Chapter 77
77
*
After the meal, Scarlett grabbed her coat and left the Dumpelt Mansion.
Viktor saw her off to the carriage and said,
"Don't go?"
At his words, Scarlett, who had stepped onto the carriage, looked at Viktor. She replied,
"Yes."
"Is there a price?"
He asked in a teasing tone, and Scarlett paused for a moment before opening her mouth.
"If there's something I want."
"I see."
Viktor smiled and nodded.
"I'll keep it in mind."
Scarlett got into the carriage, and the door closed.
All the way home, she worried about how to take off this dress by herself. But on the other hand, she thought it was a waste to have dressed up like this for once, so she wanted to take a walk on 7th Avenue.
When she arrived at the clock shop and got out of the carriage, she saw Andrei. Andrei, who found Scarlett, frowned and asked,
"Did you have fun?"
"No, I didn't."
"What do you mean, no? You're all dressed up."
"...Viktor told me to stay for a formal dinner, so I dressed up. It took more than two hours just to do my hair. It's a waste to take it off right after dinner. I'm going to take a walk now and buy coffee for the volunteers."
Andrei sighed demonstratively, then held out his arm, telling her to link arms with him.
"I'm off work now, so let's go together. It's cold, though."
"Really?"
"Yes, yes."
"What's wrong with Andrei? You don't do that kind of thing unless you get paid, do you?"
"What are you talking about? If I liked money that much, would I be working here for this meager salary?"
"...I definitely understood what you meant."
Scarlett said that, but she was slightly excited and linked arms with Andrei. Even though the Pitt Family was insignificant, he was still the second son of a noble family and had received sufficient etiquette training. He escorted Scarlett and walked slowly along 7th Avenue.
As they walked, they saw sacks piled up at the entrance of 7th Avenue for a charity event. They had been steadily collecting them during the winter and were now slowly sending them to the slums. Scarlett checked the sacks that had been donated in the name of the Dumpelt Family.
The Dumpelt Family had more unused blankets than she thought. It was thanks to Viktor, who had simply given away everything they had and replaced all the blankets and curtains used by the servants. Viktor had spent the money, but the servants were grateful to Scarlett for bringing it up, which made her feel awkward.
Anyway, it was decided that these items would be transported by Tram, and the Tram drivers, led by Powell, volunteered to help.
Andrei placed the brazier he had been carrying in one hand and began to brew coffee. Powell's children, Susan and Charlie, who had spotted Scarlett, ran over wearing heavily padded winter clothes.
"Scarlett! What's going on? Why are you so pretty?"
"You look like an angel!"
At the children's words, Scarlett replied with an embarrassed expression.
"It's formal dinner attire. Um. I was going to have a fancy meal."
"Wow..."
"Scarlett, wear this every day. Okay?"
"That's too hard."
Scarlett was embarrassed and changed the subject.
"I brought coffee."
"What about milk?"
"I brought it."
"Wow!"
The children were excited that they had something to drink too.
Meanwhile, Andrei scolded them.
"Shouldn't you little ones be sleeping now? You won't grow."
"No! We will grow!"
"Our dad is tall, so we'll grow too!"
The children took turns speaking, and Susan, as if trying to catch up with Andrei, who was unusually tall, jumped up and down and asked.
"Andrei too! Did you! Sleep! A lot! When you were little?"
"Yeah."
Andrei answered casually and quickly boiled the milk, dissolved the sugar, and handed them each a cup to shut them up. The children sat huddled together on the donated sacks, sipping their milk as if they had never been noisy.
Meanwhile, Scarlett asked the driver, Powell.
"Can I help you with the work tomorrow?"
"Of course. It's good to have even one extra hand."
Then Andrei reluctantly said,
"I'll go too. The boss needs to get back to work at the store quickly."
At those words, one of the drivers teased loudly.
"You're just tall and skinny, you don't look like you have any strength."
The drivers laughed at his words, and Andrei walked away as if he was tired, estimated the weight of two sacks, and then lifted five sacks and loaded them onto the Tram.
Even the Tram drivers, who were known for their strength, could barely lift two sacks with a groan.
"Oh my, what... what do you use to get your strength?"
"My arms."
Andrei retorted. Scarlett thought that Andrei must be really strong, seeing as even the Tram drivers were surprised. She realized once again that she had no basis for comparison since there were only men with strong physical abilities around her.
*
The next morning, Scarlett boarded the Tram to head to the slums as promised.
Powell removed the route map from where the routes were posted and inserted a piece of paper that read 'Charity Goods Transport Vehicle'.
Soon, the Tram, full of sacks, departed. Charlie and Susan, who had come along, whether to help or hinder, were having more fun with Andrei than she had expected, so Scarlett was able to doze off during the ride.
Susan, seeing Scarlett dozing off in the back seat of the Tram, crept up to her. Then, staring intently at Scarlett, she whispered to Charlie.
"Scarlett is really pretty even when she's not wearing pretty clothes."
"I don't see it at all!"
"Are you stupid?"
"No, I'm not!"
"Be quiet, you'll wake Scarlett up."
"Oh, right."
Charlie quickly covered his mouth with both hands. Then he sat on the seat opposite Scarlett and stared at her sleeping face. Andrei, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, came over and scolded them.
"You shouldn't stare at someone who's sleeping like that, you little brats."
"But it's fun!"
Susan said, and Charlie nodded. Anyway, the children were much more direct in expressing their opinions about appearance, and sometimes it even made her think they were cruel.
Certainly, Scarlett, sound asleep, was beautiful enough to make you want to stare blankly at her like these little ones. Andrei sometimes wondered if that was why Viktor Dumpelt, who was so rational that he was almost inhuman, was trying to hold onto her again.
Viktor Dumpelt knew about the medicine she had taken. He wanted to hold onto Scarlett even to the point of hiding that fact.
He even overlooked the fact that he had tried to kill her in order to keep the secret. In Andrei's eyes, Viktor was a man who looked fine on the outside but was insane on the inside.
Meanwhile, the Tram went beyond the capital, and from the terminus, the luggage was transferred to a rented cart nearby.
It took all day just to travel, and they finally arrived at the slums.
Most of the residents were gathered in the largest building in the village to live together and avoid the cold. But when the blankets and food arrived, their dying faces lit up and they ran out.
"Oh my, we're indebted to you again this year, Mr. Powell."
"I'm just doing the transportation."
Powell was embarrassed, and in the meantime, people unloaded the luggage.
Scarlett checked the number of people next to her and checked the items they were taking to prevent one person from receiving them twice. Meanwhile, Charlie and Susan took toys and shared them with the village children, and they were already fighting and crying while playing together, but then they were running around as if they had never cried.
They were distributing the luggage to some extent when it happened. A disheveled woman was seen running barefoot and screaming.
Scarlett was surprised, and Andrei blocked her and protected her, but none of the villagers were surprised.
"Shirley's starting again."
"I wonder when she'll get better..."
Everyone said a word and that was it. Then one of the old men who had received the goods earlier said.
"I can take care of her stuff. I'll take care of it for her later."
"Yes? Ah."
Scarlett checked the notebook she was holding and looked at Shirley. The old man urged her.
"Just give it to me."
"Why would you ask her? She won't understand."
Then the old man tried to take the goods without warning. Scarlett blocked him and said.
"I'll ask her first."
"What do you know, miss? I know."
Scarlett still blocked the goods and stood there, and the old man cursed and retreated. Scarlett said to Charlie and Susan.
"Charlie, Susan. I'm going somewhere for a while, can you stop anyone from taking this?"
"Yes. Don't worry!"
"If we protect it, no one will be able to take it. You'll protect it with us, right?"
The two children asked their friends, who had already fought and reconciled five times, and they all nodded. They were reliable children.
Scarlett, who had entrusted the goods to them, quickly moved to find the woman named Shirley, who had been screaming and running away.
Soon after, Scarlett found Shirley huddled in a corner of an abandoned house, clutching her head and trembling.
"Ms. Shirley?"
At Scarlett's call, Shirley, who had been trembling, raised her head.
Scarlett took out her notebook and asked.
"Here... Grandpa Wix said he can take Ms. Shirley's things for her. Can I give them to him? It's blankets and food."
"No! If you give it to that son of a bitch, he won't give any to others even if his stomach bursts!"
"Ah, I see."
Scarlett nodded and got up, saying.
"Then I'll leave it here. Don't forget to take it later."
"Forget?"
Shirley scoffed at those words.
"I can't forget anything. Everything! I remember everything! I'm going crazy!"
"Yes?"
Scarlett looked at her, and Shirley jumped up. Then she grabbed Scarlett's arm and said with crazy eyes.
"I can't forget anything since one day. Everything! I remember everything! I'm going crazy!"