Chapter 7.1

A woman came forward. Otto then said, “This is the person in charge of taking care of our lady. For a long time, Dora oversaw our mentally unstable lady, but when our lady left the carriage to walk in the rain, everyone was worried sick. So far, we have been busy trying to find our lady through this storm. Pardon me for asking, but has our lady stopped by here?” 

‘Liar!  What does he mean I’m mentally unstable?!’

 If anyone who knew Emma heard the words coming from Otto’s mouth, they would be angry. Everything that he was saying was a blatant lie. It was so ruthless and shameless, but Emma was in no condition to refute anything.  

 The situation was too dangerous for her to blow her cover. The number of people tracking her were numerous, and on Emma’s side was only her and the man. Most importantly, most of the trackers were armed. 

‘I have to hold it in.’ 

It was a better choice to hold her breath and pretend not to be there for the safety of both herself and the man that had agreed to help Emma. She decided to follow her gut instinct, biting her lips hard. She secretly prayed earnestly for the man to not believe any of Otto’s words. 

“Our lady is this tall, with curly brown hair, and a good and beautiful figure. Did she pass by this place?” Otto repeated.

“Hm…Let me think…” The man tilted his head as if thinking hard about something while withholding his definite answer.

Noticing this as a golden opportunity to persuade, Otto opened his mouth and began a speech.

“Her name is Emerlin Herman. Not long ago, our owner passed away, so we were on our way from Summerville to take our lady to her relatives. I’m Otto, the butler. Our lady was originally slightly delusional, but her mind and body have been going under a great shock after the recent passing of her father,” his words took on a sombre tone, “We are all so very upset. She isn’t capable of making her own decisions, so please just don’t pass by her and if you did notice her it would mean so much if you could let us know.” 

The man, who heard Otto’s lies, slowly turned his head, and looked at Emma’s trembling figure.  Her scared eyes met the man’s  indifferent blue-gray eyes; the expression on the man’s face was indecipherable. 

Then, the corners of his mouth twisted. “Robber?” he mouthed to her.

At that moment, Emma regretted her choice of not telling everything to the man. It was definitely a stupid move. If she had told him the truth from the beginning, she wouldn’t have been suspected to this degree.

As Otto cleverly decorated his words, Emma suddenly became a crazy woman who left her carriage while traveling, and a mere madwoman. 

“There is a safe deposit certificate and key inside the lady’s inner pocket to prove her identity. I’m confident it says, ‘Emerlin Herman’.”

The man’s gaze towards Emma slipped down towards her waist pocket. Emma immediately put her hand in her inner pocket, took out the key and certificate and shook her head vigorously.

“They are the robbers! Everything is a lie!” Emma wanted to shout her resentment, but she could only mouth her words.  

It was not the best move, but Emma had no choice but to appeal to the man to trust her.

“The owner entrusted us with the certificate as well as our lady. By the way, is our lady there?” Otto, who noticed the strange atmosphere, began to shout Emma’s name out loud. “Lady Emma! It’s me, your butler Otto!”

He  loudly continued, “Lady Emma, you have to go to your uncle safely. Phillip is desperately waiting in Polarville. This place is too dangerous. Please come back to us.”

“Lady! I’m here as well! This is Dora!” At that moment, Dora’s voice intervened through the opening. “How scared she must have felt when entering the forest! We have a carriage and escort ready, so please come back. My lady!”

When Dora shouted in a fake mournful voice, Emma covered her ears with both hands. It was awful.

 ‘I barely escaped; but if I spend any more seconds with these horrible people, I’m going to go ill.’  Emma was shaking her head hard to thrust away the horrible reality in front of her. 

The door suddenly closed with a loud thump. The man slowly turned around. Frowning as if he had seen something disgusting, he opened his mouth, looking straight at Emma.

“I think you need to explain.”

As soon as the cold voice struck Emma’s ears, Emma straightened. 

It was an opportunity. Even after listening to what the people said, the man was willing to shut the door and listen to Emma’s explanation. The man was definitely friendly to Emma. If Emma could persuade him or maintain this friendly atmosphere, there was still hope.

Emma closed and opened her eyes to focus. Then, she opened her slightly trembling lips.

“Fi-first of all, I’m not crazy!” her voice wavered, buthen remembering something, “Oh, and here! I have the certificate of deposit. Also! Uh, my father passed away a while ago, and he organized his property and deposited it in Polarville’s safe. The people out there are after that legacy.” 

“If it’s  heritage, does that mean a large sum of money?”

“Yes! It is money. It’s all because of money. Dora and Otto, my nanny and the butler, have colluded for a nefarious plan; they are trying to take over my legacy…”