It was the first weekend since I started going to school.
Honestly, there was nothing to do. Just like in January and February when I didn’t go to school, I found myself with nothing to fill my time.
Actually, I did come up with one thing to think about.
Ye Sara said she got her hands on some dangerous sleeping pills that aren’t prescribed right now through illegal means. This means she had an accomplice from the outside, or at least some sort of connection to cooperate with someone outside.
How on earth did this happen?
It’s impossible inside the mansion. Whenever Ye Sara used her smartphone, or occasionally had to use the computer, it was always monitored by the staff. Yang Hye-in seemed to have come to this mansion around the time Ye Sara became a middle schooler, but the staff had likely been keeping an eye on Ye Sara even before that.
Ye Sara had died before graduating middle school. By age, she was still very young. How could a kid, who relieved her stress by writing down her delusions in a notebook, have made and maintained connections with the outside world?
…There must have been someone who approached her first.
I can’t be sure. I didn’t see Ye Sara during that time right next to me. Still, that was the only conclusion I could draw based on the evidence I had.
So, where could it have happened?
If it was just exchanging information, she might have hidden a small device or something to use. But when it comes to exchanging drugs, that’s a different story. Clearly, someone else would have been needed to say exactly what Ye Sara needed and bring it back.
The most likely place for that to easily happen is, of course, school.
Since her father passed away, Ye Sara has been stuck in the mansion. The only time she could go outside was when she went to school.
And within the school, no one paid any mind to what Ye Sara did or where she was.
Yeah. Even if Ye Sara screamed, threw things, or hit someone…
…Even if she stormed out of class during a lesson.
No one cared.
The problem is that I don’t know where, with whom, and in what way she communicated.
Moreover, I was already a high school student. Even if Ye Sara had some contact spots while in middle school, I couldn’t use them now. Even if I stuck close, the division was blocked by walls. If I tried to cross over in a high school uniform, I would be immediately suspected.
Should I wait until someone approaches me first?
Yeah, for now, let’s wait and think it over slowly. If there was someone who continuously contacted Ye Sara until just before her death, they would find it strange that there’s been no contact for a long time.
If there’s any chance, I should look for hints within the school.
Hmm.
Even after organizing my thoughts to some extent, it’s still not even time for Saturday breakfast.
…It’s boring.
Not long ago, I was somewhat enjoying doing nothing like this. No need to go to work, and it wasn’t like I had to prepare for exams or study either. I just lay around, flipped through one of the books on the shelf without any particular interest… And as I spent time like that, Yang Hye-in came up and announced it was mealtime.
But, after just a few days of school, why was I already bored?
Of course, the classes were boring, but during breaks, there was Yoo Ha-neul who kept poking at me, and there was Lee Soo-ah who ate lunch with me, and occasionally, there was Shin So-hee who got tangled up with us after school.
I wouldn’t say I had a lot of friends, but at least I wouldn’t say it was so boring.
Lying on the bed, letting the feeling of boredom take over while staring at the ceiling, the door opened with a creak.
“Breakfast is ready, Miss.”
Yang Hye-in said politely while bowing her head.
I got up according to her words.
*
This mansion is peaceful whether it’s the weekend or the weekdays. I don’t know if it’s quiet when I’m not here, or when only the staff is around. But at least while I’m here, the staff was dreadfully quiet.
So, to be honest, it was almost like nobody was here.
Toast and fried eggs. And mashed potatoes and bacon. Breakfast has always been simple. Of course, that doesn’t mean they skimp on cooking. The toast was perfectly crispy, and the fried egg had the runny yolk gently surrounded by the white. The yolk maintained its bulbous shape beautifully until I broke it open with a fork.
The mashed potatoes were soft. You couldn’t feel any lumps at all. I could tell how carefully the person who made it had mashed it and mixed the ingredients.
The bacon was perfectly crispy. I had only tasted such crispy bacon after coming here. It was delicious. To be honest, I don’t think I could ever go back to the thin, floppy bacon I used to eat.
I didn’t particularly like the people who made the meals. Was it because I read Ye Sara’s will?
In fact, everyone working here was indirectly related to Ye Sara’s death. No, from a certain point of view, some people might even call them direct perpetrators. If there had been even one person among them who genuinely cared for Ye Sara, she might have made a different choice.
What would happen to these people if Ye Sara had ended her own life? Would they have been exposed to the chairwoman’s wrath and burned alive?
As I slowly finished my meal while pondering such thoughts, the dining room door opened.
“…?”
And that situation itself caught my interest.
It was something I had never seen before.
At the open dining room door, a somewhat flustered-looking security guard stood.
Something must have happened outside the mansion. Something so troublesome it had to be reported directly to me.
But the guard didn’t dare speak to me directly. When I stared at him, he hastily averted his gaze.
“May I have a moment of your time?”
Yang Hye-in asked in a calm voice, as if she couldn’t bear to see him in that state.
When I nodded, Yang Hye-in walked silently over to him.
“Speak up.”
“Uh, it’s….”
The guard started to say something, glanced at me again, and finally sighed and reported to Yang Hye-in.
“Outside….”
The rest of his words were too quiet for me to hear.
I cut my bacon into small pieces and munched them. The smoky taste of the pork filled my mouth. The well-cooked fat was crispy and enjoyable to chew. As I slowly chewed on the food, watching those two, Yang Hye-in soon came back to me quietly.
When I gazed up at her, Yang Hye-in reported to me directly.
“Outside, your friend seems to be waiting for you.”
“……Huh?”
*
“Hi!”
The person who greeted me with exuberance was none other than Yoo Ha-neul.
Of course, she wasn’t dressed in a school uniform.
She wore black leggings that hugged her legs tightly and a gray zip-up hoodie. Her sneakers looked comfortable.
At a glance, it appeared she had come out for an early morning jog. In fact, as she cheerfully greeted me, she seemed unable to contain her overflowing energy and was jogging in place. The ponytail tied back was swaying healthily.
“What’s going on?”
Standing at the open gate, I honestly asked in surprise. I mean, to think she would come all the way here directly on a weekend at this hour.
Moreover, Yoo Ha-neul had already seen me twice here to know what position I was in. Yet despite that, she came here, so the wall must not be a normal one.
“Oh, I just thought of you while jogging this morning.”
Jogging on a weekend morning? That was something I couldn’t even imagine. No, I actually can’t comprehend people who go outside to jog in the morning, not just on weekend mornings. What’s the point of making time to torture your own body like that?
“And if I just stay home on the weekend, I won’t exercise.”
So, I suppose that meant she came here to make me exercise.
“I’m sorry. I told you I had plans today…”
The guard said apologetically. Of course, his gaze wasn’t on me but directed at Yang Hye-in, who effectively ran this mansion.
“So, could you tell me what those plans are?”
Yoo Ha-neul asked very bluntly.
“Yeah, exactly. What plans did I have today?”
At least, I had no idea. I had never really done anything significant on weekends. A girl, left alone in a mansion without even friends or acquaintances, would not possibly have anything to do on a weekend.
“…….”
The guard remained silent after hearing me.
To be honest, I would love to shove Yoo Ha-neul out of here by force. But unfortunately, the fact that this mansion was originally meant to be used as a department store was publicly known to all. Even if tall buildings were peeking out on both sides. This section appeared sunken, which highlighted this building even more.
Naturally, right in front of it lay a roadway, with people constantly passing by. Most of the neighboring buildings were office buildings, so it was a bit quieter during the weekend. Still, one couldn’t create a situation where there were no witnesses during a violent act.
Well, if it were any other property, I might not care and could just chase her away. But here, my circumstances made it difficult to consider such things.
Besides a few childhood photos, the chairwoman was doing her best to prevent any more photos from leaking out. If it got out about who was ‘living here’, the curiosity about who the heiress, who inherited 5.7% of a staggering 360 trillion won, would be overwhelming.
While she could bribe the media to silence them, once public opinion kicked in, it became a different story.
Thus, I couldn’t carelessly push a minor girl away. It would attract attention.
Wasn’t the current situation already dangerous enough?
“So, how about we just go for a good run?”
Though she might not know the facts, at least Yoo Ha-neul seemed to enjoy throwing the guard into confusion. To be fair, I never expected a friend to come visit me directly.
“…….”
I lowered my gaze.
Drawing a line through the direction the door opened, there was a track that rolled along. The track was where the door’s wheels moved. That line was also the boundary separating this mansion from the outside.
Ye Sara had never crossed over that line of her own will.
For a moment, I almost glanced up at Yang Hye-in, but then I stopped.
Do I even need to seek permission from someone else?
Yang Hye-in had said that the chairwoman would likely catch onto my actions quickly, but—
Ah, whatever.
If she figures it out, let her figure it out.
I wasn’t planning to just take it lying down anyway.
I lifted my head to look at the guard.
And gave him a sly smile.
Seeing my expression, a bead of sweat formed on the guard’s temple.
Alright, let’s benchmark Ye Sara this time.
Of course, the direction would be completely different though.
