The Extra Guardian Missed the Right Time to Leave

As if following Enrique’s lowering voice, Eugenia’s face also became serious. She lowered her voice and asked secretly.

“Hmm… Exactly, what role do you plan on taking on?”

All she had done so far was work as a maid… Would she be able to do well if she were given other tasks besides that? It was a very cautious voice, full of such concern.

Contrary to that, Enrique gave his answer straight away with an indifferent tone.

“I don’t want her to be a maid, I want her to be my wife.”

Eugenia stopped. It’s as if time didn’t pass for her alone. If anyone had seen her, they might have thought she had become stone.

As such, she stood motionless.

“Are you okay?”

Enrique crossed her arms and waited calmly. Her head was slightly tilted, and she was only looking at her.

Finally, after a long time, Eugenia’s eyelashes moved.

Flash.

Flash.

Blink blink.

Input, interpretation, understanding.

It was only after exactly three steps that she had what could be called an expression on her face for the first time.

“Yes?!”

She was so surprised that she inadvertently raised her voice, but she was also surprised by the size of it, so she covered her lips with both hands and rolled her eyes. She became quite conscious of the curious gazes of people passing by from time to time.

Eugenia hurriedly took a step closer to Enrique and asked in a whisper.

“What do I do?”

“Is that really that surprising?”

“Sure, of course. Why aren’t you surprised?”

Eugenia could not wipe the look of embarrassment from her face. She alternately poked Enrique and herself with her trembling index finger. It seemed so absurd that no more words could come out, so she just gaped with her lips parted.

Enrique glanced around her, pushed her hood up a little more, and spoke quietly.

“We shouldn’t do this here, let’s just talk while moving. People have eyes too.”

Eugenia also nodded her head in agreement and turned her body again. As soon as she stopped walking, she asked questions in a whisper but at a rapid pace.

“Your wife? Are you telling me to marry Enrique? You are not really just saying it because you think it makes sense, are you?”

“I felt like I didn’t hear you properly, so I was wondering if I should explain it again, but I’m glad. I don’t have to explain it twice.”

“That’s not the problem now, is it?”

“Then what’s the problem? Are you married?”

“That’s not it!”

“Then there’s no problem.”

There was nothing, there was nothing! There were so many! Eugenia turned to look at Enrique with her cheeky expression. She opened her cherry-colored lips again as if she were about to argue.

At that time, she said, “Ah!” as if Enrique had forgotten. She let out a short sound and she immediately opened her mouth again.

“And let me correct this: you and I are not getting married.”

What did this mean? Eugenia’s eyebrows inevitably narrowed, and a sigh escaped her mouth.

“Ah, Enrique, I don’t know what you’re talking about right now. My mind is so jumbled that I can’t even follow a tenth of what you’re saying, and my head hurts!”

Her head was pounding to the point where she wanted to gulp down the strong tea made with ground peppermint. A light sigh of her own escaped Enrique’s lips as Eugenia rested her head with a frown.

“There is no need to try to interpret it in a difficult way. You just have to take what I say at face value.”

“If that happens, you won’t be able to find the connection between the preceding and following words, so they won’t be connected.”

Now her voice was almost crying. Enrique took a moment to pick the words in her mouth before she began.

“I don’t know if Miss Eugenia knows, but the current situation is not very good.”

Just a moment ago, there was a hint of mischief in his voice, but now the faint aura had disappeared and his tone was extremely serious. Eugenia also realized that her mood had changed at once, so she stopped complaining and listened to his words with a serious expression on her face.

“You know that inspections at border crossings have been strengthened, right?”

“Of course. That’s why I’m stranded here, suffering so much.”

He was very dissatisfied with that point. Enrique also had the same thought, so he frowned at her as well.

“Nowadays, there are people who occasionally cross the border. But compared to before, it can be said to have been reduced by half.”

“It must be an ant hole to be among the people passing through.”

“That’s right. And that number will get smaller every day. Maybe one day in the near future, all doors to other countries may be blocked.”

Eugenia took a deep breath, then let out a strained voice.

“That’s too… Isn’t that a leap forward?”

“If that were the case for me too, there would be nothing more to wish for.”

Enrique muttered bitterly and answered.

‘The situation is very bad.’

Now that Eugenia had calmed down, she calmly reflects on the situation in the area she was staying in.

As the days passed, the city became more crowded. Even though it was a transit point to advance to the next area, the number of people leaving was small compared to the number coming in. So there was a high probability that what Enrique said was true. In fact, many prominent merchants were stranded in this city.

‘I didn’t go around often, but it was a good idea to take the time to go to a place where a lot of people gather where information is likely to be gathered.’

The first thing Eugenia did after arriving in this city was to get information. She felt sorry for leaving the kids alone in the room, but it could have been dangerous, so she went out alone. 

The place she usually went to was like a cheap pub, and she was able to hear quite a few stories. Not only Eugenia but many other people were stranded in this city. The top part was especially worn out. It was no exaggeration to say that time was money to them, and there was nothing that was as directly linked to loss as being stranded in one place.

Therefore, she heard that the people in charge at the top tried to quickly bribe the gate guards by omitting as many procedures as possible. However, it was common to hear people who had received good treatment in the past grumbling and cursing bitterly, saying that they were not receiving much these days and asking why they had become so stubborn.

‘Nevertheless, there are people who pass through the gate.’

So what was the criteria for escaping from the Principality of Halland? Just like the merchants, Eugenia was very curious about that. And this man in front of her, Enrique, seemed to have figured out the answer.

“Even now, the number of people crossing the gates every day is decreasing. Among them all, there is one way to make people less cautious, and that is to disguise themselves as family.”

“Family… This?”

Eugenia asked back with a trembling voice. Her first thought was that she had heard a word that was truly out of place in this urgent situation. This may have been because it was an extremely unfamiliar word to her.

Enrique nodded his head.

“Okay. So, you and I pretending to be a married couple is only temporary.”

“Ah.”

At that moment, Eugenia picked out a meaningful phrase from what Enrique had said.

“Acting.”

“Yes, acting.”

Enrique raised the corner of his mouth as if he was finally making sense.

“Actually, I guess you could say it was just a moment. You only have to pretend to be a married couple when passing inspection.”

Eugenia’s bud-colored eyes began to sparkle with a different color.

‘Isn’t that worth a try?’

Eugenia’s head regained its composure and began to spin quickly. If it’s only for a brief moment, it’d be okay.

She answered cheerfully, nodding her head immediately as if there was nothing to think about further.

“I think it’s a very good plan.”

Enrique seemed to be unable to bear the quick change in her attitude and let out a short laugh.

“Really, your attitude changes like the flip of your hand.”

“Sure. Is it beneficial to me?”

“Be clever.”

He chuckled and added a short word.

“That’s not too bad.”

Um, so this was kind of a compliment, right? Eugenia didn’t bother to listen and just smiled at him with her eyes closed.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Good. Then I guess I agreed. I guess I’ll have to prepare a little more specifically.”

“What do you mean by specific preparation?”

Eugenia tilted her head with a curious look on her face. Before she knew it, the rain had become considerably thinner.

“Well, it’s about turning you into a great lady.”

Eugenia frowned slightly and responded poignantly.

“Wouldn’t it be easier and faster for Enrique to just pretend to be Philbu?”

“It was a good point, but it’s not realistic.”

“Why?”

Then she raised her chin as if Enrique was looking at her. When she reflexively looked up at him, Enrique naturally asked her.

“Who would think of me as Philbu?”

 

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Translator Note: