Enrique swallowed a sigh and unconsciously continued his thoughts.
“A maid who fell in love with a noble young master?”
It was the most common and simple assumption.
If that were the case, she would have passionately loved a nobleman’s seed but had to separate due to her family’s opposition.
However, the noble family would not want their bloodline wandering freely, so they would be desperate to take the children away from her by any means.
To protect the children, she might have run away, and the man’s family might have issued a wanted notice for Eugenia.
Enrique was making up Eugenia’s story arbitrarily in his head.
Then he paused again.
“What use is thinking about this now?”
She was already gone. He had sent her away.
Then why couldn’t he shake her from his mind?
Feeling unusually weary of himself, Enrique buried his face in his large hands and then roughly washed his face dry.
“Anyway, that’s why… you didn’t hire her and just sent her away.”
Still with his face buried in his hands, Enrique’s voice sounded muffled, like a murmur trapped inside.
After a while, when he revealed his face again, his expression looked extremely tired.
“I said I don’t want to waste time lingering here anymore, so anyone would do. But taking on someone who has problems is another matter. Well, do you think you understand enough now?”
Alberie quietly nodded.
But his tightly pressed lips suggested he had something he wanted to say but was holding back.
Sure enough.
“But you see…”
Alberie soon spoke, cautiously watching Enrique’s reaction as he started.
“If you allow me, may I say just one thing?”
Though it seemed like he intended to speak even without permission.
Noticing the displeased expression on Enrique’s face that clearly meant ‘no,’ Alberie tactfully added,
“Of course, the final decision after hearing me out is entirely yours, Enrique.”
It’s not like he was selling medicine or something.
Enrique let out a short, deflating laugh.
“Why are you making such a big deal of it? Go ahead.”
Alberie glanced at Enrique with eyes saying ‘You gave me permission,’ cleared his throat a few times,
“To get straight to the point, considering all other circumstances, I think Miss Eugenia would be a good choice.”
“…What?”
Enrique’s lips parted in disbelief.
He had just heard the full explanation of why he had to make such a decision, and now Alberie was saying this?
Starting over from the beginning?
Enrique gave Alberie a look of disbelief, but Alberie shamelessly accepted it boldly.
“Have I been hearing everything with my ears or my nose until now?”
“That joke isn’t funny, Enrique. And what are you saying? I clearly heard everything with my own two ears. I also understand your concerns.”
Enrique’s handsome brow furrowed more deeply.
“Then why are you saying such nonsense?”
Alberie, as if he had been waiting for this, immediately spoke again. He took a step forward, closing the distance.
Enrique was so displeased that he slightly leaned back.
“It is true that there’s a high risk. I admit that. But if you look at it from a different angle, isn’t there no better candidate than her?”
“I’m very curious how you come to that conclusion.”
Enrique leaned back leisurely and crossed his arms.
His shirt stretched tight across his broad chest, creating an unexplainable tension around him.
“Isn’t our situation already quite troublesome since we entered this country torn by civil war?”
Alberie paused briefly, watching Enrique’s reaction. He seemed to agree because Enrique only slightly moved his chin without any objection.
“Besides, our mission is already over. Yet, how long have we been stuck here? Surely you don’t plan to stay in Harland forever, do you?”
Encouraged, Alberie continued.
“Enrique, frankly, does it really matter that she’s a criminal?”
“Alberie.”
Enrique called his name to stop him.
Normally, Alberie would have wisely kept silent, but today—or rather at this moment—he did not.
Like someone being chased, he continued.
“As long as we don’t get caught, nothing troublesome will happen here.”
“Phew.”
Enrique let out a deep sigh and ran his hand through his hair.
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have given you a chance to speak.”
Enrique’s words and Alberie’s words clashed and burst out simultaneously.
“Why are you thinking from the start as if you’re bound to get caught, which is unlike you, Enrique?”
At that moment, their eyes met in the air.
Enrique’s blue eyes, visible through disheveled hair, shone coldly sharp.
Seeing that, Alberie involuntarily closed his mouth.
But thinking he could not back down here, he crossed the line and spoke again.
“Too much humility is no good either. In fact, Enrique, you have never failed any operation you participated in so far, right?”
“……”
“So, make appropriate use of her.”
Alberie’s mouth felt dry as he spoke more and more; he forced himself to swallow saliva.
Then he spoke again.
“You said you didn’t hire her to avoid causing trouble or getting involved, right? But think about it. The longer we stay here in Harland, won’t it get more troublesome?”
To persuade Enrique, phrases like “we just shouldn’t get caught. We won’t get caught.” slipped out of Alberie’s lips like a tail being caught.
Still, Enrique didn’t budge, so Alberie played his trump card.
“If we do get caught, if that moment comes, can’t we just abandon her?”
At that moment, a heavy silence unlike before settled between them.
Alberie gritted his teeth.
He knew very well how despicable his words were.
But he believed Enrique would understand his anxiety.
The border was sealed because the dethroned duke prince’s whereabouts were still unknown.
The prince would not be caught, and border checkpoints would become even stricter.
Enrique must have already understood what Alberie feared.
Alberie suppressed his urge to say more and stopped.
It seemed they had the same thought because Enrique, the moment Alberie fell silent, began as if it was his turn.
“Alberie.”
“Speak.”
Enrique rose heavily. Placing his clasped hands on his knees, bending his upper body, he chose his words carefully.
“Don’t you think the wanted notice on her is strange?”
“…What? Strange? In what way?”
A deep sigh escaped Enrique’s mouth.
“All wanted notices come from the capital.”
“And?”
“But they sent a messenger all the way to this remote village?”
His fingers tapped lightly on his arm.
“The search area is too broad for the crime she committed.”
Enrique clicked his tongue shortly, wearing a displeased expression.
“They must have already completed an investigation before issuing the notice. Most criminals usually hide in their hometowns for safety.”
Tap, tap.
His fingertips, tapping rhythmically, stopped their movement.
A low voice came out from Enrique.
“But sending a messenger nationwide for the search means whoever is pursuing her wields considerable power.”
His eyes sharpened considerably as he finished speaking.
“Ha. I didn’t think that far. This might be a much bigger problem than I imagined.”
Alberie perfectly understood what Enrique feared.
But still, he did not waver in his wish to hire Eugenia.
“But Enrique, even if that’s true, isn’t that a good thing?”
Enrique frowned and shook his head slightly.
“It’s an incomprehensible way of thinking.”
“No, it’s not. She also wants to leave this country, and we want to leave as soon as possible, don’t we?”
Enrique couldn’t deny that and pursed his lips, falling silent.
“Remember what you always say: sometimes the smaller things can be dealt with later for the sake of the greater good.”
“……”
“So let’s use each other and be used.”
