Chapter 63
The next morning, since Scarlett still hadn’t returned, Andrei ended up visiting the Dümfelt estate.
He saw Viktor walking out with a calm face. Forcing himself to remain composed, Andrei said,
“I’ve come to escort the madam.”
“She’s still asleep. I gave her some liquor.”
Wow, what trash.
Andrei knew he himself was no less of a scoundrel to Scarlett, but he thought her ex-husband was just as bad.
What would happen if Scarlett found out that Viktor Dümfelt knew everything yet kept it hidden?
Andrei knew that even when Scarlett was angry, there was always a warmth behind her expression. That’s why no one feared her anger itself—what they truly feared was the moment that warmth disappeared.
Andrei asked,
“What do you plan to do now?”
At his question, Viktor pulled out a cigarette from his inner pocket, handed it over, and said,
“First, I’ll have to go to the Royal Police.”
Andrei flinched in surprise.
The Royal Police were directly under the crown. Seizing ordinary police would be a coup, but seizing the Royal Police—
“That’s… treason.”
“You’ll be part of it too.”
“…Treason, whether I want it or not?”
“Otherwise, you know too much. I’d have to execute you. And since you already tried to kill me, the reason is clear enough.”
“……”
“You know things about the Royal Police. That will be useful.”
Andrei took the cigarette and sighed.
“If I don’t join, only I’ll die. But if we commit treason and fail, my entire family is finished.”
“That’s true.”
Viktor Dümfelt sounded casual, but he was a man who had spent his life doing anything the crown demanded, just for the chance of being reinstated as royalty. Now that same man was considering turning against them.
It seemed Viktor had finally realized that subjugating the royals might be easier than appeasing them.
But it still wouldn’t be easy. If they overturned the Royal Police, no one knew how the royals would respond. They might even call upon the power of Vestina—a power capable of consuming all of Salantie itself. Or, on the contrary, they might simply abandon the Royal Police, along with Viktor Dümfelt, and discard them like hunting dogs once the hunt was over.
When Scarlett opened her eyes in the Dümfelt mansion, she heard crows cawing outside the window.
“Ah, it’s already the season when wolves appear.”
In Salantie’s capital, crows calling in January meant wolves had come. The crows followed wolf packs to feed on their leftovers.
It was rare for wolves to come down into the bustling capital, but around estates like the Dümfelts’ on the outskirts, or near the eastern mountains, wolves sometimes descended and attacked people. So when the crows cried, people prepared in advance—stacking game animals at the edge of the cedar forest and sprinkling blood over them.
The Dümfelt lands had a narrow entrance, but beyond it stretched an immense cedar forest.
Back when Viktor was first conceived, the land was considered worthless—just a cold, abandoned stretch, since timber had little value. But over the last twenty years, Salantie had cut down countless trees, and now timber’s worth had soared. The cedar forest had become a place of fascination for the people.
Only members of the Dümfelt family could enter freely. Servants were allowed, but guests were not.
Scarlett had been to the entrance but never dared go inside—it was dangerous. Perhaps it would’ve been safe with Viktor, but he never had the leisure to stroll with his wife.
As she nursed a hangover, pressing her aching forehead, Viktor stepped into the bedroom.
“You still look drunk.”
“It was too strong…”
When Scarlett tried to stand and staggered, Viktor steadied her by the waist. Startled, she instinctively pushed him away. He let out a short laugh.
“You asked me to help you.”
“……”
Scarlett glanced at him, then smiled faintly.
“Thanks for today. I should be going.”
She slipped free of his arms. But Viktor spoke.
“Before that, there’s something you need to know.”
“What is it?”
He went to the window and beckoned her over.
When she walked to the window and looked outside, she froze. Below the mansion, two servants she knew and a navy man were bound and kneeling.
“Spies from Vestina. No matter how many I catch, more creep in like weeds. While I was busy dealing with them, I didn’t realize the Royal Police had come right up to our doorstep.”
“……”
“They weren’t in high enough positions to smuggle out much information. Still, since you asked me for help, you should know this: things like this will happen.”
Scarlett gripped the window frame with both hands, dizzy.
Now she truly felt it—war was at the doorstep.
She asked Viktor,
“Is that why you treated me kindly?”
“What do you mean?”
“Because you need me. Because I’m the one who can make flight possible. Is that why?”
He answered,
“What I’ve wanted all along is for you to return to the Dümfelt family.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Scarlett pulled away from the window, unable to look anymore.
Viktor signaled outside and shut the window. Scarlett took a deep breath and looked back at him.
“Right now, I hate you so much… and yet, I’m a little grateful.”
“Grateful?”
“I ruined the goal of your life. And still, you want me back?”
“I want you back.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“I already have.”
Viktor pulled her closer.
“You’re the one who hasn’t.”
He was right.
Scarlett still couldn’t forget the days she spent waiting in the convent. Worse than the cold, worse than the scorn, was the unbearable thought that he didn’t love her.
Night after night, leaning against the freezing wall, she thought:
If you had loved me, I wouldn’t be here.
That thought made her hate him, and then hate herself for hating him—a cycle that never ended. Scarlett murmured, almost to herself,
“I don’t even know why. Why can’t I forgive you?”
She seemed to regain some calm, but soon an inexplicable hatred surged from within.
Viktor answered heavily,
“I told you. Yes, I sent you to the convent, but I didn’t mean that kind of place. I thought it would be like where my mother stayed, with servants to care for everything.”
“Even then…”
“And?”
“During the interrogation.”
At her voice thick with resentment, Viktor’s fingers trembled slightly. Scarlett spoke bitterly without realizing it.
“I was missing for a week. You could’ve come for me sooner… before the newspapers published it.”
“I was busiest then. You know that. There was so much to take care of.”
“I know, but strangely that’s what makes me angriest.”
“Why angry?”
“Because! If you’d come see me even once, you’d have known what happened that day—”
But Scarlett broke off, shaking her head.
“No… forget it.”
She remembered that Viktor didn’t believe her claim of having no memory of that day. With a look of resignation, she said,
“Anyway, I need to go.”
“Breakfast should be ready. Stay and eat.”
“Already?”
“Your employee is here—he’s already eating.”
“Andrei?”
“Mm.”
Without her consent, her bedroom table was already being set. A centerpiece of roses was placed first, followed by all the dishes she liked.
Sitting down, Scarlett took a warm pie from the rose-patterned plate and set it on her own.
The Dümfelt estate was full of roses. As she looked at the vase of roses, Viktor said,
“I’ve never cared about flowers. Doesn’t matter whether you cut the thorns or not.”
Surprised, Scarlett asked,
“…How did you know?”
“By chance.”
“Do I seem strange to you?”
“To me, you’ve always been strange. And I’m strange to you, too.”
At his almost playful words, Scarlett smiled faintly.
“I suppose that’s true.”
