ESML 07

Chapter 7

‘And he’s speaking Hyprian… Could this child possibly be…?’

As she recalled the events of the original novel, one particular incident immediately came to mind.

It was the incident that occurred before the story officially began—the one in which the male lead would suffer a serious injury.

“Could it be…?”

Hooooonk—

At that moment, the train let out a loud sound as though it were about to depart.

The child looked around in panic, then hurriedly ran back toward the train.

“Wait!”

Emilia tried to grab the child in surprise, but the child had already reached the train.

She quickly picked up the bag she had set down and followed.

Thud!

The doors closed just as the two of them barely managed to board.

The child hurriedly tried to head somewhere, so Emilia grabbed the child by the shoulder and asked,

“[Name, name.]”

“[Ivan! My name is Ivan!]”

The child answered without hesitation.

Emilia let out a small gasp.

As expected. It was a name she remembered.

‘The Emperor’s secret illegitimate son.’

And the child who would soon be killed by the Empress.

Since this had happened before the beginning of the original story, Emilia didn’t know the exact details.

But she was certain that the person who had brought the child to the capital was the male lead.

Just then, a passenger walked past them in the aisle and glanced at them.

Ivan flinched and immediately hid behind Emilia.

Sensing something strange, Emilia grabbed one side of her skirt and used it to conceal Ivan.

Once the passenger had completely passed, she quickly turned around.

“Is there a [bad person, here?]”

She whispered the question, and Ivan nodded while tears streamed down his face.

At the same time, Emilia’s expression became tense.

So that was why the child had deliberately left the train to ask for help.

Because the child thought there were dangerous people inside.

‘What should I do?’

Emilia turned her head toward the door.

But the metal doors were already firmly closed.

A moment later, the train began moving, making the carriage shake.

According to the original novel, the child had been killed by assassins.

Judging by the situation, the male lead who was supposed to be beside Ivan had been injured and was unable to move.

The child was completely alone.

No matter how she looked at it, the train seemed to be the place where Ivan was supposed to be killed.

If only she had prevented the child from getting back on the train…

Emilia bit her lip as she realized her mistake.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

She patted Ivan on the back and quickly tried to organize her thoughts.

‘First of all, those clothes are way too conspicuous.’

She had thought the same thing when she saw Ivan at the station, but the clothes were clearly unusual.

That was probably why the passenger who had just walked past them had stared at the child.

“Let me just—”

Emilia reached out to remove Ivan’s robe, then suddenly stopped.

‘There’s blood on the clothes.’

The robe would certainly attract less attention than clothing covered in blood.

Emilia sighed and carefully adjusted the robe around Ivan again.

Then she spoke softly.

“Come [over here] for a moment?”

Ivan tightly grasped the hand she offered.

Emilia kept Ivan hidden between herself and the luggage as she moved as carefully as possible.

‘First, I need to take him to my seat.’

The train was divided into compartments with four seats each.

And according to what Emilia had seen when she purchased her ticket, the other three seats in her compartment were all empty.

Since she had purchased her ticket almost right before departure, there was a good chance they were still vacant.

Soon, Emilia stood in front of the sliding door to her compartment.

She held the handle and listened carefully.

Fortunately, she couldn’t hear anything.

Slide. Click.

‘Thank goodness.’

As expected, the compartment was completely empty.

Emilia quickly went inside and closed the door.

Then she sat Ivan down on the seat and knelt in front of him.

“[Sick person, where?]”

“[They’re in ##!]”

‘What does that mean?’

Emilia furrowed her brow, struggling to understand.

She couldn’t make sense of the child’s words.

So she tried asking in a way that would make it easier to guess.

“Hmm. Train—no, [front? Back?]”

“[Back!]”

Just as Emilia was desperately trying to figure out where the male lead was—

Voices could be heard outside.

She stopped speaking for a moment and looked toward the door.

‘Are they checking train tickets?’

Emilia turned back to Ivan and pulled her own ticket from her pocket, showing it to him.

“Do you have [this]?”

Ivan shook his head.

‘He’ll get caught by the conductor… Wait. Something’s strange.’

Of course, a conductor could check train tickets.

But normally, they would only check a few passengers rather than inspecting every single person one by one.

‘Could it be…?’

Emilia carefully opened the sliding door without making a sound and looked outside.

A few compartments ahead, she could see the back of the conductor who was checking tickets.

He looked like an ordinary conductor on the surface.

But there were bloodstains on the hem of his trousers.

‘He’s definitely looking for Ivan.’

Emilia held her breath and quickly closed the door.

At the same time, she could hear the man speaking to the passengers in the next compartment.

‘It’s too late to take Ivan somewhere else…’

Just then, Emilia’s large suitcase caught her eye.

‘That’s it!’

She immediately opened the window and stuck her head out.

A wide river happened to be flowing directly below.

‘At this height, it shouldn’t make much noise.’

Emilia pulled her head back inside and opened the suitcase.

‘Ah! The money Mrs. Anderson gave me!’

Her eyes widened as she took out one of the pouches.

Whoosh—

Wind rushed through the open window, blowing her hair wildly.

Emilia then threw everything inside the suitcase out the window.

She felt a pang of guilt, as though she were illegally dumping trash, but—

‘A person’s life is more important!’

Ivan stared at her with wide eyes at her sudden actions.

Emilia pointed at the now-empty suitcase and whispered urgently,

“Quickly, [get inside here!]”

Confused, Ivan looked back and forth between Emilia and the suitcase before standing up.

Then he climbed inside.

Fortunately, the child was small enough to fit inside without much difficulty.

“[No sound, okay?]”

After confirming that Ivan nodded, Emilia closed the suitcase.

She quickly sat down and straightened her clothes.

Just then—

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the sliding door.

‘Stay calm.’

The door slowly opened, and the man she had seen earlier appeared.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“I’m checking boarding passes. May I see yours?”

The man stepped into the compartment and swept his gaze across the interior.

Emilia swallowed nervously and quickly handed him her train ticket.

As soon as he took it, she immediately withdrew her hand.

Her fingertips were trembling from the tension.

‘I can’t look suspicious in the slightest.’

No matter how she thought about it, she didn’t think she could overpower that man.

‘And even if I run, I’m on a moving train.’

Meanwhile, the man checked the seat number printed on her ticket.

Just as Emilia received her ticket back and waited anxiously for him to leave—

“What’s in that luggage?”

He gestured toward the suitcase at Emilia’s feet.