A Summer With Bitter Rivals - Chapter 125

Chapter 125: Emeline

Emeline carefully stepped forward and climbed to the upper floor.

‘There weren’t many people to begin with at this time, so the guests Father left behind must be very few.’

Unlike her, they wouldn’t know which way to go to find an exit.

As she made her way upstairs, Emeline raised her voice and called out, “Is anyone there?”

“H-hey, is someone there?! Over here…!”

The responding voice sounded a bit distant, but it was definitely from the same floor.

Emeline stepped forward and set out to find them.

After some time, she discovered a small group gathered together at a fair distance from the collapsed floor.

They didn’t seem to be one party, but rather victims who had been touring the same floor and had banded together.

Seeing her approach from afar, the group stirred.

“Someone’s coming over there…!”

“Ah, isn’t that… Lady Delzeier?”

Recognizing her belatedly, their eyes widened in surprise.

And among them, someone immediately reacted to the name.

“Emeline…!”

“…Grandmother?”

Emeline, who had been hurrying toward them, stopped in shock when she saw who stepped forward from among them.

Marcella rushed out from the group and anxiously examined Emeline’s disheveled appearance.

“Good heavens, Emeline! Are you alright? You’re hurt all over. To think you were caught up in this again…”

Marcella, repeatedly checking her condition, gripped her cane as if in fury.

Seeing her unharmed, Emeline felt relieved. It didn’t seem like she had any serious injuries.

“I’m alright… Are you and the others okay, Grandmother?”

Responding firmly, Emeline looked over the people gathered there.

Three noblewomen, Marcella and an attendant, and two married couples.

They all looked frightened by the sudden collapse, but none seemed seriously injured.

In fact, Emeline might’ve been the worst off among them.

‘The exhibition hall has four floors, but the top floor is still being filled with Father’s art. So the guests would’ve only been taken up to the third floor.’

Glancing at the concerned faces fixed on her, Emeline asked, “Are you the only ones who remained in the exhibition?”

“It seems that way…”

“Then let’s try to get out together. I know the layout of this building well.”

“…Are you sure you’re okay, my lady? You really don’t look it…”

Despite the chaos, they clearly noticed Emeline’s condition.

There weren’t any bleeding wounds, but she looked terrible.

To ease their worries, Emeline relaxed her expression and gave a faint smile.

“I’m really okay.”

Maybe that hadn’t been true just tens of minutes ago, but now she was.

Falling down here without ever seeing Zenon or walking the path toward her dream—that would be the worst thing of all.

‘Just surviving this disaster is a miracle in itself.’

Before setting out, Emeline tore off the uncomfortable heels of her shoes, then turned to them.

“Let’s go together. Follow me.”

The group exchanged glances and began to move, following her lead.

Emeline clutched her obstructive skirt carelessly.

She didn’t look particularly ladylike, nor like someone raised in refinement who had been paralyzed with fear.

In this situation, she might’ve looked better trembling in delicacy or being fretful, but having cast off much of her noble airs, the others gradually let go of their fear and began to trust her.

Precisely because she looked clumsy and yet resolute.

One thing was certain—this Emeline looked quite different from the Lady Delzeier they had known until now.

“Everyone, check the floor as you walk. Make sure there’s nothing dangerous beneath you.”

A single misstep might land them in a half-collapsed hole.

With constant checks on the others, Emeline led them down from the second floor.

They soon found the stairs leading to the first floor, but their condition didn’t look promising.

Toward the center, cracks had formed, and debris from the crumbling steps was scattered across the surface.

“If we go down wrong… it could collapse.”

One of the frightened ladies muttered in a trembling voice.

Emeline, who had earlier tried to go down that same stairway, now silently agreed.

Though the collapse seemed to have stopped for now with a delicate balance, one wrong move could bring the rest down.

‘It’s not certain that it will collapse… but it’s too risky.’

Imagining the worst-case scenario, Emeline shut her eyes tight with a sigh.

Should they just wait for the rescue team inside this unstable structure, unsure when it might collapse again?

She didn’t know what had caused the building to break down like this.

Even now, every path she walked felt unstable.

Some floors gave way too easily, making noblewomen scream, while others felt solid enough to clear her doubts.

‘Did they cut corners during construction in certain parts…?’

While Emeline was lost in anxious thought, Marcella took her hand in hers.

“Emeline, aren’t you pushing yourself too hard? If you’re feeling responsible, it’s not something you need to bear. This is your father’s fault, or the construction company’s…”

“…No, Grandmother. I’m alright.”

Emeline wasn’t acting out of a sense of duty.

She was only doing this because she had calculated that escaping with them would benefit her future.

After steadying her breath, Emeline finally made up her mind and changed direction.

“Everyone, please come this way. We won’t be using those stairs.”

“I-if not here, then where are we supposed to go?”

At her words, confusion and fear filled their eyes. They looked past Emeline to the collapsed center of the building.

“I think I know the sturdiest part of this building. It’s located at the rear center of the second floor.”

Emeline began heading toward the center, sticking to the intact outer edge.

The people wavered for a moment. That stairwell seemed safer in comparison.

But Marcella stepped forward first and followed Emeline.

“We should follow.”

“It looks too dangerous… Maybe we really should just wait for the rescue team…”

One lady clung to her husband’s arm and voiced her concern.

Just then, a chunk of debris from a cracked ceiling fell heavily beside her.

Startled, she jumped in fright.

Marcella turned back and clicked her tongue briefly. “It’s your choice whether to follow or not, but let me say this. My granddaughter is quite shrewd. Smart too, just like her father. She wouldn’t move unless there’s something to gain.”

“……”

“Would that clever girl step into a place she’s not confident is safe? At the very least, it must be safer than staying here.”

Finishing coldly, Marcella and her attendant moved to Emeline’s side.

The lady who had seen the rock fall next to her had no choice but to follow with her husband.

Seeing the situation behind her, Emeline quickened her pace.

‘This place may be an exhibition, but it’s essentially a vault for Father’s proud artworks.’

There was a location here only Emeline, his daughter, would know from coming and going.

At the far rear center of the second floor—a valuables room.

It stored his treasured and expensive artworks, jewels, and a safe.

‘There’s no way Father would’ve asked for that place to be built like the rest of the building.’

He had likely demanded it be built sturdier than most banks.

And in that room, there was a way to descend to a lower level.

If Emeline’s guess was right, and as she crossed the precarious path toward it, she spotted a large door that looked far more intact than the rest.

Only then did her face brighten.

“There’s a passage inside that leads downward.”

Emeline searched the statue display stands on either side of the door and retrieved a key from the right side.

She had once noticed the Duke inserting and removing the key from a small space hidden behind the stand.

“Ah…! We’ll be able to open the door!”

The others’ faces lit up with joy at the sight of the key.

She turned the key in the firmly shut door, and the heavy door slowly opened.

Inside, the artworks the Duke had so cherished were scattered across the floor, broken.

Emeline felt a brief twinge of regret.

“It’s here. There should be a reception room below, and it’s connected to a terrace. We can get out through that way. No one here has injured legs, right?”

She unlocked a small metal door in a corner of the floor, revealing a ladder stretching down.

Fortunately, no one was injured, so Emeline sent them down one by one.

‘We need to get out of here quickly.’

Only after everyone had gone down did Emeline let out a long breath and grab the ladder.

She had never climbed it before, so her movements were clumsy, but Emeline pressed on firmly.

Then suddenly, her leg gave out and she began to slip.

She had checked to make sure no one else had leg injuries, but she herself had hurt her leg.

Putting weight on it made cold sweat break out and her vision swirl.

‘I have to stay focused…’

She had come too far to collapse now. The floor-to-ceiling height was great, and she still had a long way to go.

Dry, ragged breaths escaped her.

‘Just a little more.’

She kept chanting that to herself, moving with all her might—when suddenly, she heard a commotion below.

She wondered if something had happened, and looked down.

Just then, as her foot touched a metal rung, it slipped.

Startled, Emeline lost her grip on the ladder.

“……”

Before she could react, her body began to fall.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

For a moment, she couldn’t think of anything.

Then—someone caught her securely from below.

At the end of that dizzying fall, Emeline was enveloped in a familiar scent.

“Ah…”

She let out a trembling breath and slowly opened her eyes, only to meet the green gaze she had missed so dearly.

“Emeline…”

Somehow, he had found her, as if by magic—Zenon was holding her in his arms.

Staring in disbelief, Emeline looked at him for a long while before her lips parted.

But what came out was not words.

It was the sob she had been holding back.

“Zenon…!”

Emeline threw her arms around his neck and began to cry.