67
Sebastian’s Ark
Sebastian happened to be going to his family home in the afternoon, so I had some free time. He subtly asked if I wanted to accompany him, but it sounded like he wanted to introduce me before the engagement ceremony, so I quickly declined. Though it wouldn’t matter if I met them since we’re having the engagement ceremony anyway, I didn’t feel like meeting Sebastian’s parents and siblings before I’d even told my own father and brothers.
I need to submit my resignation to the security bureau…
Come to think of it, I remembered Layer from yesterday. It was funny seeing him desperately trying to act normal without even wearing a cast, despite his swollen jaw and nose. Normally, you’d wear a cast with that much swelling, but Layer was pretending it was nothing. Yesterday, I was so surprised to see Layer there that I barely looked at his face, but thinking about it now, his face was quite… Wait.
Why did he pretend it was nothing?
Why did he endure without a cast when his jaw and nose were probably broken? It seemed excessive just to save face. There must have been a reason, right?
I examined the cover of the document Nakaban had given. I remembered laughing when I first saw it, thinking the design was very Nakaban-like.
What about the contents?
I have a bad habit of skimming through documents. So I deliberately brought a pen and read slowly, underlining each word. After reading and closing the last page, I realized why the director had agreed so readily.
This report detailed the flow of funds within Canaris. The content was quite detailed. It described how the funds moved, who was moving them, who the suspected sponsors were, and how much money was estimated to be involved. All of this was written in a definitive tone, but there was no evidence provided for these claims. I guess the evidence would be in the answer sheet Sebastian mentioned. And yesterday, Sebastian handed over that answer sheet. The director will check the validity of all the evidence while looking at the answer sheet Sebastian provided and cut off the funding sources.
One thing was clear, regardless of anything else. Although I don’t know when Sebastian’s father, Michael Riegel, started being blackmailed, this data wasn’t compiled in just a year or two. Sebastian had been meticulously tracking Canaris for a very long time. This report was the culmination of his long pursuit.
He had never mentioned the word to me, nor had he shown any such intention, but throughout reading this report, one word kept coming to mind:
Revenge.
He wanted revenge on those who had kidnapped him. It was natural, but I hadn’t thought he would want revenge. Probably no one had thought so. He hadn’t declared it, hadn’t growled about it, hadn’t expressed it. On the surface, he was just a chaebol’s son who had become eccentric after an unfortunate incident.
How easily humans are deceived by images.
Feeling my lips dry, I went down to the dining room for some water. This house is very convenient; you can pick up the phone in each room and contact the kitchen for anything you want, just like a hotel. But I wanted to walk a bit.
I thought as I went down the stairs, one step at a time.
He had never forgotten about revenge. He had spent his life pursuing Canaris.
When I reached the first floor, my eyes were drawn to a flowering tree outside the window. Despite the cold, the tree was full of red flowers. Wondering if such a tree had always been there, I stood by the window when someone spoke from behind me.
“Do you like camellia flowers?”
I turned to see Birde Efroy standing there. Silver hair and blue eyes. The cool beauty, like the Snow Queen, was looking at me with an even more inscrutable expression than usual. We stood looking at each other, a few steps apart.
Something felt uncomfortable. I had a feeling I was about to hear something important. Since these feelings often turn out to be right, I briefly considered avoiding her. Once you hear certain things, you can’t back out.
“I’ve seen them occasionally, but I didn’t know those flowers were called camellias.”
I’d heard the name camellia often, but I didn’t know that’s what those flowers were called.
“He said he likes them because they bloom in winter.”
She must be referring to Sebastian. He likes them because they bloom in winter. Somehow, it seemed to fit Sebastian’s image. I mean, the Sebastian who liked Lee Shin-yeon.
It’s quite a melancholic image, isn’t it?
Sure enough, Efroy’s words were dripping with melancholy.
“He said he likes them because they start to wither when everyone likes spring.”
Yeah, that fits perfectly.
As I nodded, feeling like the pretty flowers outside the window suddenly looked pitiful, Efroy came to my side. She quietly looked at the flowers and then spoke.
“When I heard that, I felt relieved. I don’t like spring either.”
Suddenly, I felt a sense of discomfort. Why, I wondered, and then realized. I had never heard Birde Efroy talk about her likes or dislikes before. Since I came to this house, she had helped me and procured what I needed, but she had never once spoken about herself. Even if it was just about flowers, this was the first time.
It’s a good thing when people become a bit closer, but the ominous feeling I’d had earlier was growing stronger. Efroy’s low voice trembled gently like the flowers swaying in the wind.
“My parents were killed because of Canaris. It was a bomb attack.”
“…”
“I barely survived. When I was young… I was a good student. Even though we weren’t well off, my parents supported me. I had an older brother who was a good brother, never complaining even though I received much more support than him. He was proud of his studious younger sister. Maybe it was because of our big age difference.”
A bad story is coming, soon. I steeled myself inwardly.
“On our way back from having a meal with my family, there was a bomb attack at the subway station. Everyone died… except me. The three of them were huddled together, hugging me. When I entered Fates University, praised for my good grades, on the way back from the celebratory dinner for my admission, the three of them sacrificed their lives to save only me. That’s how I survived until the end, through my family’s sacrifice.”
“The Miracle Girl.”
“Yes, you remember.”
It probably wasn’t originally this name. There was one female college student who was the only survivor of that bomb attack. Of course, her family’s sacrifice played a part in her survival, but in fact, it was due to her position. There was a thick iron door in front of her, and she was quite far from where the bomb was placed. And there were several others who survived that attack besides her. She wasn’t called the ‘Miracle Girl’ because she survived. It was because she was perfectly fine without even a small bruise. That was indeed thanks to her family. They hugged her at that moment. As the subway station collapsed, her family members were severely injured. In the midst of this, her brother regained consciousness and even managed to clear away the fallen debris and move his family to a safe place. According to the medical staff later, that brother already had a broken leg.
When she opened her eyes, her parents who were injured by the debris and her brother who had overexerted himself were all already in the other world. And the mass media chased after the ‘Miracle Girl’. They praised the greatness of family love.
“I took a leave of absence from school and didn’t know what to do. When I became rich from the compensation, I thought about throwing the money from the rooftop and falling to my death along with it. That’s when I met him.”
She never said the name Sebastian. As if she wanted to be able to deny having said that name if any problems arose later.
“He said there were two purposes in life. One was to meet someone who seemed like they could only exist in dreams, and the other was to bring down certain bastards. I didn’t know who the former was, but I could guess who the latter were. I asked him to use me. I said I’d do anything. I really meant anything. I didn’t care if I had to be a prostitute, or a guinea pig for human experiments. Of course, I didn’t care about my life, I didn’t mind torture, I didn’t care about killing anyone or doing any dirty deed. As long as I could inflict even a small amount of damage to those bastards.”
Efroy’s voice was calm, but her deep-seated hatred was clearly felt. She grabbed her long hair.
“It was originally brown. It turned white and never returned to its original color. I thought it was for the better. Because I no longer looked like the ‘Miracle Girl’.”
“…”
“That’s when I came into this house. It’s like… anyway, this house that doesn’t seem to belong to the modern era. When I first came here, I worked as a maid. Waking up at the same time every day, sweeping and cleaning, after doing that for about a year, my health improved. And then I realized. Everyone in this house was in the same situation as me.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Everyone?
Suddenly, I thought of Mr. Becker, who is in charge of cooking in this house. He lives with his granddaughter, Anya. Anya, who is fifteen, has already started her career as a chef and wants to learn self-defense from me. That child said she wants to become a femme fatale, but is that really true? Why does she want to learn self-defense, and why doesn’t Mr. Becker try to stop his granddaughter who wants to become a femme fatale? Where are Anya’s parents? No, are they even alive?
I probably had a perplexed look on my face. I had thought this house was a place where kind people who liked Sebastian gathered. No, that’s partly true. But the people in this house, including Sebastian, have something in common.
They are all victims of Canaris. That’s why they couldn’t help but give Sebastian so much affection.
Because he is the savior who will fulfill their revenge.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
