[TIDK] 150 – Hatred of War

Throughout his life, Viktor had been punished to the point of excessive punishment for wrongdoing. It was the Dumfelt family way and the Navy way. It was an effective way.

And that way had been the case for Scarlett. He had left the betrayal he felt for Scarlett intact. His way of doing so had never been detrimental to him. Scarlett Crimson had always been unprecedented for Viktor. 

Viktor was lost in thought for a moment.

Scarlett couldn’t stand the long silence and opened her mouth. “Say anything.”

“Then let’s answer one by one.” 

“...”

“That’s a good deal for you. If it were normal, I would have let you open your mouth somehow.”

Viktor pressed her cheek, like peach flesh, with his fingers.

Scarlett remembered Andrei for his actions. He returned from being held by the Navy for a while, and there was a time when he rubbed his hand for a while as if his jaw and teeth hurt.

Scarlett’s shoulders were shaking, but Viktor didn’t stop. He pressed Scarlett’s lips with his fingers to open his mouth and put his fingers inside to open them. His behaviour was soft and childlike. Viktor, who was teasing her like that, pulled his hand off and patted Scarlett’s lips in praise.

“I’m thinking. It’s not bad to go to Vestina.” 

“…What?”

“I’ve done enough. He was loyal to the royal family, loyal to the people.” Viktor leaned down.

“If I go to Vestina, Salantier will be at peace.” 

“...”

“Maybe people want more of that.”

he was going to get it back. (talking abt the prestige and royal family lineage bc he’s estranged) Scarlett Dumfelt was going to return it to him someday. Was that possible? Was there anything she could do?

Viktor couldn’t get his hands off Scarlett’s face. Viktor, who had been looking at her for a long time, continued.

“The spies said, “Vestina’s army knows about you.” 

“…Me?”

“The former Earl Crimson and his wife are the best engineers on the continent. It’s only natural for warring people to know first.”

“...”

“Vestina’s army will try to kidnap you first for war.”

Scarlett was looking at Viktor with her eyes wide open as if she had never imagined it.

Viktor was expecting some of the Vestina connections when he found out that the Royal Police had given Scarlett some memory-sharpening drugs.

Scratching one’s shortcomings could have been done without using such hard-earned medicine. She had to risk it as well. Nevertheless, the royal police invested a lot of money and time in regaining Scarlett’s memory. He also knew that it would not have been possible without any experiments to make her lose such an adequate amount of memory.

She had probably been targeted for a long time already. After a while, Viktor insinuated.

“Do you want to go to Vestina with me?” Scarlett paused at his question.

After a while, she replied.

“No, I’m not going. And you don’t go either.” She said with a clear look.

“Do you feel the same way when the Salantier royal family may have killed your parents? Don’t look down on technicians at Salantier. If Vestina goes on her own feet before kidnapping you, you can do whatever you want with much better support.” Viktor replied.

Scarlett opened her mouth at his words.

“Viktor, the Crimson family promised not to leave Salantier for generations when they were given the Earldom. You know that, don’t you?”

It was an old law.

As Viktor looked at me as if to keep talking, Scarlett continued.

“It was a time when class was stronger, as it is now. But why would he give the Crimson a title and promise not to leave Salantier? That’s how important Crimson’s skills are to the country. That’s not technology, is it? It’s not.”

Still, Viktor looked her in the eye without a word, and Scarlett continued to speak.

“It’s the King that’s wrong. It’s not Salantier. I am a person who inherited the Crimson family’s skills, and I promised to remain in Salantier under any circumstances. I’m not leaving.”

Viktor muttered at her words.

“You have the honour of your family.”

Viktor was despondent that Scarlett had what he had hoped so much for.

He has never considered the Dumfelt family honourable. It was the place where the ousted princess’s hill was.

But there was honour in his humble Crimson family. It was of the same value that the successor had built by connecting to the successor.