There was no time to recall what personal relationship her body's original owner had with Baron Gustav's only son. Charlotte looked back at the gap in the door she had squeezed through and saw the glow of an oil lamp outside. Realizing that Etienne, who had been following her, was right on her heels, she hurriedly shouted:
"Close the door! Someone's following me!"
The footman beside the door did not act immediately. Instead, he looked up at the baron, who had clearly just been startled awake.
The baron motioned for the footman to do as she asked while descending the stairs. His gaze swept over her, and he asked in surprise:
"Artisan above, Charlotte, you're covered in blood... What on earth happened?"
"Thank you for your help, Uncle Leon." Seeing the footman closing the front door, Charlotte secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She adopted an affectionate tone to ingratiate herself with Baron Gustav. "As you can see, a dangerous man is following me. He says Father sent him, but I've never seen him before."
She was not actually certain whether the original Charlotte had ever met Etienne, but right now, she had to insist that he meant her harm.
Sure enough, seeing how certain she was, Baron Leon Gustav slowly nodded. He fastened the last two buttons of his coat and said:
"Don't worry. You're safe here..."
Before he had finished speaking, the nearly closed door was shoved open. The force was not particularly strong, but it was cleverly timed to strike just as the bolt was about to slide into place. Not only did it throw the door open again, it also knocked the unfortunate footman to the ground.
Immediately afterward, Etienne strode into the courtyard, carrying his lamp in one hand and pressing his tricorn hat back into place with the other. His eyes swept around beneath the brim, glanced at Charlotte, then settled on the baron.
Just as Charlotte thought a confrontation was about to erupt, he lowered his gaze, removed his hat, and bowed.
"Baron Gustav, please forgive me for intruding on your home at this late hour, but this is an urgent matter. I must take the young lady with me."
"And who might you be?"
Seeing that the intruder made no further move after forcing his way inside, the baron lowered the hand that had frozen at his collar and questioned him.
"I am a solicitor employed by Baron Sauron," Etienne replied calmly. Tucking his tricorn beneath his arm, he took a document and a small seal from his pocket. "Here is my registration certificate from the Sushit City High Court, along with a token the baron entrusted to me. You may verify their authenticity immediately."
The baron did not step forward to take the token himself. Instead, he waved for another footman, who stood dazed nearby, to approach.
Watching the footman walk toward Etienne, who stood by the front door yet had already become the center of attention, Charlotte remembered how easily he had taken down two Night Watchers. She could not help warning:
"Be careful. Don't get close to him."
The footman immediately stopped. Etienne, however, merely smiled, seemingly unbothered, and held out the certificate and seal himself.
Taking the document from the footman, Leon Gustav unfolded it and read it by the light behind him at the foot of the stairs. Then he raised the small metal seal to inspect it. After a moment, he sighed. When he looked at Charlotte again, his gaze had changed completely.
I'm done for. Those things must be genuine... Charlotte's heart sank.
Compared with the neatly dressed, courteous Etienne, who carried both documents and a token of authority, her current attire was inappropriate for her station, and her dress was covered in strange bloodstains. She had even stopped the footman from approaching him as though reacting in panic. It was obvious whom the baron would find more credible.
Besides, with her memories still incomplete, she could not even be certain whether the man really was a fraud.
Just then, Etienne spoke again in that supremely confident tone:
"It seems you have confirmed my identity, Baron. May I take the young lady away now?"
Then he turned his gaze toward Charlotte once more and explained with a smile:
"Miss Charlotte, the baron's carriage is currently west of Municipal Square. He instructed us to meet him there as soon as we found you. That is why we weren't heading directly back to the Saint-Roc District in the east."
So that's it. Baron Sauron must have sent more than one person to search for me, while he waited in his carriage in the city center. I misunderstood Etienne earlier... Listening to his explanation, Charlotte put aside her doubts and realized that she really had overreacted.
Perhaps if I'd listened to Etienne's explanation before running away, none of this would have happened... She looked awkwardly at Baron Gustav beside her. Following the curtsy in the original Charlotte's memories, she lightly lifted her skirts and bent her knees, saying apologetically:
"I'm sorry, Uncle Leon. My memories may really be a little... confused."
"As long as the misunderstanding has been cleared up."
The baron nodded, untroubled, and handed Charlotte the document and seal.
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Etienne putting his tricorn back on. A strange smile appeared on his shadowed face.
It seemed no more than a smile of relief at having completed his task, gone in an instant, yet it jolted her as though she had suddenly awakened from a dream.
No, why did I believe his story so easily, even start doubting my own memories...? Even if a baron were searching for his missing daughter, he wouldn't casually leave home to wait for news in a carriage by the roadside... Losing a seal bearing the family crest would cause all sorts of trouble. He wouldn't hand one to everyone he sent out searching, yet Etienne just happens to have one... Suspicion after suspicion surged into her mind. Thinking quickly, she pretended to examine the seal in her hand, froze for a moment, then abruptly raised her head and shouted:
"This isn't Father's token! He's a fraud!"
Baron Gustav, who had already been persuaded by Etienne and thought the matter was about to be settled, stiffened at her shout. He, too, recalled the details he had unconsciously overlooked. He looked at Charlotte Sauron, whose identity he could confirm despite her commoner's clothing, then at Etienne, whose smile had vanished and whose gaze had turned cold. He quickly made his decision.
"Charlotte, stay right here. Don't go anywhere." He motioned for the girl beside him to move behind him, then pointed at the other uninvited guest. "And you, if Raoul truly sent you, go back and ask him to come collect his daughter himself."
He did not outright declare Etienne's identity fraudulent, but he unhesitatingly took Charlotte's side.
The footman who had passed over the token and the one who had been knocked down and gotten back up cautiously closed in, placing themselves between Etienne and their master.
The solicitor, who had remained courteous throughout, pressed his hat brim in resignation. After glancing to either side, he bowed his head and said:
"As you wish, Baron.
"You will soon discover that your decision was a mistake."
As he spoke, he retreated two steps to the doorway and opened the door again, apparently preparing to leave.
Thank goodness. It didn't turn into a fight after all... Charlotte secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She was just about to look away from Etienne, whose body was already halfway through the doorway, when she suddenly saw him move.
The tall man whipped off his tricorn and flung it at the nearest servant. As the man instinctively shielded his face, Etienne closed the distance in two pounding strides, swept his right hand sideways, and scythed out with his right foot. The thin footman instantly lost his balance, spun half a turn like a windmill blade, and plunged headfirst to the ground.
Etienne did not continue attacking the poor man who had now fallen twice. Instead, he stepped over him and charged straight at Charlotte, his eyes locked on her, moving far faster than he had while following her earlier.
Only then did Charlotte realize that Etienne had merely pretended to leave. His aim had been to reopen the front door, swiftly knock down the footmen, and seize her to carry her straight out.
Fortunately, the other brave footman stepped between them. Clearly hoping to distinguish himself in front of the baron, he ignored the difference in their builds and swung a wooden stick he had found somewhere, forcing Etienne to stop and deal with his attacks.
"Anna, fetch all the other footmen, and bring those two muskets," Baron Gustav immediately ordered the maid beside him when he saw Etienne being held back. Then he turned to Charlotte. "Go upstairs. My sword is up there."
Charlotte immediately nodded. She certainly did not want to face a man who could easily knock footmen off their feet and take down Night Watchers with a single punch each, especially when she was his target.
But before she could follow the baron upstairs, an object shot past her, arcing onto the staircase. With a whoomph, flames splashed outward, and burning lamp oil flowed toward them, blocking their way.
At the same time, a muffled grunt came from behind them. The second footman, who had bravely stepped forward, had his stick kicked away before taking a heavy kick to the stomach. He flew several meters and landed with a thud in a dark corner by the wall, where he lay motionless.
Etienne still held one hand out from throwing the oil lamp. With the other, he adjusted his cravat and gave a faint smile, seemingly mocking Charlotte's futile struggles.
"Baron, I had hoped not to make this too unpleasant..."
He spoke in the same unhurried tone as before while walking toward them.
Before he finished, he suddenly looked up and raised both arms, crossing them over his head.
With a sharp crash, a vase shattered against his arms. Razor-edged shards of porcelain scattered, while flowers and cold water drenched his head and face.
It was Roselle Gustav, who had been watching from the window above all along!
Charlotte suppressed the instinct to look up. She knew that a vase thrown from the second floor could not hold Etienne back for long. If she wanted to avoid being captured, this moment of chaos was probably her only chance.
But what could she do now?
If she ran, he would catch her. Calling for help had already proved useless. Even Baron Gustav's residence and status had failed to stop her pursuer...
Right, I still have a weapon... Charlotte remembered the dagger at her waist and instinctively reached for it, only to stop at the last moment.
The footman who lay motionless in the corner after being kicked away, the Night Watchers who had fallen in the darkness with their fates unknown, and Etienne's still-icy gaze as he raised his head again all flooded her mind.
I don't want to kill anyone... But I want to live even more!
Her right hand abruptly drew the dagger from her waist. Her left flung aside the leather sheath, then braced the end of the hilt. Under the baron's astonished gaze, Charlotte bent forward and lunged, closing in a single stride on Etienne. He stood half a head taller than her, but at that moment he was bent over, wiping water and petals from his face.
At that critical instant, Charlotte buried her hesitation deep inside. What surfaced in her mind instead was all the information she had seen online back when she was Gao Linyuan, the "keyboard warrior who knew a little about everything."
The heart is behind the breastbone, protected by the ribs. If you aren't sure you can reach it between the ribs, stab upward from beneath the breastbone... The scene before her eyes slowed as though in slow motion. The sharp dagger slipped through the gap between his coat buttons, sliced through his shirt and the skin beneath, and plunged diagonally upward into Etienne's chest, burying itself to the hilt.
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