The Red Flower Falls (13)
With an awkward expression, Yeon Minha turned her body slightly. It looked as though she might slip away into the garden alone at any moment, yet she returned to stand before me. After glancing around for no particular reason, she raised her left arm so the back of her hand was visible and held it out.
"…?"
Unable to guess her meaning, I simply stared. Finally unable to endure the silence, she spoke first.
"…You have to escort me."
She added another line.
"It's proper etiquette whenever a man and woman appear together in a place like this."
"I don't know how. I've never done anything like that before."
"R-really? You've never tried…?"
Yeon Minha's sharp expression softened slightly. For some reason, it almost looked like relief.
"I thought as much. Where would you have learned such things? Still, there's no need to worry. I'll teach you myself, so you should be grateful."
"You really don't have to—"
"Th-this is basic etiquette… If you behaved like that at some event, people would laugh at you behind your back… It would also reflect poorly on your patron…"
I didn't like that idea. Though unintentional, her persuasion had clearly worked.
"In that case…"
When I nodded, Yeon Minha swallowed hard. She moved to my side and slipped her slender fingers around my forearm. She stood so close I could almost hear her heartbeat.
The mention of "escort" brought back a memory from my time in the northeast. During breaks, the older girls would stand on either side of me, link arms, and drag me along.
'Our Hyun must be happy, having such pretty noonas escorting him on both sides.'
'What are you doing to a kid…? You're too old for this nonsense…'
'You shut up…!'
I even recalled the image of the team leader getting hit square in the forehead by a rock thrown by Chae-won noona. Back then, I hadn't known it was something a man did for a woman, nor that only one person was supposed to do it. Moreover, touching arms with the older girls had only brought a strange, unpleasant sensation, whereas the spot where my arm met Yeon Minha's now felt only warm and comfortable.
Of course, that didn't change how precious the older girls were to me… but the subtle difference still felt oddly fascinating even now.
The only awkward part was the noticeable weight pressing against the back of the hand she held. I wondered if I should say something, but Yeon Minha didn't seem to care at all. Surely she wasn't unaware… I couldn't tell.
"Ahem, ahem. You're doing well. Just do it like this next time too."
"Will there be a next time?"
"Of course. There will be countless times…"
As if suddenly remembering something, she quickly added,
"Ah, but you must never offer your arm to just anyone. This is only permitted between people who share an exceptionally close bond. For example, those who share not one but several secrets that no one else knows…"
There was no one I would do it with anyway. After her lengthy explanation, Yeon Minha snapped back to attention and urged me forward.
"Come on, let's go. At this rate, the food we prepared will get cold…"
I matched her pace as we stepped onto the garden path connected to the annex. Unlike last night, when everything had been hidden beneath the darkness of the new moon, today's garden bloomed with colorful flowers releasing a sweet fragrance in every direction.
At a quiet table set in the middle of the garden, a light breakfast for two steamed gently. Once seated, Yeon Minha pushed most of the dishes toward me. Unlike yesterday, the atmosphere was relaxed, so eating posed no difficulty. The only issue was the pair of eyes fixed on me throughout the meal, which felt somewhat burdensome…
After finishing, I confessed last night's escapade to Yeon Minha.
"Senior, actually…"
I told her everything: how I'd gone for a walk, sensed the scent of blood, left the annex, and witnessed servants carrying blood-soaked sacks into what looked like a warehouse. Yeon Minha's face, which had initially looked slightly disappointed, grew increasingly serious as the story progressed.
"Anyway, that's what happened. I'm sorry for wandering around without permission…"
"…No. I was the one who gave permission in the first place. And you didn't go snooping with bad intentions either…"
"I see. Thank you. Still, is working at night like that common here?"
"No. Absolutely not. At night, magical beasts and spirits are highly active, so accidents can happen at any time. That's why, aside from the guards, everyone else is restricted from outdoor activities after dark—unless there's an emergency."
Yeon Minha shook her head.
"Besides, blood-soaked sacks would mean they contain beasts or magical creatures… If it were such a large-scale operation, a report should have already reached the main house. But I haven't heard anything…"
Our thoughts aligned, and we both turned our gazes toward the open area beyond the garden. Since the annex stood on somewhat elevated ground, we could see the buildings and facilities below at a glance. Six locations spread out widely from the main gate. I could also make out the faint outlines of facilities similar to the warehouse I'd seen yesterday.
"…I also don't understand why they rearranged the facilities like that. The employee quarters aren't placed where sunlight is good, and the logistics warehouse isn't near the road… There's no discernible pattern at all. The butler who was supposed to explain everything is holed up in the inner quarters attending to Father, so we can't even ask him…"
After surveying the view, Yeon Minha muttered with furrowed brows. I shared her sense of unease. While I couldn't judge right from wrong, the way the facilities were clustered at each point certainly gave an odd impression. At the same time, it felt strangely familiar, though I couldn't quite place why. That only made it more frustrating.
"…It seems we'll need to look into this."
Yeon Minha glanced around and gestured to two servants waiting at the edge of the garden. They had been watching her the entire time and immediately hurried over.
"Those children were brought from the main house by Mother, so they should still be here. They've been observing things up close for years, so they'll know the family's situation well. I should ask them."
Yeon Minha lowered her head and turned toward the servants standing before her.
"Tell me everything that happened at the mansion while I was away. Don't leave anything out."
"Hic, hiccup…"
When the servants couldn't even answer properly and only hiccuped, Yeon Minha's cold aura grew even more ferocious, as if she might devour them.
"How dare you show such an attitude before the successor of the Red Fire—"
"…"
Her sudden change was hard to get used to. Lately, her personality had seemed a bit better, but apparently not. Well, with family troubles weighing on her, it was understandable. Their hesitation suggested they definitely knew something. Still, that kind of intimidation was practically the worst possible interrogation method. Coercion was only a last resort when extracting information.
Of course, I knew that in theory. In practice, I hadn't exactly had much experience gently coaxing anyone either…
"We won't tell anyone that you spoke. Please feel at ease and be honest."
Yeon Minha gave me a surprised look. For some reason, a fleeting sense of injustice passed through me. Still, it seemed our unintentional good-cop-bad-cop approach worked, as the servants finally relaxed a little and began speaking over each other.
"The new people are a bit strange… The old butler was kind…"
"Their gazes are scary for no reason… They don't talk much… They always move around in groups…"
"These days, the surroundings feel dangerous too… When I went down to the lower village, people said vagrants have been disappearing from the slums every night…"
"Some people said they heard beast-like howling… There were claw marks and bloodstains left behind…"
"People from the Security Bureau came and left… These days, once the sun sets, you can't go outside at all…"
"We can't even talk among ourselves… The inner quarters where the Madam stays are packed with guards… It feels more like surveillance than protection…"
"The Madam has even been drinking heavily lately, though she hadn't touched alcohol in a long time…"
Once their mouths opened, everything poured out like a broken dam—even details unrelated to Yeon Minha's question. Only after they finished did silence return.
After organizing their testimonies, Yeon Minha spoke while deep in thought.
"…Perhaps the new butler is up to something."
"Him? But how…"
"We'll have to find out from now on. Do you know what's most important when running a large family or corporation like this? Keeping the middle managers firmly under the master's control."
I recalled the middle-aged man who had given off a strange smell.
"Nine out of ten of those types are always looking for a chance to fleece their master. If Father's health is poor, they might… Come to think of it, how has Father been lately?"
As if remembering something, Yeon Minha asked one of the servants beside her.
"We only attend to the Madam, so we're not entirely sure, but… recently, his complexion seemed much better… His face even looked fuller… and he started appearing outside more often…"
"Father…?"
Yeon Minha's eyes widened in surprise. I had heard from her before that there were no known treatments for mental pollution. The best one could do was delay the symptoms, and even that had no effect on her. As the direct descendant of a spirit mage family, her father must have suffered mental pollution proportional to his talent. Yet if he was showing signs of improvement, it was understandable that she would be shocked.
"Yes. And starting two years ago, a nun began visiting the mansion frequently… I remember that after meeting with her, his expression was always quite bright… Perhaps it had something to do with that…"
"A nun… I see. You may go."
After waving the servants away, Yeon Minha turned to me.
"Our family sponsors facilities like poorhouses run by religious organizations. It seems someone related to that has been coming and going… Maybe he was receiving counseling…"
"That could be."
"…Anyway, we'll need to check. I should go to that warehouse you mentioned myself. So… could you help me…?"
"Helping you is obviously possible, but… wouldn't it be better to just tell the adults?"
Yeon Minha shook her head.
"I can't worry them over something uncertain. And if someone really is up to no good, we need to gather evidence discreetly. If we make a fuss and they catch on, they might destroy any incriminating evidence right away…"
"In that case… I understand."
"Thank you. There's a dinner scheduled with Father tonight, so we can move after that."
There was no reason not to help. After all, if things went well for Yeon Minha, it would be good for me too. Her suspicion also seemed plausible at first glance. If true, it would explain why the newly arrived servants had looked at us with wary eyes. With the masters in poor health, they had been plotting something, only for the young lady of the house to return—so of course they would be anxious.
Of course, I still had no idea what the blood-soaked sacks actually contained or why the buildings were arranged so strangely… but checking would clear that up quickly enough. Still, the part about relying on a nun felt oddly out of place. Even the head of such an enormous family sought comfort in religion, it seemed. My only connection to religion was pretending to pray as a child to get candy. If a god truly existed… they probably wouldn't have inflicted such misfortune on anyone.