Chapter 72
Behind her walked a middle-aged man in chef’s whites and a woman who appeared to be around the same age.
The last man following them was wearing a police uniform.
Every time the policeman swung his sword, the monsters were sliced cleanly in half, falling away like scraps.
“Lawyer, there are people! There are survivors!”
At Hose’s shout, Harrison seemed to spot them as well and nodded.
“I’ll take the lead. I’m counting on you to cover the rear.”
Hose nodded at Harrison’s instruction and quickly sprinted forward.
Hose loaded the rifle he was holding. Then, he aimed at the head of a monster approaching nearby and fired.
Bang—!
The survivors beneath the wall drew close to the mansion’s main gate. Simultaneously, Harrison’s group neared the entrance as well.
Harrison recognized the person leading the survivors along the wall.
Cherry Sinclair.
His precious family. Though not related by blood, she was the only family he had left in the world.
During the entire journey down here, he had found it difficult to breathe, as if someone were clutching his heart in a tight grip.
But the moment he saw Cherry’s face, Harrison felt an instantaneous wave of peace. As a flood of relief washed over him, he felt his eyes grow hot for some reason.
Harrison was alive.
As soon as we safely entered the gates of Happy House, Harrison pulled me into a tight embrace.
“Harrison! You’re alive. I knew you would be.”
His firm arms wrapped around my waist. He quietly buried his face in my shoulder. Overjoyed, I hugged him back.
Just then, Knox and Emmy, seeing that everyone was inside, quickly shut the main gate and bolted it thoroughly.
Eden and a pink-haired young man helped them secure the crossbar.
Thud! Thud!
The sound of monsters throwing themselves against the gate in a frenzy echoed out, but thanks to the sturdy wood, there were no issues.
Pulling away from me, Harrison cupped my cheeks and examined my face. His warm green eyes met mine.
“I was worried, My Lady.”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
I asked, scanning Harrison’s appearance. To my immense relief, he didn’t seem to have any major injuries.
“I am fine.”
“Thank you for staying alive. Truly, thank you.”
As I murmured frantically, Harrison sensed something strange and narrowed his eyes.
“What do you mean by that…? Where is Susanna? I sent her ahead first.”
“…….”
I couldn’t answer. For some reason, whenever I tried to speak her name, my heart felt like it was reeling. So, I swallowed my words.
I don’t know what my expression looked like. However, Harrison’s face turned stony as he watched me.
Eventually, a large hand stroked my hair.
“Thank you for holding out, My Lady.”
I kept my lips tightly sealed.
Only after confirming Harrison’s safety did I notice the other people.
Victor, the chef who had narrowly escaped, and Emma were clinging to each other, shedding tears.
Vanilla had slumped to the ground to catch her breath, and beside her stood a handsome boy with pink hair. He seemed more like a young man than a boy, but he looked younger than me. Who is he?
Suddenly, the place was crowded with people. It was a strange sight. A bustling house.
Just then, Eden reached out a hand to Harrison in greeting.
“I have been very eager to meet you, Lawyer Howard.”
Ah. I glanced at the bag slung over Harrison’s shoulder. Anyone could have guessed its contents. There were quite a few gun barrels poking out awkwardly.
I saw Eden steal a glance toward the bag. Even after saying he wouldn’t care about such things now that the world had ended. It was a professional habit, pure and simple.
As Eden gave his greeting, Knox, who had been observing the situation, approached us while clapping with a smiling face. I didn’t know why he was clapping in this situation, but regardless, he reached out a hand toward Harrison.
“It’s been a long time, Lawyer Howard. Thank you for raising our eccentric young lady.”
Knox offered a beaming smile as he extended his hand.
“What kind of strange thing is that to say, Mr. Rudfercher? Greet him properly.”
I said, looking at Knox with an absurd expression.
“Is it not thanks to Lady Cherry being eccentric that we all survived? I am saying it because I am grateful. Grateful.”
Knox was incredibly nonchalant and sly as he spoke with a laugh. Ugh, forget it. I shouldn’t even think about winning an argument with that man.
Then Emmy, who had been crouching rebelliously while sucking on a lollipop and observing the mood, suddenly stood up and approached. With a prim face, she held out her hand to Harrison.
“Are you Star Candy Unnie’s Oppa? Hello, I’m Star Candy Unnie’s new sister, Amy Wharton.”
Harrison shook Emmy’s hand with a somewhat reluctant expression.
Then the pink-haired boy, who had been looking around with his mouth agape, asked me.
“Wow, this mansion really looks like a haunted house. Does Cherry Sinclair really live in a place like this?”
Looking closely, he was an incredibly pretty man. To the point where I, a woman, felt a bit slighted in the beauty department. Feeling a little indignant, I looked at Harrison.
“Who is this?”
“Ah, he is the weapons expert I mentioned who was to teach My Lady how to use arms.”
Harrison introduced the young man. At that, he approached me with a friendly smile and held out his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Lady Cherry. I’m Hose Camburn. I’ve heard a lot about you on the way here. The delicately raised Sinclair Princess.”
I shook his hand with a lukewarm expression. But his name felt familiar somehow.
“Mr. Camburn…? Wait a minute.”
Holding Hose’s hand, I pulled him toward me in surprise. Hose’s eyes went wide as he leaned in.
“Hose Camburn? Hose Camburn Galloway?”
“How do you know my family name? I ran away from home a long time ago. Lawyer, did you do a background check on me?”
Oops.
Harrison looked at me with a puzzled face. He had never told me about Hose. Knox, standing nearby, also expressed his doubt while stroking his chin.
“I’ve never heard of a family called Galloway.”
“I’m from the Kingdom of Briwood.”
At Hose’s answer, Knox looked at me with a truly surprised expression this time.
“What’s this, Lady Cherry? Do you have the aristocratic lineages of neighboring countries memorized? That’s unexpected.”
Knox voiced his suspicion, but of course, I wasn’t in the state of mind to answer him leisurely.
Damn it. Eden, Knox, Vanilla, and now even Hose.
All the major characters of the novel are gathered here at Happy House—does this even make sense?
It seems I’ve twisted the original plot quite spectacularly.
‘Still, the heroine and the main lead should still be in the capital according to the original story… so it’ll be fine, right?’
Of course, as I had decided before, my survival was more important than the original plot or whatever, but I was worried that if things deviated too much from the novel, it would become difficult to find Ezra, the sub-male lead and scientist.
He really hadn’t been mentioned even once for two years. He was the man who suddenly appeared before Aurora one day.
“Excuse me…”
While I was lost in thought, the man in the chef’s whites approached me.
When I looked at him, he bowed his head in greeting. He turned to everyone else and greeted them in turn as well.
“Thank you for saving us. I am Victor Hope.”
Following him, Emma, who had been holding Victor’s hand, also bowed with tears in her eyes.
“I am Emma Swarf. Thank you so much for saving us. I don’t know how to repay this kindness.”
Emma said in a trembling voice, wiping the tears flowing down her cheeks. Knox shrugged and deflected the credit by pointing his thumb at me.
“It is thanks to this lady’s judgment that you were able to save your lives.”
Come to think of it, most of the villagers who had been beyond the wall earlier were familiar faces, but these two were strangers.
“I heard rumors that many outsiders had come to Brunel while I was away traveling with Emma.”
At Victor’s words, Emmy cried out in surprise.
“You mean you and the lady went on a trip together?”
At that, Victor and Emma blushed with embarrassed faces. What is this? What’s going on? As we all stood there confused, Emmy explained.
“Mr. Victor and Ms. Emma are childhood friends. Mr. Victor had a huuuuge crush on her for a long time, so he never got married. But when she married another man, he left for the capital, and then as soon as she was widowed, he came right back to the village. He said he’d protect Ms. Emma now that she’s alone.”
“Oh my, Emmy. It—it’s not like that.”
Emma waved her hands in embarrassment. Victor’s face was flushed bright red.
More than that, Emmy, who knew their history so intimately, was even more impressive. When I stared at her, Emmy shrugged as if it were no big deal.
“I’ve always been very interested in rumors.”
Emmy was a girl with a very unexpected combination of traits: she was agile, quick with her hands, knowledgeable about herbs, and well-informed on gossip.
“If the talking is over, how about we head into the mansion?”
Eden, who had been quietly observing the situation, spoke up. At that, everyone looked to me for cues and nodded.
“Yes. Let’s go in.”
Once my permission was given, Eden moved first, and the others followed suit.
“My Lady, I have so many things I wish to ask.”
Harrison, who had caught up to my side, said while glancing up at Eden.
“I have a lot to ask as well. Oh, Harrison. How is the situation in the capital?”
This time, I saw that Eden was also waiting for Harrison’s answer, as it was a topic of interest to him.
Harrison quietly shook his head.
“I do not know the situation in the capital well. Things broke out while I was traveling by train…”
Eden turned his head away with a look of disappointment.
Just then, they reached the mansion, and Knox opened the door. Everyone stepped into Happy House, looking around with curious faces.
