The situation was clear to him.
“They must have been ordered to die if caught or discovered.”
Enrique swallowed hard.
There must have been a reason why the coachman had to comply with such a cruel demand.
Perhaps someone precious to the coachman was being held hostage in the place he had left behind.
Clicking his tongue in frustration, Enrique looked down at the body, then removed his outer coat and draped it over the coachman.
It wasn’t out of respect for the man’s final moments but because he didn’t want Eugenia and the children to see such a gruesome sight.
He was about to turn back toward Eugenia and the children when he heard Eugenia’s urgent cry.
“Selmia!”
Hurrying over, he saw the grim expression on her face.
Eugenia was kneeling by Selmia’s side, urgently calling the child’s name and checking her condition.
“Selmia, open your eyes.”
“Sheri, stay with me!”
But Selmia could only let out a faint groan.
“Ugh…”
“Selmia!”
The child was sweating profusely and seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness.
She had been crying severely even before the carriage accident, and now, it seemed that this was the result.
Realizing the severity of the situation, Eugenia grated her teeth and quickly looked around.
“Thank goodness, it’s here!”
She jumped up and headed toward something. Enrique followed closely behind her.
Eugenia reached out for a yellow fruit hanging from a tree.
However, her short stature made it impossible for her to reach, no matter how many times she jumped up.
“Let me help.”
Seeing her struggle, Enrique stepped in and reached for the fruit she had been trying to grab.
Though it was high up even for him, a light jump was all it took for him to pluck it easily.
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
Eugenia almost snatched the fruit from Enrique’s hand.
“What is this?”
“It’s a soursop. I need to feed the flesh to Selmia.”
Eugenia pressed her fingers into the fruit, splitting it in half.
It had spiky skin, but she wasn’t worried about getting pricked.
As the flesh split open, juice splattered everywhere, soaking her fingers.
But Eugenia didn’t mind, she quickly scooped out the flesh and softened it a bit more.
“Will this help?”
“Yes, it has a calming effect. It also has properties that expand blood vessels, which can lower blood pressure in such cases.”
After answering urgently, she immediately kneeled beside Selmia’s head.
“Selmia, try to eat this.”
But she was in no condition to chew.
In the end, Eugenia thought she should at least get some juice into her mouth, so she squeezed the juice and let it flow into Selmia’s mouth.
A moment later, Selmia’s complexion, which had been alarmingly flushed, began to return to normal.
Eugenia finally breathed a sigh of relief and tore the flesh into smaller pieces, feeding them to Selmia.
“Chew slowly and swallow it.”
Fortunately, as she started to get better, Selmia could eat at least a little bit.
Selmia moved her small mouth and swallowed, and at the same time, her eyes opened slightly.
Joshua, who had been standing silently by her side, finally spoke.
“Sheri, are you okay?”
Joshua’s voice trembled noticeably.
Selmia weakly smiled, her lips barely moving.
“Shushu, it’s delicious. So sweet.”
At that moment, Joshua’s emotions surged, and he shouted.
“You fool! You only care because it’s sweet! Do you know… Do you have any idea how much…”
But he couldn’t finish his sentence, raising his arm to cover his eyes instead.
His shoulders trembled slightly as if trying to suppress his sobs.
Eugenia, having risen to her feet, looked at Joshua with tightly pressed lips.
‘Of course, he must be terrified.’
To Joshua, Selmia was the only family he had left.
So, seeing her collapse must have felt like his world was falling apart.
Eugenia desperately wanted to embrace and comfort the small boy, but her hands were too sticky, so she held back.
“Joshua, Selmia will be fine now. You can relax.”
Joshua, perhaps thinking he wouldn’t be able to speak properly, merely nodded silently with his face still covered.
Meanwhile, Enrique, who had been standing a short distance away, quietly observing while Eugenia treated Selmia, finally spoke in a low voice.
“Is Selmia going to be alright?”
“Yes, we’ve bought some time. I think the shock was just too much for her…”
Eugenia trailed off with a somber expression.
Her gaze remained fixed on the children, unable to pull away.
In this situation, Enrique hesitated slightly but ultimately decided it was best to clarify things now, even if it was difficult.
“I understand you’re worried about the child, but I need to speak with you for a moment.”
“What? Oh…”
Realizing that Enrique’s expression was unusually stern, Eugenia reluctantly nodded.
“Just a moment.”
She asked Joshua for a favor, handing him the fruit she had been holding.
“Joshua, could you feed this to Selmia for me?”
Luckily, the boy seemed to have calmed down, slowly removing his arm from his eyes.
His face was slightly puffy and red, revealing a dejected expression.
“How much?”
“Not all of it, just about half. And make sure she doesn’t eat the seeds.”
“Okay.”
Joshua nodded with his swollen eyes.
Now Enrique turned to Albert, who had just arrived and dismounted from his horse.
“Albert, take care of the children.”
“Yes, Lord Enrique. Don’t worry.”
With a weary expression, Eugenia followed Enrique as he walked away.
The two of them moved far enough away that their voices wouldn’t be heard by the others.
Once they were hidden behind a large tree trunk, Enrique looked down at her with an intensely piercing gaze.
“What were you thinking?”
“…What?”
His voice was chilling as he continued.
“Earlier. Why did you leave the carriage?”
His tone was so intimidating that it made her instinctively shrink back.
Enrique hadn’t raised his voice, but his mere presence was enough to make her feel like she was being devoured.
Eugenia swallowed dryly.
But she met Enrique’s gaze head-on and answered.
“I was trying to escape. I couldn’t just let us get captured.”
“Hah.”
As if he couldn’t believe it, Enrique let out a breath, and Eugenia fiddled with her words, trying to explain.
“I figured they wouldn’t expect me to come out, so I thought I could catch them off guard and take control of the reins,” Eugenia explained.
But the more she spoke, the colder Enrique’s expression became.
“And how exactly were you planning to overpower a grown man?”
“With this,” Eugenia replied, pulling something out of her reticule.
It was the self-defense powder she had sprayed on the eyes and noses of the thugs she encountered before.
“How effective,” Enrique remarked sarcastically.
“Don’t mock me. It was the best plan I had,” Eugenia retorted.
“Oh, so I’m supposed to praise you for it now?” Enrique looked at her with growing irritation before turning his gaze away and asking, “Why didn’t you wait for me?”
Eugenia’s lips pressed together stubbornly, refusing to open.
Seeing her silence, Enrique sighed deeply and asked again, more softly this time, “Did you not trust me?”
Eugenia remained quiet, but her expression gave him the answer.
“Hah…”
They stood there, silently facing each other, until Eugenia finally spoke.
“I thought my usefulness had ended.”
“…What?”
“I got you past the gates of the principality, as you wanted… So I thought you wouldn’t need me anymore.”
“So, you assumed I wouldn’t come to save you?”
“…Yes.”
Enrique let out a bitter laugh, his lips curling into a cold smile.
“So, you see me as a worthless man.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…” Eugenia stammered, taken aback by his unfamiliar expression.
She hadn’t known Enrique for long, but in the short time they had spent together, his face was usually emotionless.
But now…
Though he was smiling, it was cold and sharp. He looked like someone whose pride had been wounded.
Eugenia felt as though she was standing before a finely honed blade.
“Miss Eugenia.”
“Yes…”
“I value loyalty above all else.”
Eugenia nodded cautiously.
“You helped me escape the Principality of Harlant. And now it was my turn to take you safely to the Aisa Empire. That was our contract and our plan.”
Eugenia bit her lower lip slightly.
“If you couldn’t trust me, you should have at least trusted yourself for making the decision to enter into a contract with me.”
“…”
She had no response.
Enrique was right in everything he said.
She had told Joshua, who didn’t trust Enrique or Albert, that if he couldn’t trust them, he should at least trust her for choosing them…
And yet, in the crucial moment, Eugenia herself failed to trust him—or even herself.
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Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Gon. Next post will be released on September, 12.
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