Seeing that she hadn't moved for a long time, Eric suddenly reached out and grabbed her hair.
His movement wasn't overly violent - compared to the force he used to drag Mammy and Richard, his current touch was as gentle as handling a doll.
But it was hard to say whether he would rip off the doll's head like a beast without any warning.
No one knew what he was thinking.
Leona's body stiffened completely, allowing him to turn her head.
He wanted her to look at Richard.
Why?
Was it a warning that if she made a mistake, her fate would be the same as Richard's?
But she didn't know what Richard had done wrong.
Just then, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck her mind, as if lightning illuminated the fog.
She seemed to know the reason.
In the original story, although he was infatuated with the heroine, he never intended to reveal himself in front of her.
Later, he appeared because after the heroine's performance was a huge success, she got engaged to a young and handsome viscount.
He extremely disliked his own appearance. He never placed mirrors around him, nor did he keep anything reflective. Even the blade of his dagger was specially treated, seemingly blurred like sandpaper.
Yet she, after trying to win him over, went to get close to a young and handsome magician.
Even though there was no romantic relationship between them, to him, it was a serious insult and betrayal.
After figuring out the reason, Leona didn't relax. Instead, cold sweat oozed out from the back of her neck, and even her heart pounded wildly at her temples.
If all her speculations were correct, how could she salvage the situation?
Would he still cooperate with her and take her away from here?
When she was extremely nervous, Leona's heart felt as if it was about to split, and she even lost the strength to swallow.
She thought it over and decided to follow her instincts.
Leona slowly stood up.
She didn't dare stand up too quickly, fearing that he was really like a beast and would trigger his hunting instinct, causing her to be pounced on or have her neck twisted.
Eric watched her. There was no change in the look in his eyes behind the mask, nor did he stop her movement.
Now.
Leona took a deep breath, turned around, and hugged him tightly.
She smelled his scent, which wasn't very pleasant, like an agitated animal in a cage, giving off the smell of hay and a strong stench of blood.
The last time she hugged him, the blood smell on him wasn't this strong.
Leona didn't want to think about whose blood it was.
She closed her eyes and tried hard to suppress her fear: "My original plan was for Richard Simon to steal this backpack and then we would track him down and take it back. But you got it for me first... Actually, it won't make much difference. We just have to leave here tonight."
There was no response.
"Soon, the manager will notice that the backpack is missing." She became calmer as she spoke, "The primary suspect will surely be the guard. But the guard saw Richard Simon enter the tent... After interrogating the guard, the manager will definitely send people to search Richard Simon's tent."
Leona's gaze shifted downward, looking at the unconscious Richard:
"But now, he's in my tent. The manager will either think he ran away with the backpack or that he's still hiding in the circus."
"The backpack is so heavy. If Richard Simon wants to run away with it, he'll surely ride a horse," Leona said, "So, the manager will first have someone count the horses. If the number of horses hasn't decreased, a full-scale search will begin."
By this point, Leona had completely calmed down because at this stage, only remaining calm could solve the problem:
" - Take advantage of the fact that the full-scale search hasn't started yet. Grab the backpack and leave here. Hurry!"
She didn't dare order Eric to carry the backpack and was prepared to grit her teeth and carry it herself.
Who would have thought that this body was so weak, almost lacking in strength. She almost stumbled and fell to the ground shortly after picking it up.
Eric reached out to support her and took the several - dozen - pound backpack off her shoulder.
Leona let out a big sigh of relief.
Although he was the one who caused the current situation, he was willing to help her carry the backpack and leave here with her. What else could she complain about?
Leona taught him how to pack the backpack, then dug out a first - aid kit from the pile of dirty clothes, lifted the curtain of the tent, bent over, and walked out carefully.
Eric followed behind her.
Leona felt an unprecedented amount of pressure.
The manager didn't know when he would launch a full - scale search.
She had neither the time nor the strength to move Richard. Once the full - scale search began, the manager would discover that they had taken the backpack.
Eric's behavior was unpredictable.
Even though he currently believed her story and was willing to leave with her, he might suddenly abandon her or kill her.
She was like walking in a dark swamp, struggling forward, isolated and helpless.
She could only brace herself and try to think positively - there were two three - pound beef hot pot canned foods in the backpack, with a shelf life of three years. They could be cooked and eaten after being opened.
These days, she had mostly eaten bread and potatoes. Only during parties could she have a bit of meat, and that was uncleaned animal liver.
Once they reached a safe place, she could cook a hot pot to reward herself.
Thinking about being able to eat a heavily salted and spicy hot pot soon, she felt full of energy and almost couldn't control the gushing saliva.
It was extremely cold on the night of October, and what was worse was the thick fog.
This seemed like a good thing - the firelight couldn't penetrate the damp fog, and it would be difficult for the circus people to track them.
But if she got separated from Eric, she wouldn't be able to find him.
Moreover, the fog was terribly damp. In a short while, she felt her clothes getting heavier, sticking to her body as if they were wet.
Leona still remembered that the camp was set up near a swamp.
There were crocodiles in the swamp.
Ah, how could she forget that the circus guards also had guns.
If it weren't for her relatively stable mental state and not being prone to breakdowns, facing this situation, she might have already banged her head against a tree.
By this time, Leona no longer thought about whether Eric would twist her neck. She held onto his arm tightly all the way, almost clinging to him as they walked forward.
Eric glanced at her, his expression inscrutable.
Unconsciously, they had reached a fork in the road. One side had a horse shed, and the other didn't.
Leona tiptoed and whispered in his ear: "...Are we going to ride a horse? I can't ride. Will it cause any problems..."
This escape was too hasty.
According to her original plan, if they confirmed that they were going to ride a horse, she might have stolen some sugar cubes or carrots from the kitchen.
Although she had never actually ridden a horse, she had played games. In the games, players used this method to pacify the horses.
However, Eric grabbed her hair and roughly pulled her head back.
Leona was startled. Without caring about the slight stinging pain on her scalp, she thought they had been discovered.
Only then did she realize that he pulled her hair because she was too close, and her warm breath was sprayed onto his face.
Leona felt that he was both like a dog that might bite at any moment and more sensitive than a cat.
She covered her mouth in silence and muffledly said: "Are we going to ride a horse or not?"
Eric didn't speak but walked towards the direction of the horse shed.
Leona immediately followed.
She was unlucky. Just after walking a few steps, the shrill sound of a whistle sounded - followed by hurried footsteps. Someone was holding a whistle and waking up people in each tent one by one.
"Wake up, everyone, wake up! Richard has run away - the manager has something to say!"
Leona was startled like being slapped by the whistle.
Soon, all the circus people woke up, but no one made a loud noise. It seemed that they all realized the seriousness of the matter.
Leona didn't dare look back and silently quickened her pace.
The next moment, a hand suddenly reached out towards her and forcefully pushed her head down.
Leona's heart almost stopped.
After a while, she realized that it was Eric's hand. Someone was carrying a lantern, patrolling near the exit of the horse shed.
"It's so cold today," the patrolling person complained shivering, "Why did Richard Simon run away? Didn't he agree with the manager to deliver the backpack to Paris together?"
"What he originally said was that he didn't want Louis Vuitton's reward, just the things in the backpack." Another person said, "Maybe after opening the backpack, he found that the things inside weren't valuable and changed his mind."
"Who told him it was a Louis Vuitton backpack?"
"Who knows? However, he only talked to Polo that night. We can catch him later and ask..."
Leona felt a chill in her heart.
She had completely guessed wrong.
Eric didn't knock Richard out because of Richard's looks, but because Richard didn't follow her plan at all!
She had underestimated the people here too much, thinking that the promise of Louis Vuitton's reward would make Richard risk stealing the backpack.
Who would have thought that the other party was much more cautious than she had imagined. His first reaction was to use the information she gave to negotiate with the manager for the things in the backpack.
Previously, the manager didn't let Richard touch the backpack, probably not wanting him to see what was inside - in case it was something good and distribution disputes would arise if it was evenly distributed.
If Eric hadn't intervened, she would not only lose the backpack but also might expose her identity - there was her ID card in the backpack.
Although she didn't know what this body looked like, according to the law of crossing, it was probably not much different from her original self.
At that time, would the manager arrest her to inquire about the origin and use of the items in the backpack, or would he, like dealing with "Four - Legged Girl" Emily, directly turn her into a specimen... It was unknown.
... Eric saved her life.
But she thought he did it because he was jealous of Richard's looks.
Leona looked up at him, wanting to apologize, but didn't know what to say.
Eric noticed her apologetic gaze.
He had no emotion and didn't intend to respond.
He was already used to being misunderstood. Compared to his past experiences, her frightened and doubtful look was so insignificant.
Leona didn't withdraw her hesitant gaze and continued to linger on his mask with a strange warmth.
How could someone's gaze feel like an invisible hand stroking back and forth on his mask.
He felt a strong discomfort, as if her gaze would peel off his mask at any moment and touch his real skin underneath.
This feeling made him feel uneasy and... ashamed.
Without any warning, he felt a surge of aggression, wanting to grab her throat, tighten it forcefully until her gaze lost focus, her pulse stopped beating, and she could no longer use her eyes to touch his face.
At this moment, Leona finally thought of how to apologize.
He liked physical contact.
Then she could give him another hug.
Thinking of this, she reached out to hug him and kissed his mask while looking up, softly saying: "...I'm sorry for misunderstanding you before."
The patrolling person had already gone far away, and she wasn't worried about being heard.
Eric violently pushed her away.
However, he just pushed her away and didn't abandon her. He still allowed her to continue walking forward while clinging to him.
Leona didn't think much about it and just thought he was shy.