Chapter 88
88
*
Yuli Irene must have had a lot on her mind, because even after learning that Hugh Gun Hunter was at the Dumpelt Family, she didn't come to see him right away. Instead, he formally invited Viktor to the royal palace. It seemed he thought that would be safer. But Viktor refused without even considering it.
Viktor returned home first. As soon as he entered, Blight rushed to him and said,
"The mistress has woken up."
"Is Scarlett still at home?"
"Yes. That's... it seems she's forgotten that you're divorced again."
"Ah, I see."
Viktor stepped inside.
Unlike usual, the house was warm. As he entered the first-floor lobby, Scarlett, who was humming a song and arranging flowers as if something pleasant had happened, looked up.
"Viktor?"
Scarlett checked the clock and tilted her head.
"You're home early..."
"......"
Viktor approached her and removed the lace glove from her hand. Perhaps because bandages would ruin the look of the glove, the wound was exposed.
Scarlett, who had been hiding the wound on her neck with a scarf, said in embarrassment,
"I woke up this morning and... I don't know where I got these."
Viktor didn't even notice her trying to pull her hand away as he stared at the wounds. He thought of Hugh Gun Hunter, who had refused to drink the tea.
Even that robust man wouldn't drink it, yet he had fed it to this woman. And he had locked her away in the Monastery for a hundred days without visiting her.
What would she think of him if she found out? Was there no way to keep her from ever knowing the truth?
'Or, a way to keep her from leaving even if she knew?'
As he was thinking, Scarlett said with a worried expression,
"Viktor."
"......"
"Are you angry? I'm sorry."
When Viktor still didn't answer, Scarlett reached out and hugged his neck.
Only then did he look at her, and Scarlett smiled brightly. Viktor asked with a cold face at her smile.
"Why are you smiling? What's so funny? You're hurt this badly. Why are you smiling in this situation?"
Scarlett smiled even brighter when she sensed the anger in his voice.
"It was nothing. It's not a big wound."
"......"
"It was nothing, Viktor."
"If there was a role that only required acting skills for smiling, no one would do it better than this girl."
Viktor grabbed her wrist and dragged Scarlett to the guest bedroom nearby. Then, he locked the door, sat Scarlett on the bed, and kissed her roughly. He could feel Scarlett gasping in surprise and clutching his shirt, but he didn't stop.
He paused, took off his jacket, and said,
"You can just have my child."
"W-What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Have my child. Right now. We need a child."
If she found out, the wall in Scarlett's heart that Viktor was trying to break down would only become stronger. She might never see him again. Even the remaining embers in her heart would be extinguished.
If he could only keep her by his side, he could ignore everything that happened outside this mansion. He would take advantage of her memory loss, make her have a child. And he would take her to Bestina.
His childhood dream of becoming royalty in this country was just brainwashing. It was Mother's brainwashing, and the world's brainwashing that blamed the exiled princess.
Viktor, who was always relaxed, hurriedly loosened his tie and took off his shirt, and Scarlett looked at him with wide eyes.
"Why are you doing this all of a sudden, really."
"You don't want to?"
"No. I want to. I definitely want to. But everyone says it's not good to do it before your twentieth birthday. They say the baby won't be healthy if you get pregnant before your twentieth birthday."
He knew that Scarlett's current feelings were false. He also knew that this answer could not be a real answer.
He was so rushed that he didn't even notice that there was a problem with what Scarlett had just said. As Viktor grabbed her legs with a hurried, even rough, touch and pulled her toward him, Scarlett said with a flustered face.
"Viktor, calm down!"
Scarlett had never seen Viktor lose his temper before. She had never seen him anxious or impatient.
Scarlett, sensing that there was definitely something wrong with Viktor's condition, grabbed the garter belt that held up her stockings and hit Viktor's arm hard as he tore it off.
"I said calm down!"
Only then did Viktor's hand stop.
He clenched the torn garter belt tightly.
Scarlett knelt on the bed and stroked Viktor's cheeks, which were like those of a ferocious beast wandering through a parched desert, with her fingertips.
"I don't know what's going on, but tell me. I'm always here, what's the rush."
Then, she smiled brightly as she made eye contact with him.
"I like it too."
"......"
"Having your and my child. I'm happy anytime. I'll be happy anytime."
Viktor's hand loosened at her loving, honey-dripping voice.
He cupped Scarlett's cheeks with his trembling hands, kissed her, and knocked her down on the bed. Scarlett no longer pushed him away, who had calmed down a little.
It would be impossible to be forgiven for this. But what did it matter?
He thought that he should make Scarlett take the drug again to completely erase her memories of reality. If he could keep her by his side that way, nothing else mattered.
After that, he had to let her know. That being his wife meant that she didn't have to smile when she didn't want to.
If there was anyone who forced her to smile, he would cut off their breath, even if it was himself. He was going to let her know.
*
Perhaps because the shock of being kidnapped by pirates was so great, Scarlett did not return to normal for several days.
Humans tend to adapt to anything once it becomes routine. As Scarlett's condition stabilized in the wrong direction, Viktor also found stability.
Palin, who had entered his house, said anxiously.
"You can't do this, Captain."
"What can't I do?"
"Anything. Everything you're trying to do right now. What if Scarlett regains her memory again!"
"That's why I'm going to make her have a child."
"......Pardon?"
"Then she won't be able to leave."
Viktor continued casually.
"Scarlett doesn't remember the current situation anyway. She'll think she had a child because she wanted to. In that case, there's no way that kind woman would leave the father of her child."
"Captain!"
Viktor ignored Palin's call and headed for Scarlett.
He thought that maybe Scarlett would repeat this memory loss for quite a long time. If that was the case, he thought it wouldn't be so bad.
If she kept going back and forth like this, she would eventually settle down next to him. She would give birth to his child, and he could use that child as an excuse to weaken her heart as much as he wanted.
He knew better than anyone how terrible the thoughts he was having right now would feel to Scarlett. But even that didn't stop him.
When Viktor opened the bedroom door, he saw Scarlett's pale face standing behind the door.
Viktor looked at her and opened his mouth.
"Scarlett."
"What happened? Did I just faint? Or did I forget that I was divorced again?"
"You forgot for quite a long time this time."
At Viktor's words, Scarlett sighed with a complicated expression.
"Why is this happening..."
"That's not the problem right now. You were kidnapped."
"I know. I remember that."
"Sit down again. Let me check your wounds."
"Okay..."
Scarlett nodded. Then, Viktor walked over and checked the wounds on her neck and hand and clicked his tongue.
"They're still the same."
"How many days has it been?"
"About three days."
"Self-inflicted wounds don't heal in three days. You've seen much more wounds than that, what are you talking about?"
"...I guess so."
As he retorted and clicked his tongue, Scarlett, who had been so frightened, chuckled.
A moment later, Viktor called a doctor to reapply the bandages.
After the doctor left, Viktor said to Scarlett, who was trembling.
"I'm going to put several guards around you for the time being. Don't worry too much."
"Thank you."
Scarlett got up.
Viktor stared blankly at Scarlett's back. He had never known the feelings Scarlett had been feeling by his side. Because she was always smiling.
It was natural to feel relieved when you saw someone smiling.
If only he had looked a little closer at the fact that she had been taking care of her brother since she was twelve. Then he would have known.