You Can't Catch the Wind - Chapter 63

“Escape… to the Empire…?”

When the words Ael had always been thinking about came out of Nisha’s mouth, Ael wondered if she was dreaming for a moment.

“I know this might sound insulting to you as a young lady from a noble family, Ael. But… Was there anyone among our employees that you liked? Even if not, have you ever thought about leaving this country?”

How could there not have been? It’s something she imagined every day. An image so vivid from countless imaginings that she wonders if it might have actually happened.

“If you have any intention to do so, just let me know. We’ll help you in every way we can. You’ve seen our ships, right? Smuggling one woman out in secret is no big deal.”

Ael couldn’t believe Nisha was saying such things.

As befitting her position as the branch manager of Denertem, Nisha never crossed the line even when joking.

Her jokes were always within legal bounds, and she never uttered anything that could cause even the slightest problem for the company.

And now this Nisha was offering to help with smuggling.

‘If Nisha is offering to help…’

It means the entire Ash Company would help. Then, it should be more than possible for her to leave this country without having to marry.

Several of Ash Company’s sailing ships leave the port every day.

The port managers of Denertem didn’t have the capacity to manage the suddenly increased volume, so the export goods inspection was merely a formality.

The inspections conducted by Ash Company themselves were several times more rigorous than those done by the authorities.

As a result, there was a strong tendency to inspect Ash Company’s ships perfunctorily. There was a complacent belief that the company would handle things properly on their own.

In such a situation, if Ash Company were determined to hide one person, it would be an all too easy task.

For a moment, Ael’s hands on her knees tensed.

Is it true? If they would help, she would be so grateful. She wanted to do it so badly.

Swallowing the words that were about to burst out, Ael shook her head.

“There’s no need for that.”

She remembered the words Elize had shouted at her last night, as if cursing.

Ael, who had thought she no longer cared what Elize said, trembled at those hate-filled shouts.

Whether she liked it or not, perhaps because she had seen her all her life, Elize knew Ael’s weakest points to a chilling degree.

‘It’s fortunate she doesn’t know about the deal with the count’s family.’

If Elize knew that she had been going around pretending to be engaged to Kyle, she would have surely gone even more berserk.

‘She would have tried to report that too, thinking it was another weakness of Ash Company.’

Although some nobles were starting to become friendly with Ash Company, there were still more who kept their distance.

They would surely think Elize’s report provided a good opportunity for attack and would escalate the issue.

Ael looked at Nisha again.

While working together, she had come to know how much Nisha was struggling and persevering here. She couldn’t let her own actions turn Nisha’s efforts into nothing.

Although she hadn’t worked as long as the others, Ael too had now developed a sense of belonging to Ash Company.

She couldn’t let such a precious place get into trouble because of her.

Moreover, she disliked even more the thought of her name being mentioned with resentment by those she had been close to until now.

Ael took a deep breath. It was time to say the words she had practiced many times last night.

Only after moving her lips several times did her voice finally come out.

“The reason I’m quitting is… because I’m getting married.”

“Married? To whom? No, more importantly, when was this discussed?”

“It’s a marriage partner that was talked about before. I thought there wouldn’t be any more connection after things didn’t work out in the middle… but recently, we started communicating again and promised to marry.”

Once she started, contrary to her worries, the lies flowed smoothly.

“I didn’t want to talk about it carelessly to anyone, and since it might not work out again like before, I hadn’t said anything, but this time it’s finally been decided.”

“And the partner?”

“The partner… is someone a bit older than me.”

Elize had repeatedly told Ael about the estate manager, as if telling her to remember well.

She said he was an older man, plump like a winter turkey.

Always drunk, with bloodshot eyes, and an oily face with an unhealthy complexion.

A person she wouldn’t want to go near, let alone hold hands with, and whose unpleasant smell made her think it would be better to roll on the stable floor.

Also, his lecherous gaze that scanned the young maids whenever they passed by left no room for expectation of any gentlemanly thoughts in him.

Instead of the marriage partner Elize had described, Ael continued speaking while thinking of someone else.

“…He’s taller than me and a kind person. He doesn’t particularly enjoy drinking, but he likes having intellectual conversations with people. He can be playful at times, but never uses frivolous lies to tease people.”

They say everything is difficult only the first time, and it gets easier from the second time.

Blatant lies flowed smoothly off Ael’s tongue.

It was an all too easy lie. She just had to describe a person who actually existed.

Ael described the person who, among all the people she had met in her life so far, had worried about her and cared for her the most, had been angry alongside her, and had constantly shared joyful conversations with her.

The person with whom she had her first journey, her first night away from home, and who had been her fiancé, if only for a day.

Ael trudged along the road as the sunset descended.

Carriages bustled about on the side of the road, trying to pick up passengers, but she had no desire to ride one. After all, taking a carriage would only mean getting home faster.

‘I finally said it.’

When practicing alone at home, her voice had broken several times, choked with emotion. Eventually, when it came time to say she was quitting, she quietly wiped away the tears that flowed.

Even though she knew it would end someday, she thought there would be a little more time left.

She never imagined she would feel so regretful and resentful about two months of her life. Before coming to Ash Company, time had just passed meaninglessly every day.

Unlike the difficult practice, she spoke calmly in front of Nisha, without even trembling, until she left the room. To an extent that surprised even herself.

Thanks to that, Nisha apologized for speaking out of turn, saying that if Ael was happy, that was all that mattered, and called Ino to relay the news that Ael was quitting.

Ino fell to his knees and clung to the hem of Ael’s clothes.

Ino’s exaggerated behavior made her laugh. It was because she could feel how genuinely Ino regretted her leaving.

Things were settled more quickly than expected.

She reorganized the ancient documents she had decoded, double-checked important contracts, and safely returned all the cipher solutions Ino had brought her without missing any.

Tomorrow, she would tidy up her workspace. In fact, there wasn’t much to tidy. Everything she had used belonged to the company, so she just had to return it.

Finally, after checking if there were any items left on the desk, once she leaves that room, everything will be over.

Then, all traces of an employee named Ael at Ash Company will completely disappear.

‘What’s left is… the account at the Imperial Bank?’

It’s fortunate that it’s the Imperial Bank. If it had been a Denertem bank, all the money left there would have become her father’s property.

‘He said he received 5,000 guilders from that man.’

Thoughts she couldn’t quite give up kept swirling in Ael’s mind.

Nisha said she would pay the rest of the salary promised until autumn. Of course, she refused, but judging by Nisha’s demeanor, she seemed determined to deposit it under the pretext of severance pay. Then, there would be about 5,000 guilders in her account too.

It was still an absurd amount when she thought about it again.

Until just a few months ago, she had never held even 10 guilders at once in her life, let alone a thousand.

But now, she had 5,000 guilders that were entirely her own.

‘Could I give that to the manager and cancel the marriage?’

From what she heard from Elize, it seemed the baronet couple had exaggerated about her to him.

So the manager would probably be very disappointed when he came to the capital and saw her. He might even suggest canceling the marriage.

Maybe she could return the money he had supposedly given to the baronet couple in advance and cleanly pretend it never happened.

‘And then? What next?’

Even if she resolved it this way this time, the baronet couple would surely find another marriage prospect for her.

Now that Elize’s rumors had spread, the next marriage prospect they found would probably have even more terrible conditions.

Would she be able to cancel that engagement with the remaining money too? More than that, would they even agree to cancel it for money? Wouldn’t her father try to take all her remaining money, demanding to know where she got money he didn’t know about?

If that happened… nothing would change, and only the money she had saved would disappear.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

It’s the first thing she has owned in her name in her entire life. A perfect and complete asset with only the name Aelfrida, without anyone else’s name attached.

‘It might be difficult to come back for it once I go to the countryside, but…’

Even so, she had no intention of handing it over to anyone else.

That money was her everything and the legitimate reward for her labor.

It would remain in the records, unknown to anyone, proving that a person named Aelfrida had existed.

The orange hue in the sky above the sea was fading, and the purple night was rapidly approaching.

Ael’s steps, which had always been brisk and quick for months, slowed down like those of a person with an injured leg.

Then, as the baronet’s residence came into view, Ael stopped walking.

I’m scared.

The sensation of fear that had dominated her for a long time came alive. Her head bowed and her shoulders hunched.

Ael walked towards the house like a person being dragged.

Darkness descended on the sky and on Ael’s shoulders.