Chapter 19
‘Karen? Why is Karen here already?’
I briefly considered ignoring her. After all, Karen wouldn’t be rummaging through the store looking for me. But the real problem came afterward. If Karen couldn’t find me, would she contact Eon? If that happened and he got involved, neither I, Tara, nor Eaton would be safe.
“Miss!”
It was a pointless worry. Tara, who had found me, waved her hand excitedly and approached me.
“Remember my words.”
After leaving that brief comment, I quickly grabbed the mandrake root and left the store.
“Did you buy the herbs?”
“Yeah, I bought everything. Let’s go.”
“Just one root?”
Hearing that, the mandrake root in my hand seemed rather pitiful.
“The others aren’t fully dried yet.”
“Oh my? That can’t be right. I’ll find you some better ones!”
Karen was acting overly eager. I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely trying to help or if she was just suspicious of me. I blocked her path and changed the subject.
“By the way, what about the Haron minerals?”
“Apparently, we ran out of Haron. I’m sorry.”
Karen spoke with no visible expression of regret or sympathy.
“That common mineral?”
“Yeah. It was bad luck.”
‘Bad luck, or are you lying?’
But now that Karen had returned early, there was no point in questioning the truth. I was just relieved that I had distracted her from Eaton. I was about to lead her to a general store when something unexpected happened.
“Are you just going?”
With the sound of the doorbell ringing, Eaton called out to me. I instinctively turned around, and Eaton’s face was clearly that of someone in trouble. As expected, Karen approached him and showed interest.
“Oh my, Mr. Eaton. Is something wrong?”
Her attitude was quite friendly. Being a servant at the Mage Tower, she must have often visited the herb shop to buy alchemy ingredients. It was only natural that she knew Eaton well.
“You don’t look well at all.”
Eaton must have been more familiar with Karen than with me. Fearing that he might say something unnecessary, I frowned and shook my head from behind Karen.
“Is that so? I’ve been overworking with the shop and everything…”
Thankfully, Eaton understood my signal and made up an excuse. But once Karen had bitten the bait, it was hard to shake her off.
“Oh my, you should’ve brought a vial of vitality potion. A person surrounded by herbs looking this tired…”
Karen entered the shop and looked back at Eaton.
“You really remind me of the time when your daughter went missing.”
Her voice was low, but her eyes were on me. Sweat dripped from the clenched fist she held.
“You didn’t lose your missing daughter again, did you? Has there been any word from her?”
I stepped forward, pushing Eaton aside.
“That’s rude.”
“Is it? I’m just worried about Mr. Eaton.”
Karen said this as she picked up a scale that had fallen on the floor and placed it back on the shelf. It was quite natural for her to be acting so casually, knowing who had kidnapped Eaton’s daughter.
“That can’t be. If that were the case, would I be here? I’d have closed the shop and rushed over there.”
Thankfully, Eaton was following my advice to keep the letter from Tara secret. The problem was his acting skills. The nervous twitching of his eyes and the sweat on his brow were obvious signs that he was lying.
“Is that so? But what if your daughter is somewhere you can’t meet her right now? Maybe you sent her a letter?”
Karen’s gaze shifted to a piece of paper sticking out of Eaton’s pocket. Realizing she had spotted it, Eaton quickly stuffed his hand into his pocket.
“If there had been somewhere to send a letter, I would’ve done so long ago.”
“What are you doing? Mr. Eaton looks uncomfortable.”
I grabbed Karen’s arm, but she shrugged it off easily, her body twisting as she moved away. Then she reached for Eaton’s pocket again.
“Then what’s this? It looks like a letter from your daughter…”
“Karen. Stop!”
Her hand froze midair, and she turned to look at me. The same crazed green eyes I’d seen a few days ago flashed in her gaze.
‘Is it the fact that I spoke with authority that’s bothering her?’
The items naturally placed around the herb shop now felt dangerous. The sickle Karen was holding seemed like it could slice someone’s head off, not herbs.
“Stop bothering Mr. Eaton and let’s go.”
“Are you ordering me now?”
“You’re a servant. Of course, you should follow orders, right?”
“So now you’re giving me orders?”
With a swift motion, Karen’s sickle grazed the ground. As she noticed it was a sickle, she casually bent at the waist.
At my frantic gesture to get Eaton to move, he hurriedly ran up the stairs. The loud thudding of his footsteps was chaotic, but fortunately, Karen didn’t seem to care about that direction.
“If there’s a sickle here, it’s dangerous, right? Someone could get hurt if they’re not careful.”
Karen raised the sickle, looking to me for confirmation.
“Right? Miss?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
I found myself backing away unconsciously. This wasn’t like the time I was attacked by Marilyn. If I ran outside, I could mix with the crowd and avoid Karen’s attack.
‘What about Mr. Eaton? Tara’s letter?’
On the contrary, this time I had something to protect. While I hesitated, Karen, still holding the sickle, came closer. Now I had to decide whether to run outside or try to stop Karen here.
“Miss? Miss!”
A high, cheerful voice interrupted my thoughts. Someone suddenly stepped between Karen and me.
“Mary?”
“Yes, Miss. It’s me, Mary! I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
The savior who embraced me was none other than Mary.
“Oh my, I’m so glad to see you!”
Mary’s eyes were filled with nothing but me. If that weren’t the case, she would have been startled by Karen’s murderous aura as she held the sickle.
During that moment, Karen moved the sickle aside.
“What are you doing here? Did you come to buy herbs?”
“Yeah, I came to buy some ingredients myself.”
“Oh my, oh my. Miss, you’re out and about now?”
I had been avoiding going out to avoid Eon, but now there was no need for that. I needed to go out often to create opportunities to escape. Of course, Mary had no way of knowing this and probably thought I was all better now.
“How’s the Mage Tower? Are you doing okay there?”
“It’s fine. The Tower Master is good to me, and the servants are diligent and kind.”
I replied while eyeing Karen over Mary’s shoulder.
“Especially Karen here. She’s been helping me a lot.”
“Oh my, thank you. Please take good care of our young miss.”
Mary’s polite greeting had Karen donning the mask of a proper servant.
“My name is Karen. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Well, this isn’t the time for this. How about we go to a café for a moment?”
I led the two of them out of the store. I knew Mary, who was clearly running an errand, wouldn’t have time for a café visit. I just wanted to get Karen as far away from the herb shop as quickly as possible.
“I’m sorry. The head maid will be timing me.”
“Is the head maid still in a bad mood? You’ve been having a tough time, Mary.”
“No, no. A maid going to a café during working hours would be a luxury.”
“It’s sad to part ways like this.”
I pretended to hug Mary one last time, burying my head in her shoulder. Then I quickly whispered.
“Mary, don’t ask anything. Just give this letter to Mr. Eaton.”
At the same time, I dropped the letter into Mary’s basket. Her eyes widened for a moment, but she was my maid for years. She must have had a lot of questions, but she just sealed her lips and gave me a nod.
“Be careful. The cart is coming.”
At Karen’s words, I pulled away from Mary. But I didn’t see any cart.
“They’re going the other way.”
Karen grinned and pointed to a distant spot I couldn’t even see. She probably just wanted to separate me from Mary.
“Well then, Mary.”
I gestured to Mary to give me the letter.
“Don’t you have anything else to say?”
Karen, sensing something was off, spoke up again.
“I’d love to chat, but we’re both busy right now. Would it be okay if Mary visits the Mage Tower later?”
“Of course. The Tower is open to everyone. Visitors come all the time.”
I nodded, but I had no intention of calling that murderer’s headquarters the “Tower.”
I waved to Mary and shouted.
“Mary, make sure to do your errands thoroughly and come back!”
I only hoped Mary understood what I meant.
