By the time the investigator from District 1 arrived, he had spent two whole days reviewing documents without sleep, and in the end, he fell ill. The butler nagged at him, saying it was because he had overworked himself without knowing his limits, but at that moment, he didn’t even have the energy to listen.
He was so exhausted that he couldn’t even lift a finger and lay sprawled on the bed, yet he couldn’t shake his worries and kept trying to get up. Until the attending physician arrived, he was locked in a struggle with the butler, who was trying to stop him.
The physician’s expression hardened the moment he examined him. In the end, due to the physician’s strong recommendation that he needed complete rest for a while, he had no choice but to entrust Se-yul with welcoming the investigator and handling the week’s schedule.
Even so, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. He had given a rough handover, but what could that brat possibly do when he hadn’t even received proper successor training?
Moreover, the amount of energy supplied from District 1 would be determined by this investigator’s decision, and of all times, he had to fall ill now.
‘I really need to take better care of myself from now on.’
Lying in bed, anxiety kept him from sleeping. He spent yet another night wide awake, and only after hearing that the investigator from District 1 had arrived did he finally collapse into unconsciousness.
Who knows how much time had passed? When he opened his eyes, an entire day had already slipped away. He slowly blinked his sleep-heavy eyes and took in the darkened room.
Perhaps it was because he still hadn’t had enough rest—his mind wasn’t functioning properly. There was something important he needed to remember, but it only surfaced in fragments, unclear and hazy. His brain felt like it had been soaked in scalding water.
“District Chief.”
Just then, the butler entered the room cautiously and called out to Han Jae-hoon. Delaying his response, Jae-hoon tried to recall what it was that he had forgotten. The moment his mind sharpened again, he urgently attempted to get out of bed.
“C-Careful, sir!”
If the butler hadn’t rushed forward and caught him in time, he would have collapsed completely. Han Jae-hoon, panting heavily, clutched onto the butler and asked,
“Luel. The investigator—? Did Han Se-yul handle things well? He didn’t make any mistakes, did he?”
Still not fully awake, his words were jumbled. The butler, sensing his anxiety, calmly answered his barrage of questions one by one.
The investigator had arrived safely in District 5, and Se-yul had performed far better than expected. As he listened to the butler’s report, Jae-hoon’s tense expression gradually eased. He seemed somewhat reassured.
“And…”
The butler hesitated, his smooth report momentarily interrupted. He was struggling to decide whether or not to mention that the investigator sent from District 1 was Vin.
“Is that all?”
Han Jae-hoon was still in poor condition. The butler judged that it would be better to explain things slowly once Jae-hoon had fully recovered.
“Yes, nothing out of the ordinary happened.”
The butler had a small habit—whenever he wanted to hide something, he would slightly furrow his right eyebrow. It was such a subtle quirk that only someone who had spent a long time by his side would notice.
Normally, Han Jae-hoon would have caught it immediately, but in his current state, he wasn’t as perceptive. Something about the situation felt suspicious, yet he was easily fooled by the butler’s quick change in expression.
“Didn’t the physician tell you? You need to get absolute rest. So please, just lie down and recover.”
The butler gently laid him back onto the bed and pulled up the blanket that had bunched at the foot of the bed. Lying obediently, Jae-hoon stared at the empty ceiling before finally closing his eyes. As soon as the soft blanket wrapped around his body, the exhaustion he had been ignoring rushed back in full force.
“If anything happens—”
“I will take care of it.”
The butler cut him off firmly, making it clear that he should stop worrying and just sleep. With his eyes still closed, Jae-hoon let out a faint chuckle and murmured,
“Yeah, I trust you, Luel.”
It had been decades since Luel started serving by his side. He had followed Jae-hoon when he left District 1, back when he had just reached adulthood, and now, he was nearing middle age.
Though he had spent almost his entire life with him, it was the first time he had seen Jae-hoon this weak since that day—the day his beloved wife, whom he had cherished more than his own life, passed away.
Of course, whenever Seo-yul was on the brink of death, Jae-hoon would fall apart as well, overwhelmed by his deep paternal love. But even then, he had never reached the point of being unable to hold himself up like this.
‘It’s his age, sure, but the stress must have been immense.’
The physician had warned that Jae-hoon was no longer the man he used to be and that he absolutely needed to rest. But even in his sickbed, he was more worried about the district than his own well-being.
How was he supposed to tell him? How could he possibly break the news to a man who had worked himself to the bone protecting this district—that the child he once traded for electricity had returned as an investigator?
Unfortunately, to Luel, Han Jae-hoon was far more important than the district itself.
“Just trust me.”
At least for now, until Jae-hoon could properly rest, that was all Luel could say.
***
By nightfall, the mansion was swallowed by darkness. The District 5 chief had forbidden the use of electric lights throughout the entire estate, leaving no opportunity for the investigator from District 1 to see even the smallest opening.
Even with the gas lamps turned on, the illumination was nowhere near as bright as electric lights.
Se-yul, pacing restlessly in the dimly lit room, eventually approached the window where moonlight streamed in.
The moment he unlatched the tightly shut window, a cool breeze swept in. It carried the crisp air of autumn, pushing away the lingering heat of summer.
On the windowsill, a neatly arranged cigarette case held a few cigarettes someone had given him. Staring at it for a long moment, Se-yul picked one up and placed it between his lips—only to set it back down again.
Calming his nerves with a cigarette was something Seo-yul would do. Right now, no matter how much he inhaled that bitter smoke, it wouldn’t make him feel any better. Breathing in the fresh night air was a far better choice.
“I want to sleep…”
Starting tomorrow, his official duties would begin, yet he was suffering from unbearable insomnia.
There were countless reasons why, but the biggest was the crushing weight of uncertainty—would he really be able to handle this?
There was no way his father would recover in just a day, so he had to endure this week no matter what. Whether or not the investigator sent from District 1 was that Shining.
Even as he took in deep breaths of the fresh night air, the tightness in his chest refused to ease. After hesitating for a moment, Se-yul finally reached for a cigarette. Clamping the filter between his lips, he flicked the lighter and set the tip ablaze.
The moment the bitter smoke filled his lungs, the suffocating pressure inside him eased just a little. So this was why Seo-yul smoked whenever things got rough. He could understand it, at least a little.
Not that he planned on getting addicted.
“The weather’s nice.”
As the cigarette burned down, his mind grew clearer. The anxiety that had been gripping him loosened just enough for a buried question to resurface.
Something was off.
Luel’s reaction when he had seen him had been bothering him. It was normal to be happy when reuniting with someone you hadn’t seen in a long time. But instead, the butler had gone pale, like he had seen a ghost.
Not just Luel—Seo-yul had reacted the same way.
Se-yul knew better than anyone how much Seo-yul had suffered after he left. He had missed him so desperately that he called his name in his sleep every night.
And yet, when Seo-yul finally saw him again, he hadn’t been happy at all. He had run away like a terrified man, as if someone who should never have returned had suddenly appeared before him.
Something is definitely going on.
Se-yul started piecing together the scattered fragments of his memories.
Shining had left for District 1 without a word eight years ago.
That was also when District 5, which had been struggling due to a constant decrease in electricity supply, suddenly began to thrive again.
The timing lines up.
The year Shining left, the electricity supply—once dwindling every year—had increased. And District 1, which had always come up with countless excuses to deny them more power, had willingly raised their allocation.
Brushing it off as mere coincidence sent a chill crawling down his spine.
From the very start, the idea that Shining had willingly returned to District 1 didn’t make sense. He had ended up in District 5 because the District 1 chief had “disposed” of him. For someone who had been discarded to return would have been suicide.
“Why didn’t I think of this before?”
Maybe he had been so relieved that Shining was no longer by Seo-yul’s side that he had willingly believed such an obvious lie. He had accepted it without question, never looking back—because, in the end, all that had mattered to him was that Shining was out of the way.
Se-yul flicked the shortened cigarette into the ashtray and leaned his forehead against the window frame. A cool autumn breeze brushed against his skin as he let out a deep sigh.
Right now, it was just a suspicion. But if this absurd scenario turned out to be true, then all his efforts over the past few days would have been completely pointless.
The conclusion had already been decided.
There was no way Shining would rule in favor of District 5. If there weren’t any problems, he would create some just to cut their electricity supply.
And now, Se-yul finally understood why, out of all the Shining candidates, the District 1 chief had sent him.
