I Sell Bottled Water for Gold in Another World!-Chapter 229: A Worried Heart

The Hartwell family study was very crowded this afternoon.

Usually, this room was Mr. Hartwell’s personal haven in which he dealt with his business affairs as well as examined his financial books in seclusion.

But today the room seemed smaller in some way, pressed down by the weight of the recent happenings in their lives, and the presence of the honoured guests who had come to talk with them about the brazen attack on their family.

Mr. Hartwell sat behind his massive oak desk, his weathered hands clasped before him on the desk.

The circles under his eyes had grown even darker over the past three days because of his sleepless nights due to his concern for his daughter’s whereabouts.

Though Lucy was safely back home and on the road to recovery, the tension had not yet dissipated from his shoulders.

Facing him was Magistrate Sai, who was seated in one of the plush leather chairs reserved for honoured guests.

The magistrate is in his with spotless judicial robes, but a certain tension marked the holding of the teacup in his hand.

His thoughts were obviously preoccupied with something other than the pleasant conversation that was going on.

And sitting by the window where light was filtering through the curtains was Miss Evelyn.

Two of her personal maids were standing nearby, attending to her needs.

"Miss Evelyn, Magistrate Sai," began Mr. Hartwell with sincerity in his voice, "I must say that I don’t know how to adequately express our family’s gratitude to you all for your help in this nightmarish attack."

Your immediate response when we came seeking help was truly gratifying

Miss Evelyn immediately shook her head.

"Uncle Hartwell, please do not speak of gratitude between us," she whispered firmly.

"Lucy is like a second sister to me. We grew up together. How could I possibly sit idle when she was in danger?

"If I hadn’t been there for her when she needed me most, what sort of friend would that have made me?

There was a glint of unshed tears in her eyes, and she went on: "When I heard that she had been kidnapped, I could not rest, could not think of anything else until I knew that she was safe."

"So, Uncle, please don’t thank me for something any person would be willing to do for the person they care."

Tears welled in Mr. Hartwell’s own eyes at her words. "You are a truly remarkable young woman, Miss Evelyn. Lucy is lucky to have a friend such as yours."

Magistrate Sai, who had been sitting quietly and observing the exchange, finally spoke up with a slight smile.

"Please, Mr. Hartwell, such extreme gratitude is not required. After all, the duty to protect the safety of influential families is within the jurisdiction of one such as myself who is the magistrate of this district."

"It was only natural for me to call on people to help me find Miss Lucy once she had been abducted,"

His words were gracious and fitting for his role, spoken like a true man of his position.

However, his internal thoughts were speaking an altogether different language.

Of course he had to help, Magistrate Sai thought with an edge of panic he would never show outwardly.

When Mr. Hartwell first came seeking assistance three days ago, the magistrate had to admit he had provided only surface-level support at best. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

A few men sent to represent them; the bare minimum required to maintain appearances and not appear completely heartless to a Hartwell family.

Nevertheless, kidnapping by bandits was a far too frequent occurrence in the mountainous areas around Ironhold.

This was a hard fact to accept but nonetheless the truth.

But then came a moment when everything changed overnight.

The moment the news reached Magistrate Sai that Alex had vanished from his warehouse to search for the Lucy he truly panicked

Alex was a person His Majesty the Emperor had personally praised deeply during their short meetings.

In fact, he has even dined with him several times as equals. This is simply unheard of.

If something happened to Alex Carter while under the magistrate’s jurisdiction...

The magistrate, Sai, had no desire to imagine what kind of reaction His Majesty would have to such news.

The penalties might be severe, even career-ending, or even life-threatening, subject to the emperor’s mood.

So, in absolute truth, all that additional support the magistrate had been frantically mobilizing after being informed about Alex’s disappearance, not one bit of it had been genuinely for Lucy Hartwell.

It had been entirely focused on finding Alex before disaster struck and the magistrate found himself explaining to an furious Emperor how he had lost someone so highly valued.

Lucy was just a side quest.

Of course, now that both were safely back, Magistrate Sai could at last breathe a sigh of relief and allow his racing heart to return to normal.

He would never, ever admit any of this aloud, of course.

Let the Hartwells believe he had mobilized everything out of concern for their daughter and that would be sufficient, maybe they will put on a good word or two about him to Alex.

"Still," Mr. Hartwell continued, oblivious to the calculations going on behind the magistrate’s eyes, "your prompt response have proved invaluable to us. Our family will not forget this kindness, Magistrate Sai."

Before Magistrate Sai could respond with another polite word, the heavy wooden door to the study opened with a soft creak of hinges.

All eyes turned to the door.

Alex stepped through the doorway.

The gathering was not too big to start off with, and considering the fact that there were a few people already inside, it sorts of made it seem cramped.

Alex’s eyes swept across the room in a quick glance.

And, as was to be expected, Alex’s gaze finally landed on Miss Evelyn.

The moment lingered between them, maybe two seconds, maybe three, though it felt even longer in Alex’s experience.

Then Alex broke the eye contact, turning to greet everyone else in the room.

"Mr. Hartwell," Alex said, offering a respectful bow

His tone was warm but maintained proper formality. "Magistrate Sai," he continued,

"I sincerely apologize for my sudden absence these past few days. I know it has caused confusion and distress, and that was not at all what I intended."

The magistrate, Sai, immediately rose from his comfortable chair. He moved so swiftly that he almost knocked over the small side table on which he was sitting, his teacup shaking alarmingly in its saucer.

"Oh... that will not be necessary!" the magistrate cried out and stood up.

His hands reached out to physically hug Alex’s shoulders, thus preventing the him from completing his bow.

"Please, please, there’s no need for such formalities between us," said Magistrate Sai urgently. "Now, do sit down. You must be simply exhausted with all you’ve been through."

The magistrate’s response was so urgent that it took the whole room by surprise.

But Magistrate Sai appeared utterly unconcerned with all of that.

He was too pleased with Alex’s safe return to worry about what other people thought of his behaviour.

"Thanks be to the heavens above that you are back safely among us," Mr. Hartwell went on, his voice now saturated with emotion that he no longer bothered to hide.

"When Jacob came to me and told that you had disappeared from the warehouse without any trace or explanation, And after we searched everywhere and could find no sign of where you had gone, I... we all feared the absolute worst had happened.

The thought that harm might come to you because of our family’s troubles, that you might have put yourself in danger to save my daughter ....I cannot express how much that weighed upon my conscience."