He checked his watch.
About right.
“……”
He took out a book that refused to enter his eyes and flipped through it aimlessly.
“……”
He even cleared his throat, just enough to announce his presence.
“Ahem.”
There was no response.
Even so, the reason he could not open that absurdly thin door was Oscar’s answer to the earlier question.
May I bring my body heat in first?
“If there are no side effects.”
Moreover, it was better for a first encounter to be disguised as coincidence.
Still, as time passed, Abel’s expression began to sour. By the time his patience was fully exhausted, the world had turned red. Unable to endure whatever was happening inside any longer, he was just about to knock when Barbara appeared.
She was carrying dinner. Seeing his state, she laughed.
“I’m almost naked. Am I sorry that I’m the first person to see you like this?”
“Stop it. We’re both working.”
“Such manners.”
Then, with an ease that made Abel’s long, patient wait seem pointless, she knocked on Seo-ah’s door.
“Miss, I’ve brought dinner. I’ll be coming in.”
The door opened.
Unable to bear it any longer, Abel looked past Barbara into the room. The moment he confirmed the scene inside, Barbara let out a cough-like laugh, and Abel swallowed back the sigh that nearly burst out.
The entire afternoon he had spent waiting—sucking on his fingers, imagining the woman emerging with her clothes undone—felt utterly pathetic.
The woman he had imagined timidly holding her breath, staring blankly, was curled up on the bed, fast asleep, as though she found this place remarkably safe and familiar.
—
Seo-ah, who had unknowingly pushed Abel Sting’s patience to its absolute limit, opened her eyes only the next morning.
“Hoororong—”
Startled awake by unfamiliar birdsong, she realized with a pale face that she had not merely dozed off, but slept deeply.
I’m crazy.
She had clearly fallen asleep while basking in sunlight, yet now pale dawn was dyeing the entire world in a bluish hue.
To sleep without realizing night had fallen—or that dawn had come.
What was more, she seemed not to have noticed anyone entering the room at all. On the desk lay a note from Madam Barbara, who had brought dinner and left, instructing her to pull the cord if she woke up hungry.
The clock read six in the morning.
She hurriedly unpacked her luggage and went to wash up. Today, instead of a dress, she chose a shirt and a skirt. She fastened the buttons to her neck and smoothed the creases with her hands. As she brushed her hair and braided it with a ribbon, she sensed movement outside.
Knock, knock.
“I’ll be coming in.”
Barbara opened the door and entered.
“You’re awake.”
In her hand was a tray laden with food.
Seo-ah stepped forward instinctively at the sight of Barbara holding the heavy tray with one hand, but Barbara set it down on the desk before Seo-ah could reach her. On it sat a bowl of steaming soup, crisp-looking bread, a few simple fruits, and a cup of tea.
“Please eat comfortably and leave the used dishes. I’ll collect them later. Also, I was informed that His Excellency provides you with a weekly salary. As the amount is quite substantial, it would be inconvenient to deliver it to you every week. I was thinking of keeping a safe in my office for your share and replenishing it weekly. What do you think?”
“Yes, that sounds fine.”
“If you need money, tell me at any time. I will advance what you require.”
“I will.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“Um…”
Seo-ah opened her mouth carefully, recalling what she needed to ask.
“As I rode in the carriage, I found the city quite charming. I’d like to visit a place with many people later. Where would you recommend?”
Her heart pounded as she spoke.
She watched Barbara’s reaction, afraid she might refuse—but fortunately, she did not.
“You wish to see the city?”
Sensing the probing note in the question, Seo-ah added quickly,
“Yes. Somewhere people come and go often… like a market, if possible.”
“A market visit…”
Barbara paused, as if weighing the request, then continued, one eyebrow lifting slightly.
“It is not a difficult request. You may visit the Central Market. It is the largest market in Vues.”
“Central Market…”
Barbara looked impassively at the stranger who repeated the words. In the dawn light, Seo-ah’s pale face carried a softness found only in those who had never known physical hardship.
Why did she come here alone?The thought surfaced—then passed.
“It would be best to take some money with you. Now, please enjoy your meal.”
With that, Barbara left the room.
Only after she heard Barbara cross the study and the hallway door click shut did Seo-ah finally sit down before the steaming food.
—
About an hour later, Barbara returned.
As she cleared the dishes, Seo-ah asked quietly,
“May I go to the market now?”
An hour had felt long enough to her. Barbara glanced at her watch, considered briefly, then answered.
“It should be open.”
If so, there was no reason to remain in the mansion.
Seo-ah followed her out at once. Barbara handed the dishes to a man in a suit moving through the mansion, then led Seo-ah to her office. It was located on the first floor, near the center, beside the grand staircase.
“How much shall I give you?”
“Before that, I have a question. When I arrived, I saw many tables set outside. May one sit there freely?”
“They are usually cafés.”
“Cafés?”
“Places that sell tea or coffee.”
Barbara looked at the stranger—so ignorant of the world it was as though she had lived entirely shut away—and handed her two hundred thousand Kertes.
“This should be enough for the market.”
The stranger clasped the two one-hundred-thousand-Kertes gold coins tightly in both hands.
Watching her, Barbara felt the urge to sigh.
A naïve face perfectly suited to being swindled. Small, pale hands without calluses. And gold coins clutched so openly.
It was enough to make her doubt Abel’s abilities all over again.
Barbara took a small pouch with a safety pin from her drawer and handed it to Seo-ah.
“Attach it to the inside of your outer garment and keep the money there.”
After saying it, she briefly wondered whether the clumsy girl would understand. Yet, though she did not know what a café was, she knew how to hide a pouch inside her clothes. She did so deftly.
For the first time, she smiled faintly.
“Thank you, Madam Barbara.”
Only then did Barbara release a small sigh. Deciding she would need to double the backup personnel, she added,
“Please wait a moment. I will call Abel.”
—
Abel Sting, having drunk himself into a stupor the night before, fell asleep at dawn as usual.
He was accustomed to it. His targets had always been noblewomen, and they typically fell asleep at that hour.
The most recent one—a countess—went to bed when the dawn moon rose and woke only when the sun stood directly overhead. She rose late, shopped at department stores and boutiques as if it were her daily work, and attended parties at sunset wearing the items she had purchased that day, playing until the dawn moon returned.
Abel had rolled around with her for exactly six months.
It suited him.
But—
“I can’t believe this.”
I’m not a merchant, yet here I am at a market before nine in the morning.
“Move aside!”
A rough voice burst from behind without warning as a merchant’s cart splashed through a puddle. Abel reacted on instinct, stepping back. He avoided being drenched, but a few droplets still splattered onto the hem of his clothes.
It smelled like rotten fish water.
“……”
His patience wore thin the moment work began. He took out a handkerchief, then hesitated—it was expensive. In the end, he shook his clothes sharply to fling off the moisture and lifted his head, irritation flashing in his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a peculiar red ribbon.
It was a ribbon that would be visible from a hundred meters away. A deep, saturated red. The color was vivid, but the material itself looked heavy.
—