Chapter 2
2
Scarlett Dampfelt’s birth family, the Crimson Family, was a family of great clockmakers. Among those talents, her parents, who passed away when Scarlett was twelve, were unprecedented geniuses.
Even now, living a life overflowing with wealth after marrying Viktor Dampfelt, she still felt a pang of regret in her heart for not having learned the clockmaking skills that were the foundation of the Crimson Family.
But now, just past her twentieth birthday, she was remembering her very young childhood, sitting on the workbench of her parents, who would lose track of time when they started working.
The millimeter world inside the clocks they made, her parents who would forget to feed their child because they were too busy talking about new technologies, countless pieces of information about those two geniuses began to appear.
“It’s because of the drug in the black tea.”
Scarlett, who had been lost in happy memories, quickly came to her senses at the composed voice of Royal Police Hugh Gun Hunter.
Scarlett was sitting in an interrogation room at Royal Police Headquarters. Lilsen Square was visible through the large window.
Scarlett asked in a somewhat dazed voice.
“Drug? What are you talking about…”
Scarlett stopped speaking as Hugh Gun suddenly stood up and approached her.
Hugh Gun gestured at the teacup and took out the handcuffs he was wearing on his waist.
“The drug in the black tea that you drank, Madam, contains sorcery that sharpens memories. It’s a drug made on Pirate Island, so it’s almost impossible to obtain domestically. Isn’t the drug that you want to obtain for Count Isaac Crimson, the one that revives the optic nerve, also made on Pirate Island?”
‘Ah, so that’s why…’ Scarlett reacted without realizing it.
Hugh Gun sneered and continued.
“In addition, if this drug is overused, the brain becomes defensive against memories being forcibly excavated, causing memory loss instead. The human brain is amazing.”
“…Memory loss?”
“Yes, so no matter what I do to you from now on, you won’t remember anything by the time you leave the police station.”
Scarlett’s pupils began to tremble slightly at his businesslike voice.
Hugh Gun grabbed her left wrist, removed her wristwatch, and handcuffed her there.
Scarlett suppressed her fear and pulled her arm forcefully.
“I am the wife of Viktor Dampfelt. How dare you…”
“Of course, Captain Viktor is someone I also respect, but you are different, Madam. You became a target because you are easy to deal with.”
Hugh Gun forcefully pulled the other side of Scarlett’s handcuffs, which she was trying not to be dragged by, and hung them on a hook on the wall. Then, he closed the curtains to cover the window and continued.
“Your parents died early, and your uncle raised you instead, didn’t he?”
“What, what does that have to do with anything?”
“Count Isaac Crimson, who became the head of that family, is blind, so your uncle, who is the de facto head of the family, is holding Count Isaac hostage and treating you like a slave, I heard. So, it’s as if you have no one to support you.”
“My husband won’t stand still.”
Hugh Gun glanced at Scarlett at her resolute voice.
“Lord Viktor doesn’t cherish you that much, does he?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. My husband loves me.”
“You know that’s not true, don’t you?”
Scarlett was speechless at his sarcastic words.
Her husband was rational.
He was a person who hated to collapse.
So, she thought that he would not be able to love anyone other than himself.
If she didn’t think that way, she would feel that her love for him, for whom she could have given her life for the past two years, was precious and pitiful.
Hugh Gun clicked his tongue at her lonely face.
“So, there’s no need for you to keep your loyalty, is there? As I said, this is a very difficult drug to obtain. The fact that we have to interrogate you even using such a drug means that there are people who are reluctant for Lord Viktor Dampfelt to belong to the Royal Family, right?”
Hugh Gun took out a piece of paper with an address written on it from his inner pocket.
“And I will connect you so that you can obtain the drug you are looking for.”
Scarlett’s gaze shifted to the note he held out.
Hugh Gun wore a satisfied expression.
“Lord Viktor is a stickler for principles, so he didn’t find this drug for you, did he? He betrayed you first. So, what disqualifications of Lord Viktor Dampfelt should we listen to?”
Scarlett took a deep breath and turned her head towards the window.
Her husband had lived his whole life with guilt and inferiority because his Mother had been kicked out of the Royal Family because of him.
If he became a member of the Royal Family, she wondered if she could break down even a corner of his solidity, which felt like an iron wall, and that thought was bigger than her concern for her brother.
She thought to herself that she was extremely selfish and slowly closed her eyes.
Scarlett knew that they would not be able to leave scars on her body anyway. No matter how much they were Royal Police and looked down on her, they would still be aware of Viktor.
So, all she had to do was endure until her husband came. It was an easy task to keep her mouth shut until he came.
The people of Salantie called November the month of pirates. November, when the sea breeze blew fiercely and it rained almost every day, was the perfect month for pirate ships to come and plunder, avoiding the eyes of the navy. But now, that was a thing of the past. Thanks to her husband, who had nearly annihilated the pirates.
Scarlett was sitting on the bed, looking out the window at the cold November rain, and thinking about that. But she couldn’t just keep avoiding it. She got up with a dazed mind, as if she was still drunk.
“My head hurts…”
Scarlett covered her throbbing forehead with her hand and left the bedroom.
The place was familiar. It was the suite at the hotel where she had her wedding with Viktor.
But everything else was a blank. She had no memory of why she was lying here or how long she had been lying here.
Even the pajamas she was wearing were something she had never seen before.
Her last memory was sitting across from a man called Royal Police and drinking tea. But even that memory was hazy, as if it would soon disappear, and she couldn’t remember the man’s face properly.
“What happened…”
As she looked around, she saw today’s newspaper on the table.
Scarlett checked the date and collapsed into a chair, feeling drained.
The day that Royal Police Headquarters decided to call Scarlett in to investigate whether there were any moral flaws in her husband being recognized as a member of the Royal Family was November 7th, and the date on the newspaper was November 14th. It meant that all the memories of the past week had disappeared.
Liquor bottles were scattered on the coffee table, and paper bags filled with luxury goods from famous brands near the hotel were piled up on the sofa.
“Did I buy those things?”
Scarlett muttered as if possessed, and rummaged through the paper bags, hoping to find a receipt or something that would help her remember.
At that moment, the door to the room burst open.
Scarlett turned around and first saw a hotel employee holding a key. She frowned, wondering how they dared to enter the room without permission, but her husband, Viktor Dampfelt, walked in through the open door.
“Viktor.”
Scarlett, relieved as soon as she saw her husband’s face, ran to him and hugged him.
“Oh my god, thank goodness.”
Her husband, who was always taciturn and had never given her a sense of security that he was on her side throughout their two years of marriage, was now more reliable than ever.
Scarlett said as if complaining.
“I don’t know why I’m here. What happened?”
As she spoke, she looked up and shuddered at the sight of Viktor’s dark blue eyes looking down at her, his shoulders wrapped in thin clothes. His eyes, which were always rational to the point of being indifferent, were now filled with anger.
“That’s a good excuse.”
His low voice, mixed with the sound of rain beating against the window, sent shivers down Scarlett’s spine.
“Is something… wrong?”
At that moment, Evan Wright, the vice-captain of the Rubid Ship, which he was the captain of, called out to Scarlett.
“Madam Scarlett.”
Scarlett, who was on edge and surprised even by the sound of her name being called, turned around. Evan, who was usually slippery, wore a troubled expression and held up a black potion he had found under the liquor bottles.
“This is a drug brought from Pirate Island. It’s the drug with sorcery that makes the blind see, that you’ve been looking for for a long time.”
“R-Really?”
Scarlett, who had been frightened all along, hurriedly reached for the potion bottle, but Viktor grabbed her elbow. He, who was always a gentleman, roughly pulled Scarlett’s body towards the table. Then, he held up the newspaper in front of her bewildered face.
The front page of the newspaper, which Scarlett had only checked the date on and left, was filled with an article in large letters.
[Can Viktor Dampfelt, who imprisoned his own Mother, who was a member of the Royal Family, in a mental hospital, become a member of the Royal Family?]
As Scarlett stared at the article with a blank look, Viktor opened his mouth.
“You told the Royal Police, didn’t you? During the background check.”
“N-No. That can’t be.”
“There’s more than just this. Enough to fill an entire page.”
Viktor opened the newspaper himself.
As he said, all of Viktor’s weaknesses that Scarlett knew were written in detail in the newspaper. Among them, there was even a far-fetched accusation that a friend who was close to Viktor during his cadet days was currently an officer in the Bestina army. What was not a big deal when Viktor was in school was now pointed out as a problem, as relations with Bestina had deteriorated.
Viktor stared down at Scarlett, who was reading the newspaper with a blank face, and muttered.
“You sold me for that drug.”
Scarlett felt her head ache even more at his cold voice. She wanted to explain something, but her mind was empty and nothing came to mind.
“That’s impossible.”
Scarlett muttered.
It was true that she had been looking for that potion. It was for her own brother, Isaac Crimson, who was blind due to an accident. Of course, Isaac was a precious person to Scarlett, but there was no way she would have betrayed her husband for him.
Confused, she grabbed Viktor’s coat collar urgently.
“You know how much I love you. Do you think that I, who knows how hard you worked to become a member of the Royal Family, would betray you for Isaac?”
“It’s not a thought, it’s a fact.”
“No, it’s not!”
“Then why aren’t you back home and hiding here?”
“That’s… I told you. I don’t remember.”
At her repeated claims, not only Viktor but also Evan, who had come with him, and Viktor’s secretary, Blight, wore uncomfortable expressions.
Scarlett was going crazy because she couldn’t remember, but to everyone else except her, it just looked like she was avoiding talking about betraying her husband.
Scarlett reached out to hug Viktor and said.
“Viktor, please. Believe me.”
But Viktor grabbed her arms and pulled them down, asking in a hoarse voice as he tried to hold back his anger.
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“Really…”
“Just say you were threatened. Or that you were tortured.”
The thoughts that were barely trying to surface sank like they had weights attached to them at his cold voice.
When Scarlett couldn’t open her mouth with a dazed look, Viktor continued.
“Even if it’s a lie, just say that. Then I’ll at least try to understand.”
“That’s…”
With a painful and frustrating feeling, Scarlett’s wine-colored eyes, which seemed to be sweet, became wet. She felt fear as Viktor’s expression distorted before her eyes.
Scarlett, unable to withstand the pressure, replied.
“There was no threat or torture… I don’t think. Maybe…”
As soon as she said that, Scarlett quickly put her arms around her husband’s neck again, afraid that Viktor would leave.
“I must have been out of my mind for a moment. I’m sorry, Viktor.”
Then Viktor chuckled and muttered.
“Do I have to send my wife to the Monastery too?”
Scarlett’s movements slowed down as if frozen at his words.
