[TIDK] 62 – Where Loyalty Lies

Andrei usually nagged a lot, but he never meddled with Scarlett when she went to Isaac. It was because he knew Isaac was her life.

After unpacking and changing into clean clothes, Scarlett rode a tram and headed to the lake where Isaac worked.

The most important reason for her to live was always Isaac Crimson. If Abel Crimson announced that a part in the watch was wrong, it would surely harm Isaac. She was thinking of getting Isaac out of the Crimson mansion before that. When Scarlett arrived, the raft manager, Carol, called Isaac.

“Young master! Your sister is here!”

Isaac smiled and nodded at the end of the lake, returning shortly after. “Scarlett, how was your trip to the South?”

“Yes, I’m back. And… the Crimson parts are defective.” 

“I see.”

Isaac nodded as if he knew it would be so and replied naturally, “They’ll have to recall it.”

Scarlett smiled merrily and replied, “Yes.”

 Isaac was the first to say that the quality of Crimson’s watch was the pride of the family and their parents’ legacy.

Scarlett continued. “I think you’d better get out of Crimson’s mansion because you’re in danger.”

Isaac unexpectedly flatly refused her remarks. “No.”

“Why not?”

“You’re right about the watch problem. But I can’t leave the Crimson family.”

“Why?”

“If I leave the house, I won’t be able to prove later that it’s my house. I don’t know where the ownership documents are, and I don’t know how they’re done.”

As he said, when Abel Crimson had already syphoned off a large fortune, they were unsure whether the documents remained in Isaac’s name. Still, when considering the right to a house, Salantier weighed whether the person actually lived in the house as important as the documents, so he seemed to plan to stay in the attic for now.

“That’s true, but...” 

“Scarlett.”

Isaac interrupted, held Scarlett’s hand, and smiled handsomely. “I’m twenty-two. I’ll look after my own well-being. You do what you must do.”

“I don’t need that house anymore. It’s not worth keeping if you’re in danger.”

“I have to. To me... the house is everything.” Scarlett paused at Isaac’s words.

Isaac laughed again. “I hope you can come to the house anytime. Live if you want to, rest if you want to. Until then… I want to protect the house.”

“...”

“As the heir of the Crimson family, I want to do this one thing. Do you understand my feelings, Scarlett?”

Scarlett soon smiled helplessly at Isaac’s sweet voice before bravely replying, “Alright. I understand.”

If the Crimson Mansion was the reason for Isaac to live, she dared not take that reason away.

“Scarlett, be careful,” Isaac bid her farewell.

“Yes, I’ll be careful.” 

“See you.”

Isaac stammered and carefully touched Scarlett’s cheek, then let go. Soon after Scarlett left, Isaac immediately told Carol, the raft manager. “I think I must get off work early today. I’m not feeling well.”

“What? The Earl's guests are waiting to see you… Well, I can’t do anything about that. If you’re tired, you should rest.”

Isaac was immensely valuable to attracting customers, and Carol was anxious that he might quit.

There were times when Carol tried tricking him into signing long-term contracts thinking he was naive.

However, Carol soon found out Isaac didn’t sign any documents unless his sister confirmed it. 

Isaac only trusted Scarlett.

“Well, it’s the first time you’ve said you’re sick and want to rest.”

“Is it?” 

“Yes, you’re very sincere,” Carol said.

Sometimes, he became oddly tense, but that subsided when Scarlett visited regularly.

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