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Chapter 30
Scarlet had thought she wouldn’t be able to fall into deep sleep. But she had forgotten just how weak her body was from always being shut away in her workshop. After exhausting even her mental strength the day before, she woke up to the sun already high in the sky.
Still drowsy, Scarlet climbed out of bed. Then, almost absentmindedly, she looked at her wrist—and saw a bandage wrapped around it.
“……”
She stared at it and muttered,
“I must’ve done it in my sleep.”
Otherwise, there was no way such a poorly wrapped bandage would exist.
Considering how deeply she had slept, it wouldn’t even be strange if she had woken briefly, wrapped it in a half-asleep state, and gone back to sleep.
In the first place, there was no one else who would do something like this. Victor wasn’t the type to perform such gentle acts, and even if he were, he was so competent at everything that he would never have wrapped it this clumsily.
After looking at the bandage, she got ready and left the bedroom. Then she went outside to collect pebbles, where the pleasant autumn sunlight of the southern region shimmered.
The air force soldiers were busy training, and she could see Victor’s back as he watched them. Victor Dümfelt, dressed in a perfect naval uniform, looked like an elegant warhorse. His tailored black trousers emphasized the long, firm muscles of his thighs, giving off an almost dangerous sensuality.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning!”
Young soldiers greeted Scarlet cheerfully as they passed by. They all seemed energized by the fact that there was now someone capable of repairing the engine.
Victor turned toward Scarlet.
“We’re leaving at dawn tomorrow. Go back to sleep.”
“I’m going to collect materials.”
“Send my men.”
“They’re your subordinates, not mine.”
At Scarlet’s words, Victor clicked his tongue.
He gestured to someone in the distance. Soon, one of his men brought out a horse from the stable—a beautiful black horse.
Victor lifted her onto the horse first, then mounted behind her.
“It’s far.”
“Yeah.”
Scarlet had decided not to refuse Victor’s help anymore. It was just a waste of time.
She had only ever ridden a pony as a child, so she felt awkward and uneasy on horseback. But once the horse started moving, she quickly relaxed.
Victor’s arm was wrapped around her waist, firm as iron bands. His body felt almost inhumanly strong. With her eyes closed, Scarlet felt the wind soften and opened them again. Victor leaned slightly forward, making her acutely aware of his presence.
Soon, they arrived near the river beneath the waterfall.
After dismounting, Scarlet rolled up her sleeve and looked at her wrist.
“It came undone.”
Victor, noticing the bandage, turned his head.
Scarlet asked,
“Did I wrap this in my sleep? I can’t even trust my own memory anymore.”
“……I did it.”
“Don’t lie. Someone as capable as you wouldn’t wrap it this badly.”
“…Sorry to disappoint you.”
At that, Scarlet blinked in confusion. Then she looked back at the bandage.
“Wow. Looking again, it’s actually well done.”
After praising him, she quickly walked toward the river. She thought she heard Victor laughing behind her, but he wasn’t the type to laugh often, so it must have been her imagination.
She stepped just a few paces into the river and picked up stones—pebbles embedded with quartz-like minerals.
“Wow…”
They sparkled beautifully under the sunlight.
She suddenly remembered these were the same stones that had always piled up in her parents’ workshop.
At the same time, she recalled her father crushing them with a small mortar and pestle, panning and refining them. The refined materials were then re-crushed and solidified, becoming essential components inside Crimson clocks. It meant she had been ignoring something extremely important all this time.
Looking at the stones, Scarlet said,
“All the clocks made by the Crimson family after my parents died are fake.”
As memories rushed back, her head began to ache. She staggered in the river, and Victor quickly caught her.
After a moment, she steadied herself and looked up.
“Sorry. I just got a bit shocked.”
She shook off his support and stepped deeper into the river to collect pebbles.
Even though the south was warmer than the capital, the water was still cold. She reached into the river and began filling her bag with stones. She thought she wouldn’t be able to come back here again, so she might as well take as many as possible.
Soon, she decided to fill the bag completely.
When she tried to move it, it wouldn’t budge—it was too heavy.
After a few failed attempts, Victor reached to lift it, but Scarlet stopped him.
“I’ll do it.”
“How?”
“I’ll add wheels. That’s what I do every day.”
She looked around, found a tree, and began carving wheels with her tools.
Victor simply watched her in silence.
As she had confidently claimed, Scarlet quickly made wheels, fitting wooden pieces together skillfully so the bag could be transported without glue.
However, the wheels didn’t roll well on uneven ground. Victor, who had been watching her try to modify it again, finally let out a faint laugh.
“…Why are you laughing?”
Scarlet shot him a look.
“You look like a squirrel collecting acorns.”
“What part of me looks like that?”
“Overall.”
Without another word, Victor lifted her by the waist and placed her on the horse.
“The sun’s setting. Let’s go.”
“What about the bag…”
“My men will handle it.”
Just as he said, several of his subordinates appeared and took the bag.
Scarlet, flustered, asked awkwardly,
“…How long have they been watching?”
“Since you left the bedroom.”
“Even when I was collecting pebbles?”
“They were watching very uncomfortably.”
“…That must not have looked very noble.”
Victor glanced at her.
“You say that as if you were ever noble.”
“I tried.”
“That’s not the issue.”
He pulled her closer with one arm to steady her.
“I never understand you.”
Scarlet looked up at him.
His tone was strange—almost as if he was admitting fault. It was a very unfamiliar side of Victor Dümfelt, someone she had always thought of as flawless.
His arm tightened slightly around her.
They slept in the same room again that night. This time, she wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep easily. Scarlet lay down early and pretended to sleep.
The next dawn, she left the air force base with Victor’s group.
On the train heading back to the capital, day turned to night again.
Scarlet asked,
“Did you order the tax audit on the Crimson clocks?”
“Yes.”
Victor replied without looking up from his book. Then he lowered it and looked at her.
“And you found something wrong?”
“Yes. Only in the version 5 parts made by my uncle.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll recall them. All of them.”
“You’re doing something dangerous again.”
“This is necessary.”
“Necessary?”
“I’m the direct heir of the Crimson family. You expect me to ignore defective clocks being sold?”
“Just keep quiet. No one would know.”
Scarlet shook her head firmly.
“How could no one know? I would know. My dead parents would know. And the people using them would know.”
“You’re insane.”
At his words, she replied calmly,
“Yes. You already knew that. That’s why you sent me to the monastery.”
“I didn’t send you there thinking it was like that place.”
“One hundred days is a long time. If you cared even a little, you would’ve visited once.”
“You betrayed me!”
Victor’s voice rose, and the officers in the train compartment quietly stood up and moved to the smoking room as if it had been arranged.
Scarlet thought it was rare for Victor to raise his voice like that. He still hadn’t calmed down.
“Are you still angry that I kept you from returning to the royal family? Even after I spent a hundred days in the monastery?”
“I forgive you. I just don’t forget.”
Scarlet pressed her hands to her chest as if it hurt.
“Good. I think I’ll never forget those hundred days either. Waiting every day, thinking you wouldn’t come. I’ll never forget it either.”
“….”
“I won’t forget…”
Her breathing became uneven, and she gripped the window frame.
Victor grabbed her hand.
“Scarlet?”
“Ah…”
Fortunately, she quickly regained her composure. She took a deep breath and looked around, confused.
“Victor.”
She blinked.
“Where are we?”
“…What?”
“Why am I on a train…?”
She looked around in confusion, then smiled faintly as she looked outside.
“Still… this is nice. I’ve never seen plains before.”
“….”
“Why are you making that face, my love?”
Victor couldn’t answer.
After a moment, he finally spoke.
“Scarlet.”
“Yes?”
“We’re divorced.”
“Hmm?”
She repeated it, thinking. Then she nodded slowly.
“Oh… right. I remember now. We’re divorced. We went to the air force base. I’ve been like this lately.”
Fortunately, she recovered quickly.
But Victor remained frozen, staring at her after her brief moment of confusion.
