CHAPTER 09
When Scarlett came downstairs, Andrei spoke without even turning around, as though he had expected this all along.
“Go to prison instead of paying a fine if you must. Just make sure you can still pay my salary.”
“The way you say things…”
Scarlett scolded him lightly, but she trusted him completely. She knew he would never reveal this secret to anyone.
As always, she slung her toolbox over her shoulder, took one child by each hand, and followed them into the tram depot.
The moment she appeared, the gloomy expressions on the tram drivers’ faces brightened.
“Dad! We brought Scarlett!”
As the twins ran over, their father, Mr. Powell, barked at them.
“I told you not to call such an honorable lady by just her name! Call her ‘Miss’!”
Even though Scarlett had repeatedly told him to treat her casually, Powell insisted he never could.
The children, however, disagreed.
“Oh, Scarlett doesn’t get mad!”
“That’s right!”
The twins chattered away as they climbed all over the tram.
Powell turned to Scarlett apologetically.
“I’m truly sorry for troubling you every single time, Miss Scarlett.”
“This really is the last time.”
“Yes! I promise!”
“Then everyone, please turn around. Except Susan.”
At Scarlett’s request, everyone except the little girl turned away.
She slipped off the simple dress she wore outside, revealing the work jumpsuit underneath, then crawled beneath the tram.
“Mr. Powell. Wrench.”
“Y-Yes!”
Powell hurriedly opened the toolbox, and Charlie quickly grabbed the wrench and crawled underneath to hand it to her.
Lying on his stomach, he asked,
“Scarlett, what else should I bring?”
“A pipe wrench. And every size of nut.”
“Okay!”
Charlie crawled back out and immediately looked at his father.
“Dad, what’s a pipe wrench? And what do you mean every size of nut?”
“Here.”
The pipe wrench was too heavy for Charlie to carry together with everything else, so he carefully cupped the nuts in both hands and delivered them first before bringing the wrench.
For quite a while Scarlett inspected the steam engine, the connected pipes, the wiring, and even the control handle before finally crawling back out.
“Try starting it.”
“Yes, Miss!”
One of the drivers hurried into the driver’s compartment.
Meanwhile, the others shoveled coal into the furnace to fire up the steam engine.
Though sweating heavily despite the winter cold, they cheered the moment the engine rumbled to life.
“It works, Miss!”
“Thank goodness! I thought it was really broken this time!”
The other drivers erupted into cheers.
Whenever one tram became unusable, two drivers lost their jobs.
Seeing everyone’s obvious relief made Scarlett smile as well.
Susan trotted over and tugged on Scarlett’s sleeve.
“I’ll wipe your face.”
“That’s sweet of you, but I’ll wash it later. You’ll get your clothes dirty.”
“No! Mom won’t scold me if it’s because I wiped Scarlett’s face.”
Susan insisted stubbornly.
Still, Scarlett shook her head and wiped the soot from her face with her own sleeve.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Susan pointed at her face.
“You got even dirtier!”
“Really?”
Scarlett looked around awkwardly for a mirror.
Just then, one of the drivers keeping watch outside burst into the depot.
“The police!”
“W-What?! Hide Miss Scarlett! Hurry!”
The instant he shouted, the drivers scrambled into action.
The jackets they had tossed everywhere were hastily hung on a coat rack.
Scarlett’s dress was stuffed into an empty coal sack.
Then Scarlett herself climbed into a large storage crate, which they shoved behind the coat rack.
Barely moments later, the police entered.
Making himself look even more intimidating than usual, Powell growled,
“What brings you here? We’re all busy.”
One officer questioned him sternly.
“We received a report that a tram stopped unexpectedly. We’ve come to see whether it broke down.”
“It stopped because it ran out of fuel. We filled it back up, and now it’s fine. Who reported something they don’t even understand?”
Prepared for the worst, Powell deliberately raised his voice.
Hidden behind the coat rack, Scarlett held her breath, praying only for the officers to leave.
Her fingers grew numb from tension.
Powell grumbled while the officers inspected the tram.
“There aren’t even any engineers left in this country capable of repairing trams.”
“That’s true.”
As usual, Scarlett thought, they would merely pretend to inspect it before leaving.
After all, Powell was right.
Most people capable of repairing trams were dead.
Even if the police examined the machinery, they had no way of knowing whether it had truly broken down or simply run out of fuel.
Still, since someone had filed a report, they were going through the motions of checking every tram.
“W-Why are you going over there? There’s nothing but dirty clothes.”
One of the drivers spoke in obvious panic.
Hearing footsteps approaching her hiding place, Scarlett instinctively pressed a hand against her racing heart.
The footsteps stopped directly in front of her.
The coat rack was shoved aside.
Then the crate lid opened.
Startled, Scarlett looked up—
—and froze.
Looking down at her through the hanging jackets was her ex-husband.
Victor Dumpfelt.
Although not much time had passed since their divorce, Victor somehow felt completely different.
He looked thinner than before.
The sharp face that had once radiated only the cold authority of a naval commander now carried an inexplicable loneliness.
Most surprising of all, the youthful arrogance that had once lingered in his straight, piercing eyes had faded as though decades had passed.
The sailors of the Rubid, the flagship under his command, assisted the police whenever they were not on active missions.
Thinking about it rationally, it wasn’t strange that they would run into each other.
And wasn’t it simply the law of the world that the one person you least wanted to meet would appear at the exact worst possible moment?
In those brief seconds, countless thoughts flashed through Scarlett’s mind.
Yet she couldn’t think of a single solution.
As she clamped both hands over her mouth, desperately trying to quiet her breathing, Victor silently drew an ornate silver pistol.
Scarlett squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away.
Two muffled shots rang out from the silenced gun.
Everyone present froze.
Victor turned around.
“Let’s move.”
His voice remained perfectly calm.
Several of the drivers, however, went deathly pale and collapsed to the floor.
His executive officer, Evan Wright, followed behind him as casually as if nothing unusual had happened.
“Yes, Captain.”
No one present had the authority to oppose Victor Dumpfelt—the king’s grandson.
Without daring to ask a single question, everyone simply stood aside.
As Victor headed for the warehouse exit, a nearby policeman rushed ahead to open the door for him.
Moments later, they were gone.
Powell sprinted to the crate.
Both bullets had buried themselves into the coal sack, while splintered wood had struck Scarlett’s arm, leaving a cut.
She remained curled inside the box, clutching the injured arm.
“S-Susan! Charlie! Hurry and hold Miss Scarlett’s hands!”
The twins, whose eyes the drivers had been covering, immediately ran over.
The other drivers hurriedly moved the coat rack aside.
With the children’s help, Scarlett climbed out of the crate.
Her legs shook so badly that she had to steady herself against the wall.
If that hadn’t been Victor…
Would she really have died right there?
The Victor Scarlett knew wasn’t the sort of man who would ignore a crime simply because the culprit happened to be his former wife.
Still…
Perhaps seeing her again after so long had softened him, if only a little.
Repairing the tram meant protecting someone’s livelihood.
Not just the drivers’, but everyone who relied on that tram to travel long distances to work.
The real problem was the absurd law claiming that repairing trams defied the will of God.
She had come here fully prepared for the risk.
But when death had actually come close enough to touch…
…her mind went completely blank.
Powell dropped to his knees before her, his voice trembling.
“I’m sorry, Miss Scarlett.
Never again…
Never again will this happen.”
“That’s right.”
“Finding another job would’ve been better…”
Everyone still believed Scarlett had almost been killed.
No one could move.
Most of all, Susan and Charlie clung tightly to her, trembling uncontrollably.
Scarlett knew she couldn’t remain frozen in shock.
She crouched down to their level.
“Why are you two shaking so much?”
Susan burst into tears.
“Because…
I brought Scarlett here…”
“No, you didn’t.”
Scarlett smiled gently.
“I came because I wanted to.
Don’t you remember?”
Charlie sniffled.
“No…
We were the ones who asked you to come.”
“Nope.”
Scarlett grinned playfully.
“I never listen to little troublemakers.
I came because I wanted to.
To be honest…
I actually enjoy repairing trams.”
She tried joking.
But the twins only cried harder.
Throwing themselves into Scarlett’s arms, they sobbed uncontrollably.
