Chapter 8
8
*
7th Street was located on the southeastern outskirts of the capital.
Most of the shops on 7th Street were family businesses, so the relationships between the merchants were strong. Whenever a new store opened, the biggest concern was that a person with a strange personality would move in as a neighbor and disrupt this peace. So, when furniture was brought into the clock shop that had just finished construction, the merchants of 7th Street flocked to the front of the building to see who the owner was.
People had been coming and going all summer, and it seemed they were finally ready to open the shop after almost a year.
Among them, the family that ran the bakery next door was the most interested. In particular, their daughter, Liv, was curious about the woman who appeared to be the same age as her and the owner of the clock shop. Liv spoke to her friends from a distance.
"I heard that woman is from the Crimson Family?"
"Surely not that woman? The one who divorced the captain."
It was widely known that a daughter of the Crimson Family, close to 7th Street, had divorced the captain of the Rubid Ship. For a while, Salantie was buzzing about Viktor Dumpelt imprisoning his own Mother in a mental hospital.
Scarlett Crimson.
She was quite famous in the capital for selling her husband's information and getting a divorce. However, since there was no more fuel to add to the fire, interest waned after about a year.
"Surely not that woman?"
"Ugh, we can't tell because her picture isn't in the newspaper."
Pirates who considered Viktor Dumpelt their mortal enemy lived in the capital. Due to the risk of being harmed, his family was not featured in the newspaper.
Liv, being the same age as the clock shop owner, was pushed by her parents and the neighborhood merchants to take a basket of bread and go inside the shop.
It was then that Liv was able to see the shop owner's face clearly for the first time.
'She's so pretty...'
That was her first impression. The clock shop owner had a truly fantastic appearance. Her soft blonde hair, braided and draped over one shoulder, her sweet-looking eyes, and her slightly closed lips made her a beauty that even women would be taken aback by.
She stood with her hands clasped, wearing an expression that was neither offensive nor ridiculous to anyone. It might have been fine in high society, but to the local residents, it felt quite arrogant.
Liv approached her.
"Excuse me."
When the owner turned around, Liv held out the basket of bread.
"I'm your neighbor. This is a welcome gift, and I'm Liv Allic."
"Ah... Scarlett Dumpelt... Crimson."
"Are you really that person? The captain's...?"
Liv asked in astonishment, and Scarlett nodded. She reached out and took the basket of bread. Liv was worried about giving such ordinary bread to someone who had lived in the great Dumpelt Family, but Scarlett smiled brightly.
"Thank you."
'Wow, she's really pretty...'
Liv was shocked once again by that smiling face. She had never seen such a beautiful woman in her life. As befitting a noble lady, she always wore a wide-brimmed hat with a veil, so Liv was practically the first person to see her face properly.
Scarlett fiddled with the handle of the bread basket, looking pleased. It seemed she had been very worried about how to greet the locals.
Liv asked, "You've been here all summer, right? What have you been doing?"
"How did you know?"
"Don't even mention it, this neighborhood is so small that rumors spread about everything."
"I see... Ah, I was making clocks. Because I'm from the Crimson Family."
"Really? Can a lady make clocks?"
"Just call me by my name."
Scarlett said in surprise, and Liv quickly replied,
"Okay, Scarlett."
Then Scarlett smiled shyly and said with an apologetic expression,
"It would be nice to have coffee together, but it's still too complicated. Maybe soon... would you like to come over for coffee?"
"Sure. When you're done, open the window on the second floor and call me. My room is right in front of it."
"Is that so?"
Scarlett was even more pleased by those words. Liv had thought she looked aloof, but she was a much more cheerful person than she had expected.
Liv said goodbye to Scarlett and left the shop. Outside, the merchants of 7th Street, including her parents, were bustling and waiting, and they asked,
"Liv, how was it?"
"Is she unpleasant? Did she take the bread?"
As questions poured in, Liv said,
"First of all, it's definitely Scarlett Crimson, the one who divorced the captain."
"No, why is such a famous person in our neighborhood..."
Everyone was puzzled, but Liv continued,
"And she's not that much of a noble lady. She made all the clocks herself. And she's really, really pretty. The prettiest woman I've ever seen."
No sooner had Liv finished speaking than the merchants, finally succumbing to their curiosity, rushed into the clock shop. Soon, they all came out of the shop with satisfied expressions.
"Oh my, I've never seen such a beautiful young lady in my life."
"She seemed nice, didn't she?"
"I was worried for nothing all summer. If I had known she was such a gentle young lady, I would have gone and talked to her sooner."
All the merchants who had been worried about a strange person moving into the neighborhood looked relieved. Liv glanced at the shop, worried that Scarlett might be surprised by the rush of people because of her unnecessary words. Then, Scarlett, who had briefly come out of the shop, carefully raised her hand and waved to Liv. Relieved, Liv waved back with a big wave, and Scarlett smiled brightly.
*
Scarlett was so engrossed in opening the clock shop that it was winter in no time.
On a chilly Wednesday morning in December, Scarlett put on a thick wool cape and came down to the first floor.
A broad smile spread across Scarlett's face as she looked around the lovely clock shop, filled with morning sunlight.
First, she lit the fireplace for Andrei, who hated the cold. As the warm firewood burned, her clocks began to emit a subtle light.
A large grandfather clock hung on the wall, and wristwatches were displayed in glass-enclosed showcases.
The purple silk of the square cushions on which the watches were placed was chosen by Andrei himself. These small cushions, handmade by the two of them, became the symbol of 'Scarlett Crimson's Clock Shop,' as Andrei insisted.
She swept the floor with a broom and shook the dust off outside the door. And finally, after taking out the doormat that read 'Welcome' and placing it in front of the door, her work was done.
At exactly ten o'clock, Andrei, her only employee, appeared. He gave his bag to Scarlett to hold, and while she was holding it, Andrei put up the awning, which was too high for Scarlett.
Meanwhile, Scarlett took the bag to Andrei's seat behind the display case and immediately got on her bicycle, saying,
"I'll be back."
"Come early and work."
Andrei, knowing that she was going to see Isaac Crimson on Wednesdays, said the same thing he had said last Wednesday and went into the shop to start making coffee for the customers.
Scarlett wondered every time if it was okay for an employee to have more ambition than the boss as she pedaled towards the Crimson Family.
As Scarlett passed through 7th Street at the same time every Wednesday, the merchants she had come to know waved to her, and Scarlett waved back with one hand.
After completely leaving 7th Street and riding along the Tram tracks, she arrived at the Crimson Family.
Scarlett got off her bicycle, took her small handbag, and entered the Crimson estate. From the porch, she could see her cousins Marilyn and Arnold, and the siblings' friends, enjoying a leisurely lunch.
Marilyn said reproachfully,
"You know, if I had gone to the Dumpelt Family in the first place, I wouldn't have had to come back like this."
Scarlett pretended not to hear and tried to go inside, but a piece of bread flew and hit her head.
As she paused for a moment, Arnold blocked the door. He opened his mouth, displeased with Scarlett, who didn't even look at him.
"I don't know what's going on in the world these days, with divorced women wandering around like this."
Scarlett, accustomed to Arnold's pointless fault-finding, tried to enter the house without responding. Then Arnold grabbed her hair, headscarf and all, and pulled her back sharply.
"Where do you think you're going? Are you ignoring me?"
"Stop it."
"Stop it? Stop what? What are you going to do about it?"
Arnold shook his head in disbelief.
"Am I wrong? If you abandoned your own brother and ran away, you should have at least held onto your husband's heart."
Scarlett couldn't even scream, fearing that Isaac might hear, and she squeezed her eyes shut when she heard slow footsteps. Isaac was coming down the central staircase, leaning on the handrail and his cane.
Arnold glanced at Isaac, whose eyes were covered with clean muslin that the caretaker always changed. Then he let go of Scarlett and said,
"I'm letting you off because I feel sorry for that guy. He can't even pounce on you even though his own sister is acting like this."
Isaac, whose face was so pale it was almost white because he hardly ever went outside, quickly put on a smile. And he said, looking in the direction where Scarlett's voice was coming from,
"Scarlett, let's go upstairs."
At his words, Scarlett picked up the fallen headscarf and ran to him, saying,
"Why did you come down? I was going to come up."
"I came to meet you."
Isaac couldn't see the situation, so he just smiled shyly.
Scarlett carefully supported him and took him to the attic room where Isaac was staying.
"It's so cold."
Scarlett muttered, putting down her handbag and lighting the fireplace.
Isaac, who had returned to bed, lay still, turning his head towards the sound of her voice.
Isaac had been cared for by his one-year-younger sister ever since he lost his eyesight in the carriage accident that day. Even after she got married, it was the same.
Scarlett locked the door, took out the potion she had obtained by investing more than half of the money she had received from Gregory from her handbag.
The potion had been in the room where Scarlett stayed the day she regained consciousness after the interrogation. Moreover, the method of obtaining the potion was also written in her wallet.
It was a medicine that Scarlett had risked going to a market where pirate goods were traded illegally to obtain.
Isaac lay still and did not move while she dropped the potion onto the muslin.
Scarlett said,
"Do you really think you'll be able to see?"
Only when Scarlett spoke first did Isaac smile shyly, as if released from paralysis.
"I hope so. Otherwise, your money will just fly away."
"I told you not to worry about that."
With money similar to the cost of this medicine, she could have opened a clock shop and bought a bicycle.
It was an enormous price. Even though most of the pirates had been wiped out, going to that pirate island and obtaining a medicine containing sorcery was something no one would do without receiving that much money. However, Scarlett did not regret this investment in the slightest.
No matter how much her uncle took over the property, Isaac was the legal head of the Crimson Family and the Count of Crimson. However, when Isaac was young, he was too young, and now that he was blind, his uncle, Evil Crimson, acted as his guardian, and he still could not touch any of the property.
If Isaac used this potion and regained his sight, he would no longer be able to claim to be his guardian. However, that was just wishful thinking, and there was no guarantee that this medicine would restore Isaac's sight.
They had been administering the medicine, which they had barely obtained over half a year, for another half a year, but there was no sign of his eyesight returning. Perhaps they had been deceived, they both thought. However, considering each other's wounds, neither of them showed it.
