Chapter 22
22
*
Soon after, the police called by Arnold Crimson arrived at Crimson Manor, and Isaac readily complied with their request to accompany them.
Before long, the carriage that had departed from the Crimson estate entered the precinct police station.
As Isaac, leaning on his cane, alighted from the carriage with the help of a police officer, Arnold, who had barely wiped off the blood, snatched the cane from him.
"Why are you suddenly pretending to be helpless!"
Isaac stopped, looking flustered.
The police officers, noticing his reaction, hesitated before retrieving the cane and returning it to Isaac.
"Even so, taking a cane from a blind man is a bit much..."
"Thank you."
Isaac took the cane and smiled gently.
Although Arnold was the only one injured, Isaac's clothes were also stained with blood, and the overall impression made it difficult to see Isaac as the perpetrator.
For the southeastern police, who received substantial funding from the Crimson Family, it was a very troublesome situation.
Currently, the heir to the Crimson Family title was Isaac Crimson, but Evil Crimson was the one who held sway. Salantie was conservative, with most families traditionally passing the title to the eldest son, but that didn't mean all parents did so.
Even the slightest flaw in the eldest son could lead them to seek another child. Some prominent families even passed the title to the eldest daughter because the eldest son lacked eloquence. In Isaac's case, being blind, his parents would likely not have passed the title to him had they been alive.
Nevertheless, the fact remained that he had somehow urgently inherited the title. It was impossible to know whose side to take.
While Isaac was giving his statement, Scarlett arrived, having hailed a private carriage.
As she entered, Arnold flared up and shouted.
"You! Ugh, this is all because of that bitch!"
Arnold shouted in indignation. Still, being inside the police station, he couldn't bring himself to lay a hand on her, and Isaac glanced briefly in the direction of the sound before turning away.
Just then, another carriage pulled up. From it emerged Fran, a lawyer from the Dumpelt Family. He was the lawyer who handled the Dumpelt Family's legal affairs and now worked almost exclusively for Viktor. Stepping out of the carriage and buttoning his suit jacket, he spotted Scarlett and hurried over with a cheerful gait.
"Madam. No, Miss Scarlett."
"Mr. Fran?"
Scarlett, who had been restless, looked puzzled as Fran said with a relaxed air.
"The Young Master sent me. Oh dear, our Miss is also hurt."
Fran looked with concern at Scarlett, who had scratches on her arms and neck from Arnold's earlier outburst.
Fran said,
"This will take quite a bit of time. We have to get the Count out of this mess, and we can't give a single penny in settlement to the bastard who assaulted Miss Scarlett, the former mistress of the Dumpelt Family. It's a matter of honor."
"Thank you."
It was a great relief that Fran had come. With him here, Isaac had nothing to worry about.
Fran soon entered with brisk steps. Reassured by the lawyer's presence, Scarlett sat down on a chair.
She closed her eyes for a moment, but the image of Isaac brutally beating Arnold flashed through her mind, and she opened them again.
He hadn't seemed to care at all about the blood splattering. He might not have been able to see it, but with all his senses heightened except for sight, there was no way Isaac wouldn't have felt the warm blood. The thought that he had always harbored such anger in his heart made her head spin. Yet, Isaac's expression as he was questioned was as calm and earnest as ever, and he answered the police politely.
The situation was not easily resolved. From inside, she could hear Arnold shouting, and it seemed Fran was making an issue of Scarlett's injuries.
At that moment, another carriage stopped in front of the police station. Then, her aunt, Ann Crimson, stepped out. After assessing the situation, she sighed deeply and said to Scarlett,
"You, go to Factory 1 for a bit."
"Factory 1?"
"It's what Arnold was supposed to do, but you've made him like that."
"But Arnold started it first..."
"Oh, don't talk back. I've never seen anyone create so much unpleasantness in my life."
Ann Crimson spoke as if disgusted and rushed over to Arnold.
Scarlett felt a little hurt by Ann's words, who had been the kindest of her uncle's family to her. Still, not wanting to miss the rare opportunity to see Factory 1, she left the police station with a feeling of guilt towards Isaac.
*
Factory 1 was a workshop where the best technicians of the Crimson Family gathered, and it was kept extremely secret.
Scarlett had been there several times with her parents. Inside the workshop was a master room, which only her parents were allowed to enter.
Once, Scarlett had been so curious that she had refused to go home unless they let her in, and she had cried so much that her father had picked her up and given her a tour of the master room. That master room was where the Crimson Parts were made.
The Crimson Parts had undergone continuous development, and in Scarlett's parents' generation, they had made great inventions that dramatically improved the accuracy of clocks and could withstand the pressure of being submerged in the sea, or even flying in the future. Her parents boasted that these would be used not only in clocks but also in aviation and navigation.
Scarlett hadn't been to her parents' clock shop, which Evil had taken away, since she was twelve, and she hadn't been to the factory since she was eight. Yet, standing in front of the factory, everything came back to her.
When Scarlett concentrated, she could perfectly recall her childhood memories. This ability had appeared after the police interrogation, and she couldn't understand why she suddenly had it.
Scarlett recalled her memories from when she was eight years old and entered the factory. The password for Factory 1 was like a candy draw, it was cherry pie. She wasn't sure if it was still the same, but she pressed the password instead of ringing the bell. The door opened immediately, as if no one had changed the password in the meantime.
As she entered, two artisans who had been resting in the living room of the cozy two-story house saw her.
"...Miss Scarlett?"
Both faces were familiar.
Tom and Anna.
Scarlett was shocked to see the two people who had been rivals in her memory holding hands.
"Are you two dating?"
"We've been married for seven years... Do you remember us?"
Tom asked with a puzzled expression.
Scarlett remembered seeing them here when she was eight years old. They had fought so much that Scarlett, who was young, had been very worried. She was amazed at how the two of them had ended up getting married.
Scarlett, still bewildered, said,
"How do you remember me?"
"Don't even mention it, the two bosses showed us so many pictures, and told us so many stories."
Anna chimed in at Tom's words.
"That's right, they showed us so happily that I was tricked into getting married..."
"Tricked? I was the one who was tricked."
"What? I'm only living with you, and you're being ungrateful."
"What! Look around, is there a husband like me!"
"Just because I only work here, you think I'm blind!"
It seemed they were actually a good match, but they still didn't seem to get along.
After tentatively concluding that they might be on good terms but just fought in front of others, Scarlett asked them,
"I heard there was something Arnold had to check today. What's going on?"
"Ah, that's right. So that's why you're here."
Anna gestured and led Scarlett to her workshop. When Tom followed, Anna scolded him.
"Why are you coming into someone else's workshop?"
"Can't I come into my wife's workshop?"
"Even if we're married, there's privacy!"
"I don't have any privacy!"
"That's none of my business!"
As the two started fighting again, Scarlett sighed softly. After another round of bickering, Anna took out a clock box for Scarlett.
Scarlett's mouth opened on its own as she opened the box.
"It's a Crimson Aqua 6?"
"That's right! It contains the Crimson Parts Version 6 developed by the previous bosses."
The heads of the Crimson Family were the only people with the right to develop the next version of the Crimson Parts. The head only taught the successor how to make the parts they had developed. And the rest of the Crimson Family could only learn the previous versions.
Anna, who had been talking, glanced at Scarlett, and Tom carefully spoke instead.
"The previous bosses passed away without teaching the successor how to make them, so the Crimson Aqua 6 was discontinued. But this... a customer asked us to overhaul a clock that used one of the few Version 6s."
Scarlett, understanding the meaning of those words, said in an excited voice.
"If we take it apart, we might be able to figure out how to make Version 6?"
"Yes. We thought that might be the case, so we contacted Vice President Evil, but he's on a business trip. So we contacted Arnold... I guess something happened today?"
"There was a small fight."
"I see."
Tom looked at the sky for a moment and muttered.
"Miss Scarlett coming at the moment when we can see Version 6 for the first time since the previous bosses passed away. Is it fate?"
At those words, Anna nodded without arguing this time.
Anna took out the Version 6 parts from the Crimson Aqua 6 and soaked them in disinfectant.
Scarlett looked at the parts as if she were looking at a picture of her parents. Looking at them with a face full of longing, Scarlett said,
"We have to return it quickly, right?"
"We shouldn't keep it for too long. We have to return it within a month at the latest."
Being able to make the most advanced, latest Crimson Parts was the pride of being the head of the family.
Evil, who was currently acting as the boss, used Version 5, which he had learned from his father, Scarlett's grandfather. Scarlett only knew how to make up to Version 4, which was publicly available to other members of the Crimson Family.
Scarlett carefully asked,
"Can I see Version 5 now?"
"Of course."
Anna took out the Version 5 parts made by Evil from a small drawer.
Scarlett also put it in the solution and stared intently at the parts before narrowing her eyes.
"Is this really Version 5?"
"Yes, it is. It was made by President Evil."
"...But it's different from my memory."
Scarlett examined the parts closely.
She recalled seeing the Version 5 parts in her parents' workshop when she was young and continued.
"I remember it being about 1mm thicker than this."
