Chapter 3
Chapter 3
*
His Mother, who had been in the mental ward, was now at the Monastery.
His Mother, the King's beloved daughter, had grown up in love, only to become pregnant with the child of a nobleman's son she had met and spent a night with at a party. At the time, she was engaged to the Crown Prince of Bestina, a neighboring country. This incident broke off the engagement, and she was ostracized from the royal family, incurring public outrage.
She blamed her son for her fall from grace, for being born from a one-night stand. Viktor Dampfelt, who had received his Mother's resentment instead of maternal affection, considered being recognized as royalty his sole purpose in life.
He would do anything for his honor. He did not spare his life in suppressing pirates.
As he had planned, his popularity soared among the people of Salantie, and the Iren royal family considered recognizing Viktor Dampfelt, the King's grandson, as royalty.
Finally, an investigation into those around him began to verify whether he had any moral flaws in becoming a member of the royal family. It was only natural that Scarlett Dampfelt, Viktor Dampfelt's wife, was included in this investigation.
Before the investigation, Viktor had warned her not to say anything, and Scarlett had intended to do so. But she supposedly revealed all of Viktor's wrongdoings there, and she was going crazy because she couldn't remember the process at all.
She even began to doubt if there was really something wrong with her head. That made her even more afraid of Viktor's words that he would send her to the Monastery.
Scarlett said with a terrified face.
"No. Don't send me to the Monastery."
It must have been a word spat out in anger. Even knowing that, a resolute word came out of Scarlett's mouth.
After acting dull-witted all along, she suddenly answered firmly, and Viktor wore a dumbfounded expression before turning around and leaving the room with the subordinates he had brought with him.
After he left, Scarlett mustered her last strength and spread the newspaper on the table, pushing away the liquor bottle. The front page was filled with reasons why Viktor could not become a member of the royal family. And the statement she had written herself was printed on the next page.
It was her handwriting, and her signature.
Scarlett, who had confirmed even that with her own eyes, collapsed under the table.
"This can't be happening..."
Because of the words that came out of her mouth, Viktor would not be recognized as royalty. She would even be branded as a cold-blooded person who put her Mother in a mental ward with her own hands. It would be a great scar on the honor that Viktor Dampfelt valued more than his life.
Even though there was evidence left, she couldn't remember responding to the investigation at all, so she was really going crazy.
As she felt the pressure, her breathing only became faster, and her mind became even darker. Even the scene of drinking the remaining tea was erased from her mind as time passed.
*
After returning to the mansion that evening, the only thing Scarlett could do was apologize to her husband whenever she saw him.
Viktor did not respond to Scarlett's apologies and did not mention the fact again. Rather, it was his father, Gregory Dampfelt, who found fault and got even more angry.
Scarlett was so stressed out by her father-in-law constantly badgering her for blocking his son's path that she had several seizures.
Fortunately, for a while, there was a pre-scheduled luncheon for the end of the year, so she spent her time preparing for it. It was a luncheon to celebrate becoming royalty, but Viktor did not cancel it.
On the day of the luncheon, Scarlett, dressed in a splendid red velvet dress, was about to leave the dressing room when Palin Redford, one of Viktor's subordinates, stopped her.
"You must not go out today because there is a luncheon."
Scarlett tilted her head at his words.
"What do you mean I can't go out?"
"The Captain does not want his wife to attend the luncheon."
Only the elite among the elite were on board the Rubid Ship, where Viktor was the captain. They were all large, had excellent grades, and were even from prestigious families. Among them, Palin was known to be the most skilled in hand-to-hand combat after Viktor.
Scarlett paused at Palin's blunt words, who was standing with his hands behind his back, blocking the door, and then slowly opened her mouth.
"Viktor doesn't want me to appear in front of others?"
Palin thought for a moment before answering.
"Yes, that's right."
"Because I'm embarrassing?"
"Yes, that's... yes."
Palin frowned with a slightly uncomfortable expression and then immediately relaxed it.
Scarlett, who had been looking at Palin silently, nodded.
"I understand."
"Yes, then."
Palin bowed and was about to close the door when he stopped.
Scarlett was walking to the chair by the dressing room window with a bitter expression.
Then Palin deliberately hardened his expression and said.
"Please stay away from the window as well. You are not here today."
Palin felt guilty even though Scarlett didn't say anything and turned his head.
"I'll move the chair for you."
"...Thank you."
He immediately moved the chair and table by the window to the wall.
Scarlett walked over there, sat on the chair, and leaned her upper body on the table.
Palin was uneasy about her small body lying on the table, so he took off his jacket first. Then, after covering her shoulders with it, he rubbed his neck in discomfort and bowed to leave.
"Then... I'll tell you again after the luncheon is over."
Scarlett said to him.
"Tell Viktor I'm sorry."
"Yes, Madam."
Palin bowed and left the place.
Even after he left, Scarlett, who was exhausted and buried her face in her arms, straightened her upper body and murmured absentmindedly.
"You bastard."
Then she bent her waist in a circle and sat down, laughing like a madwoman.
She was dumbfounded that she felt hatred for Viktor. It was an established fact that she had betrayed him. It was pathetic that she couldn't remember it, but she hated her shallowness for hating her husband for not remembering.
She roused her listless body and headed for the mirror.
Now that she had just turned twenty, she looked as if vitality was blooming on her face even though she was exhausted. Her rose-like cheeks and lips, and her light golden hair gave a spring vibe to this winter.
She stared blankly at her face, then raised her hand and began to remove the decorations that fixed her hair, which was braided like a wreath.
While slowly spending time on it, she raised her head because the sound of the clock was annoying.
"The clock is strange."
The second hand sometimes stopped in the middle.
As if possessed, she tried to lift the fancy chair that Palin had moved, but she frowned for a moment because it was heavy.
"What, how did he lift it with one hand?"
In the end, she pushed the chair with the leg covers to the clock.
She stood on it and was about to take down the gilded clock hanging on the wall when she stopped, reminded of her father's voice.
"You have to remove the pendulum first, then move the clock, Scarlett. That way, the parts won't break."
She carefully removed the pendulum first with eyes like a startled rabbit.
"I remember everything."
Scarlett murmured and took the clock and returned to the table that Palin had moved. She turned the clock upside down on it, and even without opening it, the internal structure was roughly drawn in front of her.
"...Why am I doing this?"
Scarlett kept talking to herself, feeling a feeling that was more than strange, even scary.
"Did I suddenly become a genius? Or am I just crazy?"
The Crimson Family's clock contained the essence of Salantie's science and technology. However, her parents died early in an accident, and her uncle, Evil Crimson, who had swallowed all her assets under the pretext of raising her, did not teach her even the most basic skills. Therefore, until now, Scarlett had no knowledge of clocks.
"I have to remove the foreign substance stuck in the gears."
However, not only her father's voice, but also the image of her father explaining to his daughter while placing a part so small that it could not even be seen on the first joint of his index finger, and the image of her Mother laughing and laughing at such a husband and then concentrating on assembling numerous clock parts again, were clearly recalled, so she could not understand what was going on. Even the blueprints they had put up on the entire wall were all drawn in her head like photographs.
While she was looking at the clock, Candice, the maid who had come in worried about her, approached with a surprised face.
"Why did you bring the clock, Madam?"
"I'm going to try to fix it."
Candice tilted her head at her words and said.
"The clock has been getting more inaccurate these days. But you're going to fix it, Madam?"
"I'm a Crimson Family member. Let me try."
"Oh, did you learn how to repair clocks? Ah, I'll bring you the tool box."
Candice didn't have any particular doubts because the eldest daughter of the Crimson Family, famous for clocks, was doing so. She brought the tool box that Scarlett had brought when she came to the Dumpelt Family.
This tool box that her Mother used was received by Scarlett, and her father's was received by her brother, Isaac. These two things were all the inheritance the two had received.
Scarlett, who pulled the chair close to the table and sat down, opened the tool box. And she took out a tool and skillfully opened the back panel like someone who handles clocks every day.
As she began to take out the parts of the clock one by one, Candice, as well as the maids who had come in with her, watched her, worried about whether she would be able to reassemble them.
There was nothing in the Dumpelt Family that was not precious. Moreover, Gregory Dampfelt, who was busy tormenting his daughter-in-law these days, would surely grab her and kill her if he found out that she had broken the clock.
Scarlett never took the labor of the servants for granted because she had suffered a lot when she was young. So, as much as the servants who were dissatisfied that the mansion was noisy because of her, there were many who pitied her.
Candice, who belonged to the latter, watched Scarlett repairing the clock with a calm face and wore a relieved expression. She thought it was fortunate that Scarlett, who had been intimidated all along, could turn her attention to other things.
Scarlett blew away even a speck of dust with a blower and wiped away the dirt on the parts cleanly. Then, she fitted the disassembled parts with precise hands, balancing them. The maids who had been worried at first gradually approached the table because it was fun to watch the gears meshing together accurately.
