ITIWAFRBIAHS Chapter 4

The garden walk after sunset has its own quiet charm. I probably would have thought that if I were alone, but right now I'm just busy admiring his face.

My fiancé's profile in the soft backlighting had perfectly defined angles without any harsh edges, with the curves of his lips and eyelashes creating beautiful harmony. Usually backlighting exposes facial contours harshly and blurs features into shadows, which can look ridiculous, but this face was ridiculous from sheer excessive handsomeness.

It feels like I need to immediately purchase a 200mm telephoto lens for a 4K-capable body, shoot vertical full shots, and save both a face close-up version.

Of course, reality is harsh. Looking at magazines and catalogs last time, I should be grateful that cameras have developed to the current industrial level. No, now I have money but can't buy them...

Still, I saw something like early film cameras, so I must buy and shoot with those. If it's black and white, I'll add color myself. Insufficient equipment can somehow be supplemented with fan dedication!

"The world is quiet."

"Right."

But your face isn't quiet. It's at the level of banging gongs and shouting 'This is my face!' sir!

"As I mentioned before, it's truly a beautiful garden. It has atmosphere even without light."

"Yep. Right."

Ah, come to think of it, I forgot about meeting the gardener. Sure enough, that topic came from the fiancé's mouth.

"Yesterday, I wondered about the reason this garden is so beautiful."

"...Did you?"

Could he think I found that out in just one day? If so, no matter how pretty his face is, this is where I cut losses.

Fortunately, it wasn't that story. The fiancé smiled.

"I'd like to share my thoughts once."

"About why this garden is particularly beautiful?"

"Yes."

The fiancé reached toward the rose bush on the left. His gloved fingers gently caressed a large rose bloom.

"Isn't it because of the location?"

"Location?"

"Yes. My hypothesis is that somewhere beneath this soil, there's something that nourishes the vines and makes the rose blooms plump."

Hehe. The fiancé seems to have a more sentimental and romantic personality than I thought.

I smiled warmly and nodded to mean 'please continue,' but the fiancé suddenly changed the topic. Still fixing his gaze on the rose, he spoke in a low, soft voice like a whisper.

"Is life in this manor enjoyable?"

Don't even mention it. It's totally sweet.

"Yes... The comfortable and affluent environment is nice, everything's good."

Yesterday and today were a bit embarrassing, but it was bearable!

After all, it was better than when a group project presenter went AWOL on the day itself, leaving me standing on stage with just summary notes. By the way, 300 people were taking that course, and I failed more spectacularly than I'd imagined.

There have been times like that, so this level is nothing.

"When you say affluent environment, do you mean based on money?"

"...Right?"

Why are you asking something so obvious...?

The fiancé suddenly turned his gaze from the rose to look into my eyes. Ugh. Too bad it got darker.

"I've felt unease about this thing called money since I was young. This enormous force that can be exchanged for anything in this world—it never submits to control and its permanence can never be assured."

Of course money comes and goes. Look at me. I was poor but suddenly became a golden spoon unemployed person. Keu.

"Rose. Haven't you ever thought about it? What if this current affluence in the manor might meet some end even in just 5 years..."

The fiancé was very serious. So I decided to give him a truthful and honest answer too.

"Um... That would be."

"That would be?"

The fiancé's questioning voice grew louder. I answered gravely.

"Won't I handle it myself in 5 years?"

The famous 'Future me, please take care of it! (wink)' method. It works for all exam periods and weekend nights.

"..."

"...?"

"I, I see."

The fiancé stammered his response. It might have been too progressive a method for people of this era.

The walk afterward proceeded quietly in silence, and the fiancé didn't say much. He seems to be thinking deeply about the answer I gave.

When it gradually became too dark to continue walking, we came inside to the entrance hall. Unexpectedly, there were no working staff. They must all be preparing or eating dinner.

The fiancé escorted me to the second floor.

"Tomorrow, before leaving, I'd definitely like to give morning greetings."

"Sure, sure."

"Then I'll leave word with the servants before departing."

That's fine with me. I exchanged farewell greetings with the fiancé while thinking his face looks even better in bright light... no, with the fiancé. Ah, come to think of it, it's almost dinner time—should I ask him to join?

But unexpectedly, the fiancé declined.

"Something urgent came up that I need to handle, so tonight I'll have to spend it at my desk with documents."

If it's that urgent, he could go back to his own house, but insisting on staying here is remarkable. Plus he added more pretty words even while declining. Really amazing character.

"Please invite me again next time. I'll definitely attend the meal then."

"I will."

I gave encouraging words to eat a lot and variety even while working, and the fiancé said he would. And we parted to return to our respective rooms.

It was a good walk. It feels like completing one event schedule in a dating sim. Now let me choose a camera to buy from the catalog.

Not even a few minutes after I was absorbed in the catalog, seriously going through it, there was a knock at the door. Dinner? Are they calling me for dinner?

"It's dinner time, Miss."

As expected!

It's about time for Mother's signature dinner comment "Did you have another enjoyable day?" but.

"Rose. You must take your pre-meal medicine."

Different words came out. Mm, it's a completely understandable situation. But taking medicine is a bit much. I broke out in cold sweat looking at the black pill the working staff served with a glass of water.

Glancing at Mother, she's watching with wide eyes as if she absolutely must see me take it. Plus this body's sister (assumed) also has an unexpectedly stern expression and is staring intently at me.

Eventually unable to withstand those gazes, I picked up the pill and water glass.

"Well done, Rose. Now let's begin our meal."

When I showed my empty hands and put down the empty glass on the table, Mother smiled with relief and spoke. And dinner began to be served as usual. But this body's sister was still staring intently at me. She's wide-eyed with her mouth open—she must have seen it.

That's right, I actually pretended to swallow it while rolling it into my clothes! How could a normal person take psychiatric medication without knowing what might happen? There's no other choice!

But unexpectedly, the sister who seemed like she'd immediately tell Mother lowered her head and turned her gaze to her plate. Could she want my illness to worsen...? Hey, that wouldn't be such a sinister psychology. I couldn't shake off the extremely unpleasant feeling and began eating.

Of course, 15 minutes later when the medium-rare sirloin steak was served, all worries and concerns disappeared. Long live beef!

After finishing the delicious dinner, I returned to my room. I'm filled with pleasant satiety.

Still, this body's sister (assumed) who wouldn't even make eye contact until the end bothered me a bit. Plus she didn't touch this steak either. At first I thought she was vegetarian, but lately it seems more like indigestion. I hope she's taking her medicine. Not avoiding it haphazardly like me.

Keu, but how did I think to put it in my clothes at that timing? This judgment was excellent. I admired my quick wit while taking out the black pill still caught at my collarbone. Even sniffing it, I can't detect any particular scent.

Anyway, I need to dispose of this thing somewhere. Let me put it in the inner drawer of the library for now. The working staff don't touch that place much. Ah, while I'm putting this away, I should organize the teaspoon too. I forgot and kept carrying it around.

I took out the silver sparkling, cute teaspoon from my pocket and put it in a small organizer on the table.

Now that I've finished everything, let me look for cameras again. I smiled widely and opened the catalog to start comparing specs. Let's see. Excluding models advertised mainly on design, rating them by performance...

"Hmm."

I lost track of time repeatedly writing various camera products on paper with a pen, then crossing them out with two lines. But when I finally narrowed it down to two models, I absolutely couldn't choose one.

Uum, one side is famous for capturing light-dark details well and producing clear lines. In other words, it's a camera that focuses easily and produces good quality photos. ...Of course, I can't think of 21st century Korean smartphone image quality. Still, I think it's top-spec for this era. Even the design, which was my lowest priority, provides a dignified charm—it's an almost perfect product.

The other one actually disappoints in performance compared to the first. The image quality is also somewhat lower, and seeing no mention of focus-related features, the operation method might be quite difficult.

Yet I'm considering this because of one thing—the color sensitivity is no joke. The sample cuts all have glossy, atmospheric color sensitivity like app filters, and if I photographed Lord Moore with this, it would look like some masterpiece of the century.

Heuuum what to do. I spun the pen while agonizing even more intensely than before, when I suddenly realized all this was meaningless. Haha, I'm still worrying as if I'm living in a semi-basement one-room with a bank balance of 12,140 won as a sleep-deprived senior student!

I can buy both!

"What a great idea!"

I immediately called a working staff member. If I ring the small silver bell by the bed, it can be heard in the next room, and then a waiting staff member comes to visit. I hadn't used it before feeling a bit sorry, but now it's an urgent situation, so I tried once.

I hope the summoned person thinks generously instead of cursing internally about why I'm calling at this late hour...

And surprisingly, in less than 2 minutes, there was a knock.

"Did you call?"

"Yes, yes!"

It was the familiar girl around my age who entered. The friend I'd talked to about this body's father last time. I showed her the catalog and asked her to place an order for the cameras I'd chosen as quickly as possible, within reason. The girl readily took the catalog.

"I'll tell them to place the order right at dawn tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"It's only natural."

The girl who answered without hesitation seemed to be looking at the marks I'd made in the catalog.

"You're ordering cameras."

"Ah, yes. I thought I'd learn a bit."

"Since this would be the first time cameras have entered this manor since the wedding of the two, perhaps you should mention it to Madam Sawyer beforehand?"

Whoa! Suddenly the scent of 'something happened' is starting again! And this time I won't hold back.

"You probably heard, but my memory is a bit mixed up, so why haven't cameras been brought in since their wedding? Did something happen?"

"..."

The girl tilted her head slightly, then after a moment of silence, answered.

"Because something unpleasant was captured on the photographer's equipment that should have taken wedding photos instead. After Lord Aubert's funeral, all cameras in the manor were disposed of. Even now, having portrait painters instead of calling photographers is probably due to the remaining uneasiness."

My detective cells awaken in this festival of ambiguous information...!

Now, let me think this through. Contextually, Lord Aubert's funeral (this body's father) happened after the wedding. And the dates don't seem too far apart. Then the 'ceremony' in 'he passed away the day before the ceremony' seems to be that wedding, about 80% certain?

Then the 'two people' referred to in 'the wedding of the two' are this body's father and mother respectively, so that wedding was their wedding!

Something bad enough to cause father's death happened the day before the wedding, and from that Mother would have gotten some PTSD. Oh, this connects with what the doctor said too!

And since father's death was 5 years ago, the wedding must have been a remarriage. Madam Sawyer is the adoptive mother, stepmother.

If this hypothesis is correct, my initial K-intuition was victorious!

Having deduced this far, I feel some pride along with guilt. If this is right, I've been too indifferent to my stepmother all this time. From now on, I should be more affectionate and give her some healing.

The camera might also end up adding fuel to a dying fire. I carefully asked the working staff.

"...At that level, would it be better not to buy it?"

But unexpectedly, the working staff's reaction wasn't bad!

"Sometimes it might not be bad to face superstitions head-on."

Her expression doesn't show much disturbance? Unexpectedly, the camera might be an item they've unconsciously avoided by chance. It doesn't have much influence. I shrugged and decided to go with purchasing. Instead, I should talk with my stepmother first tomorrow morning before buying.

"Thanks for explaining well. I'll think about the camera tomorrow and order it."

"Understood."

The answering posture shows no hesitation—very professional! I really started liking this friend and decided to dig into her personal info.

"As I mentioned, my memory is a bit lacking, so have you worked at this manor long?"

"I have stayed here for a long time."

As expected, a veteran who's worked since childhood! Making friends with someone my age like this seems like a good choice too!

"I see. What's your name?"

The girl smiled faintly for the first time.

"Just call me Sunset. It's my nickname."

"Got it, Sunset. Please take care of me from now on!"

I bid Sunset a cheerful farewell and finished that day's shopping.

And perhaps because I'd looked at my fiancé's face and cameras so much, that night I dreamed of creating an SNS fan account for my fiancé as an idol. It was a very vivid and fun dream where I carried a cannon-like telephoto lens camera and appeared at all concerts including overseas tours, posting fan comments on SNS.