Jeong Taeui had changed his mind.
He looked at the old man and then slowly turned to Ilay with a very serious expression and
said,
"Although I had thought about this before, today I am still impressed by Rick's sophistication
and style. His elegance and sincerity in welcoming you have captivated me. I'm just a guest
visiting this house for a short time, so I want to keep that wonderful image in my mind for a
long time because I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to see this again."
Only the first sentence was a lie. The rest were sincere words from the bottom of his heart.
Literally.
When would Jeong Taeui get the chance to see Ilay wearing the mask of a refined and polite
man in such elegant attire again? If he didn't take a good look now, he would regret it.
As soon as he finished speaking, Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay again. His wide-open eyes
showed no hesitation.
After a moment of silence, Ilay quietly looked back at him. Jeong Taeui didn't flinch and
maintained his resolute gaze at Ilay.
For a moment, the old man's laughter broke the silence.
"Haha, that's right. Riegrow has always attracted a lot of attention. You truly have a good
eye."
Facing the old man's kind smile, Jeong Taeui wanted to explain, 'That's not what I meant.'
But he decided to keep his mouth shut.
Beside the old man, Ilay looked at Jeong Taeui for a moment longer before turning back to
the old man and saying with a faint smile,
"I feel like I've been excessively praised. I think I will have to meet him privately later to
express my gratitude."
Everyone else remained silent except for the old man, who smiled at Ilay and said,
"That's right."
Despite the atmosphere being so quiet, Jeong Taeui seemed unable to hear the words 'I will
meet you later'
that Ilay had directed at him.
Damn it, why do I keep digging myself into a hole?Jeong Taeui pondered, lowering his head, his face flushed red. He quietly ate the fruit ice
cream that had just been served (it seemed Johan was indeed blessed when it came to food).
While eating, he thought that if Ilay ever brought this up, he would have to insist that it was
genuinely a sincere compliment.
Feeling frustrated, Jeong Taeui quickly finished his fruit ice cream in just a few spoonfuls,
then glanced at Ilay. This time, he was careful not to have another obvious staring contest like
earlier.
Ilay, who had been conversing with the old man, soon glanced back at him. Although he
couldn't see Ilay's eyes clearly because he had his hands clasped over his forehead, Jeong
Taeui could tell that his eyes were smiling. For some reason.
Suddenly, he felt something boiling up, heating his cheeks. Without thinking, Jeong Taeui
reached for Johan's dessert ice cream when he was happily eating a spoonful of it. Johan,
who had his ice cream snatched away, could only cry beside him, but he pretended not to
notice. Anyway, Johan would just call the server and order another.
Jeong Taeui's face burned for no reason. The smile in Ilay's eyes and the narrowing of those
eyes made him feel embarrassed. So, Jeong Taeui quickly averted his gaze and decided not to
look in that direction anymore.
Meanwhile, the old man continued talking to each young person at the table. Until his gaze
settled on Christoph, who was sitting at the end.
"Well, Chris. How do you feel living with everyone?"
When the old man asked, Christoph looked up and stared directly at him. His eyes were clear,
reflecting surprise as if not realizing someone had spoken to him.
However, as soon as he saw the old man's gentle smile, Christoph's gaze lowered.
"Thanks to you, I am doing fine."
His voice was deeper and calmer than usual.
Jeong Taeui lowered his head, looking at Christoph and listening to the old man's voice.
Christoph was indeed a pure and beautiful young man.
"If he stays like this, who would think he's crazy?... It would be much better if he kept
behaving like this."
When Jeong Taeui muttered to himself, Johan—who had just received a new glass of fruit
juice from the server—muttered beside him,
"Wrong, wrong, wrong. Once a perception of a person is formed, it's hard to change. Do you
think those two words 'fearsome' appeared without a reason?"
Jeong Taeui pinched Johan's back and grumbled - "Just like how everything you do looks
annoying, huh?""I heard you joined T&R's special team. What are you doing these days?"
The old man asked, looking closely at Christoph. Like with the others, his face showed
undisguised affection for his grandson.
It was the same affection for everyone. From the most outstanding grandson in the world to
the one feared and despised by the world, he loved them all equally.
"For now… I'm still resting."
Christoph hesitated and answered. The old man nodded and said - "That's good."
Everyone seemed to have finished eating, but the conversation showed no sign of ending.
After a while, the old man finally stood up and reached for the cane standing beside him.
Seeing this, Christoph quickly stood up and handed the cane to the old man, and Jeong Taeui
also got up from his seat.
Everything was over. Now he could go back to his room, rest comfortably, sleep, or read a
book. As Jeong Taeui began to walk forward, he thought; 'Maybe I should watch a good
movie tonight?'
In the chaotic atmosphere as everyone else was also standing up, Jeong Taeui glanced at
Christoph, who was standing quietly beside the old man like a good boy. And then, suddenly,
Christoph smiled.
At that moment. The old man, who was leaving the restaurant with his cane, suddenly turned
and looked at Christoph thoughtfully. Christoph turned his curious eyes to the old man, but as
soon as their eyes met, he awkwardly looked away.
The old man spoke in a low voice,
"Now that I think about it, your mother said she wanted to attend the day of the succession
decision. I told her to do whatever she wanted."
At that moment.
Jeong Taeui seemed to hear something shatter.
The sound seemed to come from Christoph's eyes.
For a moment, those eyes froze coldly. They widened, then shattered like fragments. His face
turned pale in an instant.
***************************
Should I take a walk in the forest tonight?
Jeong Taeui thought while looking down at the distant forest.The forest surrounded the back of the mansion and faced the majestic mountains. The deeper
one went, the denser it became, but there was a very clean small path in the middle of the
forest.
Besides the path suitable for walking, one could also ride horses there, so Christoph often
came here.
Jeong Taeui sometimes took a walk there when he had time in the evening.
Perhaps because most people only used this path for horseback riding, Jeong Taeui – who
was walking along the trail at the moment – had never encountered anyone else here.
Occasionally, he could only hear the sound of horses running in the distance.
"Alright, tonight I must go into the forest. I need to relieve the mental and physical fatigue
that has built up all this time."
Jeong Taeui muttered, feeling sorry for his mind and health, which had been unknowingly
deteriorating since he came here.
This forest was wonderful. In Germany, oaks were a rare type of tree. But here, dense oak
trees covered the entire forest. Lying under the trees and looking up at the sky through the
leaves was enough to make him forget everything.
There was also a birch forest behind his house in Berlin, but the oak forest here was even
denser and quieter.
"A forest this beautiful, and it's privately owned."
"No wonder someone keeps coming here repeatedly and takes a long time to return."
Jeong Taeui muttered as he looked down at the entrance to the forest, just a few minutes
away from the mansion.
Christoph was still in the forest. Several hours had passed, and he hadn't returned.
... And just a short while ago, Jeong Taeui had finished cleaning up Christoph's bloody
office and went outside for some air.
Christoph's mood was unstable. Even from the beginning, his personality had unpredictable
and dangerous turns, but it had worsened in recent days.
If today had been like any other day, it wouldn't have been so serious.
While Christoph was away briefly, a messenger brought a telegram from the main building.
Perhaps because there was something urgent to reply to, the messenger wanted to leave a
note on Christoph's desk when he wasn't in the room. Just as he was rummaging through
Christoph's drawer for a pen, Christoph unexpectedly returned.
He had been complaining all morning about a headache and ringing in his ears, looking
extremely uncomfortable. Eventually, he had to go to the main building to get somethingmore effective than the headache medicine he usually took.
There had been times like this before. As soon as he got the medicine, Christoph would
immediately chew the pills in his mouth. Jeong Taeui wondered if he had just overdosed, but
before he could think more, he had to hurry after Christoph back to the annex.
This time, seeing Christoph take several times the necessary amount, he frowned and said,
"Let me keep the medicine for you. You can come to me whenever you need it, okay?" But
Christoph didn't even listen. Jeong Taeui kept silent, sensing the danger of provoking him
further. Since waking up, Christoph's mood had been terrible, probably because he had a bad
dream. Later, when he felt better, Jeong Taeui thought he would try to steal the medicine
somehow.
At that moment.
As soon as they returned to Seoik, Christoph couldn't help but immediately put several pills
in his mouth and chew them. His pale face turned even paler when he saw the door to his
office open.
Jeong Taeui, following a few steps behind, suddenly saw Christoph slow down a bit and
quickly realized the door was open.
It seemed he hesitated for a few seconds but then hurried forward. With an expressionless
face, he roughly pushed the half-open office door.
When the door suddenly opened, the messenger inside turned around in surprise, still
rummaging through the drawer.
"Ah... you're here. I thought it would be rude to just leave the letter, so I was looking for
something to write a note…"
The messenger stuttered, making excuses.
"Why did you enter here without permission?"
Christoph whispered. His gaze was cold as he looked at the messenger.
The messenger was terrified. He seemed to stupidly remember what kind of person Christoph
was only now.
"They said it was an urgent message... very urgent... so I had to deliver it immediately."
"Did I say others were allowed to step into my room?"
"I-I'm sorry. I just wanted to leave a note... Oh, the message was sent by your uncle,
Christoph."
The messenger, almost in tears, hurriedly explained. But it seemed those words didn't reach
Christoph.Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue, and before he could say anything, Christoph approached the
messenger.
He said nothing more or listened to anything else. He strode towards the desk where the
trembling messenger stood and grabbed something from the nearby cabinet.
It was a porcelain statue. The statue was almost knee-high.
Jeong Taeui had no time to stop him.
Christoph approached the messenger with a pale, motionless face and wide eyes and took
him down in one swift move without blinking.
With a loud crash, the porcelain statue shattered. The head, face, body, arms, and legs of the
porcelain mother holding her baby lost their original shape and scattered into pieces soaked
in blood.
The messenger only had time to scream once before collapsing on the spot, clutching his
head. Blood flowed through his fingers.
Christoph coldly looked at the messenger and continued to strike with the remaining half of
the porcelain doll in his hand. Until the messenger was drenched in blood, and his voice
broke from screaming.
Jeong Taeui, with a hard expression, rushed over. He grabbed Christoph's arm and pushed
him away roughly.
"Stop it, Chris!"
"I warned you not to touch me."
Christoph said coldly. No longer were his eyes the strange green they turned whenever he lost
control. Now, Christoph was looking at them with a perfectly normal – perhaps even colder
and calmer than usual – expression.
He raised his hand. The porcelain doll, now reduced to the size of a large glass, was thrown
directly at Jeong Taeui without hesitation.
The porcelain shards flew past Jeong Taeui's head as he immediately dodged and shattered
against the wall behind him.
No more porcelain dolls. Only blood-stained porcelain fragments scattered here and there.