After taking back the gun, the lady in the brown coat led Shad to the empty room on the second floor.
There was no furniture in the room except a small bench and a brazier with burning charcoal. Kettles, metal basins, blood-stained bandages, and women's clothing were scattered on the floor. Although the temperature in the room had increased a little, it was still very cold. Shade, who had not yet turned off the blood echo effect, saw a large amount of blood in the copper basin next to her. She must have been treating her own wounds.
Miss Brown sat down on the small stool with her body tilted, holding her left leg:
"I was removing the bullet from myself just now, and the amount of bleeding was a little beyond my expectations. I haven't done this kind of thing for so many years, so I'm a little rusty."
"Your uncle has been taken away by MI6."
Xia De sat directly on the floor and stretched out his hands as if warming himself by the fire.
"It doesn't matter. Uncle has a wide network of contacts in the local area, and he really has nothing to do with this matter. He doesn't know what secrets I have."
Miss Brown looked at the brazier in front of her with a lost expression.
"Who found you at noon?"
Xia De asked again, and added:
"It wasn't me who reported you."
"Of course it's not you, sir, otherwise there wouldn't be only one person who came to see me at noon."
She picked up the teacup and moistened her pale lips:
"It was my superior who found me before I left Tobesk eight years ago. The bomb attack on His Highness last week caused MI6 to spread out as many spies as possible, so he saw me... It was really unlucky."
She lowered her head and said dryly. Xia De didn't know how to evaluate this kind of luck:
"I have delivered your letter. This is the reply."
Instead of asking the woman, whose life was completely shattered, how she felt at the moment, he handed over the letter:
"It's really not easy to find you."
"It's not easy for you to find me."
Miss Brown put down her teacup, opened the envelope, and then pinched a corner of the letter to check the contents.
After reading it, she folded the letter again without saying a word and threw it into the brazier. Watching the letter being licked by the flames and emitting bright flames, she seemed a little dazed, and seemed to be in some kind of hallucination.
After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice:
"I didn't expect that Your Highness would forgive me so easily. Of course, I didn't expect that kind of noble lady would scold me in such a tone. Your Highness has grown up."
"That happened eight years ago after all. So what if I don't forgive you? Should I kill you? Or bring you to her and scold you for being a hateful woman?"
At this point, Xia De also laughed. Thinking of the elegant princess with long blond hair cursing, it was indeed very funny:
"I have delivered the letter, and I have nothing to do here. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else your location. I wish you good luck, ma'am."
"Please wait a moment."
As expected, she called out to Xia De and looked at him hesitantly.
"You don't want me to tell Princess Margaret about you and ask her to help you escape, do you?"
Shade asked, and Miss Brown shook her head:
"I cannot imagine that Your Highness will not pursue my disloyalty. How can I still have the face to do so... Sir, are you willing to accept my commission?"
She pulled out a letter from inside her coat:
"Please send a letter for me. Don't worry, it's not to someone who can help me, but to my fiancé... No matter what, I want to say goodbye to him."
Xia De did not take the letter. He stood in front of the brazier and looked down at her eyes:
"You should know that MI6 should have found him by now."
"No, I thought that my story would be exposed one day, so no one except my uncle knew where he lived, and I never talked to the neighbors about his workplace. I rarely communicate with the neighbors. I know who I am."
Miss Brown also looked up at Shade:
"No matter how fast MI6 is, it will take at least this evening to find him. Before that, give him this letter... With this letter, MI6 will know that he is not involved in my secret identity and will not make things difficult for him... I hope so."
Xia De snorted and laughed:
"Then why should I help you? After all, we don't have much friendship. Or do you think I was easily moved by you?"
Xia De did appreciate the other party's sincere feelings, but in order to maintain his character setting of "a princess agent without feelings", he could not agree directly. It was easy for him to run errands, but he needed the other party to give him a suitable reason.
Miss Brown pursed her lips:
"I can give you money."
Shade smiled:
"money?"
Then he took the letter, opened the folded paper in front of Miss Brown, and made sure there was nothing suspicious in it:
"How much?"
"...20, no, I mean 50 pounds?"
She looked at Xia De a little embarrassedly:
"I don't have much savings. After I faked my death and escaped, most of the money I had was used to pay for tuition and rent a safe house... ... The housing prices in Tobesk are too expensive."
"If it's just delivering a letter, 30 pounds would be enough. If I take more money from you, it would be like I owe you a favor. I am loyal to Your Highness and will not easily owe you a favor."
Shade said, folding the letter and putting it in his pocket:
"I don't want the deposit, but don't try to run away. Otherwise, I will be able to find you even if you run to the New World."
"I can't run away anywhere in this state."
Miss Brown said self-deprecatingly that when Shad walked out, he heard "her" laughter:
You are not suited to play this kind of person.
"Of course, but it's nice to have a taste of it once in a while... How did I do?"
"She" whispered softly in Shade's ear:
That's terrible.
Miss Brown's fiancé, Mr. Feringa, was born in a local civilian family. When he was ten years old, his mother died of plague. When he was thirteen years old, his father came home late from work and was stabbed to death in the alley. Although this sounds tragic, it was not unimaginable in this era.
Fortunately, Mr. Feringa had no relatives, so he was able to get the entire inheritance. Relying on this inheritance, his own efforts and the dividends of the times, he successfully graduated and became a mechanic. He currently works in the steam factory in the west of the city.
It was nearly four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon when Xia De found this gentleman. He didn't know what was going on yet. He was in his cramped office, holding a cup of tea, looking at the blueprints and occasionally sketching something on the blueprints with a pencil.
When Shad entered the room politely, Mr. Feringa thought Shad was from the factory.
"Something happened to your fiancée."
Xia De broke the gentleman's leisurely afternoon with a short sentence, and the content of the letter destroyed his longing for life:
"Where is Bella now?"
The middle-aged man, who looked a little ordinary but had a well-proportioned figure, finished reading the letter and asked Xia De while holding the letter paper, with his eyes wide open and a bit of difficulty breathing. His eyes were brown, the same as Miss Brown's.
"I can't tell you. And even if I did, what could you do? Sir, with your body size, you can only block three bullets at most and you'll die. No, maybe only two. MI6 agents are generally good at shooting."
Shade laughed, and Mr. Feringa immediately said:
“Although her identity is difficult to accept, I still want to marry her.
We can leave here together, go to the New World, or go to the southernmost part of Carsenrick, or even live on an isolated island overseas. We had originally planned to leave Tobesk, and our luggage had been packed. I had already taken out my savings and left them at home. As long as she was willing to go with me, we could say goodbye to the past at any time. "
He stood up and looked at Xia De almost pleadingly:
"Sir, please, tell me where she is? She is my beloved, my only relative in this world. I don't care who she was, as long as she still loves me..."
He wanted to hold Xia De's hand, but Xia De dodged him.
Do you think his behavior at this time is true or false
she asked softly in Shade's ear.
“You should know my judgment.”
Shade responded in his mind, looked Mr. Brown up and down, and added before the other party pleaded again:
“I won’t help you directly, after all, it’s too risky for me.
MI6 should find you soon, so go home immediately, take the money and a convenient bag, and hide for a while. I can tell Miss Brown your decision. If she is willing to leave with you, I will come back to find you; if she is not willing, you can go to the police and turn yourself in if you don't see me before 10 o'clock tonight; if you are caught by the police before I come back, it means that your love is not blessed by the goddess of luck. "
Mr. Brown nodded in surprise:
"When I was helping to repair the steam pipes in the sewers a few years ago, I got the blueprints of the Tobesk sewers and knew where it would be safer to hide."
He told Shade where he planned to hide, which was in the sewers in the core area of Tobesk. This way, no matter where Shade looked for him in the city, he would be able to find him as soon as possible:
"Sir, I don't know how to thank you."
He took Shad's hand and shook it vigorously.
"Just take the money."
Xia De, who has been feeling very short of money recently, said, Mr. Feringa was stunned for a moment, then smiled:
"No problem. I have saved some money over the years. I will go home right now to get my luggage. May the Father of Peace bless us. I don't want to hurt anyone, and I don't want anyone to get hurt. I just hope to leave with her and completely forget everything in the past."