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As the shadow of a man with his back to the sun cast over Emma, she froze in place, feeling a sudden unease.
Without warning, the man named Hans opened his mouth and spoke with a low and steady voice,
“We had agreed to meet again in two days, but circumstances have changed.”
Emma narrowed her eyes, staring at him intently, while Hans shrugged his shoulders towards her.
Although Emma had been momentarily caught off guard by the sudden appearance of this man, she was not one to let her guard down easily.
Having been through situations worse than a battlefield in the past, she looked around her surroundings with a sharp sense of alertness.
Emma scanned the area thoroughly, taking note of the few people coming and going, but remaining mindful that anyone could be lurking around in this quiet place.
Unlike the day before, Emma approached Hans with caution, lowering her voice as she asked him,
“What do you want?”
“Ah, you’re quick to adapt to reality. This makes things easier for me too,” Hans said with a smirk.
“Please speak quietly,” Emma begged.
Hans chuckled, “Oh, okay. I’ll behave myself, Becky Graham,” he said, thinking about Jane who had asked him to be quiet while he was with her.
Despite the anger that boiled within her, Emma clenched her teeth to hold back the curse words that were on the tip of her tongue.
She knew that no matter what Hans demanded of her, she would have to comply, or at least pretend to comply.
Once she could find a way to disappear quietly from the Duke’s estate, she would never have to deal with him again.
“If it’s money you’re after… you’ve got the wrong person. I don’t have any, even if I wanted to spend my life eating dirt and dying,” Emma said truthfully, causing Hans to arch an eyebrow in confusion.
“The Duke’s estate wouldn’t hire servants for free. Perhaps the young lady, like her mother, is a gambler?” Hans speculated.
Emma interrupted him firmly, determined not to let him trample over her past, which she wished to keep buried forever.
“Anyway, I don’t have it.”
Hans nodded his head, his expression remaining calm despite Emma’s defiance.
“Okay. Well, I wasn’t going to ask for money anyway,” he said, leaving Emma bewildered.
Perplexed, Emma asked, “What?”
Hans looked tired as he rubbed his eyes before responding, “Ah, staying up all night… Hmm, more importantly, do you know about the hunting competition where the high-class people gather and play?”
Emma nodded.
“You need a permit to get in there,” he said.
“If you need a permit…” Emma began.
“I’m saying you need to get a permit from one of the servants at the Duke’s estate,” Hans interrupted her.
Emma pondered Hans’ request carefully, her mind racing with thoughts of what he meant by “permit”.
She knew that for outdoor events where families gathered, each family brought their own servants, and the number of servants allowed to attend depended on their status and power.
As a Bolsheik, they should have the most permits to allow the most servants to attend the hunting competition.
Hans seemed to read Emma’s thoughts as he nodded in agreement. “It’s not big, is it? One is enough.”
“Is that all?”
Becky didn’t ask what Hans needed a permit for. She didn’t want to know. The more she knew about the shady business, the deeper she would sink.
“Just need the permit for now.” The mention of “for now” meant that this wouldn’t be the end of it.
“I have something to do in the forest where the hunting competition is being held.”
“I didn’t ask.”
Hans continued, “I couldn’t sleep last night. Forget I said that. Anyway, can you get me the permit?”
Emma kept her mouth shut and lowered her head.
“Silence is acceptance, they say. Fine. Let’s meet on the day the permit is ready.”
Watching Hans disappear while waving his hand, Becky shuddered at the sound of the invitation card rustling in her hands.
“If I don’t go now…”
The sudden threat weighed down on her, but she didn’t have time to stand still. She hurried to the incinerator, where soon after a heavy sigh mixed with the black smoke and rose into the sky.
Watching Hans’ retreating figure, Becky gritted her teeth until the soft flesh inside her mouth bled.
Meanwhile, Lyna was processing documents at an invisible speed when she looked up at her aide’s call.
“The hunting competition?”
“Yes. We received an official letter asking about attendance.”
Lyna realized that the hunting season was fast approaching, along with the tea party season.
And when her father first introduced Jane to her, it was during the height of the tea party season.
She had heard heart-wrenching words, smelling the bitter scent of the flowers, in the blooming lilac garden.
– Yes, your shadow. She can fill in the missing pieces.
Even though she knew she was an inadequate successor, when she heard those words from her father, it felt like the ground had disappeared from beneath her feet.
Lyna pressed down on her chest, trying to scatter the lingering shadows of the past.
‘What meaning did those things have now?’
If Jane, who had the ability, led the family to prosperity, it would be better for the family than someone like her who had never succeeded due to bad luck.
Upon glancing at the documents handed by her aide, Lyna shook her head and said,
“Tell them I won’t be attending.”
Before her regression, Lyna had intended to participate in this hunting competition as grandly and splendidly as possible.
After all, to strengthen the Smiths’ power, she needed to make Bolshevik, the huge banner, look very appetizing.
She had done her best for her beloved Smith to become an emperor.
She had worked tirelessly until she drank poison for him, so there was no regret left for her.
“What about the preparations you’ve been making?” the aide asked.
“Preparations? Oh, the things I was going to use for the hunting competition,”
Lyna replied, tapping the pen stand with her fingertips.
“Leave them alone. They’ll be useful someday,” she added.
To Lyna, who didn’t want anything, the luxurious and precious items prepared in the name of Bolsheik were just baggage.
A large tea set caught her eye as she looked through the list of items.
The items prepared for Lyna were all top-notch items similar to the ones that would be supplied to the palace.
Until they were in her hands…
The large tea set that caught her eye was no exception. It must have been sturdy enough to withstand a blow from an ax, unless it was a formidable force.
“Kyaa, Kyaaak! Miss! Miss!”
“Hey, quickly clean up! I said clean up!”
However, to everyone’s surprise, the tea set suddenly broke in half for no reason and toppled over onto Lyna.
It was only Lyna who was covered. And it happened at a very important moment when Lyna was handing a handkerchief to Smith, who was participating in the hunting competition.
Shaking her head to dispel the memory of the past, Lyna heard her aide’s voice with her ears that were attuned to detecting the slightest sound.
“Yes, and these documents need to be processed in two hours…”
Lyna’s eyebrows twitched slightly as she glanced over the urgent documents that her aide handed to her.
It was purely a coincidence. When Emma came in through the small door where the servants quietly entered, Lyna happened to be looking in that direction.
Had Lyna not glanced in that direction, she might have overlooked Emma’s presence. However, Emma’s solemn expression was too striking to ignore.
Lyna couldn’t help but feel concerned. Was Emma’s face akin to that of someone who had witnessed a ghost in broad daylight?
Lyna was about to call Emma, but instead ordered all the surrounding servants to leave.
“Everyone, get out.”
As the servants disappeared soundlessly, Emma took a step forward, her heart pounding in her chest. When Lyna’s austere voice echoed in the room, Emma froze in place.
“Emma, you stay.”
And so, all the servants except for Emma disappeared, leaving only Lyna and Emma in the room.
Lyna, who was discreetly looking at Emma with a worse complexion, sat up and asked her,
“Emma.”
Emma remained still in place with her hands clasped, as if she were a salt pillar.
Lyna sat comfortably on the sofa, buried her back deeply, and opened her mouth.
“Tell me.”
It was a sudden order without any forewarning.
Emma, or rather Becky, understood instinctively what Lyna was asking.
She had to make the most crucial decision of her life. The person in front of her was none other than Lyna Bolsheik, not some man who had clandestinely entered to threaten and demand a permit.
Becky had three options before her: to confess everything and plead for Lyna’s mercy, to remain silent and wait for the moment to pass, or to reveal only a part of the truth and seek help. Although she wavered and was indecisive, Lyna patiently waited for her answer.
Lyna didn’t want to meddle in anything that wasn’t properly resolved, and she didn’t want to fail in anything related to Becky. She merely allowed events to unfold. But despite her laissez-faire attitude, things were bound to go awry, given her streak of bad luck.
In the past, Lyna would have done everything in her power to prevent things from going too far out of hand.
However, now, as she patiently listened to Becky struggling in oppressive silence, she remained reticent. Finally, Becky moistened her parched lips and spoke, barely audible.