CHAPTER 20
Scarlett was thoroughly flustered by the situation, but when she heard that the prosthetic thumb wouldn’t move properly, her attention shifted immediately.
She sat down at the table.
Caught off guard, Nicolaus removed his prosthetic arm and sat awkwardly.
“I… suppose I’m imposing on you, Madam… no, Miss.”
“Oh, don’t be silly.”
The truth was, Nicolaus felt incredibly uncomfortable being caught between a divorced couple.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t found an opportunity to escape.
Meanwhile, Scarlett opened the toolbox she always carried in her bag as though it were part of her.
She secured the prosthetic’s mainspring with a small wooden rod to keep it from unwinding, then removed the gear that had stopped moving.
With practiced hands, she began crafting a replacement gear from silver.
The precision of her work made her look less like a young woman and more like a master craftsman.
A short while later, she fitted the new gear into place, carefully wound the spring, and looked up.
“Try moving your thumb.”
Nicolaus cautiously flexed it.
His eyes immediately lit up.
“It… it moves! Good heavens! It’s so much smoother!”
He was so delighted that not only Scarlett smiledā
Even Victor, who had been quietly watching from behind, couldn’t help smiling as well.
Unable to believe it, Nicolaus repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist before bowing gratefully.
“Thank you. Truly, thank you so much. My wife and I run an ice cream shop. If you ever stop by, just tell us who you are! You’ll get free ice cream for life!”
“It doesn’t have to be for life,” Scarlett replied with a smile. “But I’ll definitely come by sometime.”
They exchanged cheerful farewells.
After thanking her over and over, Nicolaus finally left.
The office suddenly fell silent once the lively former sailor was gone.
Victor placed a teacup on the table.
“I didn’t expect you to come here on your own.”
“You were going to come arrest me sooner or later anyway.”
“No.”
Victor replied calmly.
“I wasn’t planning to. I was worried you’d make good on your threat and kill me.”
Scarlett let out an incredulous laugh.
One of Victor’s rare jokes only left her speechless.
“So?”
she asked.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll decide that later.”
Victor looked at her.
“Why do you hate the idea of coming back to me so much?”
“Why do you even want me back?”
Scarlett stared at him.
“Did you realize after living alone that divorce was inconvenient? Or are you just too lazy to find another woman?”
“Because I love you.”
His matter-of-fact answer robbed her of words.
Scarlett glared at him for several long moments before asking,
“What?”
“I love you.”
Victor answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“That’s why I want you back. Isn’t that reason enough?”
His calm words cut deeper than any sharpened blade.
Closing her eyes briefly, Scarlett opened them again.
“You’ve always gotten everything you’ve ever wanted, haven’t you?”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Did it hurt your pride… being divorced?”
Victor remained silent.
She continued.
“Did it bother you because you were supposed to be the one to throw me away first?”
“I don’t see it that way.”
“Or is it because you hate the thought that all your effort fixing me went to waste?”
By now, Scarlett expected anyone else to lose their temper.
Victor simply listened without changing his expression.
She muttered,
“If I hadn’t loved you… I never would’ve divorced you.”
“Isn’t it the other way around?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I’m serious. If I hadn’t loved you, I wouldn’t have expected anything from you.”
She smiled bitterly.
“But because I loved you… I kept hoping.”
“And every time, I was disappointed.”
She felt almost drunk.
Forcing herself to steady her breathing, she continued.
“So… if you think about it…”
“The divorce was my fault.”
“There.”
“Happy now?”
She laughed weakly.
“How much more can someone’s pride bend after a divorce?”
“I was the one who loved you so much I thought I was going to die.”
“I exhausted myself loving you.”
“Maybe that’s why I betrayed you.”
“Because I got sick of you.”
“…I had no reason left to stay loyal to you.”
“That still doesn’t justify betraying me.”
Victor’s voice remained calm.
Scarlett gave a hollow laugh.
“In the end…”
“Divorce was the only answer.”
“You couldn’t forgive me.”
“And I’d already crossed the line.”
“It was the perfect ending.”
“You should’ve just admitted the truth.”
Victor looked at her.
“That you betrayed me because you got tired of me.”
“I did tell you the truth.”
Scarlett pressed both hands against the pit of her stomach as memories of that day resurfaced.
“I told you I couldn’t remember.”
“You’re still saying that?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“I’m still saying it.”
Victor finally sighed.
“Fine.”
“We’ll go with that.”
“At this point, what difference does it make?”
Scarlett could still see the anger buried beneath his composed expression.
Becoming royalty had been Victor’s lifelong dream.
She knew that simply claiming not to remember couldn’t erase what had happened.
Looking up at him, she quietly said,
“I’m sorry, Victor.”
“…”
“When I think back…”
“I really did hate you.”
Back then.
As an adult, loving him was practically the only thing she’d ever done.
If only someone had told me when I was younger…
That if you loved someone that foolishly, you’d be left with nothing once it was over.
If only her parents had still been alive.
If only she had met a friend like Liv sooner.
If only someone like Andrei had taught her, while she was still young, that searching for four-leaf clovers as gifts for Victor should have been about her own happiness too.
If only she could tell eighteen-year-old Scarlett Crimson that a marriage without love would also end without love.
But…
The eighteen-year-old Scarlett would have been hopelessly in love.
She never would have listened.
Victor watched her quietly.
Then he spoke.
“Then come back.”
“Stop living like this.”
“…”
“You said you were sorry.”
“I am.”
Scarlett nodded.
“But I can’t live with you anymore.”
“I expected too much from our marriage.”
“What exactly did you expect from me?”
His voice gradually sharpened.
Scarlett answered in a trembling voice.
“I just…”
“I wanted you to look for me even when you didn’t need me.”
“I wanted you to miss me.”
“I wanted…”
She struggled to continue.
“I wanted you to be happy that I loved you.”
“That I wanted to see you.”
She smiled sadly.
“My love…”
“It was precious to me.”
“It was the best thing I had.”
“At first, it was okay because I knew it was one-sided.”
“But little by little…”
“I got tired.”
“I got tired of loving someone who wasn’t happy to be loved.”
She lowered her eyes.
“That’s how unrequited love always ends.”
Victor let out a disbelieving laugh.
Even so, Scarlett continued.
“I only realized it after our divorce.”
“The reason I loved you…”
“Was because I wanted someone to love me that way too.”
“I wanted to be loved.”
“And you…”
“You proposed to me.”
“So even if it was only an act…”
“You had a responsibility to return those feelings.”
Victor smiled crookedly.
“Oh.”
“So my acting wasn’t convincing enough.”
His answer made her heart sink.
Forcing another smile, Scarlett nodded.
“Yeah.”
“When you remarry…”
“Try harder.”
After saying that, she reached into her bag and took out a small glass marble.
She held it out to him.
“I meant to give you this.”
“So you can have it.”
Inside the glass sphere was a preserved four-leaf clover.
Victor silently stared at it resting in her hand.
Scarlett continued.
“I didn’t find it for your sake.”
“I just realized that searching for a four-leaf clover around your birthday every year made me happy.”
“It was like a hobby.”
“…”
“Oh.”
She laughed softly.
“You probably don’t even remember receiving them in the first place.”
“But… keep it anyway.”
Victor accepted the glass marble.
Scarlett watched him place it carefully inside a desk drawer.
Then she asked,
“Are you going to interrogate me?”
“About the airplane?”
Victor looked back at her.
“Did you draw those blueprints because you intended to build it?”
“Hmm…”
“If you stay silent,” he said evenly, “it will only hurt your case. Manufacturing military weapons could be prosecuted under military law.”
“It’s not a weapon.”
Scarlett answered firmly.
“It’s just a means of transportation.”
“And besides…”
“Don’t you think it’s strange to suppress every kind of technology?”
That…
Victor had to admit.
It was strange.
He had thought so for a long time.
While he had spent years at sea, he hadn’t fully understood what was happening inside Salantie.
Now he did.
Scarlett continued.
“And the blueprints…”
“I simply remembered them.”
“They were something my parents were building.”
“You remembered?”
“Yes.”
“Your parents died when you were twelve.”
Victor frowned.
“How could you remember blueprints you saw before then?”
“I have a good memory.”
“…”
“Can I go now?”
Deciding there was nothing more he could learn today, Victor gave a small nod.
“I’ll come see you again soon.”
Scarlett nodded in return.
After she left the office…
The warmth that always seemed to linger wherever she had been disappeared with her.
Victor took out a cigarette, placed it between his lips, lit it, and slowly drew in the first puff.
