His mother, who had been in a mental institution, was now in a convent.
His mother, the king’s only daughter, had grown up in a loving environment, but she had become pregnant with the child of a young nobleman she had met and spent a night with at a party. At that time, she was engaged to the crown prince of the neighboring country, Bestina. This broke off the engagement, and she was cast out of the royal family.
She blamed her son for her fall from grace, believing it was because of him that she was driven out of the royal family. For Viktor Dumpert, who had grown up with his mother’s resentment instead of her maternal love, being recognized as a royal was the sole goal of his life.
He would do anything for his honor. He didn’t hesitate to risk his life to wipe out the pirates.
As his popularity grew among the people of Sallantie according to his plan, the Iren royal family began to consider recognizing the king’s grandson, Viktor Dumpert, as a royal.
Finally, an investigation into the people around him began to verify that he had no moral flaws that would prevent him from becoming a member of the royal family. It was only natural that Scarlett Dumpert, Viktor Dumpert’s wife, was included in that group.
Before the investigation, Viktor had warned her not to say anything, and Scarlett had every intention of doing so. But the fact that she had revealed all of Viktor’s faults there, with no memory of the process, was enough to drive her mad.
She even began to suspect that something was wrong with her own mind. This made Viktor’s words about sending her to a convent even more frightening.
Scarlett said with a terrified face.
“No. Don’t send me to a convent.”
He must be saying that out of anger. Even knowing that, a firm answer came from Scarlett’s lips.
After being so dazed all this time, she suddenly answered so firmly that Viktor looked dumbfounded, then turned around and left the room with his subordinates.
After he left, Scarlett used her last bit of strength to push away the wine bottles and spread the newspaper on the table. The first page was full of reasons why Viktor couldn’t become a royal. And her own written statement was printed on the next page.
It was her handwriting, and her signature.
After confirming that with her own eyes, Scarlett sank to the floor under the table.
“This can’t be…”
Because of the words that came out of her mouth, Viktor would not be recognized as a royal. He would also be branded a cold-blooded man who put his own mother in a mental institution with his own hands. That would be a huge scar on Viktor Dumpert’s honor, which he valued more than his life.
She was going crazy because she had no memory of complying with the investigation, even though there was evidence of it.
As she felt the pressure, her breathing only quickened, and her mind became even darker. Even the memory of drinking tea, which had barely remained, was erased from her mind as time passed.
After returning to the mansion that evening, the only thing Scarlett could do was apologize every time she saw her husband.
Viktor didn’t answer Scarlett’s apologies, nor did he ever bring up the matter again. Instead, it was her father-in-law, Gregory Dumpert, who found fault with her and got even angrier.
Her father-in-law would badger her, saying that his daughter-in-law had blocked his son’s path, and because of the severe stress, Scarlett had several nervous breakdowns.
Fortunately, there was a pre-scheduled luncheon for the end of the year, so she passed the time preparing for it. It was a luncheon to celebrate him becoming a royal, but Viktor didn’t cancel it.
On the day of the luncheon, Scarlett, who was dressed in a lavish red velvet dress, was about to leave the dressing room when one of Viktor’s subordinates, Pallin Redford, blocked her way.
“You shouldn’t go out today because of the luncheon.”
At his words, Scarlett tilted her head.
“What do you mean I shouldn’t go out?”
“The Captain doesn’t want you to attend the luncheon.”
The Rubid, the ship that Viktor was the captain of, was only manned by the elite of the elite. Every single one of them was large in stature, academically excellent, and from a prestigious family. Among them, Pallin was known to be the most skilled in hand-to-hand combat after Viktor.
Scarlett, who had been standing still at the blunt words of Pallin, who was standing in front of the door with his hands behind his back, slowly opened her mouth.
“Viktor doesn’t want me to appear in front of others?”
Pallin thought for a moment and answered.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Because I’m an embarrassment?”
“Yes, that… Yes.”
Pallin’s expression contorted uncomfortably for a moment and then returned to normal.
Scarlett, who had been looking at Pallin in silence, nodded.
“I understand.”
“Yes, then.”
Pallin bowed his head and was about to close the door when he stopped.
Scarlett was walking with a bitter expression toward the chair placed by the dressing room window.
At that, Pallin deliberately hardened his expression and said.
“Please stay away from the window as well. You are not here today.”
Scarlett hadn’t said anything, but Pallin felt a pang of guilt and turned his head.
“I’ll move the chair for you.”
“…Thank you.”
He immediately moved the chair and table by the window to the wall.
Scarlett walked over to it, sat on the chair, and rested her upper body on the table.
Pallin was so uneasy about her small body being sprawled on the table that he first took off his jacket. He draped it over her shoulders and then, feeling uncomfortable, rubbed the back of his neck before bowing to leave.
“Well… I’ll let you know when the luncheon is over.”
At that, Scarlett said to him.
“Tell Viktor I’m sorry.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Pallin bowed his head and left.
After he left, Scarlett, who was still exhausted and had her face buried in her arms, sat up and muttered to herself without thinking.
“What a bad bastard.”
Then she hunched over and laughed to herself like a madwoman.
She was shocked that she felt hatred for Viktor. Her betrayal was a given. It was pathetic that she couldn’t remember it, but her shallowness in hating her husband because she couldn’t remember it was loathsome.
She got up, her body weak, and walked toward the mirror.
Since she had just turned twenty, her face looked vibrant, like a flower in bloom, even though she was exhausted. Her rose-like cheeks and lips and her light golden hair gave off a spring-like feel in this winter.
She stared at her reflection for a moment and then raised her hands to remove the hairpiece that was holding her braided hair in place like a wreath.
As she was slowly taking her time with it, she looked up, bothered by the sound of a clock.
“The clock is strange.”
The second hand would stop from time to time.
She was so engrossed that she tried to lift the ornate chair that Pallin had moved for her, but it was so heavy that she winced.
“What? How did he lift it with one hand?”
In the end, she had to push the chair, which had a cover on its legs, all the way to the clock.
She stood on it and was about to take down the gilded clock on the wall when her father’s voice came to her mind, and she stopped.
“You have to take the pendulum off first, Scarlett, and then you can move the clock. That way the parts won’t get damaged.”
Her eyes widened like a startled rabbit, and she carefully took off the pendulum first.
“I’m remembering the strangest things.”
Scarlett muttered and took the clock to the table that Pallin had moved. She placed the clock face down on it, and even without opening it, the internal structure was roughly drawn in her mind.
“Why is this happening?”
Scarlett kept muttering to herself, feeling a strange, even frightening, sensation.
“Did I suddenly become a genius? Or am I just crazy?”
The Crimson family’s clocks held the essence of Sallantie’s scientific technology. However, her parents had died early in an accident, and her uncle, Evil Crimson, who had taken all their assets under the guise of raising her, had never taught her even the most basic skills. Therefore, until now, Scarlett had no knowledge of clocks.
“You have to remove the foreign objects stuck in the gears.”
But her father’s voice, his face as he explained a tiny part that was barely visible, placing it on the first joint of his index finger, and her mother’s face, who would laugh at her husband and then go back to concentrating on assembling the countless clock parts—all of these came back to her so vividly that she couldn’t understand what was happening. She could even see all the blueprints they had hung on the walls in her mind like photographs.
As she was looking at the clock, Candice, a maid who had come in worried about her, approached with a surprised face.
“Why did you bring the clock, ma’am?”
“I’m going to try to fix it.”
At her words, Candice tilted her head and said.
“That clock has been off lately. But you’re going to fix it, ma’am?”
“I’m a Crimson, aren’t I? Let me try.”
“Oh, did you learn how to fix clocks? Ah, I’ll go get the toolbox for you.”
Candice had no doubts since the eldest daughter of the famous Crimson family had said so. She brought the toolbox that Scarlett had brought with her when she came to the Dumpert family.
This toolbox, which her mother had used, was given to Scarlett, and her father’s was given to her brother, Isaac. These two things were all the inheritance the two of them had received.
Scarlett pulled the chair close to the table, sat down, and opened the toolbox. She took out a tool and, as if she handled clocks every day, skillfully opened the back panel.
As she began to take out the parts of the clock one by one, not only Candice but also the other maids who had come in with her watched, wondering if she could put it back together.
There was nothing in the Dumpert family’s possession that wasn’t precious. Moreover, it was clear that Gregory Dumpert, who was busy tormenting his daughter-in-law these days, would kill her if he found out she had broken the clock.
Scarlett never took the labor of the servants for granted because she had suffered a lot when she was young. So there were many who simply pitied her as much as there were servants who complained that the mansion was noisy because of her.
Candice, who belonged to the latter, looked at Scarlett, who was fixing the clock with a nonchalant face, with an expression of relief. She thought it was a good thing that Scarlett, who had been so dispirited, could finally find something else to occupy her mind.
Scarlett used a blower to blow away every speck of dust and then meticulously wiped the dust off the parts. Then, with skillful hands, she balanced and reassembled the parts she had taken apart. The sight of the gears meshing and turning perfectly was so fascinating that the maids who had been worried at first gradually moved closer to the table.
