An Uninvited Guest

Before we knew it, the sun was sinking low outside the shopping mall.

We looked at each other.

"Should we start heading back?"

"You sure? I don't mind walking around more."

It wasn't bravado—I genuinely still had plenty of energy. Sure, this mall really was absurdly huge, but in the end, it was still just a mall.

Aria, however, shook her head.

"Today's been more than enough. Besides, we'll have plenty of chances like this from now on."

"True."

She wasn't wrong.

If Aria wanted, I'd gladly tag along on dates like this as often as she liked.

We took the elevator down to the first floor.

The mall, which had been bustling with crowds, was already thinning out. Hand in hand, we headed for the exit—and suddenly came upon a strange sight.

In the vast hall near the mall's main entrance stood a piano, and a little girl was sniffling as she pounded on it.

There was no technique.

I felt bad for the girl, but what she was playing wasn't music—it was noise.

She really was just slamming her palms against the keys. It probably wouldn't break the piano, but it wasn't a pleasant sight or sound.

Even so, if a guardian had been nearby, it wouldn't have drawn this much concern. But the girl was on the verge of tears, and there was no guardian around her.

Passersby merely glanced her way now and then before turning back to their own worlds.

Perhaps unable to leave the scene alone, Aria approached first and asked the girl,

"Is something wrong?"

"My mommy disappeared."

The girl was sniffling, but she wasn't fully crying. Tears welled in her eyes, and her words kept breaking off as if her throat were tightening.

"So that's why you were playing the piano?"

"Yes, in a big place like this. Sniff. If I do something that stands out. I thought Mommy might find me."

Judging by her appearance, she was probably around six.

For a child that age, it was a smart and mature decision.

"Want me to take you to the information desk?"

"That would probably be the surest way. But I have a good idea."

"What is it?"

"Well..."

Aria whispered into my ear.

* * *

"Here, you press the keys like this—just like this."

"Wow, you're amazing!"

Aria had sat down beside the girl at the piano decorating the hall and was teaching her to play.

Even though the girl's playing was clumsy, Aria guided her through the notes beside her, supporting her and turning it into something resembling a song.

'It's about time.'

Before long, onlookers began gathering one by one, until they were now ringed all around the piano.

Maybe they thought it was some new event, or they were moved by the heartwarming story of someone helping a child, or they were simply spellbound by Aria's beauty.

Either way, just as rumors spread from mouth to mouth, the audience grew in a chain, and attention began to focus on them.

The person I was waiting for was the child's mother.

Well, "waiting" might not be the right word—I was just watching the crowd to make sure no one did anything strange. But this way, word would naturally spread through the mall, and the child's mother would likely come looking.

Speak of the devil.

Before long, a woman appeared, her hair half falling loose as if she'd been running all over the place.

"Minjeong! Where did you go?! Mommy was so worried..."

"Waaah, Mommy..."

Mother and daughter embraced in a tearful reunion.

The girl, who had been holding back tears, finally burst into sobs now that she felt safe in her mother's arms.

A little while later, once the girl had calmed down, she pointed at Aria and said,

"This pretty lady helped me!"

"Oh my, thank you so much. How can I ever repay you..."

As the girl's mother bowed repeatedly in gratitude, Aria waved her hands and said,

"I didn't do anything deserving of thanks."

"Still..."

While Aria and the girl's mother went back and forth in a polite standoff, I slowly approached a blond foreign man in a suit who was standing in the crowd.

I called him a young man, but he looked older than me. Whether he only looked older than he was because he was a foreigner, or whether he really was older than me, I couldn't say.

I placed my hand on his shoulder with a light tap.

"Excuse me."

"Yes? What is it?"

His Korean was more fluent than I expected.

That was a relief, actually.

If he'd clenched his jaw and pretended not to know Korean, I would've been in a bind.

"I'm the older brother of the child playing over there. Would you mind deleting the photos you took?"

This was exactly why I'd stayed out of it and kept watch. Well, if he'd taken them thinking it was an event put on by the mall, he'd probably delete them without a fuss...

"What are you talking about?"

He started playing dumb. I glanced over and saw that Aria still didn't seem to know. Wanting to handle this quietly if possible, I kept my hand on the foreign man's shoulder and motioned for him to follow.

I'd clearly seen him take the photos, and I had proof.

The foreign man, perhaps not wanting to be embarrassed here, followed along without resistance.

We moved away from the crowd to a spot with fewer people.

I got straight to the point.

"Don't bother denying it. I clearly saw you taking pictures from behind. If you refuse, I'll call the police and report you for illegal covert photography."

Even if I called the police, the person photographed was Aria, a woman.

He could legally refuse a police request to show his smartphone gallery, but the suspicion itself wouldn't go away, so it would still be a hassle.

The man's eyes darted around before he let out a deep sigh and handed me a business card.

"This is who I am."

"Adler Group?"

The card bore the name Lucas Steiner along with the company he belonged to.

I'd heard of it before.

A massive Austrian conglomerate, I thought.

It handled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠many different fields, but since it wasn't a big tech company, I remembered it wasn't particularly well-known among Koreans.

"Why would someone from a major corporation do something as sleazy as secretly taking pictures of people?"

"Let me say this first: I absolutely did not film her with any ill intent or personal motive. It's just..."

"Ah, Brother! There you are!"

Aria's voice cut off Lucas's words.

She must have seen me move. Given how quickly she followed me here.

"You came? What about the kid?"

"She went back safely with her mother. But who is that man...?"

"He says he's from Adler Group. I caught him filming you earlier."

At my words, Aria's expression filled with contempt and disgust, while Lucas's face filled with embarrassment.

Honestly, it was a sight I'd never seen before, so I was a little shocked.

Aria, who had always smiled brightly and shown only her lovable side in front of me, was also a person capable of looking at someone with contempt. It hit me anew, I suppose.

"Do you know him?"

"I've seen his face a few times. I didn't have any particular ill will toward him, though. I never imagined he'd do something this filthy..."

"I'm telling you, that was not my intention!"

Lucas protested, sounding wronged.

Then he showed us his smartphone.

On it was a record of text messages, apparently in German.

"I don't know German. Austrian German even less so."

"It's a conversation history with the young lady he serves. Victoria von Adler. The daughter of Adler Group is looking for me."

I'd been planning to have the man translate roughly and then cross-check with AI, but Aria smoothly explained the contents.

"Aria, you know Austrian German too?"

"A little. I've attended so many competitions and concerts."

That made sense.

While studying abroad, Aria had traveled all over the world to attend various prestigious competitions and concerts.

And Austria—with its renowned orchestras like the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra—was surely a place she'd visited often.

"So why is this Victoria girl looking for you?"

"She's kept fixating on me ever since we met at a competition. This is probably just more of the same. I don't know why, though."

Aria said it calmly.

Judging by her cold expression, the one she found annoying wasn't Lucas but Victoria.

"The young lady wishes to see Miss Aria again. She's been searching for Miss Aria ever since she went off the grid, and once she learned that Miss Aria had headed to Korea, she sent me ahead first."

In short, he'd taken the photo and sent it as proof that he'd met Aria.

"I'll delete the photos right away. I apologize."

Lucas even showed us that he'd sent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Aria's photo, then deleted the photos of Aria from his gallery without hesitation.

"That's even more unpleasant. Doesn't that mean it went beyond secretly taking pictures of me to stalking me?"

It was beyond contempt and disgust now—she was looking at him like he was a cockroach. As Lucas hung his head with nothing to say, Aria sighed.

"Hah. Fine. You're a salaried employee too, so you were probably ordered to do it. Still, I should receive adequate compensation."

"Is there something you want? I'll compensate you as much as I can within my authority."

Indeed. I inwardly admired Aria's shrewd response.

First, Lucas had shown us that he'd sent the photo to his young lady, as if to say what was done couldn't be undone.

With that, Lucas had completed the task his young lady assigned.

But a problem still remained for him.

If word spread that a major corporation executive had come all the way to Korea to secretly film and stalk a beautiful girl, it would deal a serious blow to the company's image, and Lucas himself couldn't escape punishment or disciplinary action.

On top of that, even if Lucas revealed the truth, the media would take interest and dig into it, making things troublesome not only for Lucas but for Aria as well.

Aria also had no desire for things to get troublesome.

Just the fact that Victoria—the girl obsessed with Aria—had gotten word of her might already be troublesome enough, but paparazzi stalking and secret filming were on a whole different level.

So Aria was saying she'd cover this up in exchange for extracting as much compensation as possible.

And Lucas was saying that since he couldn't control his young lady's actions, he would compensate as much as he could within his own authority.

But this raised a question.

Aria had more money than she knew what to do with—she certainly didn't need any more.

So what kind of compensation was she planning to demand?

"Victoria is in Korea, right? Report her future schedule to me. Every last bit of it."

"The young lady's schedule is confidential for security reasons..."

"Oh my, shall I call the police? I recorded this entire conversation. Do you mind if I claim I was secretly filmed and stalked?"

Leveraging an information advantage.

Lucas didn't know that Aria wanted to spend a peaceful daily life with me.

No wonder Lucas's mouth had gone dry.

If he talked, he'd be handing over another weakness—leaking confidential information. If he didn't, his own career would be ruined.

"...If you promise not to use this matter as additional leverage, I'll tell you."

"Fine. That much I can do."

In the end, the two compromised at that point.

A little while later, after receiving the full schedule, Aria fell into thought.

"You don't want to meet this Victoria girl?"

"No. She always makes a racket every time we meet."

Aria's face was full of displeasure.

If even this gentle Aria found her annoying, I couldn't begin to imagine how loud she must be.

A moment later, Aria finished thinking as she stared at the schedule and let out a deep sigh.

"Hah..."

"What's wrong?"

"She's going to stay in Korea for at least half a year, it seems. She'll go back to Austria in between, of course. But even accounting for that, she's really set on it. That girl."

"Couldn't she just be here under the pretext of business or negotiations? She wouldn't need to stay that long, and she probably isn't that free."

I wasn't claiming every chaebol daughter was like this, but just looking at Seo-yeon's case, her schedule was anything but light.

Being a rich family's daughter didn't mean ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just throwing money around and playing. These days, it wasn't an era of handing everything to a single heir—they usually passed down at least one affiliate company to each child.

"She deliberately arranged her schedule loosely. How cunning."

"She can do that?"

"It's possible. The heir is Victoria's older brother anyway, and that family dotes on that immature young lady enormously. Besides, the affiliate she's set to inherit is an instrument company, so even when she travels around for competitions, it actually serves as promotion for their instruments."

So, in other words, she was a young lady her family let roam freely from the start.

Even if she didn't focus on management right away, every public appearance by Victoria served as publicity for the company's instruments, so they gave her even more freedom.

"She's even left generous gaps in her schedule so she can make time whenever she wants. Let's go home quickly, Brother."

Aria took my hand and started walking.

Lucas made no attempt to stop us. That fact was oddly unsettling.

And ominous premonitions usually turn out to be right.

"Oh my, have you been well, Miss Aria?"

As we stepped out the mall's main entrance, a woman got out of a luxury sedan.

Blond hair like a blazing sun, and green eyes reminiscent of emeralds.

She was the sort of woman who practically screamed “rich young lady” at a glance.

"I was perfectly well until you showed up, Victoria."

Aria responded coldly to Victoria. But Victoria merely gave a derisive snort and retorted.

"Hmph! The runaway loser has a lot to say. If you want me to shut up, prove it with your skill!"

"Sure, sure. I'll just be the loser. Let's go, Brother."

Aria ignored Victoria and started walking. I followed behind her with a dazed expression, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as if being dragged along.

"And who is that gentleman?"

Aria didn't answer Victoria's question. As if continuing the conversation was pointless.

At that, Victoria snorted and raised her voice even more.

"Hmph. To let all that innate talent go to waste because you've been bewitched by a pathetic man like him. Don't you think it's a waste of your talent?"

Watching her, even though she seemed to be picking a fight, she clearly acknowledged Aria's talent.

Just as I was walking along without much thought, Aria stopped abruptly.

"What did you just say?"

If the look she'd given Lucas earlier had been contempt and disgust, this was coldly sharpened fury and killing intent.

With her eyes blazing, Aria glared at Victoria. Even Victoria flinched involuntarily at that murderous gaze and stepped back.

"Ugh, what's wrong with calling him a pathetic man?! Compared to your musical talent, a man like that is nothing...!"

"Shut your mouth."

The words "shut up" actually came out of Aria's mouth.

Honestly, I was shocked too.

I'd never once seen Aria, who always spoke only pretty words, tell someone to shut up.

"Ha, so you've thrown away your dignity after all. Aria Lindblom!"

Victoria snapped back harshly, as if refusing to be cowed. But Aria answered with a face as cold as ice.

"Then let's settle this with the performance you want so badly. If you lose, you will kneel before my brother, bow your head, and apologize for the nonsense you spouted."

"No, I'm fine with it..."

People insult each other's parents all the time in online games, so being called a pathetic man didn't particularly bother me.

But Aria didn't back down.

And neither did Victoria.

"Fine. Then if I win, you must return to the music world. Prepare yourself, Aria Lindblom!"

"I accept. Not that it'll ever happen. You're the one who should prepare yourself."

Aria said it in a flat voice.

"Because I'm going to shatter your pride that day."