MLTMH 08

Chapter 8

Eden pressed the sole of his shoe firmly onto the man’s palm.

“Argh!”

“You’ll be handed over to the Benton Police Department anyway. If you talk properly here, I can guarantee there won’t be any torture.”

He said there would be no torture, but he never said there would be no violence during questioning. The man groaned as if he was thinking it over. Eden calmly waited for him to open his mouth.

At last, the man spoke.

“I only heard that Cherry Sinclair left for Brunel today. That’s all. It’s true.”

‘She left today? I missed her.’

But that was fine. He would go find her himself.

“Where is Brunel?”

“I-I don’t know. I only heard that it’s a small village without even a train station……”

Even after threatening him several more times and causing him pain, Eden could not get any more information. It seemed the man truly knew nothing else.

With no other choice, Eden handed him over to the police and prepared to leave for Brunel himself.

‘Why would someone like Cherry Sinclair go to a rural village without even a train station? That alone is suspicious.’

Recently, Eden’s entire attention had been focused on four things: the monster at 61 Notium Street, the owner of the brooch engraved with the initials C. S., the smuggled firearms, and Cherry Sinclair.

Among them, Cherry Sinclair’s recent actions were especially suspicious, drawing even more of his attention.

At that time, Eden did not know that all the incidents he was investigating were connected to Cherry Sinclair. He only felt that he would not be satisfied until he heard the truth directly from her.

If the missing heiress of the Sinclair family had really ordered a large number of firearms, wouldn’t anyone be curious about the reason?

Very curious.

Time remaining until destruction: 19 days.

I sat on the terrace of the only restaurant in Brunel Village and unfolded yesterday’s newspaper, which had been brought from a neighboring town.

—The people of Brunel did not read newspapers much. I liked that too.—

[Exclusive Report! Heiress Cherry Sinclair borrows 100 million gold in the name of overseas business funds! What exactly is this overseas business that has no real substance……!]

As expected, the newspaper was once again filled with stories about me.

Everyone seemed desperate to know why I had borrowed the enormous amount of 100 million gold.

[Exclusive Report! The disappearance of Cherry Sinclair! Where is she now……? Investigation underway to determine whether this is an escape or a missing person case…….]

‘Hmm, it’s more of an escape than a disappearance.’

Since I had stopped attending parties lately, the newspapers must have been bored. But that would not be a problem anymore.

Go ahead and talk all you want!

Once the world ended, they would no longer be able to move their pens so happily.

More than that, just thinking about Harrison finding out about the loan and lecturing me already gave me a headache.

I folded the newspaper, drank my coffee, and looked outside.

I was waiting to see when Vanilla would arrive, but instead, I saw a man wearing a police uniform.

He was standing in front of the Brunel police station across from the restaurant.

At that moment, the man, who had been talking with another middle-aged officer, suddenly turned around.

The first thing that caught my eye was his beautiful blond hair, as if woven from golden threads.

Then came his blue eyes, cold like a winter lake.

Under his sharp nose and red lips was the stiff collar of his uniform shirt, tightly fastened around his neck.

The dark blue police uniform suited him incredibly well.

‘This is crazy. He’s handsome. Completely my type…….’

That face was not unfamiliar.

It was strange.

Then suddenly, I remembered the police officer I had seen in front of the mansion at 61 Notium Street.

Aurora’s brother, Eden Duncan Lancaster!

‘Why is he here?!’

I remembered how he had kept calling the Sinclair mansion.

Had he somehow discovered that the person who killed the monster that day was Cherry Sinclair?

‘No wonder I kept having a bad feeling yesterday!’

As I lowered my head in shock and desperately thought about why Eden was here, I saw him walking toward me.

He entered the restaurant and came straight to the terrace where I was sitting.

“Excuse me.”

“Y-Yes?”

I never expected him to speak to me, so I answered like an idiot.

Eden looked at my face and smiled slightly.

“There are no seats available. May I join you?”

I came back to my senses and nodded awkwardly.

“Yes? Ah, yes, of course……”

When I entered earlier, the restaurant had definitely been empty. When did it suddenly become crowded?

I turned around to look.

The restaurant was exactly the same as before.

Empty.

‘What the hell is this? A hidden camera prank? Am I the only one who can’t see people?’

I had already allowed him to sit, so I could not take back my words.

I sighed.

‘Get yourself together, Cherry.’

Eden sat down across from me.

He crossed his legs casually and smiled at me.

An ominous smile.

“I’ve wanted to meet you for quite some time. I never expected to find you in a place like this.”

After ordering a cup of espresso, Eden looked at me and spoke.

“Do you know me?”

“Cherry Sinclair is famous, isn’t she? There isn’t a day when your name doesn’t appear in the newspapers.”

The people of Brunel did not recognize me because they rarely read newspapers.

Besides, my photograph was not printed every time.

“……I see. I am rather famous.”

If this guy spread rumors that I was here, it would become very troublesome.

‘Should I move to another village even now?’

But there was not much time left.

As he quietly looked at my face, Eden suddenly held out his hand.

“My introduction is late, my lady. I am Eden Duncan Lancaster, an investigator of the Benton Police Department.”

Yes.

I knew very well who he was.

He was the kind of man who never let go once he became interested in something.

People in Benton said that no criminal targeted by him ever escaped unharmed.

That was why his nickname was:

The Mad Dog of Benton.

Had that obsession now turned toward me?

Had he realized that I was the owner of the brooch?

“Oh my, how fascinating. Eden Duncan Lancaster? You are the one I know, right? The man who appears in newspapers so often.”

Trying my best to appear calm, I placed my hand over his.

I thought he would kiss the back of my hand according to noble etiquette, but instead, Eden shook it up and down in a handshake.

I looked slightly surprised, but Eden did not care.

Unfortunately for me, he was not a pleasant person.

Even in the original novel, he was described as having such a terrible personality that people disliked him easily.

Even though he was highly skilled in survival and combat and saved many lives.

“I’m curious why the famous Sir Eden has come to a place like this.”

“My fame cannot compare to Lady Sinclair’s. More importantly, why has my lady come to such a rural village?”

Eden naturally turned the question back to me.

I quickly thought of an answer.

“I’m looking for a vacation house.”

I found a suitable excuse and replied.

Eden’s eyebrow twitched.

It must have sounded strange for someone to look for a vacation house in a village with nothing in it.

As expected, he looked at me with slight disbelief.

“Then now you should explain why you are here, Sir Eden.”

“I was assigned here.”

“What? Assigned? To this rural village?”

I was so shocked that I could not control my expression.

After all, his excuse was even worse than mine.

“Sir Eden, you’re a member of the Lancaster family. You’re on the perfect path to becoming Chief of Police, so why would someone like you be assigned to a place like this? Have the people at the police department lost their minds?”

If that was true, then this was serious.

Did that mean I might have to stay in this village with him until the world ended?

‘There was definitely nothing like this in the novel!’

Eden was supposed to stay quietly beside Aurora in the capital until the destruction came.

He needed to remain beside Aurora, the protagonist of the novel, in order to survive safely and create the cure.

‘Wait… did this happen because I changed the original story?’

If that was the case, then I had a responsibility to send Eden back to the capital.

Or protect him myself until Ezra, the scientist male lead, appeared.

‘……No, wait. Are you crazy, Cherry? Absolutely not. Protecting Eden Lancaster? How could you even imagine something so terrible?’

Protecting Eden until I found Ezra?

I could never take on such an annoying responsibility.

I slapped both of my cheeks.

Smack! Smack!

Eden looked at me with wide eyes.

“You seem very surprised.”

I coughed awkwardly.

“Ahem. Anyway, it’s strange. You being here.”

“I think it’s less strange than Cherry Sinclair coming to a rural village like this to buy a vacation house.”

He had a point.

I had nothing to say.

Still, I pretended to be indifferent and asked again.

“More importantly, you still haven’t answered my question. Why were you assigned here?”

“I thought I might build up some achievements.”

“In this small village? It doesn’t seem like there would be any cases here.”

Was this like the chairman’s son joining a company through connections and wanting to learn practical work from the bottom?

“We won’t know whether there are truly no cases until we see.”

As he said that, Eden stared directly at me.

As if he was observing my reaction.

Damn it.

Maybe it was because I had too many secrets, but every word he said felt like it had a hidden meaning.

It sounded as if he already knew something.

I could not understand what he was thinking.

‘……Don’t panic too much. He’ll return to the capital before the destruction anyway. Aurora is still there.’

Even after reaching that conclusion, I still looked at him uneasily.

Then someone approached us.

“Are you the person who purchased the mansion on the hill?”