centipede inside his glass jar. To call this “resting,” he seemed to be doing quite a bit of manual labor, but I suppose to Knox, this qualified as a form of relaxation.
Well, fine then. I nodded to myself and said to Knox,
“I’ll be in your care.”
Graeden Kingdom, the Crown Prince’s office.
Crown Prince Theodore looked up from the report of his aide, Elderson, with a puzzled expression.
“Where did you say Eden and Knox are?”
“They are said to have gone down to a village called Brunel.”
“Brunel? Both of them?”
Elderson nodded in affirmation.
Theodore, Eden, and Knox had been classmates at the Royal Academy.
Theodore was on bad terms with the black-hearted Duke of Lancaster, but regardless of that, he liked Eden. Unlike his father, Eden was trustworthy. He was more honest than anyone.
But after a few days of being unable to contact Eden or Knox, he suddenly hears they’re down in Brunel. And that the two of them, who don’t even get along, are there together.
“Why did they go down there?”
“It seems Sir Eden has been assigned to the Brunel Police Station.”
“Eden was assigned to a rural police station like that? Does that make any sense? There must be a real reason.”
“…”
“Look into it.”
“Understood.”
“And Knox?”
“I will look into that as well.”
Theodore put down the documents he was reviewing and looked at Elderson with an absurd expression.
Was he really reporting to him without even looking into things like that?
Noticing Theodore’s displeasure, Elderson lowered his head, his face turning pale. Theodore shook his head at the sight.
‘I really don’t know if that fellow can do anything right.’
At the edge of Theodore’s dissatisfied gaze, today’s daily newspaper caught his eye.
[Cherry Sinclair, fifth day of total suspension of social activities… Lawyer Howard: “No issues with her personal safety.”]
Theodore picked up the newspaper.
“No, I know the Sinclairs are influential, but what is with this woman? Why does she take up the headlines every day without doing anything? How is she mentioned more often than I am, the Crown Prince?”
In the end, it was the fact that Cherry appeared in the headlines more frequently than himself that bothered him. Elderson, glancing at the newspaper, replied.
“If it’s Cherry Sinclair, she is the hottest star in high society these days.”
“Since when?”
“Was it about a year ago…? It’s been quite a while.”
At Elderson’s answer, Theodore looked at the newspaper, appearing slightly surprised.
