Breaking the Cage (4)
Scarlet, a pivotal member of the Revolutionaries, greeted Larissa who was only the Count’s daughter and the Duke’s wife with tenderness.
Larissa gawked, perplexed.
‘My salvation–my hell. My only salvation from that sickening cage in the past. My beloved hell after I left 7 years ago.’
Her clinical, courteous smile faltered as her gaze hardened. She quietly clicked her tongue then leaned down, taking off her coat and wrapped it around Larissa’s tattered upper body. Barely, Scarlet’s hand brushed her bare skin.
She examined Larissa closely who was cowering.
“You don’t look good, Milady,” Scarlet pointed out gently but Larissa shot a dagger at her. Scarlet arched her eyebrows.
She held Larissa and stood up. When Larissa resisted, her grip tightened, as if she would never let her go again, even though it hurt Larissa.
“Follow me, Milady. These guys here must have lost their minds for a second. It seems like they need some time to cool down.”
‘These guys here’ referred to the men who had charged at Larissa like animals and frozen at the sound of Scarlet’s gun. When she witnessed them bowing their heads like a puppy getting scolded, she was rather disbelieving.
Since in the world that Larissa knew, men bowed their heads to a woman–even if the said woman wielding a sword or gun–was something she unheard of. No. In the first place, women had no reason to carry a gun and sword with them; a lace-decorated fan, knitting needle, and a gilded teacup were the ones they always carry.
“Where’s Paulina?”
Larissa asked bitingly. She had given up trying to wriggle out of Scarlet’s grasp. Scarlett paused while still tugging on Larissa–not too hard, not too soft. She turned to Larissa.
“Who?”
“Paulina Kleeman, my daughter. What did you do to her?”
Desperation dripped on her voice, her tone had become more ferocious. If anyone ever did anything to her little daughter, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill that person.
‘Ah, even if that person is you, Scarlet.’
“Oh, the kid with brown hair?” Scarlet reckoned, her eyes crinkled coldly with faux friendliness. She recalled soothing an adorable girl who was like a doll wearing pajamas. “I entrusted her to the nice nanny. You don’t think we’ll do harm to such a little girl, do you?”
Yet, Larissa’s heart still felt heavy. She couldn’t shake off the image of those bastards who bursted in at midnight to drag the Lord of the house and tried to rape his wife. Worse, it was too bright outside the window. It seemed the fire devoured the garden.
“Let’s haste, Milady. I’ll take you to her. Last time I checked, she was crying.”
“Crying? Did she cry a lot? Is she hurt somewhere?”
Question after question gushed out from Larissa’s lips like rapid fire. For a moment, she forgot that she was surrounded by Revolutionaries who hated her, that her nightdress was in shambles with someone’s jacket loosely wrapped around her–because all that mattered now was Paulina. She waited anxiously for an answer.
Scarlet halted. Just like when Larissa first mentioned her daughter’s name. Her eyes were unreadable when she stared at Larrisa.
Holding on her breath, Larissa was biting back a distress scream.
Finally, Scarlet answered. “No, she’s not hurt. She just cried because she missed her mother.”
The breath she had been holding was released the moment she heard Paulina wasn’t hurt. But when Scarlet said she was crying for her, Larissa’s heart sank again.
Ah, how frightened her daughter must be.
‘Even I, who calls myself an adult, who’s oblivious of how wide and rough the world is, was shaking like this today. I can’t imagine how scary it is for a small and frail girl that looks like wind might blow her away.’
“Let’s go, because I’ll take you there.”
Softly, Scarlet encouraged Larissa.
MoonStar 
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