Chapter 91
91
*
The change came faster than expected. Less than half a day after leaving the Naval Residence and returning to the Clock Shop, Scarlett jolted up in surprise from a stone that flew through the window. The voice of a zealot came from outside the window.
"Witch!"
"Technology is evil, poison. It's a betrayal of God!"
Scarlett stared blankly at the broken window before hurriedly grabbing a large suitcase and opening it. She crammed in everything in sight.
As she packed in a rush, Andrey came up.
"I've secured a carriage, so we need to leave quickly..."
At that moment, a stone flew in and hit Scarlett's left forehead. More startled than pained, Scarlett collapsed to the floor, and Andrey quickly grabbed her luggage, saying,
"Why are you packing this stuff?"
"It's important..."
Andrey went down first, and Scarlett followed him.
In front of the Clock Shop, zealots enraged by the news of her building a flying machine had gathered. The guards were blocking them, but outnumbered, they couldn't even stop the stones being thrown.
"It's a witch!"
"Grab her right now and burn her at the stake! This witch will bring misfortune to Salantier!"
Scarlett boarded the carriage while getting pelted by stones from the angry crowd.
The carriage soon departed, and Scarlett let out a sigh of relief before urgently checking Andrey's face.
"Are you okay? What do we do? Because of me..."
"I'm fine. From the start, I knew something like this would happen serving a walking disaster like you, boss."
"Sorry."
Scarlett's face, apologizing like that, was covered in wounds.
Andrey said,
"No, boss, how do you get a new wound before the old one even heals?"
"I'm okay. Really."
Scarlett looked embarrassed.
"I knew something like this might happen... Can we save our Clock Shop?"
"You're thinking about saving the Clock Shop in the middle of all this?"
Andrey clicked his tongue and continued,
"Captain Victor has no eye for selecting guards."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Since he's so strong himself, he thinks everyone below him is more or less the same. Does that make sense? People have different levels of ability."
"I see... Ah, for now, to the Crimson Family. Our house is dangerous for the time being, and it might threaten the neighbors too, so I need to ask if I can stay there."
In the meantime, the carriage was heading straight to the Crimson Mansion.
Scarlett said anxiously,
"Isaac will be in danger too."
"That's why we have to go now. The zealots haven't shown up there yet, right?"
"Ah, what do we do..."
Scarlett covered her face with both hands.
"I was so short-sighted."
As she spoke, the carriage arrived at the nearby Crimson Mansion. Fortunately, no zealots had appeared yet, and the house was quiet. Even if they were arrested now, the zealots, whom the royals only encouraged, would be released within a day and back to their activities.
Andrey muttered,
"Seeing those guys, don't you just want to abandon Salantier and leave?"
"Even you're saying that, Andrey."
"Any normal person would think that. It's frustrating. The royals, the police, even the citizens—they're all so stupid. I don't get why you have to go through this for them. You'd be treated so much better in Bestina."
Hearing that, Scarlett glared at Andrey and asked,
"Are you a Bestina spy by any chance?"
"After the Royal Police, now Bestina too? No, I haven't been promoted that high."
"It's frustrating. I'm so pissed."
"But."
"But I don't have a choice."
"You do. There's Count Crimson."
"No."
Scarlett smiled brightly.
"That's not my choice. The Crimson Family received their title because of our technology. In exchange for the title, we've promised not to leave Salantier. So I have no choice."
"..."
"And the citizens of Salantier aren't stupid."
Andrey looked dissatisfied but silently turned his head to the window. Then he soon chuckled.
"You're right."
At his words, Scarlett looked out the window. Nearby residents had come out to protect the mansion. When Scarlett got out of the carriage, they gathered around her.
"Miss, we'll protect the shop and here now, so don't worry."
"We'll block those crazy bastards for you!"
Scarlett blinked in daze. Then, a few guards who arrived shortly after got out of the carriage and told her,
"The tram drivers have gathered to guard the shop. They're so burly, the zealots couldn't do anything."
"Ah..."
Scarlett soon smiled. That's when the surrounding people noticed the wounds on her face and said in surprise,
"Miss, your face is wounded!"
"Oh no, what if it scars, on such a pretty face..."
Scarlett touched the wounded spot with her hand and quickly headed into the mansion. She felt scared entering the mansion after such a long time away. But for now, there was nowhere else she could go.
As she entered the house, the butler hurriedly went to fetch Isaac. Isaac, who had been agonizing over papers spread on his desk, came out at the butler's call.
"What is it?"
"The miss has arrived."
"Scarlett?"
Isaac hadn't grasped the outside situation all day as he wrestled with paperwork.
He rushed down the stairs in his vest without even putting on his jacket. Spotting Scarlett in the lobby, he asked in surprise,
"Scarlett, what happened?"
"Yeah... It's a long story."
At Scarlett's words, Isaac gestured for her to come in quickly. He hurriedly sat her on the sofa and checked her cheek.
"How did you get these wounds..."
"I'm fine, it doesn't hurt that badly."
"What do you mean fine?"
Isaac worriedly ordered a servant to bring medicine and carefully disinfected and applied ointment to the spot hit by the stone on her forehead. Fortunately, it wasn't a deep wound, but Isaac's face was full of concern.
In the midst of it, Scarlett felt proud seeing Isaac, who used to be busy protecting her, now taking care of her, and smiled brightly.
"You really feel like my big brother now."
"I've always been your real big brother, haven't I?"
Isaac chided her, applied the medicine evenly, and let go of her hand. He asked,
"So, what happened?"
"Ah, right..."
Scarlett quickly held up a newspaper in front of Isaac, who had turned serious. It was an article about her starting work on the airplane.
Isaac frowned as he checked the newspaper up close.
"Scarlett Crimson!"
"Just this article alone will put Bestina's attack on hold."
"Why are you taking that risk? What has the world ever done for you to step up? Why do you keep doing these dangerous things..."
Isaac sighed.
He covered his face with his hands and bowed his head for a moment before speaking.
"You did the same last time."
"Huh?"
"You went to the main store saying you'd do the recall. If Captain Victor hadn't been there, you could've been in big trouble."
"Ah... I didn't expect Arnold to do that in front of everyone."
"And you were kidnapped not long ago."
"I came back safely."
"And now you do something this dangerous again!"
Scarlett flinched as Isaac shouted. He continued,
"Aren't you scared? Or do you hate living? Is your life that cheap? After everything we've endured to survive. We were finally starting to live somewhat normally, so why, really..."
It was the first time Isaac had gotten this angry.
Scarlett felt joy rather than hurt from his voice mixed with worry and sadness. A human should get angry and cry. So his emotions bursting out meant Isaac Crimson was connecting with the world.
Scarlett took a deep breath and spoke.
"Hate living? Isaac, I'm going to live."
Isaac lifted his head at her resolute voice.
Scarlett smiled brightly.
"I have to live. There are so many people in the world I need to protect, so many I can protect. I have no choice. It's not because my life is cheap."
"..."
"Isaac. I'm going to live. No matter what rock God puts in my path, I'll climb over it."
"..."
"That's why."
Isaac clenched his teeth to hold back tears, his face flushing red. After trembling like that for a while, he wiped his face with his hand.
"Anyway, if I tell you not to, will you listen?"
Scarlett laughed and replied,
"Nope."
"Yeah."
Isaac gripped Scarlett's hand tightly.
"Got it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'll keep running Factory 1. So we can return all the recalled clocks. The money's coming from Uncle's account anyway, so that's settled."
"Wow, you handled everything in the meantime."
"Why else would I be stuck with these papers?"
Isaac continued, unable to let go of her hand.
"And when it's all done... I'll open a perfume shop next to your Clock Shop."
"Wow, great idea. On 7th Street?"
"No. When it's over, you'll take charge of the main store."
Scarlett shook her head at Isaac's words.
"No, the main store is for the family head."
"For the successor."
Isaac said firmly.
"Uncle can't do clocks anymore, and I can't make them. You're the only one who can, so you have to."
"It's too big an asset."
"Without you, the Crimson Family can't exist as a clockmaking family. You're the Crimson Family's greatest asset."
Scarlett nodded with a smile at Isaac's firm words.
"Yeah. I'll keep that in mind."
"Thank you for at least knowing that."
Scarlett laughed embarrassedly at Isaac's chiding, his nerves finally easing.
He stood up.
"Then unpack. You'll have to stay here for a while."
"Is that okay? What about Aunt? Arnold and Merilyn?"
"They're still here. They have nowhere to go."
"Isn't it uncomfortable?"
"No. We've lived together our whole lives. Don't worry. I won't let them touch you."
Isaac turned and walked up the stairs.