Home/I Didn't Want a Honeymoon Like This/ch45

Chapter 45

"All of a sudden?"

"Yes, I suddenly felt like drawing."

Franz scrambled to make good on the words he'd blurted out.

"In my village, there's a custom of having a portrait—no, a painting—done at the happiest moments."

Angelina helped him out.

"I'm not sure if this will turn out well."

"A natural look is best."

While Franz sweated over the portrait, Angelina slipped into the next room.

Alexei was reading the correspondence. So absorbed that he didn't notice her approach.

Angelina tapped the table. He glanced at her, then his eyes returned to the letters.

What's in those letters to keep him so engrossed?

"What's in the correspondence?"

"You want to see?"

Alexei pushed the letter he'd been reading toward her.

— Go to the 'Seed of Friendship' location and find the secret message.

— You found the message. I've hidden drawings matching it in six places in your garden. If you find them by noon tomorrow, the 'Sword of General Kaul' that you've wanted so badly will be yours.

Two letters, sent three days apart.

"What is this?"

"Lord Lyon loved to quiz people around him. From these letters, it seems he enjoyed games where he'd hide notes in specific locations and have people find them."

What Angelina realized from reading the letters was a little different: that Lord Lyon had carried his youthful romance into old age.

Wasn't he just a perpetually childish old man?

Playing such childish games with his grandson.

And so seriously.

"So?"

"From this, it seems the pictures on the map are indeed arbitrary symbols, as the director said. They don't have meaning in themselves—they're more like a compass pointing to the next location. I think Lord Lyon hid notes with the same symbols at each spot."

"Then where's the first location?"

"That's the problem. There must be a clue."

Alexei rested his chin and sank into thought. But even after a long while, no good idea came, so he finally stood up.

The letters were returned to their original state.

Watching the letters return to his hands, the director looked as delighted as if a friend had come back.

It was a scene that showed just how deep their friendship had been.

"You must have attended his funeral as well."

"Of course. He even sent me an invitation in advance. At the time, I clicked my tongue, thinking it was morbid. Now I miss those eccentricities. He's probably doing the same thing in heaven."

The director chuckled.

"Don't you keep in touch with his family?"

"I've met the grandson a few times. A long time ago. We don't correspond now."

"Is there a reason?"

"Generational gap."

Alexei paused, and the director chuckled again. It seemed like a joke to see his flustered reaction.

Like friend, like friend.

"The grandson's father absolutely hated adventure. And I was the one who couldn't stop talking about it. He never said it outright, but you know that feeling—like they wish you'd just disappear. Haha."

The director spoke of uncomfortable things as if they were amusing.

"Sometimes I wonder if the grandson ever found the treasure map his friend left behind."

"……"

"Oh, this is a secret. Don't breathe a word of it. It would be a disaster. Haha."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"A treasure map—like the legendary ones pirates pass down, with a room full of gold coins in an underground cave?" Angelina asked, clasping her hands dramatically, hoping to glean something.

"It seems the lady has heard of such things. Usually, treasure maps come with that kind of romance, but unfortunately, this one is different. It's a map my friend made himself."

"Made it himself? Does that mean he buried the treasure himself?"

"Yes, he did. He was determined to finish it before he died. I tried to stop him, but he said he wanted to leave a treasure, not an inheritance. A treasure, he said, should be found through one's own luck and effort."

"What if someone else found it before his grandson?"

"I asked him the same thing. He said, then that treasure belongs to them. Hahaha. That was so like him."

After that, they heard several more extraordinary episodes. As they got lost in stories that seemed straight out of a book, the sun began to set.

The three finally stood up.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

"Thanks to you, I'm feeling much better. I should be able to come to work tomorrow."

So you were faking it all along?

"I enjoyed talking with young friends after a long time. I won't forget it."

Today marked the end of their connection with the director.

"Take care. Goodbye."

"Wait."

The director stopped them as they turned to leave.

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing. You said you're staying at the Red Moon Inn, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"It's a long way back. Travel safely."

His expression suggested he had more to say, but they couldn't very well press him as they were leaving.

Angelina looked at the setting sun and pulled the reins.

---

Though they hadn't found a diamond, they'd gained something.

Based on today's gains, tomorrow they would find a diamond.

Over dinner, the three resolved to do so.

When Alexei went to the next room to convene a meeting, he found Angelina writing something at the table.

Her mouth was tightly shut, and her eyes were serious—an unfamiliar sight to Alexei.

"What are you doing?"

"Writing a letter."

Her pen moved without pause.

A letter? To whom?

He tried not to look, but his eyes fell on it naturally.

— The director has recovered enough to come to work tomorrow.

"The inn offers a message service, so I'm sending it first thing in the morning."

"I don't think that's necessary."

"Still. You never know."

"……"

Scratch, scratch.

The only sound was the pen tip gliding across the paper.

— If he doesn't show up, something serious must have happened, so please send someone to check on him.

Angelina had decided to send the letter right after dinner.

At the dinner table, the director had come to mind.

What was that strange expression on his face when he saw them off?

He was probably sitting alone now, eating hard bread.

What if he got really sick or hurt?

Even if it wasn't a serious illness, at that age, he could collapse at any time. And he lived dozens of kilometers from town, with no phone, surrounded by antiques he'd poured his fortune into—what good would they do in an emergency? He claimed he was fine alone, but wasn't that just self-hypnosis?

Stop it, Angel. Focus on your own affairs.

She tried to shake off the flood of thoughts, but ultimately failed.

After admitting defeat, she picked up a pen.

Feeling Alexei's gaze on the back of her head, she muttered,

"Yes, I'm doing something unnecessary again. I know. But it still bothers me. I'm doing this for my own peace of mind."

After finishing the body of the letter, she hesitated for a moment, then signed it: From a temporary employee.

Even as she folded the letter and sealed it, Alexei said nothing.

Thud.

Angelina set down the envelope.

"That's what makes you different from me," Alexei said, his voice falling on her crown. Angelina looked up.

"I thought I knew everything about Angelina Augert."

She had no idea what he was getting at.

"But now I'm not so sure."

"……"

"Who are you, really?"

The room, now silent even of the scratching pen, was very quiet.

"I'm just me," Angelina said into the awkward silence.

"I don't know this side of you. It's unfamiliar—and because it's unfamiliar, I'm curious. I want to know."

Their eyes met across the air, lingering with the echo of his voice.

Her hands, resting on her skirt, felt clammy. Angelina rubbed them together for no reason.

I wish he'd stop staring, she thought, but Alexei's eyes remained fixed, as if lost in time.

"What are you two doing?"

It was Franz's voice that broke the silence. Angelina turned her head. Franz was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed.

With an expression that said he was utterly disappointed.

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