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Chapter 28
Scarlet looked up at the peak and said,
“How are we supposed to get over this……?”
While she was thinking, Victor tapped the metal plate attached to the summit.
Two taps, five taps, two taps……
As she watched him send the signal, a rope soon dropped down from above the peak.
Victor gestured for her to go first.
Scarlet awkwardly looked at the rope while holding her bag in one hand. She tried grabbing it and climbing first, but she kept slipping due to lack of strength.
“Come here.”
At Victor’s call, she had no choice but to approach. He tied her bag tightly to the end of the rope, then lifted Scarlet up and made her wrap her arms around his neck.
“Hold on tight.”
“…Okay.”
As Victor began climbing the rope while holding her, Scarlet shut her eyes tightly in fear. As the ground grew farther away, her whole body trembled, but she couldn’t bring herself to say she was scared while Victor was carrying both her weight and his own.
After reaching the top of the peak and Victor set his feet down and released the rope, Scarlet immediately got down.
With an embarrassed expression spreading across her face, she said,
“Thank you.”
Victor looked at her with a somewhat pained expression for a moment, ran a hand through his hair, and took a deep breath.
“…Was it heavy?”
At her question, Victor briefly covered the place where her breath had touched his neck, then sighed with a twisted expression.
“Not at all.”
“Then……”
Only then did Scarlet realize why he looked uncomfortable a beat too late. Flustered, she cooled her burning face with her hands and quickly turned away.
“Sorry.”
“Look forward.”
At his words, she lifted her head.
And looked down beyond the ridge.
Her mouth opened on its own.
On the other side of the peak, in the valley where Luse Waterfall lay, there were two government facilities. Between them, what she thought had disappeared after the pirate suppression—gliders—were flying through the air.
“Gliders……”
“No wind, and they’re useless things.”
Scarlet sat down on the ridge and looked down.
Each of the two facilities bore the insignia of the navy and the army respectively.
When she turned back, Victor said,
“We’ve selected special forces from both the navy and the army.”
“So those special forces are……”
“The air force. Even though we don’t have planes.”
“The air force without planes?”
“There’s one biplane made by the former Crimson heads. It’s broken.”
Victor turned Scarlet’s body toward him.
“I’ll give you a chance now. If you want to go back, go back.”
“If I don’t go back?”
“If you’re a representative of the Crimson family, then you must be here to fix that biplane.”
“If I can’t fix it……”
“Then you won’t be able to leave here.”
At his words, Scarlet froze.
Victor pulled the rope and lifted her bag, saying,
“As courtesy to my ex-wife, I’ve made the prison quite comfortable.”
At that, Scarlet shot him a sidelong glance. She couldn’t tell since when this man had started making jokes.
Soon, they descended the unstable lift attached to the summit and reached ground level.
Luse Waterfall was exactly as her parents had described—imbued with sacred power. The water shimmered as if mystical energy flowed through it.
Scarlet took off her shoes, wanting to retrieve the pebbles from the water, but Victor said with discomfort,
“Planning to swim in this weather?”
“No, those pebbles are materials…… ah, am I not supposed to say that?”
“Do you think I’d sell the secrets of how you make watches?”
Well, it was Victor Dümfelt. He wasn’t the type to do that.
Victor gestured to one of his subordinates.
The navy officer immediately stepped into the water, retrieved pebbles, and came back out.
“Here you are, miss.”
“…Thank you.”
Honestly, this man made it impossible for her to do anything herself.
Then curiosity made Scarlet ask,
“Does it not damage your reputation that I’m a watchmaker?”
“Not at all.”
“Why not?”
“Clockmaking is one of the highest scientific technologies of this country.”
“Hmm……”
She had expected a rigid answer like “a lady should not work,” but he was surprisingly flexible. That was unexpected.
Scarlet put her shoes back on and looked at the pebbles handed to her.
They sparkled as if condensed sunlight remained within them.
As she placed one into her bag, Palin came running over in panic.
“Captain! What are you planning to do……!”
“She came herself. What was I supposed to do, stop her?”
“You should have! Even by force—ah, honestly!”
Seeing Palin’s expression, Scarlet began to think that entering this place so carelessly might actually be life-threatening.
She glanced at Victor, who remained calm and indifferent.
Perhaps it was fortunate. If Victor had been the type of man who cared deeply for her, he might have prevented her from coming here.
She had never imagined that the “indifferent feelings” Victor held toward her would one day become an advantage.
I want to tell my past self—don’t be too disappointed. It will be useful someday.
The facility was a wooden structure that let in plenty of light. The valley climate was mild.
In a large warehouse behind the facility, gliders were stored.
Scarlet wanted to look around more, but Victor kept walking without stopping.
He headed toward the back of the warehouse, opening the innermost wooden door.
Scarlet followed—and her breath caught.
“A……”
There it was.
The biplane.
With its massive double wooden wings and complex engine structure.
Some memory surfaced in Scarlet’s mind. Soon, she remembered a conversation between her parents:
“It’s too heavy.”
“Yeah, it won’t fly like this.”
With this engine, it could not fly.
However, it was also the final engine her parents had created. Meaning that Salantie had not yet developed the technology to build functional aircraft.
Just as she moved to inspect it, Victor stopped her.
“Didn’t you hear?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
From behind, Blight said impatiently,
“You need to change clothes, miss.”
“Ah……”
Scarlet nodded quickly. She had been so absorbed that she hadn’t heard anything upon arrival.
By then, many people had entered the warehouse, including an officer named Waldo, who led the army personnel who had joined the air force.
“If the engine works, there’s nothing to dispute. But can such a delicate lady really do such rough work?”
As he spoke provocatively, Palin stepped forward.
“Even the former Crimson heads couldn’t make this fly. All that’s needed is to start the engine.”
“Who doesn’t know that? The question is whether she can start it.”
Scarlet looked uncomfortable.
It seemed the navy and army personnel did not get along.
“At this rate, I should have brought my wife too.”
At Waldo’s words, the navy officers clicked their tongues openly.
Scarlet looked at Victor. He didn’t seem interested in his ex-wife at all and instead took out a cigarette, heading toward the door since he couldn’t smoke inside.
Then he said to the soldiers,
“My ex-wife needs to change clothes.”
At that, everyone quickly left the area.
Left alone, Scarlet looked at the clothes Blight had brought her. They were probably the smallest available, but still too large for her—clearly servant’s clothing.
She reluctantly changed and began working.
The engine was old, but very well maintained. It was far superior to most of Salantie’s current technology, even if it couldn’t fly. She began to understand more and more why the country suppressed technological development so heavily.
She tied her hair up and focused completely on repairing the engine.
After working for a full day, Victor eventually entered.
“Why don’t you take a break?”
“……”
“Scarlet Dümfelt.”
“……”
“Crimson.”
“Hm?”
Only then did she flinch and turn around. Her eyes were bloodshot.
Looking at her watch, she said,
“It’s only been three hours.”
Blight corrected her immediately.
“It’s been fifteen hours, miss.”
“Oh?”
Scarlet looked back at the engine with a troubled expression.
“I think I need a bit more time…… no, I’ll be able to go back soon.”
“Really? Then I’ll go fetch Waldo immediately!”
Blight ran off happily.
Meanwhile, Scarlet, who had been working for fifteen hours, finally asked Victor something that had been bothering her.
“Now that I count as an official representative, can I ask something?”
“What.”
“Is Vestina really planning to go to war?”
“That’s too sensitive a question.”
Victor replied calmly, brushing it aside.
Soon, more people gathered in the warehouse.
Waldo shouted angrily,
“You fixed it? Impossible!”
“Even engineers who defected from Vestina couldn’t fix it—how could she……?”
As they entered noisily, they fell silent the moment Victor looked at them.
Without anyone explicitly deciding, it was implicitly understood that Victor Dümfelt was the commander of this air force unit. His status alone was overwhelming, and his authority undeniable. With royal blood in his lineage, there was no comparing him to ordinary officers. The only reason Waldo retained any authority was because Victor tolerated it.
Victor silently watched Scarlet, who was finishing the repaired engine.
The tools she handled with ease were ones no one had expected her to understand—but in her hands, they moved naturally.
Victor simply watched her hands in silence.
