Chapter 47
47
*
Scarlett Dampfelt, waking up early in the morning, was startled to find Viktor asleep beside her, her eyes widening in surprise. As she hurriedly tried to get out of bed, Viktor grabbed her wrist.
He almost never grabbed her suddenly, so Scarlett's shoulders flinched. She turned to see Viktor asking,
"Are you running away because you remember?"
At his question, Scarlett asked, perplexed,
"What memory? Run away?"
"Or where are you going?"
"Ah, I think I have a fever. I'm afraid it'll be contagious to you."
Throughout their married life, she had never seen Viktor sick. So, if he caught a cold, wouldn't it be her fault?
Viktor sat up and covered her forehead with his hand. His hand was colder than she expected, and Scarlett's body shrank back.
Viktor took his hand away from her and stood up, and Scarlett followed suit. She felt unfamiliar with Viktor's behavior, which was somehow different from usual.
Scarlett covered her forehead, where Viktor's hand had been, with both hands. Her heart fluttered even at the lingering coldness of his hand. Then, she made eye contact with Viktor, who had turned around, and quickly lowered her hands. Viktor then opened his mouth.
"Do you love me?"
"Huh? Yes. Of course, I love you. A lot."
Besides, he was asking questions he never used to ask. The day he would be recognized as royalty was not far off. Perhaps that was why he had the leisure to give her his attention, and she couldn't help but smile.
Viktor chuckled at her smile.
"It seems so."
"......"
Scarlett was speechless at his words and blinked her eyes repeatedly, feeling embarrassed for no reason.
*
"How on earth do you forget you're divorced?"
"It seems like there's some kind of energy in Dumpelt Mansion that drives women crazy."
"Ugh, creepy......"
The workers at Dumpelt Mansion gossiped about the 'woman who forgot she was divorced and came to her ex-husband,' but they kept their mouths shut in front of Scarlett.
The servants made the same breakfast as when Viktor and Scarlett were a couple. Throughout the breakfast, Scarlett acted as if she had been born into a noble family and raised with perfect etiquette. She was so perfect that from the middle, it wasn't even felt that she had a cold. However, that perfection was even more chilling to the servants who were watching.
On the other hand, Viktor did not show any particular reaction to this situation. He had all the calendars in the house hidden, warned the servants, and left Scarlett to do as she pleased.
Scarlett, completely unaware of the surrounding circumstances, was simply busy all day. She carefully checked the dinner menu and prepared for the charity event. Scarlett, who had been busy moving around, also came to Viktor's study. She originally came into his sight frequently when Viktor was at home.
Scarlett, who had entered the study, touched the roses grown in the greenhouse that were placed in a vase, and then, terrified, brought scissors. As she laid out the roses on the table and began to cut off the thorns, Viktor, who was reading a book on the sofa, looked at her.
Scarlett said apologetically,
"I'll be done soon. It's strange, they have thorns. I'm removing them all."
Viktor turned his gaze back to the book without answering, but Scarlett spoke to him again.
"Growing roses is popular among noble ladies these days. The person who blooms the biggest and prettiest rose wins. I'm going to grow them in the greenhouse too."
"Is there a need to grow them yourself? You can have the gardener do it."
"That's cheating."
Scarlett said, smiling and looking at Viktor, asking,
"Right?"
"I don't know, women's affairs."
"I think so."
Scarlett said, putting on lace gloves that seemed impractical, and cut off the thorns of the roses with scissors. Then, looking at Viktor as if she couldn't understand, she asked,
"But did I really just put these thorny flowers in a vase like this? That can't be."
"Just leave them. I didn't even know you were cutting the thorns."
At his words, Scarlett's hand paused for a moment. But soon, she smiled again and began to move her hand to cut the thorns.
"Perfect suits you. It doesn't look good if there are thorns left."
Scarlett stopped speaking and paused her hand again. And as Viktor looked at her as she was about to put the roses back in the vase, blood was seeping into Scarlett's gloves.
Viktor stood up. And as he grabbed her arm and pulled her, Scarlett tilted her head and looked at Viktor as if asking what was wrong.
There was still a smile on her lips, as if it were painted on. It was a smile that Viktor had hired a tutor to create from the beginning of their marriage.
Viktor grabbed her hand and took off her glove, revealing a long scratch from a thorn. On top of that, she had a fever from a cold the day before. Viktor stared at her hand for a while, then wrapped it with his handkerchief and said,
"If it hurts, get it treated."
"I'll go get it treated now. I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?"
"I thought you were angry......"
Throughout their married life, Viktor had told her not to do anything that would be criticized anywhere. To always do things that would benefit him.
Scarlett was on edge, trying not to be criticized. Not because she thought it was right, but because Viktor wanted it.
She thought that hurting her hand and catching a cold were her flaws, that she was not helpful to Viktor, and that she was not loved by him because of her incompetence.
Scarlett quickly smiled again and said,
"I'm a little dizzy. I think I need to lie down."
In the early days of their marriage, Scarlett was reckless. That was because she had been working as a maid since she was twelve, and suddenly became the de facto mistress of the Dumpelt Family.
All she knew was how to light a fire in the fireplace or clean, and she had difficulty even with simple calculations, let alone managing money. She used the language of the maids and acted like a maid hired by the Dumpelt Family.
So Viktor thought that Scarlett would not be able to properly fulfill her role as his wife after he became royalty.
So he fixed her.
Viktor himself had been made into the ideal royal figure that his Mother thought of through torture-like punishments, so he did not think there was a problem with the method. The process of turning Scarlett Crimson, who had been fixed in a bad state and turned eighteen, into Scarlett Dampfelt was naturally harsh.
Scarlett, ashamed of the fact that she was sick, left the study as if running away.
It was only after she returned to her room that Scarlett relaxed and sighed deeply. Then, she called her doctor to treat her hand.
After the treatment, Scarlett said to Candice,
"Viktor has become strange."
"Oh, in what way?"
Candice asked, startled, and Scarlett replied with a serious expression.
"He keeps looking at me."
"Yes?"
"He didn't used to do that, he just did his own thing...... But he keeps looking at me, so I'm too nervous."
"W-Well. Because the Lady is good......"
"No. I'm definitely doing something wrong. I don't know what it is."
Scarlett pondered, then soon got up and looked at herself in the mirror. Then she asked Candice,
"What's the problem?"
"There's no problem. Really."
"Hmm......"
Scarlett still had a suspicious expression.
*
It was a strange day for Scarlett, but even stranger for others.
Scarlett had a normal day that anyone would think was normal. It was Viktor who had a different day than usual.
For the first time since the divorce, he did not drink alcohol, and he fell asleep in the same bedroom as Scarlett again.
The next morning, Scarlett, who woke up early as usual, was horrified to find her ex-husband sleeping next to her and got out of bed.
"V-Viktor?"
Then Viktor frowned and sat up. Scarlett, her eyes wide, looked around and asked,
"What's wrong? W-What happened?"
"You broke in."
"......Me?"
Scarlett looked flustered. After being at a loss for a while, she muttered,
"I've been forgetful lately, did I forget I was divorced......"
Viktor just looked at her and said nothing, and Scarlett paced around the bed with a confused expression. As she tried to remember how she had come to fall asleep here, she muttered with pale lips.
"What I need to remember...... Ah, that's right. Isaac. Something seems to have happened to Isaac......"
The more she tried to recall the memory, the more it was erased. Trying to remember caused a severe headache that made it hard to breathe.
Scarlett leaned against the wall, unable to support herself. Viktor clicked his tongue and walked over to stand in front of Scarlett.
"Why the Count."
"I don't know. I can't remember."
Scarlett muttered with difficulty.
Viktor laughed in disbelief. Then she leaned her head against the wall and looked up at Viktor.
"Too bad, you can't send me to the Monastery anymore because we're divorced."
"I don't know what you're talking about. It's easier now that we're divorced."
"What?"
"What makes you think I can't do as I please?"
Scarlett did not feel any particular emotion from Viktor as he said that. She thought that his eyes looked like those of a beast encountered in a foggy dawn field.
She was afraid of the fact that she could not know what this species was thinking. Was it trying to eat her, watch her, or leave?
Scarlett's fingertips began to tremble with fear. Viktor knew it, but he did not comfort her.
Instead, he said as if compensating,
"I'll bring Isaac here, so rest. You don't look well."
"......How do you know where he is?"
"I can bring him no matter where he is."
"......"
The trembling stops at those words.
Viktor smiled in a way that anyone could now recognize his displeasure and pulled Scarlett's hand. Then he kissed the tip of her finger and said,
"Indeed, you're affectionate enough to sell me out for Count Crimson."
