# 3
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Victor's mother, who had been in a mental institution, now resided in a convent.
Her husband's mother, the venerable daughter of the king, grew up in an environment full of love, but she became pregnant with a child from a young man from a noble family whom she met at a party and spent one night with.
At the time, she was engaged to the crown prince of the neighboring kingdom of Festina. Because of this event, the engagement was cancelled, and it angered everyone and she was expelled from the royal family.
She blamed her son for her lower status because of that night.
Victor Domfelt grew up amidst the anger of his mother, who used to repeat, “Because of you, I was expelled from the royal family,” instead of maternal affection, so his only goal in life became to be recognized as a member of the royal family.
He was ready to do anything for his honor. He did not care about his life as he fought the pirates and purified them.
According to his plan, his popularity among the people of Salantaire rose, and the royal family of Irene began to consider recognizing Victor Domfelt, the king's grandson, as a member of the royal family.
Finally, when the time came to check whether he was free of moral defects to become part of the royal family, investigations began into the people close to him. It was natural for his wife, Scarlett Domfelt, to be among these people.
Before the investigation, Victor warned her not to say anything, and Scarlett actually intended to keep quiet. But, according to what was said, she revealed all of Victor's mistakes during the investigation, and did not remember anything from that process, which made her feel as if she was on the verge of madness.
‘Is there really something wrong with my head?’, she began to doubt herf.
That's why Victor's words about sending her to a convent terrified her even more.
“I don’t want to,” Scarlett said with a terrified face. “Don’t send me to the convent.”
Her words came from anger, and she knew it, but they came out firmly from her mouth.
After acting distracted the whole time, her firm answer surprised Victor, who looked at her in amazement before turning and leaving the room with his followers.
After he left, Scarlett gathered her last strength and removed a bottle of wine from the table, then picked up a newspaper.
The front page was filled with reasons why Victor should not become part of the royal family. On the next page, a statement written in her own handwriting was printed.
It was her handwriting, and it was her signature.
After seeing this with her own eyes, Scarlett collapsed under the table.
“This can't be true...”
Because of the words that came out of her mouth, Victor would not be recognized as a member of the royal family. Rather, he will be described as a cold-hearted person who admitted his mother to a mental institution by his own hand.
That would have left a great scar on the honor that Victor Domfelt held dear more than his life.
Despite the evidence, she couldn't remember anything about the investigation, which made her feel like she was going really crazy.
Feeling the pressure, her breathing became rapid, and her mind became darker. Even the moment when she was drinking the remaining tea was erased from her memory over time.
***
That night, after returning to the palace, the only thing Scarlett could do was apologize whenever she saw her husband.
Victor did not respond to Scarlett's apologies, nor did he bring up the issue again. Rather, it was his father, Gregory Domfelt, who used every opportunity to arouse his anger.
Because of the harassment of her father-in-law, who blamed her for hindering his son's future, Scarlett became extremely stressed and had seizures several times.
Fortunately, there was a formal lunch planned in advance for the end of the year, so she busied herf preparing for it to pass the time. The lunch was to celebrate Victor becoming part of the royal family, but Victor didn't cancel it.
On lunch day, as Scarlett, dressed in a luxurious red velvet dress, was preparing to exit the dressing room, one of Victor's henchmen, Palin Redford, stood in her way.
“Today there is lunch, so you can't go out.”
Scarlett tilted her head in surprise and said, “I can’t go out?”
“The Commander doesn’t want you to attend lunch.”
Victor was the captain of the Rubid ship, which only the elite of the elite could ride. They were all strong in body, distinguished in their performance, and from prominent families.
Balin was known as the second best fighter after Viktor.
Scarlett, who paused for a moment in front of Balin who was standing still and blocking the door, responded slowly: “Victor doesn’t want me to appear in front of the others?”
Balin thought for a moment and then replied: “Yes, that is true.”
“Because I'm embarrassing him?”
“Yes, that's… true.”
Balin frowned slightly in discomfort, then quickly recovered his expression.
Scarlett looked at him calmly, then nodded and said, “Okay.”
Palin responded: “Okay, then.”
He was about to close the door after bowing in greeting, but he stopped.
Scarlett was walking with a sad look towards a chair next to the dressing room window.
Then, Balin said deliberately with a solid expression: “Stay away from the window as well. You are not here today.”
Scarlett didn't say anything, but Balin felt guilty and turned his head.
“I'll move the chair.”
“...thank you”
Balin moved the chair and table from the window to the wall.
Scarlett walked over, sat in the chair, and leaned her body on the table.
Balin felt anxious about her small body lying on the table, so he took off his jacket and covered her shoulders with it, then rubbed his neck uncomfortably before bowing to say goodbye and said, “Okay... I’ll tell you when lunch is over.”
“Tell him I'm sorry, Victor.”
“Okay, ma'am.”
Balin bowed in greeting and left the place.
After he left, Scarlett remained collapsed, burying her face in her arms, then raised her body and unconsciously muttered: “What a scoundrel.”
Then she bent over, her back bent, and laughed hysterically, as if someone had lost his mind.
She was surprised that she hated Victor. Her betrayal of him was certain. It was pathetic that she didn't remember it, but her hatred for her husband for not remembering was infuriating.
She got up with her exhausted body and went to the mirror.
She had just turned twenty years old, so even with her fatigue, her cheeks and lips looked like roses, and her light golden hair exuded spring in this winter.
She looked at her face for a moment, then raised her hand and began to remove the decorations that secured her braided hair like a crown.
As she was doing so slowly, the sound of the clock disturbed her and she raised her head.
“The clock is faulty.”
The second hand stopped from time to time.
She approached the luxurious chair that Balin had moved and tried to lift it, but she suddenly frowned due to its weight.
"What is this? How did he lift it with one hand?"
Finally, I pushed the chair covered with a blanket down the clock.
She climbed onto it and tried to lower the golden clock hanging on the wall, but she stopped when she remembered her father's voice.
She clearly remembered her father's voice, and the image of her father explaining to her about a small, unseen part, and her mother who was laughing and then returned to assembling the watch parts with concentration.
Even the diagrams that were hanging on the wall appeared in her mind as a photograph, and she did not understand why.
While she was looking at the clock, the maid Candace, who was worried about her, came in with a shocked face and said, “Why did you bring the clock, ma’am?”
“I'm trying to fix it,” Scarlett replied.
Candace tilted her head and said, “This watch has been experiencing errors lately. But will you fix it yourf?”
“I'm from the Crimson family. Let me try.”
“Oh my God, have you learned to repair watches? I’ll get the toolbox.”
Candace did not suspect Scarlett of being the daughter of the famous Crimson family, so she brought the toolbox that Scarlett had brought with her to the Doomfelt family.
The tool box her mother used belonged to Scarlett, while her brother Isaac got her father's box.
It was their only legacy.
Scarlett sat near the table, opened the tool box, took out the tools like someone who works with watches every day, then skillfully opened the back panel.
She began to take out the clock parts one by one, and the maids, including Candice, looked anxiously as to whether she would be able to put it back together.
There was nothing in the Domfelt family that was not precious.
And with Gregory Domfelt who had been harassing his daughter-in-law lately, he was sure to attack her harshly if she ruined the watch.
Scarlett, who suffered greatly in her childhood, never took the work of servants for granted. So, as much as there were servants who complained about the chaos she was making, there were those who pitied her.
Candace, who belongs to the latter category, was relieved to see Scarlett calmly repairing the watch.
She thought it would be good for Scarlett, who was always afraid, to find something else to occupy herf with.
Scarlett removed dust from the parts using a blower, and thoroughly cleaned the dirt. Then she reassembled the parts with precise movements.
It was amusing to see the gears turning regularly, and the maids who were anxious at first gradually approached the table.