The next morning, Scarlett did not return, so Andrei visited the Domfelts' home.
He saw Victor leaving with a calm face, so Andrei tried to maintain his composure and said: “I came to get the director.”
“She's still asleep.
I gave her wine.”
“How dirty”
Andrei thought that, although he was bad with Scarlett, her ex-husband was no better.
What if Scarlett knew that Victor knew everything and was hiding it from her?
Andrei knew that Scarlett's anger always carried a touch of warmth.
No one is afraid of her anger, but everyone is afraid of the moment that warmth disappears.
Andrei asked: “What are your plans for the future?”
Victor took a cigarette out of his pocket, offered it to him and said: “First, I will go to the Royal Police.”
Andrei was surprised: “This…treason.”
“And you will join me.”
“Betrayal against my will?”
“Or execute you because you know too much.
I have a good reason, you tried to kill me.”
“Your knowledge of the Royal Constabulary will be useful.”
Andrei took the cigarette and sighed: “If I don’t commit treason, I will die alone.
But if we fail, my entire family will die.”
“Sure”
Victor replied simply, but he, who had spent his life carrying out the orders of the royal family to regain his position, seemed to have finally realized that it was easier to subjugate kings than to please them.
But it wasn't easy.
If he succeeds in overthrowing the Royal Constabulary, the Kings may call upon the power of Festina to destroy everything, or they may abandon Victor and the Royal Constabulary as a hunting dog whose mission is done.
When Scarlett woke up in Domfelt's house, she heard the voice of a brown crow croaking outside the window: “Ah, wolf season!”
In the capital of Salantaire, the cawing of crows in January means the arrival of wolves, which the crows follow to eat their remains.
Wolves rarely reach the crowded capital, but in suburbs such as the Doomfelt Lands or near the eastern mountains, wolves may attack humans.
Therefore, when crows caw, people leave animal carcasses sprinkled with blood at the entrance to the cedar forest.
Domfelt's lands included a vast cedar forest with a narrow entrance.
In the past, trees were not valuable, the land was deserted and cold.
But during the past twenty years, people have cut down many trees, so the value of the forest has risen, and it has become a focus of curiosity for the people of Salantir.
Only members of the Domfelt family enter the forest, servants are allowed in, but not guests.
Scarlett visited the entrance, but the inside was dangerous.
She could have gone with Victor, but he didn't have time to go out with his wife.
While she was holding her sore forehead from the effects of the alcohol, Victor entered the room: “It seems that the alcohol has not worn off yet.”
“He was so strong...”
Scarlett stumbled as she stood, and Victor grabbed her waist.
She pushed him without thinking, and he laughed: “Didn’t you ask for help?”
She looked at him and smiled slightly: “Thank you for tonight.
I’ll go now.”
She broke free from him, but he said, “Before that, there is something you should know.”
He went to the window and pointed at it.
Scarlett approached, and saw three people bound and kneeling at the bottom of the palace: two servants she knew and a marine.
“Spies from Festina.
No matter how much we catch them, they come back like weeds.
While I was preoccupied with them, I did not notice that the Royal Constabulary was approaching.”
“They didn't reach high positions, so they didn't leak much.
But since you asked for my help, you should know that this might happen.”
Scarlett felt dizzy, so she grabbed the window frame.
I realized that the war was really approaching.
I asked Victor: “Is that why you were so nice to me?”
“What do you mean?”
“You need me to make flying possible, right?”
“What I want is for you to return to Doomfelt.”
“That's it?”
“That's it”
Scarlett turned away from the window, unable to look any further.
Victor pointed outside and closed the window.
Scarlett took a deep breath and looked at him: “I'm angry at you now, but I'm also grateful.”
“Grateful?”
“I destroyed your life's purpose, but you still want me back.”
“I want you to come back”
“Can you forgive me?”
“I have already forgiven you.”
Victor pulled her to him and said: “The one who has not forgiven is you.”
He was right.
Scarlett could not forget the days of waiting for him in the convent.
It wasn't the cold or the blame that was hardest, it was the realization that he didn't love her.
Every night, she leaned against the cold wall, thinking: If you had loved me, I wouldn't be here.
She hated him, then hated herf for hating him, in a vicious cycle.
“I don’t know why I can’t forgive you,” she muttered.
She seemed to calm down, but was quickly overcome by a mysterious anger.
Victor replied with a heavy voice: “You said it was right for me to send you to the monastery, but I didn’t intend to send you to a harsh place.
I thought it was a comfortable place with servants, like my mother’s house.”
“Not only that...”
“So?”
“Even during the investigation”
Victor's fingers trembled at her pained tone: "I was gone for a week.
You could have looked for me before the newspapers published the news."
"I was at my busiest.
You know, there was a lot to solve."
“I know, but that's what angers me the most.”
“Why?”
“If you visited me even once, you would know what happened that day...”
Scarlett shook her head, resigned, as she remembered that Victor couldn't believe she lost her memories.
I looked at him: “Anyway, I have to go.”
“Breakfast is ready.
Eat it before you leave.”
“Now?”
“Your employee is here, and he is already eating.”
“Andrey?”
“Yes”
Before she agreed, the table in her room had been set.
A bouquet of flowers was placed as the center, and it was filled with her favorite foods.
She sat down, took a hot pie from a plate decorated with flowers and placed it on her plate.
Roses were abundant in the Domfelt household.
While she was looking at the flowers, Victor said, "I don't care about the flowers.
Cut the thorns or do whatever you want."
Scarlett was surprised: “How did you know?”
“By chance”
“Do I look weird?”
"To me, you've always been a stranger.
And I'm a stranger to you, right?"
Scarlett laughed faintly: “That's right.”