If You're Going to Sell Yourself, Sell It to Me - Chapter 52

Lockwood strode forward with a fierce expression, soon arriving in front of Isabella. Henry and Georgiana followed behind, anxious that Lockwood might cause a scene. Edmund, approaching from the opposite direction, joined them, making the group quite large. People’s attention gradually turned to them.

“Lady Isabella, may I ask you something if you have a moment?”

“Of course. Ask me anything.”

Isabella smiled brightly, unaware of what was happening as Lockwood spoke to her politely.

“If you need a private place, feel free to move elsewhere.”

“No, I’ll ask right here. Henry, bring Andy over.”

“What’s this all about?”

Seeing that Lockwood’s demeanor was serious, Edmund interjected.

“We caught the men who kidnapped my wife yesterday, and it turns out that the person who ordered the kidnapping is here. We brought them by ship.”

“What? What do you mean…”

Isabella’s face turned pale at Lockwood’s answer. Edmund, quietly watching his daughter’s expression, stepped in front of Isabella, his face hardening.

“What does this have to do with my daughter?”

“The culprit they pointed to is Lady Isabella. Isn’t that right?”

At that moment, Andy, who had come over to them, nodded. “Yes, it’s her—she gave me money to carry out the kidnapping.”

“No, I didn’t! I don’t even know this man!” Isabella jumped up from her seat, vehemently denying Andy’s words.

“My daughter says she didn’t do it. Do you have any solid evidence besides this man’s testimony? Surely you don’t think you can accuse my daughter without proof and get away with it.” Edmund, standing beside them, issued a threatening remark.

“Would there be any records in a matter like this? Witness testimony is enough for this kind of crime. Unless there’s a clear alibi for the times he met her, that would make her innocent.”

Lockwood’s words prompted Andy to count on his fingers, slowly calculating the times.

“Around ten o’clock once, and then again at four o’clock when I came to collect the balance.”

“At that time, I was with Lady Ruenda, wasn’t I?”

“Yes! That’s right!” Ruenda, who looked as pale as Isabella, hurriedly answered.

“See? Isabella’s alibi is solid. Is this how you usually handle things? I didn’t think so—I’m disappointed. Let’s go.”

Edmund urged Isabella away. Just then, Andy, who had been tilting his head, clapped his hands.

“Oh, there were three triangular marks on the wrist of the maid who handed me the purse. They were unusual, so I remembered them.”

At that moment, a maid standing near Isabella and Ruenda hid her arm behind her back. It was quick, but Lockwood immediately pointed to the maid.

“Bring her over here.”

Henry swiftly moved behind the maid, who was trying to escape, blocking her path.

Then he grabbed her arm, revealing three distinct marks on her wrist.

“Here are the triangular marks!”

At Henry’s words, all eyes turned to Isabella, the maid’s lady. Cornered, Isabella pointed at Ruenda.

“Lady Ruenda, didn’t you ask me to lend you my maid for a day? What have you done?”

“What?”

“You always found Juliana to be arrogant, and now you’ve done something like this?”

“I-Isabella, what are you saying? I never did that.” Ruenda shook her head, looking as though she might faint at any moment.

“You told me yourself—that she was insolent for someone from the countryside. You even said you’d make her pay.”

Isabella whispered softly into Ruenda’s ear as she tried to deny it, “Surely you wouldn’t want to ruin your parents’ business over something like this, would you? You’re quite clever, Ruenda.”

It was a clear warning that if Ruenda denied it further, she would incur Edmund’s wrath. In fact, Edmund was watching her closely from beside Isabella.

“Th-that’s…”

Ruenda looked to her parents to get her out of her predicament, but even they closed their eyes, showing no intention of helping her. Their deal with the senator was far more important than their daughter.

Desperate, she collapsed onto the floor, tears streaming down her face.

Isabella urged her, “Apologize to Lady Juliana quickly. Since she returned unharmed, I assume you never intended to cause her serious harm?”

“I-I’m sorry, Lady Juliana. I lost my temper in a moment of anger and made a terrible mistake. I never meant to harm you.”

Watching the whole scene, Georgiana shuddered at Isabella’s cunningness.

Neither of them seemed blameless, but seeing Isabella wriggle out of the situation left Georgiana shaking her head. The words that followed were even more absurd.

“Lady Juliana, I apologize on behalf of my dear friend as well. Seeing Ruenda cry like this, perhaps she truly regrets what she did. Yesterday must have been a terrible experience, but since it was just a prank by a young lady, perhaps you could find it in your heart to forgive her?”

Causing trouble, pinning the blame on others, and even the apology—all of it was selfish. However, like Ruenda, Georgiana couldn’t help but consider the senator standing behind Isabella. She couldn’t risk causing problems for Lockwood.

Though annoyed, Georgiana decided to let it go this time. After all, no real harm had been done.

“I…”

“Wait.”

She was about to reluctantly respond when Lockwood, who had been watching from the sidelines, interrupted.

“Is that what you call an apology?”

His piercing blue eyes were fixed on Isabella.

“Pardon?”

“Whether to accept the apology or not is up to the victim. Lady Isabella, this isn’t your place to interfere.”

“I was just trying to help…”

“Does that really help? To me, it seems more like a forced apology under the guise of help.”

“I never meant to force anything.”

It was an accurate observation.

His words were refreshing, but seeing Senator Edmund’s eyes narrow made Georgiana feel like trouble was on the horizon.

She decided it was time to wrap things up.

Having Lockwood take her side had improved her mood enough.

She gently tugged at his arm.

“Locke, I’m fine. As you know, nothing happened yesterday. I was frightened, of course, but as Lady Isabella said, if it was just a prank between girls my age, there’s no reason I can’t let it go. Instead…”

The smile she had been directing at Lockwood faded as Georgiana turned toward Ruenda with a cold warning.

“I hope you won’t engage in such malicious pranks again, young lady.”

“Y-yes! I won’t do it ever again.”

And thus, the incident was settled. Andy was taken away by the constables again.

By accepting Ruenda’s apology, Georgiana maintained her honor and pride.

A few hours later, the ship set sail smoothly as if nothing had happened.

There were rumors that Ruenda had been confined to her cabin as punishment.

***

That day seemed fine, but Georgiana ended up bedridden for two days with a high fever.

She had caught a summer cold that most people didn’t get.

The doctor said it was because she had gone through something stressful while already in a weakened state.

Sarah came to visit her every day, and through the haze of medication, she saw that Lockwood was taking care of her.

It was true that he had no feelings for her, but when he took care of her like this, she couldn’t help but get her hopes up. The human heart could be so fickle—she even wished she could stay sick longer just to be cared for by him.

Still, four days before they disembarked, Georgiana got out of bed.

She wasn’t fully recovered, but she didn’t want to impose any more on Henry, who seemed increasingly busy.

In the middle of the night, whenever she got up for water, she’d see the two of them deep in conversation, looking serious. Maybe they were preparing ahead of time since they’d have to start working as soon as they arrived.

Leaving him to his thoughts early in the evening, Georgiana decided to go out on deck for some air.

As they drew closer to the New World, even the night breeze was getting warmer.

She couldn’t bring herself to go to the place she’d visited with him, so she walked where others were strolling, enjoying the breeze.

After about thirty minutes, she suddenly realized that, without having told him where she was, Lockwood might be worrying about her.

She should have left a note.

Having had enough fresh air, she headed back down to the cabin and bumped into a sailor carrying a heavy load. It happened because they were both in a rush.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh no, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

The sailor immediately recognized Georgiana as a lady just by her attire and bowed his head. Then he froze.

He looked back and forth between Georgiana’s face and her clothes several times.

Tilting his head, the sailor asked hesitantly, “Are you Georgiana, Willow’s sister by any chance?”

Her face turned as pale as a sheet.