Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Favor…?

In this case, it was usually difficult to refuse, and there was a high probability that the favor would be difficult to accept. Still, Chloe couldn’t refuse her. As she said before, she was always obliged to be kind to Sophia, and she was obsessed with repaying her.

“Tell me.”

In the end, she pretended to be okay and answered.

Sophia’s eyes twinkled.

“Because spring is over now, more people are visiting Heath. Thanks to that, our inn is too full with people. It’s such a great thing, but on the other hand, it’s hard for me to manage all of this by myself.”

Why was her introduction so long? What was she asking her to do with such a detailed explanation? Chloe felt a setback of discomfort.

“So, I want to use someone for a couple of months. I mean, I want to put out an announcement looking for people who can work only short hours. However, in a way, this is no different from taking only the good parts, so I was worried.”

She was probably saying this because it was common to hire an employee for more than half a year. Chloe nodded her head, understanding roughly what Sophia was feeling.

“Will Madam write this announcement for me? If it’s Madam, I think you will be able to express it well enough!”

The main point was this.

Sophia entrusted everything to her, and even if there were a problem later due to the announcement, she would blame it on Chloe and allow herself to wash her hand clean off it.

The trick was so obvious that she laughed lightly.

Sophia was not as good a person as Chloe thought, and somehow, this fact gave her strange comfort. After all, she was more comfortable receiving feigned kindnesses with scheming than receiving unrewarded favors.

Chloe nodded lightly.

“I will.”

“Thank you!”

Sophia, who answered with a small shout, hurriedly brought her paper and pen, and Chloe skillfully grabbed the pen she handed her and began to write down in her signature delicate handwriting. It was not difficult for her to write advertisements for job openings.

As she wrote without interruption, Sophia looked at her and opened her mouth halfway.

“Madam really is wonderful.”

Seeing the finished advertising text, she was impressed.

“The handwriting is good, but the content is really good. It’s not a good condition, but you packaged it well. It’s so clear that I can even see it at a glance…!”

Sophia repeatedly praised her.

“Have you ever worked in this field?”

When she asked, Chloe narrowed her brow slightly.

It would be impolite for her to ask if a nobleman had ever worked. Originally, nobles were laid-back and pitiful people who did not work all their lives and lived off taxes from their estates. Of course, asking such a question to a nobleman was intended to offend her.

It seemed, however, that Sophia’s words were not meant to offend her.

While she had some tricks, she didn’t have the guts to do them. Chloe recognized that it was just pure admiration, so she straightened her expression and shook her head.

“No. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“You are really good at that. Someone like Madam should have been a journalist, you know! How stupid and stupid reporters are these days!”

Sophia cheered her up and pointed to the newspaper on the table.

“Read it. It’s not enough to just write every single sentence with just trivial content, and they don’t even have a basic sense of ethics. Today, the private life of Hans next door has been revealed! Do you know what they said when Hans protested? To do a good job guarding his lower body, what is that? It’s really mean!”

Sophia, who had been getting angry for a while, said she was sorry and lowered her voice.

“Anyway, I just want to tell Madam that you are amazing. Thank you. I will post the advertisement as it is.”

“Yes.”

Chloe answered briefly, and Sophia left the place with a satisfied smile. Feeling a bit nervous, she thought while staring at Sophia’s back as she walked away before glancing at the newspaper on her table.

After a moment’s hesitation, she picked up the newspaper.

Since it was a local newspaper, there were no noticeable articles.

Just like Sophia said, there were only articles dealing with such gossip. Chloe read the articles without thinking. In the meantime, she stopped her eyes on a job posting in the corner.

The content was simple. The newspaper was looking for a reporter for a job.

Chloe traced the writing with her fingers as warm energy touched her fingertips. She thought back to a long time ago when she was constantly bullied by reporters.

The time when she had just married Eric.

At that time, no matter what she did, people paid attention. The spotlight seemed to fall on her alone. She paid attention to what she ate and what she wore. So, Chloe’s breath was choked. Even the slightest glimpse of her was bit on by the herd of hounds.

Every day, reporters wield their pens carelessly and write articles harshly criticizing her, making her smaller, smaller and smaller…

Besides, that happened recently.

On the airship, she just went up on the deck to get some air, but then they published an article making a commotion of her suicide, and didn’t she belittle her again? At the same time as she thought that she couldn’t be more humiliated, Chloe also had arrogant thoughts that if she were a reporter, she wouldn’t have done it.

Yes.

If it were her, she wouldn’t be.

She would write a slightly more valuable article and include something that can be helpful to everyone. She would write articles with respect, not accusations against anyone, articles that convey the facts, not frame them.

…If it were her, it would be like that.

As she traced the letters again, it even felt somehow warm. Nobles were people who did not work. However, if she was as she was now, and if she was the woman who abandoned the Aslan and Rolf name… would it be okay?

‘No, no…’

Chloe shook her head.

She would die soon. She had less than a year left in her life, and there was nothing more to be done here…

‘Why?’

When in her mind, a voice vaguely asked why, Chloe slowly closed her eyes.

The reason she couldn’t do anything was simple.

…It was because she wanted to live longer.

When she did what she wanted to do, when she had something to do, she would have a desire to live longer and lament over herself for not being able to live longer. And she would have no choice but to end her life in sorrow without properly closing her eyes.

Chloe didn’t want that. She wanted to die without being greedy for her life as she was now, and she did not want to engrave anything in her heart especially if it has bright hope, coziness, and warmth.

So she put it to one side, folding the open newspaper.

‘…No.’

She mumbled that to herself.

Still, Chloe couldn’t stop it because it was so natural that her eyes glanced toward the newspaper.

Eric, who hurriedly returned from the north, had been stuck in the lab ever since.

“Damn it!”

Eric swore as he threw down the screwing nippers. A bunch of machines the size of his fists were scattered around him. All of these were failed attempts to create a mechanical heart.

He banged his fist on his desk.

“Why do you keep…!”

As he slumped back in his chair and threw his head back, the spinning chair was just annoying. He closed his eyes tightly.

There was nothing working… nothing went the way he wanted.

At the same time as feeling frustrated that his ability was only limited to this, Eric hated Chloe terribly for creating this situation, yet still wanted to see her… No, in fact, the longing was indescribably greater than the hatred.

Yes. He wanted to see her.

What was she doing now? Could she be looking at the sea again, just like a dead person? Would she not do anything, feel nothing, not think anything, just sit? Now, he couldn’t remember much of her lively appearance. In his memory, only Chloe’s look when the last time they met was stuck with him then.

“Damn it.”

Spitting out a swore again, he took out a cigarette. Eric narrowed his brow deeply and let out the smoke from his cigarette.

“Your Excellency, are you inside?”

Hearing Daniel’s voice, he replied that he was inside and soon, Daniel opened the door and came in.

“What is all this about? You made a lot of mess. How to clean it.”

“Shut up.”

Hearing his scolding, Eric took a deep breath in his cigarette and frowned as Daniel approached him.

“Still, it’s nice to see that you’re trying to do something for the madam.”

He curled up his lips and said.

“Shall I contact Madam?”

This must be the essence of his visit to him. Noticing this, Eric narrowed his eyes and stared at Daniel for a moment.

“It’s okay.”

Then, after extinguishing the cigarette, Eric got up.

“I will go myself.”

Daniel’s eyes widened.

“…Now?”

“Yes.”

“But…”

He glanced at Eric’s leg.

“Shouldn’t the prosthetic be fixed first? It still looks a bit dangerous.”

His gaze also turned downward, following him.

The prosthetic leg that was accidentally bumped into and cracked on the way to the north a while ago. Eric showed a slightly flustered look but soon answered while looking at the sky with the sun rising in the middle of the sky.

“I don’t have time.”

It was quite a while to Heath, so he had to leave right away to avoid arriving in the middle of the night. Thinking that, Eric brushed his leg and took a deep breath.

“It will be fine.”

Eric gave a short reply and left the lab.

Your Excellency, at least change your clothes.

Ignoring Daniel, who said that, he continued to walk… to see the Chloe, whom he wanted to see.

To keep her alive.

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