Chapter 9
9
*
After applying the medicine, Scarlett said,
"I want to lie down for a bit."
"Okay."
Isaac moved close to the wall to make room.
As Scarlett lay down next to him, Isaac asked,
"How's the watch shop?"
"So-so. The watches I make do sell, though."
"That's amazing. I'm proud of you."
Isaac said affectionately, then quickly wore a regretful expression.
"I want to visit the watch shop too..."
"Once things settle down, I'll show you around soon."
"No."
Isaac shook his head. Then, he said in a bright voice,
"I'll go when I can see. I'll look at the watches you made."
"Yeah. When you can see, let's ask to suspend the guardianship. And then go to the Crimson factory."
"Okay."
"Let's take back all of your factories, brother."
"Our factories."
"Why 'our'? The title and the factories are inherited by the successor."
"If our parents were alive, they might have made you the successor."
Isaac, who never insisted on anything, was stubborn only when it came to the factories.
Scarlett sighed and said,
"Alright."
"Once the guardianship is suspended, I'll go to your shop alone. I've memorized the address perfectly."
"Ah, just thinking about it makes me excited."
Scarlett said, sounding a bit thrilled.
After talking for a while longer, she got up. Since Isaac couldn't see her waving, she made sure to make a sound every time she moved.
"Ah, I should get going now."
"Be careful on your way."
Isaac smiled and waved. And before Scarlett got up, he groped for her arm and grabbed it, saying,
"But Scarlett. I don't think that way. You know?"
"Think what?"
"That you abandoned me. I've never thought that, not even a little bit."
It might be different for other people, but Scarlett was the type to blame herself for abandoning a blind person here to get married if he didn't tell her this. Of course, saying this wouldn't stop her from blaming herself, but it was better than not saying it at all.
Scarlett smiled and nodded.
"Yeah."
Answering like that, Scarlett left the room.
The door closed, and Isaac brought both hands up to the cloth covering his eyes.
After Scarlett married a man from the Dumpelt Family, he thought he would no longer be a burden. But she poured most of the money she received from the divorce into this uncertain medicine.
"...I want to see."
He recalled when he was young, standing up to his uncle for hitting his sister.
Evil Crimson had comforted Isaac then, saying,
"You're different from Scarlett. That girl is nothing, but you will inherit the Crimson Family's title. Be good, don't equate her with you."
And he recalled his uncle placing Isaac's hand on Scarlett's cheek. It was an act to make Isaac one of them. Isaac slapped Scarlett's cheek until his uncle was satisfied.
That night, Scarlett came to his side and whispered,
"Secretly, it didn't hurt at all."
Then she grinned.
After that day, Isaac never stood up to his uncle again, and he stopped believing in Scarlett's smiles.
*
Scarlett rode her bicycle back to the watch shop. On the glass wall of the shop where she parked her bicycle were large letters that read 'Scarlett Crimson's Watch Shop,' and below that, in smaller letters, 'Custom Orders Available.'
The Crimsons were a family of great watchmakers. Five generations ago, they were recognized for their skills and received the title of Count.
'Crimson' was both the name of the family and the name of a watch part. Putting this name on the shop meant that she could make watches with that part.
When Scarlett first said she would use this name, the artisans of the Crimson Family vehemently opposed it. But when Scarlett created the Crimson Parts, they had nothing to say and backed down.
Scarlett went inside and asked Andrei,
"Any orders?"
"There were, but I'm telling you in advance, don't make a fuss."
Andrei said primly, then held up an empty box.
"This one sold again, and the next customer even made a pre-order."
At Andrei's calm words, Scarlett narrowed her wine-colored eyes, which often curved with delight, and looked at him.
Andrei put the box down again and said,
"Just say it, that thing. What did I say?"
"What did I say? Didn't I say it would sell well?"
"Yes, yes, I never thought this sapphire-covered thing would keep selling. It's my only mistake."
Andrei said with a hint of dissatisfaction, then put down the box and quickly scolded Scarlett.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and make more sapphire-covered things."
"It's called 'Eyes of the Sea Goddess.' Why do you keep calling it 'sapphire-covered' when it has such a nice name?"
"You're the only one who thinks the name 'Eyes of the Sea Goddess' is nice. Actually, I call it something else."
Then Andrei took out a hidden nameplate.
"Navy watch with sapphires."
At the word 'Navy,' Scarlett tensed up without realizing it and asked,
"Why is it a Navy watch?"
"It's a cool watch that Navy people would wear. Who do the people of this capital love the most? Captain Viktor Dampfelt and the Navy elites of the Rubid Ship, right? This is what you call marketing."
Andrei, who nonchalantly used the owner's ex-husband for his marketing, seemed like a natural businessman to Scarlett.
Although she had complaints about Andrei's attitude towards her, he was a brilliant salesman when dealing with nobles, and he handled the overall operations with a skill that was excessive for his meager salary.
Andrei said casually,
"You just make watches. When are you going to finish the one for the exhibition?"
"I'll do it now."
Scarlett said and went up to the second floor, where her home and workshop were located, to make watches.
Although it was called a home, the only things that gave it a sense of life were a bed and a wardrobe.
Her workshop was filled with drawers containing parts for making watches. Since there was a lot of work that had to be done by hand, her fingertips, which had maintained the softness of a noble lady during her two years of marriage, became tattered in less than a year after the divorce.
Taking off the headscarf she was wearing to keep warm, her golden, wavy hair cascaded down to her waist. She tied her hair tightly into a braid and sat down at the workbench.
This watch, which came to be called 'sapphire-covered,' had twelve very small sapphires in it.
Scarlett began to delicately carve out the grooves for the sapphires. Her work continued until the early sun set, when the guards lit the street gas lamps.
In the meantime, two neighborhood kids ran into the watch shop, and Andrei gestured to the stairs with a displeased look.
The children walked up the stairs with the quiet steps they had learned after being scolded by Andrei several times.
When they arrived on the second floor, there was another locked door made of wooden bars. Knowing that Scarlett was completely unaware of her surroundings once she was focused, the two children called her loudly in front of the door.
"Scarlett! Fix it!"
"The Tram broke down again!"
Even though they called her so loudly, there was no answer, and the children wore dissatisfied expressions.
The children called her again with all their might at the same time.
"Scarlett!"
Only then did Scarlett hear them, put down what she was working on, and turn around.
As soon as Charlie and Susan, the two children of the Tram drivers' union leader, made eye contact with Scarlett, they chattered.
"The Tram broke down again."
"It's old, so it breaks down all the time. Scarlett has to fix it."
At the children's words, Scarlett hesitated with a troubled face and shook her head.
"I told you, once a Tram breaks down, it's over. Fixing it is illegal."
Last July, the King and the High Priest agreed to ban the repair of Trams and bicycles.
The main reason was that people were going out to the outskirts on weekends because of the Trams and bicycles. This was said to be against Leshkia.
The nomads who founded Salantie were a people who blended into nature, so they tended to reject technological advancements. But they were not foolish enough to agree to such a bill.
At first, the citizens were only bewildered by this absurd bill. But when severe punishments actually began, they feared the bill and began to obey it.
Recently, there had even been cases of extremist religionists murdering some engineers based on the words of the King and the High Priest.
After that, no one tried to repair the Trams, but the prejudice that a young and weak noble woman like Scarlett could not possibly repair the Trams allowed her to secretly repair them without being suspected.
The siblings, who had no idea that this could put Scarlett in danger, whined.
"If the Tram breaks down, our dad will lose his job."
"Then we'll have to starve."
Last time, and the time before that, she had heard this story and reluctantly fixed it.
She shouldn't have started this in the first place. If only the Tram she was riding hadn't stopped...
Scarlett, who was looking at them with a sigh, met their sparkling eyes and finally reluctantly got up.
"You little brats."
"We're not brats!"
"Yeah, whoever calls us brats is the brat!"
Those seven-year-old siblings were very good at talking, and they didn't lose a single word. They were annoying, but it wouldn't do for these kids to starve.
