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Chapter 45
“Suddenly?”
“Yes, I suddenly felt like drawing.”
Franz desperately tried to salvage the excuse he had blurted out.
“In the village where I come from, there’s a custom of painting portraits during the happiest moments of one’s life.”
Angelina chimed in to help him.
“I’m not sure if this is really appropriate…”
“A natural appearance is best.”
While Franz sweated nervously as he sketched, Angelina quietly slipped into the next room.
Aleksei was reading a letter. He looked so deeply absorbed that he didn’t notice her approach at all. Angelina tapped on the table. His eyes flicked toward her for a moment before returning to the page.
What in the world is written in there?
“What’s in that letter?”
“Want to take a look too?”
Aleksei slid the letter he had been reading toward her.
— Go to the place called “Seed of Friendship” and find the hidden message.
— So, you found the message. I’ve hidden matching drawings in six places throughout your garden. If you manage to find them before noon tomorrow, the “Sword of General Kaul,” which you’ve always coveted, shall be yours.
They were two letters sent three days apart.
“What is this?”
“Duke Lyon enjoyed giving people riddles. Judging from these letters, it seems he liked hiding notes in certain places and turning the search into a game.”
But what Angelina realized from the letters was something slightly different.
Even in old age, Duke Lyon had clung to the romance of youth.
What a hopelessly childish old man.
Playing games this silly with his grandson of all people.
And taking them this seriously, too.
“So?”
“Based on this, I think the drawings on the map really are just symbols, like the curator said. They don’t hold meaning by themselves—they’re more like compasses pointing toward the next location. I think Duke Lyon hid memos marked with matching symbols in those places.”
“Then what’s the first location?”
“That’s the problem. There has to be a hint somewhere.”
Aleksei rested his chin on his hand and sank into thought. But even after a long while, no good ideas came to him, and eventually he stood up.
The letters were returned exactly as they had been.
When the curator received them back, he looked as delighted as though an old friend had returned to him.
It was the sort of moment that made one understand how deep their friendship must have been.
“I assume you attended his funeral as well.”
“Of course I did. He even sent out invitations in advance. At the time I clicked my tongue and called him absurd, but now I miss all those eccentric antics terribly. He’s probably still up there in heaven doing the same nonsense.”
The curator chuckled heartily.
“Do you still keep in touch with his family?”
“I met the grandson a few times. A long time ago, though. We don’t see each other anymore.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Generational differences.”
Aleksei faltered for a moment, and the curator burst into laughter again. It seemed he’d only said it to see Aleksei’s reaction.
Birds of a feather really do flock together.
“The boy’s father absolutely hated anything involving adventure. Meanwhile, I was the rotten friend who couldn’t resist talking about adventures at every opportunity. He never said it outright, but you know the feeling, don’t you? Like he wished I’d just disappear. Hah hah.”
The curator recounted the uncomfortable story as though it were an amusing anecdote.
“Sometimes I wonder whether the boy ever found the treasure map my friend left behind.”
“……”
“Oh dear, this stays between us. Don’t breathe a word of it elsewhere. It’d cause quite a stir. Hah hah.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“A treasure map? Like the legendary pirate maps leading to chambers filled with gold coins beneath underground caves?”
Angelina clasped her hands together and asked dramatically, hoping to glean something useful.
“Seems milady has heard stories of such things. Treasure maps certainly do carry that sort of romance, but unfortunately, this isn’t one of those. My friend made the map himself.”
“He made it himself? Then does that mean he buried the treasure personally?”
“Indeed. Before he died, he became utterly determined to complete it. I asked him why he was going so far, and he said he wanted to pass down treasure, not an inheritance. Treasure, he said, ought to be found through one’s own luck and effort.”
“But what if someone else finds it before his grandson does?”
“I asked him the very same thing. ‘Then the treasure belongs to that person,’ he answered. Hah hah hah. Such a perfectly fitting answer for him.”
After that, they heard several more outrageous stories. They were the sort of tales one would scarcely find even in books, and by the time they finally surfaced from them, the sun had already begun to set.
The three rose from their seats.
“Thank you for your time.”
“Thanks to you, I’m feeling much better now. I think I’ll even be able to go back to work tomorrow.”
So it wasn’t fake illness from the start?
“It was a pleasure speaking with young people again after so long. I won’t forget this.”
Their connection with the curator would end today.
“Take care of yourself. We’ll be leaving now.”
“Wait a moment.”
The curator stopped the three as they turned away.
“What is it?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. You said you’re staying at the Red Moon Inn, correct?”
“Yes.”
“You still have a long way to go. Please travel carefully.”
It felt as though he still had something left unsaid, but at this point, there was no reason to press him further.
Angelina tugged lightly on the reins as she gazed at the setting sun.
Even though they hadn’t found the diamond, the day hadn’t been fruitless.
Using what they’d learned today, they would surely find it tomorrow.
That was the conclusion the three reached over dinner.
When Aleksei went to the neighboring room to gather everyone for discussion, he found Angelina writing something at the table.
Her lips were pressed tightly together, her gaze serious—a strangely unfamiliar sight to him.
“What are you doing?”
“Writing a letter.”
The pen in her hand moved without pause.
A letter? To whom?
He tried not to stare, but his eyes drifted downward on their own.
— The curator has recovered enough to return to work immediately.
“They said the inn offers courier service. I’m planning to send it first thing tomorrow morning.”
“You really don’t have to go that far.”
“Still. You never know.”
“……”
Scratch, scratch.
The only sound in the room was the pen gliding across paper.
— If he fails to show up for work, then something serious must have happened. Please send someone to check on him.
Angelina had decided to send the letter right after dinner.
As the three sat together at the table, the curator had suddenly come to mind.
What exactly had that strange expression on his face meant when he saw them off?
Right now, he’s probably sitting there all alone, chewing on hard bread.
What if he really gets sick or injured?
Even if it’s not a major illness, someone his age could collapse at any time. There are no telephones, and he lives dozens of kilometers away from the city.
What use would all those antiques he poured his fortune into be in an emergency? He acts all detached, like he’s perfectly fine on his own, but isn’t that just self-hypnosis?
Stop it, stop it, Angel. Worry about your own problems.
She tried to shake away the flood of thoughts, but in the end, Angelina failed.
And once she admitted defeat, the next thing she did was pick up a pen.
Feeling the gaze fixed on the back of her head, Angelina muttered quietly,
“Yeah, yeah. I know this is another pointless thing I’m doing. I know. But it still bothers me. I’m only doing this so I can feel at ease.”
After finishing the body of the letter, she hesitated for a moment before writing:
— From a temporary employee.
Even after she folded the letter and placed it inside the envelope, Aleksei said nothing.
Tap.
It happened just after Angelina set the envelope down.
“Right. That’s what makes you different from me.”
At Aleksei’s voice falling over the top of her head, Angelina slowly looked up.
“I thought I understood everything about Angelina Agert.”
He was speaking so suddenly that she couldn’t even begin to guess where this was going.
“But now I don’t know anymore.”
“……”
“The you I don’t know feels unfamiliar. And that unfamiliarity is… fascinating. Fascinating enough to make me curious.”
Their gazes crossed in the lingering silence his voice left behind.
The hands resting atop her skirt felt damp with sweat.
Angelina awkwardly rubbed them together.
I wish he’d stop staring already.
But Aleksei’s eyes remained fixed on her as though time itself had stopped.
“What exactly are you two doing?”
It was Franz’s voice that shattered the silence.
Angelina immediately turned toward the sound.
Franz stood leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.
Wearing an expression that said he found the whole scene utterly pathetic.
