Chapter 64
After a warm and luxurious breakfast, Scarlet stepped outside and saw snow piled up everywhere. She turned to Andrei, who was waiting for her on the sofa in the first-floor lobby.
“Snow really piled up.”
“It did indeed.”
“It’s pretty.”
After saying that, Scarlet glanced around the Dempelt estate. Then she muttered:
“There’s a spy.”
“What?”
“As a fellow spy, what do you think?”
When Scarlet turned to look at him, Andrei cleared his throat and replied.
“That just shows how significant Lord Victor’s influence is.”
“That must be hard. He can’t relax for even a moment.”
“Well, that’s something he has to endure.”
Andrei replied calmly.
As they were talking on the first floor, Victor came to the door to see her off. Scarlet was startled when she spotted him in the lobby.
Normally, Victor’s appearance was so stiff and formal that anyone could tell he was a soldier. But today, he looked sleek and polished, like an actor on stage.
The man she already adored now appeared even more captivating in such attire, and Scarlet found herself staring blankly at him, as though the world had frozen still.
Victor met Scarlet’s dazed gaze. Then he turned to Andrei, extended his hand, and said:
“Keep her safe. That’s the reason you’re alive.”
“Yes, understood.”
Andrei answered. After their handshake, when Victor let go, Andrei looked down at his own hand in awe.
A little later, once they had left the estate and gotten some distance from the porch, Andrei said to Scarlet:
“He’s incredibly strong. They say that even if half the blood flowing in Lord Victor’s veins weren’t royal, he still would’ve become a captain.”
“Really?”
Scarlet looked uncertain.
She said, “Maybe so, but you’re strong too, and so is my brother.”
“Ah, I see—you don’t have any ordinary point of comparison.”
“What about Isaac?”
“I had enough strength to become a royal policeman despite my worthless family. From what I’ve investigated, he’s about on par with me.”
“…You investigated him?”
“What’s the point of having a spy if I don’t at least do that?”
The fact that Andrei was a spy was absurd, but it was only natural he’d have that much information.
Scarlet felt awkward at how accustomed she was becoming to such unusual things and asked:
“So, Isaac… he is strong?”
“Yes. And skilled too.”
“Where could he have learned it?”
“Likely self-taught.”
“I worry about him, but why are you always so calm?”
Isaac, who knew little of the world, worried Scarlet. But Andrei wasn’t taking her seriously, so she frowned at him, as if demanding he listen. Clicking his tongue at her expression, Andrei said:
“Boss, think about it logically. Count Isaac Crimson is a head taller than most grown men and several times stronger. If anyone should be worried, it’s him worrying about others, not you.”
“I’m just afraid he might cause some trouble.”
“Excuse me? The way I see it, you’re the one who’s the biggest troublemaker.”
“…Shut up.”
“Hey, you started it.”
Bickering back and forth, the two rode in the carriage Victor had provided, heading down from the Dempelt family’s hilltop estate. After a long ride, they arrived at 7th Street.
The moment they got out of the carriage, both of them looked around in confusion. Every shop in the alley was empty. The bakery, the grocery store—the shelves were stripped bare.
Scarlet asked Andrei:
“What on earth happened in such a short time?”
“I was out fetching you, so I don’t know either.”
Still puzzled, they turned toward home, where Isaac was waiting out front. When he spotted them, he called out:
“Scarlet.”
“What’s going on? Why all this chaos?”
Scarlet asked, eyes wide. Isaac, his face tense, replied:
“They say a flying vessel was spotted in the north.”
“What?”
“It was flying the flag of Vestina.”
Scarlet’s eyes went wide in shock.
No nation would dare cross the treacherous Salian Mountains to invade Salantie. The only easy entry point was the southern coast, which Victor Dempelt defended, making that fact even more secure.
But that morning, the Vestinians had demonstrated that they could cross the mountains into Salantie. And they had entered without any permission.
The sudden appearance of the flying vessel had thrown the people of Salantie into panic. Scarlet now understood that the empty streets were due to frantic hoarding.
Andrei went ahead and opened the shop door. Scarlet and Isaac stepped inside. After a moment’s thought, Scarlet suddenly dashed up the stairs.
“S-Scarlet?”
“Boss, you’re not a child—don’t run like that…”
The two men followed her up, only to find her grabbing a notebook.
Isaac asked:
“Scarlet, what are you planning?”
“We have to build our own flying vessel.”
“What?”
Scarlet tied up her falling hair in a quick knot with a nearby string and continued:
“If we show that Salantie can launch flying craft too, Vestina won’t be able to attack so recklessly. Our navy is strong. If war starts, Victor will immediately attack Vestina from the south, and they’ll take losses. They won’t want war so easily—and if they do, their first target will be the Rubid, trying to bomb it. That’s why we have to show that we have anti-air weapons too.”
She spoke rapidly.
“There are already many spies in Salantie. If they report that Salantie has that level of technology, Vestina won’t declare war.”
“So what are you actually going to do?”
Isaac asked nervously. Scarlet packed up her notebook and said:
“We can’t delay. I’ll go to Salantie’s engineering university right now.”
“What?”
“I’ll ask for help.”
Isaac shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and asked again:
“You’re going to the university?”
“I know a lot of what my parents left behind. That’s why I have to do it.”
“In a country that won’t even let you repair trams, you think you can build an engine for a flying vessel?”
The tone of Isaac’s voice dropped, and Scarlet felt a sudden, chilly unease. But then Isaac softened his face into his usual angelic expression and said:
“If anyone finds out, it’ll be dangerous.”
“I… know that. But I can’t just do nothing.”
“You can, Scarlet.”
Isaac said gently.
“I don’t see why you should be the one to risk yourself.”
Watching the exchange with a bored expression, Andrei finally spoke:
“The Count is right, Boss. What exactly do you plan to accomplish by suddenly rushing to the university? It’s dangerous.”
Isaac gestured toward him as if to say see?
“Thanks, Mr. Andrei.”
Andrei gave a small bow and continued.
“But the Boss also has a point. War? I can’t live anywhere without plumbing. If there’s a way to stop it, we have to try.”
At that, Isaac turned a cold gaze on him. Andrei grinned back. Inwardly, he thought Scarlet Crimson was like a magnet that attracted lunatics.
“Why not ask Lord Victor for protection? There’s no safer option in Salantie.”
“Protection?”
Isaac tilted his head. Andrei marveled at how much he resembled Scarlet, yet how he could wear such a murderous expression at the same time.
Andrei explained:
“More precisely—cleanup. If anyone tries to betray the Boss’s intent to build an engine, Victor can take care of it.”
“Ah.”
Isaac nodded, then turned back to Scarlet with a sigh.
“Do you really want to do something this dangerous?”
“It’s not that I want to—it’s that I must. This isn’t something I have a choice in.”
Both men gave a short, incredulous laugh. Then Isaac spoke.
“Scarlet, remember when I hit you?”
At that, Andrei instinctively frowned. Scarlet answered:
“Your uncle ordered you to.”
“Exactly. He told me to, and I did.”
“Well…”
“In that moment, I chose the wrong side. Scarlet, the truth is, you just don’t see the wrong side. But you always have a choice.”
Scarlet sighed at his words, then turned to Andrei as if asking him to take her side.
“Andrei, tell him I’m right.”
Andrei just shrugged.
“Sorry, but I’m a spy. I am the wrong side.”
“Oh, come on…”
“Yeah, sorry for not being a model citizen.”
While Andrei spoke, Isaac frowned.
“A spy?”
Scarlet quickly interjected.
“That’s in the past.”
“Can he be trusted?”
“Of course. He’s kept my tram repairs a secret until now, hasn’t he?”
“…Really?”
Isaac still didn’t sound convinced. Scarlet said firmly:
“He’s the employee I trust the most.”
“That’s not much of a choice. He’s your only one.”
“Anyway.”
Scarlet smiled as if to lighten the mood. Isaac reluctantly mirrored her, lifting the corners of his mouth.
“Alright. I’ll trust him.”
But his eyes didn’t show trust. Andrei was certain of that. Scarlet, however, still seemed to see Isaac as a child trapped in an attic, someone she had to protect at all costs.
Who’s protecting who here…
Andrei clicked his tongue.
