Obviously, It's My Child - Chapter 147
“Ah!”
Meyer’s son opened the door without knocking, got startled, and quickly shut it again.
Claire sprang up and rushed towards the door, while Erich clenched and unclenched his fist, mustering patience.
“I’m sorry!”
As Claire opened the door, the boy’s cheeks flushed and he quickly bowed his head.
“Oh, no, no. You didn’t disturb. We were just lazing around.”
“But, my father said not to bother you two since you’re newlyweds… And I didn’t even knock.”
“It used to be Walter’s office, so it’s understandable. Besides.”
Claire spotted a miner, standing awkwardly far down the corridor. He looked like he might run off at any moment. His name was Jack, in his mid-thirties.
She spoke kindly to the boy.
“It’s okay when it’s something important.”
“Yes.”
The boy seemed to relax and smiled slightly.
After patting the boy’s back and sending him off, Claire smiled at Jack.
“Come this way, Mr. Jack. If this office is uncomfortable for you, shall we move somewhere else?”
“No, it’s fine here… It’s just… to avoid others’ eyes…”
Jack wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke haltingly. Realizing his discomfort, Claire opened the door to another room.
“Come in.”
“Here? But this is the VIP guest’s parlor…”
“Every guest is a VIP. Come on in. It’s alright. We won’t be noticed by Mr. Jacob.”
Jack hesitantly stepped into the parlor.
At that moment, Jacob was lying on his bed. It was almost lights-out. The gas lamps outside flickered, casting a dim light through the tent.
He suddenly got up, counting the heads on the beds, but not all of those smoking the cigarettes had returned.
‘It’s unsettling.’
Most of his crew lacked what one might call free will.
Jacob had brought them to this mine three years ago, and most had started on the lotus cigarettes two to three years before that.
Jacob didn’t understand the concept of tolerance, but he knew from experience that there was a craving for stronger substances over time.
In his own way, he thought he was taking good care of his valuable crew members. Each was worth tens of thousands of gold, and it wouldn’t do to lose them carelessly.
The monotonous routine of the mine had been a help.
The crew members followed their repetitive tasks during the day, enjoyed their blissful moments smoking the lotus leaf cigarettes Jacob distributed in the evening, and then drifted into sleep.
But everything had been disrupted due to the explosion incident.
‘Cursed Bill, should have killed him sooner.’
Though the troublemaker was already dead from the incident, Jacob gnashed his teeth over not having dealt with him earlier himself.
Had it only been Walter Meyer, he could have managed somehow. But with the sudden arrival of the Duke because of the incident, and the Duchess meddling. They seemed unwilling to leave.
They were lounging around as if they weren’t in the middle of their honeymoon. What was there to see in this wretched mine anyway?
Obviously, the Duchess enjoyed hearing the mine workers adoringly call her ‘Madam’, Jacob gritted his teeth
“Brother, Brother.”
His trusted subordinate and younger brother from his hometown, Oliver, poked him in the back.
Turning around, he saw Oliver with a small bundle slung over his shoulder.
“…Leaving today?”
Oliver had mentioned fleeing a few days ago.
[“I really feel this is unlucky, Brother. Honestly, what good is it saying there’s evidence or not? What if the Duke turns on us, blaming everything?”]
[“And you think running away will solve it if the Duke gets difficult? He’ll find us eventually.”]
[“We can change our names and lay low far away, at the edge of the land.”]
In the end, they agreed to each go their separate ways after that conversation.
But Jacob had been contemplating too. Between the thoughts of there being no evidence, the Duke not caring about such trivial matters indefinitely, and not wanting to abandon this golden goose, he was conflicted.
Why did he come to Klausener’s domain in the first place? If he had gone to Pfaffenheim or Spee, he wouldn’t have these worries.
The lords there would have happily accepted the cheap labor Jacob provided. They wouldn’t care how much each man earned or whether their brains were melted.
Choosing this place had been due to the high wages in Klausener’s domain and the absence of competition from truly cheap child laborers. But Jacob had long forgotten such minute details.
Oliver spoke in a low voice.
“Jack’s missing.”
“Must still be smoking his cigarette.”
“I’ve checked, he’s really not here. Brother, I think he might have gone to the Duchess.”
Jacob stood up abruptly.
“That cowardly fool wouldn’t dare!”
“Don’t you remember? He suddenly started talking about his sister three days ago, after being silent for three years.”
“Haa.”
Jacob inhaled sharply, persuaded by Oliver’s reasoning.
“Let’s go together, Brother. We’ve made enough money.”
“But, fleeing now, wouldn’t that make us more suspicious?”
“We need to get down the mountain and catch a coach tonight. You’ve often just laid there when the Duchess visited. Maybe we won’t get caught for a day or two.”
That made sense too.
Jacob quickly got up, put on several layers of clothing, and packed a bundle.
It was well past lights out, and it was very dark. Oliver had prepared a lantern, but they worried if it would be enough to navigate down the mountain.
The woods were dark, yet they couldn’t light their lantern just yet. They had to get further away before they could risk a flame.
Just as they were tiptoeing away from the mine are,
“Aaron Jacob.”
“Hah!”
Startled, Jacob turned around and drew a dagger.
It was the Duke’s bodyguard.
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