Chapter 41
41
*
Scarlett sat back in her chair and clasped Viktor's hand.
"It's true, Viktor. He was the one who interrogated me at the Royal Police Headquarters that day. If you ask him, he'll know exactly what happened that day..."
Scarlett's voice, which had been so earnest, gradually faded.
Viktor stared at her as she spoke, his face indifferent and unmoving.
"Do I have to send my wife to the Monastery?"
Scarlett recalled Viktor's face as he said those words. Even then, he had looked at her with the same expression he wore now. The expression of someone who was sick and tired of crazy women.
'That's right. This man didn't believe me.'
Scarlett smiled bitterly as she remembered.
They were divorced now, so he couldn't throw her back into the Monastery, but she couldn't escape the fear that was engulfing her, the same fear she had felt then.
Cold and utterly rational, he always made Scarlett feel ashamed of her own actions. Even her infatuation with him seemed exaggerated in his presence, making her feel like a ridiculous clown.
Am I the crazy one? Am I the one acting strangely in this situation, again?
Scarlett slowly released Viktor's hand.
She said in a trembling voice,
"Then I really am... out of my mind."
Her hand fell limply below the table.
"I must be crazy."
Scarlett muttered emptily and laughed weakly. Then she rose from her seat.
"Viktor, I'm going to go."
"Okay."
Viktor replied, but his voice sounded weary.
With that, he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. The red tip of the cigarette and the hazy smoke made Scarlett feel as though her vision was blurring as much as her mind.
He had been tormented by his Mother for a long time, and now it was revealed that he had been married to a crazy woman in front of Nina Hunter, the most famous socialite, his ex-girlfriend, and the Royal Police who had dug into his past.
Viktor smoked to quell his anger, and Scarlett bowed to Nina and Hugh Gun Hunter before fleeing the place as if running away.
It was only after her shoe came off as she rushed out of the mansion that Scarlett stopped for a moment. After finding her shoe and putting it back on, she no longer ran but walked with a dazed expression.
After arriving at the Tram station, she sat on a bench and let several Trams pass. Only after hearing the station attendant announce the arrival of the last Tram did she get up. As she walked towards the Tram, she muttered to herself,
"I'm the crazy one. Not the world."
She still had some faith in herself. She felt wronged that she couldn't remember the day of the interrogation, and she felt wronged that this had happened.
But now that she thought about it, she was the only one acting strangely in that situation.
She repeated the words to herself over and over again, trying to awaken her dull mind.
"I'm not sane, Scarlett Crimson."
She thought it was time to accept that fact.
*
Scarlett returned to the clock shop with a vacant look on her face. Andrei, who had been guarding the shop, scolded her as soon as she entered.
"Why are you so late picking out items for the auction? I was worried I'd have to come get you."
He seemed to notice Scarlett's condition in the middle of his sentence, but due to his typically cold personality, he finished the sentence anyway.
Scarlett said with a blank expression,
"You haven't gone home yet?"
"You said you'd be back soon, but you weren't. What happens to my salary if something happens to the boss?"
Scarlett smiled faintly at Andrei's words.
"Sorry. Go home now. You can come in late tomorrow. I'll open the shop."
Scarlett said, and then, as if exhausted, she sat down in front of the fireplace on the first floor. Andrei, who had been about to leave, sighed deeply and squatted down beside her, asking,
"What's wrong?"
Scarlett then looked at Andrei. Seeing the face of someone who was on her side seemed to put her at ease, and she smiled faintly. She took a deep breath and grumbled,
"I thought I remembered the day of the interrogation? But I didn't."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Today, a Royal Police officer named Hugh Gun Hunter came to Dumpelt Mansion. I suddenly remembered seeing him during the interrogation. So I said that, but he said he wasn't even in the capital then."
Andrei frowned, unsure how to react to those words, before opening his mouth.
"Are they lying?"
"Huh?"
"That Royal Police officer, I mean."
"...Do you believe me?"
"What are you talking about? Would I believe a complete stranger?"
Scarlett's eyes widened at Andrei's bewildered question.
Her pupils, which had been tinged crimson by the light of the fireplace, soon emitted a warm light like sunshine. Then she began to laugh out loud.
Andrei asked, looking disgusted,
"Why are you laughing?"
"I don't know. I felt like I was the only crazy one a moment ago, but when you say that, it feels like my heart is melting."
"I hate hearing cheesy things like that."
"I know, I know."
Scarlett said, and then smiled with a face like the spring sunshine that seemed to melt away the cold, just like the words she had just spoken.
"Okay. Take tomorrow off. I'll watch the shop."
"With pay, right?"
"No, it's unpaid."
"Wow, the benefits are amazing. I'm not taking a day off without pay. I'll be in at twelve tomorrow, so keep that in mind."
Scarlett laughed out loud as Andrei spoke and stood up first.
Andrei grabbed her arm and helped her up, then gathered his things to leave. In the meantime, Scarlett asked,
"Is Isaac asleep already?"
"Ah, he went out saying he was staying at the Crimson estate tonight."
"What? Without a word..."
"He said if he told you, you wouldn't let him go."
"...That's true."
Scarlett replied, sounding a little displeased.
Andrei nodded briefly with his bag in hand and left the shop. Scarlett didn't have the energy to go up to the second floor, so she lay down on the sofa on the first floor of the shop for a while, but then woke up, worried about Isaac.
"Why did he go home...? Is he uncomfortable here?"
Scarlett muttered to herself.
Throughout his stay here, Isaac had refused Scarlett's offer to sleep in the bed, instead covering himself with a blanket on this first-floor guest sofa and sleeping there. It was because he didn't want to disturb Scarlett, who worked until dawn.
She became anxious at the fact that Isaac wasn't coming back, and eventually got up again. She opened the curtains a little and looked outside for a moment before sighing deeply.
Her head throbbed from waking up without getting any sleep. She was worried about Isaac, so she thought it would be better to go to the Crimson estate.
It was very late, but it would be quick if she went by bicycle. She had just finished getting ready and was about to leave the shop when three men in Royal Police uniforms stood in front of the door.
"What... is it?"
She asked cautiously, and one of the three Royal Police officers said,
"We need you to come with us. It's about Count Crimson."
"Isaac? What about Isaac?"
Her eyes widened at the question, and an answer came back.
"The Count is at the police station for confinement and assault."
"Wh-what did Isaac do?"
"He is accused of assaulting his uncle, Evil Crimson. Sorry to say this in front of a lady... but he cut off one of his fingers."
"Wh-what? That can't be, Isaac is so..."
She was about to say how docile he was, but then she remembered Isaac beating up his cousin, Arnold Crimson, one day. Isaac had been truly violent then. If she hadn't stopped him then, he might have inflicted permanent harm on Arnold Crimson.
Scarlett nodded, looking worried.
"I understand. Let's go right away."
"Yes."
She soon got into the carriage that the Royal Police officers had come in.
