Chapter 110
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Remember the Westmore Urban Legend Incident?
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Knox, having returned from checking on the villagers' health, lay down on his bed with a weary face.
There were five rooms on the first floor of Happy House. Cherry and Ethan took the two rooms near the banquet hall, while Harrison, Knox, and Vanilla used the three rooms by the salon.
Susanna had originally been using the room Harrison now occupied. But when Harrison arrived, Susanna insisted on moving to the second floor. Cherry, who had a bit of a soft spot for her, had no choice but to give her a room upstairs.
Susanna, Amy, Vanilla, Victor, and Emma stayed on the second floor, and with four rooms still spare, they moved all the stockpiled daily necessities up there.
Knox’s arms were full of flowers. The surviving women of Brunel had picked them for him as gifts. What’s more, as they presented the flowers, every single one of them, regardless of age, had blushed.
Yes. For any woman who laid eyes on Knox, such a reaction was only natural.
‘Didn’t they say Cherry Sinclair likes handsome men?’
Knox thought as he lay on the bed.
‘How can that woman look at my face and remain so unfazed?’
It was a question he’d had ever since he first met her.
According to the gossip columns, Cherry placed great importance on a man’s looks.
The popular gossip columns in the capital never failed to feature articles about Cherry. If you had to name the person most beloved by the tabloids, it would be her. Knox recalled the contents of an interview he had read back then.
[Exclusive Interview! Society’s Rising Star, Cherry Sinclair, Reveals Her Ideal Type!]
The article, with a headline like that, stated that Cherry Sinclair’s preference for good looks had quite a long history.
According to the article, her first love was none other than Harrison Howard. When asked why he was her ideal type, she said she fell for him at first sight because he was so handsome.
She also added that she didn’t just like any handsome man. Her ideal type was someone with an intelligent and classic appearance, and Harrison fit that description perfectly.
‘Hmm. That’s a far cry from Ethan.’
Ethan had sharper features. Feline, almost bewitching. Not Cherry’s type at all. If anything, when it came to an intelligent and classic appearance, wasn’t he, Knox Cornell Ludpersher, the very definition of it?
‘Attorney Howard is a difficult man to win over, I’ll admit. That’s why my sister fell for him, too.’
Knox’s sister and Harrison’s late wife, Isabella, had also been charmed by Harrison’s prim and proper demeanor.
In truth, Harrison’s ideal type also seemed quite different from Cherry. He appeared to prefer delicate and innocent beauties like Isabella.
At the time, Knox hadn’t been very interested in the affairs of the Ludpersher family, and so he’d paid no mind to Harrison and Isabella’s newlywed life. But today, for some reason, he felt a slight pang of regret.
Should he have tried to get closer to him back then? If he had won over Harrison first, earning Cherry’s favor would have been comparatively easier, wouldn’t it?
‘Well, I can just start now.’
In a ruined world, a doctor was in a position to be treated well just by existing.
But to Knox, Cherry was not only his savior but also the one in power at Happy House and in the village of Brunel. It wouldn’t hurt for him to get on her good side first.
‘When I set my mind to it, there’s never been a woman who hasn’t fallen for me.’
Knox smoothed out his clothes and stood up again. A delicious aroma was wafting from the banquet hall.
‘Right. Since it’s on my mind, maybe I should start actively wooing our dear Miss Cherry.’
If possible, Knox wanted to become closer to Cherry than either Ethan or Harrison.
As he walked slowly toward the banquet hall, he could see people bustling about. Among them were Cherry and Ethan.
He leaned casually against the entrance and quietly observed the scene inside. He had already received a report from the talkative Amy about the day’s events.
“I think that stuffy old guy has a thing for Miss Rock Candy. I saw him chasing her around, asking to be her partner.”
The speculation that Ethan liked Cherry was absurd. But it was clear that he held some affection for her.
‘And what about when he was treating her like a criminal?’
Of course, Knox had to admit that having gone through thick and thin together at Happy House, the two had grown considerably closer than before.
As if to prove it, Ethan’s gaze had lately been fixed on Cherry. Perhaps his obsession with catching her in the act had now warped into a different kind of emotion. He seemed to be the only one who didn’t realize it.
Just then, Cherry, who had been scurrying around the banquet hall, looked toward Knox standing at the entrance. She trotted over to him.
“Is everyone okay?”
“Yes. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.”
“You worked hard.”
Cherry gave him a bright smile. The radiant expression was reflected in Knox’s eyes.
‘She is pretty.’
The fact that the notoriously picky and arrogant socialites badmouthed her but never cast her out was due not only to her being a ‘Sinclair’ but also, in large part, to her looks.
Why else would the jewelry she wore or the design of her dresses become massive hits the day after they appeared in the papers? Cherry Sinclair was a woman who possessed the trendy glamour that the young nobles of the day coveted.
“Miss! Could you come over here for a moment?”
Just then, Victor called to Cherry from the kitchen.
“Oh, yes!”
Just as she was about to head to the kitchen, Knox caught her by the wrist.
“Oh? Is there something else you wanted to say?”
Cherry whipped around to face Knox.
If he wanted to speak with her alone, he’d have to make something up even if he had nothing to say. Of course, Knox did actually have a topic he needed to discuss with her.
“We need to talk again about the Elpinus Herb.”
Beyond the simple reason of wanting to get on her good side, he also wanted to have a more in-depth conversation with her about the monster that had caused this whole situation.
“What are you talking about?”
But just then, an intruder appeared. The sight of that smiling face, adjusting his police cap, was incredibly grating.
Knox shot Ethan a glare before turning his gaze back to Cherry, waiting for her answer.
“Um… I’m just going to talk with Knox for a moment. It’s about the Elpinus Herb.”
Cherry glanced at Knox and gave a slight nod. At that, Ethan’s face twisted with displeasure. Utterly satisfying.
Knox gestured outside with his thumb.
“Miss Cherry, shall we?”
If only Cherry had fallen for him at first sight, things would have been much more interesting.
Then again, the fact that she hadn't was also part of her appeal.
Knox let his gaze linger on Cherry as she followed him out into the hallway.
* * *
I entered the salon on the opposite side of the banquet hall with Knox. We sat facing each other on the sofa.
Knox leisurely scanned the salon. Finally, his eyes settled on me, sitting across from him.
“What do you think about cultivating the Elpinus Herb in the underground passage?”
he asked me out of the blue.
Huh? Growing Elpinus in the underground passage? That was an idea I hadn’t even considered.
“Will it grow well without sunlight?”
“Why would a gloomy, insect-eating plant like that need photosynthesis?”
…If I were an Elpinus Herb, I think I would have cried hearing those cold words.
Anyway, after hearing Knox, I tried to count the number of Elpinus seeds we had left.
“We don’t have many seeds left, so we can’t afford to fail…”
“According to Amy, an herb shop in Kintne used to sell the Elpinus Herb.”
“If it was on display in an herb shop, wouldn’t the monsters have already smelled it and devoured it?”
“Hmm. That’s a possibility. Then there’s the option of finding its natural habitat… We’ll have to look for an herbal encyclopedia. Their habitats are usually listed in those.”
I nodded at Knox’s words.
“Then we should check the bookstore. There’s one in Brunel, right?”
“I’ll go to the bookstore tomorrow. I’m not sure if there will be any usable books left, given what a mess it is.”
I winced at his words and shut my mouth. The truth was, I was the one who had made a mess of that bookstore. When Knox was trapped in the square, hadn’t I sent a boulder flying and destroyed it?
‘But I did it to save Knox, so…’
I asked Knox.
“Where did you store the large quantity of Elpinus Herb that was found in the Westmore mansion?”
“Unfortunately, that’s being stored at the Westmore police station.”
Ugh. So close, yet so far. As I was feeling disappointed, Knox suddenly spoke again.
“Thinking about it now… I wonder if the mansion at 10 Hague Street, from the Westmore urban legend incident, might have had an underground passage like this one.”
10 Hague Street. 10 Hague Street… The address sounded familiar.
“There’s no way to know. It’s impossible to check now, anyway…”
As I was sighing heavily, I suddenly realized where I had heard the name ‘10 Hague Street’.
“Um… I don’t know what Hague and Spring are.”
“I think she means Hague Street. It’s near Westmore Station.”
“Oh, I remember now. 10 Hague Street in Westmore. That’s another mansion I inherited. But I really don’t know about the spring. I’ll let you know if I remember later.”
Vanilla!
Wasn’t 10 Hague Street the mansion Vanilla owned?
I shot up from my seat and ran straight out of the salon. Behind me, a surprised Knox followed.
Bursting into the banquet hall, I scanned the room for Vanilla. The others looked puzzled to see me appear in such a hurry. Ethan started toward me, but I bypassed him and went straight into the kitchen.
Vanilla was at the outdoor workstation attached to the kitchen, trimming meat with Gary.
“Oh? Miss Sinclair. What’s wrong…”
She looked at me with a bewildered expression, seeing how I had rushed over in a panic.