“I see,” I said. “Thank you, Oppa.”
“Did I satisfy your curiosity, Clovis-a?”
“Yes,” I said. “Oppa, I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to drive out with you tomorrow. There’s something I have to take care of.”
“I’ll help you,” he said, fingers tightening around mine. “I don’t want to be away from you for a day.”
I shook my head. “I have to do this by myself.”
“Clovis-a—”
“Go out driving as you meant to,” I said. “Take Jessamy and Hwan-chul with you.”
“Clovis-a, are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Only for tomorrow,” I said, and he laughed.
“You don’t even scruple to hide it! What if I decide not to go?” He folded his arms and looked steadfastly at the door. “What then?”
I looked up at his profile consideringly, then leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Please, Oppa.”
That brought his gaze to bear on me again at once, softly glowing. “In that case, Clovis-a,” he said, “anything!”
I spent the morning with Carlin as we had always done: I in Dreaming, and he in making tea and talking alternately to me and himself. It was strangely difficult to Dream, though there were enough of them to choose from; I was wary of making him suspicious by too much attention, but I was also reluctant to Dream away those last few hours of companionship.
When half the morning had flown by without the slightest sign of Yong-hwa, or even a knock on the door to be turned away, Carlin said, “He’s not coming today?”
“Dae,” I agreed. “Sit down, Carlin.”
Carlin paused with the teapot clasped in his hands, a small frown between his brows. “Miss?”
“Don’t use that professional tone with me,” I said. “I know you sit on the chair over there.”
“I made sure I wasn’t leaving a dent this time!” said Carlin indignantly, giving up on the professional tone.
“Then you should make sure your shoe polish doesn’t leave marks against the legs,” I advised. “I’ll tell Eun-hee it was you who left the marks, too; don’t think I won’t.”
Carlin hunched by the chair, looking incredulously at the legs, then rose and sat down on it. “All right, miss,” he said. “You’ve got me. What now?”
“Now we drink tea,” I said. “I have something to tell you.”
“Ah,” he said, putting the teapot down on the table in front of him. “Does it have to be today?”
“Yes. Pour yourself a cup as well, Carlin. We’re going to talk for a little while.”
He seemed to sigh faintly as he poured. “Yes, miss.”
“Don’t forget the biscuits.”
“Yes, miss.”
When he had brought the biscuits we sat in silence, both of us caught in our own thoughts until Carlin’s teacup tumbled to the carpet with a small, soggy thump.
“Miss—”
“It’s all right,” I said. “I’ve drugged you.”
“But when—”
“When I sent you for the biscuits. You’re going to have to be much more careful, Carlin; you have to start noticing things more. I can’t be always telling you things you should have seen.”
“Mouth feels strange,” said Carlin slowly. “Why . . . did you . . . drug me?”
“You’ll understand that later,” I said, trying to smile. “When you remember, that is. Your memory might be a little bit patchy when you first wake up. You know I’m in love with Yong-hwa, don’t you?”
“Guessed,” he said. “No reason . . . to drug me.”
“It’s a very good reason,” I said, but by then Carlin had already fallen unconscious. “It’s all right,” I said to him once more, looking for a Se-ri-tinted Dream. “She’ll take good care of you.”
Se-ri’s things were being carried down to a hired Contraption vehicle by a team of footmen by the time Carlin was unconscious in his chair, though there was no sign of Se-ri herself until I slipped fully into a Dream to find her. She was writing a series of letters at one of the desks in the library, a pleasant spot in the soft natural light that came through the garden windows.
“Ah,” I said, in quiet gratification, and rose to join her. Unfortunately, I met Eun-hee at the door, and her eyes were sharp and suspicious.
“You’ve been avoiding me, Clovis-a!” she said. “If it’s about the hanbok I loaned that girl—”
I blinked, and moved gently forward to try to shoo her away from the door. “It’s not.”
“Then—” Eun-hee, aware that she was being moved out of the way, peered around me. “Omo! Clovis-a! What is that?”
I sighed. “I’ve drugged Carlin,” I said. “Se-ri will take him away later.”
“Omo!” said Eun-hee again, her eyes wide. “Omo! Oh, Clovis-a, I’m so pleased!”
Whatever I’d expected, it hadn’t been that. “You’re pleased—”
“I’ve waited so long for this moment! You sly little thing! Have you been with Ma Yong-hwa these last two days?”
I fixed her with a cold look. “Since you’ve been so busy with Dong-wook oppa these days, I didn’t think you’d notice—”
Eun-hee giggled, then looked self-conscious. She said, changing the subject again, “Aren’t you glad I invited Ma Yong-hwa? Wait, that was Jessamy, wasn’t it? But I was the one who—Oh! You’re sending him with Se-ri? You’d better hurry, then; Se-ri is planning on leaving this hour. Don’t let me stop you!” She fluttered her fingers at me expectantly, and leaned forward to close the door behind me with a conspiratorial look around. “Go on, Clovis-a!”
I went at her urging but took my time walking down to meet Se-ri, feeling a kind of solidity to my heaviness that was unfamiliar. The stairs, which usually felt perilous no matter how heavy I was, felt reassuringly steady beneath me this morning, and my feet were heavy enough that I didn’t forget to move them.
Se-ri didn’t see me when I sat down across from her, despite my solidity. I allowed her to work in silence until I’d sealed the first of my envelopes; then, when that was done, I reached out and quite deliberately knocked over one of the ink bottles.
Se-ri jumped with a soft “Aish!” and saw me. Her gaze ran over me in astonishment. “Sohn Clovis-ssi! You’re Sohn Clovis-ssi, aren’t you? I didn’t see you there.”
“Dae. I heard that you’re leaving today; I have something for you.”
“There’s a shadow about this place,” said Se-ri, sitting back elegantly from her letters. “I thought so the first time I came here, and then I heard the stories. You’re that shadow, aren’t you?”
“I suppose so,” I said. It was as good a description as any.
She took the envelope and wriggled it at me. “What’s this?”
“Something useful,” I said. “Don’t waste it, and don’t misuse it. It’s ownership of something very precious to me.”
“You really do see everything,” said Se-ri, drawing a breath. Then, as quick to understand as I’d hoped, she said angrily, “What use will it be to me? It still belongs to you.”
I nodded. “It will be hard at first, but I think you’ll find it’s worth the work. That—well, that’s the deed to the house that Carlin’s family lives in. I bought it a long time ago on the understanding that he’d pay me back little by little out of his wages. It’s the only leverage I can give you.”
Se-ri studied me in silence for a long while before she said, “Thank you. But how do you suggest I go about it? Won’t he come to you straightaway?”
I hesitated, but Se-ri was the kind to appreciate doing what was necessary, and perhaps she’d even enjoy this particular necessity. I said, “You’ll have to kidnap him first.”
“Dae?”
“You’ll have to kidnap him first. Show that deed to him once you’re far enough away. I think—I’m almost certain—that he’ll stay with you.”
Se-ri drew in a breath again and said, “And to think that people call me ruthless. If you’re ever inclined to take over your fat
her’s business, I look forward to doing business with you, Clovis-ssi.”
“Then take good care of Carlin. I’ll give you a letter for him when he wakes up.”
“When he wakes—” Se-ri stared at me. “What do you mean, when he wakes up?”
“He’s asleep in my room. I drugged the morning tea.”
“Oh,” Se-ri sounded faintly disappointed. “I thought I’d have to do that. Will he fit in my large trunk, do you think? It’s got better padding than the Contraption vehicle, at any rate.”
“Send it up later,” I said. “We’ll see what can be done. I’ll finish writing my letter now, Se-ri-ssi; make sure you give it to him.”
“Dae,” she said. “Then, Clovis-ssi, I’ll write my own letters.”
And, she on her side of the table and I on mine, we took up our pens once again. Her ink seemed to flow easily enough, but I looked at the few scratched sentences on my page for a long while, uncertain where to take them. At last, with a sigh, I began to write again.
“I knew that one day you would go, too . . . ”
15
There’s something you should understand. I’ve said it already, but I’m going to say it again: my Dreams won’t ever completely go away. Indirectly, you’ve helped me to manage them better, but they’re still there; there are some days when even you won’t be able to recall me from them. It’s just that now I seem to have learned how to live with them instead of living within them.
That’s thanks to you, too.
Why are you looking at me, Oppa? What do you want?
More? You said that yesterday. There’s nothing else to tell; my childhood was uneventful and my life until this summer was just as uneventful. What else do you want me to tell you?
Mwoh? Pemil?
You want me to guess? I don’t like guessing; I like to know things for sure.
***
I returned to my room shortly after meeting with Se-ri, thankful that Jessamy was out driving with Yong-hwa and Hwan-chul and unlikely to walk unannounced into my suite. Jessamy was very lackadaisical about my plots and plans, but unlike Eun-hee or Se-ri, he was likely to become difficult if he discovered Carlin’s unconscious body on one of my chairs.
Se-ri was still taking care of business when I looked for her again with all the anxiety of an owner who is about to pass off her prize pet to a new home. From a whispy little Dream that showed Ae-jung peeking into rooms along the hall, however, it looked as though she was shortly to be interrupted. I sat down opposite Carlin for the last time and allowed myself to Dream as Ae-jung entered the library.
Se-ri must have seen her come in, but she continued to write until Ae-jung was standing by the desk, too present to be ignored, and bowing to her. Then Se-ri sighed and put down her pen.
“Dae?”
“Se-ri-ssi.”
“I’m not going to apologise, if that’s why you’ve come to see me,” said Se-ri, leaning back in her chair. “From my perspective, you’re the one who got between Hyun-jun and me. I always fight for the things that belong to me.”
“I didn’t expect you to apologise,” Ae-jung said. “Actually, I came to say thank you.”
Se-ri said coolly, “I’d rather you didn’t.”
“If you hadn’t—”
“Don’t think too much of it,” Se-ri said, efficiently gathering her letters. “I’ve been in business long enough to know when to cut my losses. You can tell Hyun-jun for me that I still expect him to honour his contract, but I’ll shorten it to six months. I have a few other contracts that depend on it.”
“Thank you!” said Ae-jung, her eyes bright.
Se-ri packed her inks and pens back into their case with a practised hand and slapped the top shut. “I told you not to do that. I don’t like losing and I don’t like you. I’m off in about an hour, just as soon as I pack my large trunk, so I suppose you can move back into the manor whenever you want.”
“Ye. I’m sorry about my dongsang—”
“I don’t particularly want your apologies, either,” said Se-ri, rising from the desk. “You’ll have to excuse me, Ae-jung-ssi; there’s a very important parcel I have to pack now.”
I snuffled a small laugh into the silence of the room, and waited, hoping that Carlin’s strong impression and my presence not long ago in the library would help Se-ri to remember me. To my relief, she knocked at my door fifteen minutes later, directing two footmen, who left her trunk beside the chair in which Carlin was slumped without so much as glancing in his direction.
“It’s all right,” she said, when my eyes followed them. “They’re my footmen; they came with the Contraption vehicle. They know better than to talk about anything they didn’t see.”
“What about the things they do see?”
“They’re very careful to not see things,” Se-ri said, shrugging. “I pay them quite well. Clovis-ssi, if I slide him into the trunk, can you support his head?”
I nodded, and cupped my hands beneath Carlin’s head. Se-ri, for all her slenderness, was rather tall and far stronger than I’d given her credit for. She lifted Carlin’s upper body without so much as grimacing, and controlled his slide into the trunk so that he bumped only slightly against the padded bottom. I released his head just as gently, and Se-ri put a folded scarf beneath it.
“I’d just as soon throw him in,” she said. “But he’ll only complain if he gets bruised, and I don’t like complaining servants.”
“I’d appreciate it if you make sure he stays unbruised,” I said.
Se-ri closed the lid of the trunk and belted it tight. “I will. I’d appreciate it if you don’t find it necessary to check on him too soon.”
I smiled a little. “That? You don’t need to worry; neither of you will see my face.”
“Clovis-ssi,” said Se-ri. “I’m very familiar with things carefully unsaid, but I find that I can’t read you at all.”
“There’s no need to read me,” I said. “Forget me instead. That’s easier.”
“Perhaps,” she said. “But as far as it goes, I was serious when I told you I’d look forward to doing business with you. If you happen to go into business with your father, I’ll treat you well. I’ll even go so far as to say I’ll treat your dongsang well if he’s the one who takes over.”
I bowed slightly. “Then take care of him well. Jessamy values honesty and loyalty more than my father; if you don’t disappoint him, you’ll never have a reason to regret it.”
“And him?” Se-ri said, with a head tilt at the trunk. “Do you have any advice in that quarter, Clovis-ssi?”
“Let him have his head often,” I said. “He’s quite useful when he’s allowed enough freedom. But rein him in sometimes, too, just so that he remembers there are reins. You’ll do well together.”
“Then, Clovis-ssi, I’ll take my leave,” Se-ri said, bowing. “I’ll try not to bruise the cargo too much in getting it safely home.”
Se-ri and the trunk-bound Carlin got back to Se-ri’s home some time after nightfall, while I Dreamed in the library. The house was much like Se-ri herself: a beautiful exterior and an inside that was surprisingly clean and spare, furnished with accoutrements that were expensive but entirely useful.
She directed the trunk to be taken to a room upstairs and ordered a fire to be built—which surprised me a little until I saw that Carlin, as he began to stir, had also begun to shiver. Se-ri threw a small lap blanket over him in the trunk and sat down to finish the letters that Ae-jung had interrupted that morning.
It wasn’t until Carlin groaned that she glanced over at him again, a swift, assessing look. She said, “Don’t get up yet,” and went back to her letters as his eyes began to flutter. In fact, she continued to write even as he sat up groggily, muttering his confusion at finding himself in a trunk with a lap blanket around his shoulders.
She said again, “Don’t get up yet,” and this time put down her writing things.
“Can’t see,” said Carlin.
“No, you won’t be able t
o see for another minute or two.”
“Know that voice.”
“Good,” she said. “You’re going to know it much better before the year is out. You can have a drink when I’m sure you’re not going to bring it back up again.”
“Won’t bring it back up,” said Carlin, stickily opening and closing his mouth. “Thirsty.”
“You obviously haven’t been kidnapped before,” Se-ri said. “I’ll give you something to drink soon.”
Carlin buried his face in his hands and groaned, then looked up again, this time with more comprehension. “Want something now.”
Se-ri ignored that, along with his clumsy attempts to get out of the trunk. It was only when he sat back against the side of the trunk, hunching beneath the blanket, that she got up and brought him a glass of something pale.
“It’s ginger root tea,” she said, when he looked at it suspiciously. “It’ll help your stomach. Do you remember what happened?”
“No,” said Carlin, sipping distastefully at the ginger root tea. He made a face but seemed to brighten in spite of that. When he had finished it, he said, “What happened? Why am I sitting in a trunk?”
“You should be able to get up now,” said Se-ri. She took the glass from him and put it on the low table beside the trunk, then came back to help him stand. Carlin accepted her help with a somewhat wary expression, and allowed himself to be settled in a nearby chair.
When he was seated, he asked again, “What happened?”
“Oh, that,” said Se-ri. “I’ve kidnapped you.”
“What?” said Carlin blankly. “What?”
“I’ve kidnapped you,” said Se-ri calmly. “I’ve decided that you’re good for business. I need someone who can protect me and hit people who need hitting. And I need someone who isn’t afraid to tell me when I’m making stupid mistakes. I might also need someone who can occasionally climb through windows—”
“Why stop at that?” Carlin said, bitingly sarcastic. “Why not someone who can pick locks as well?”
“No, I can already do that,” said Se-ri.
Carlin stared at her, then laughed a little wildly. He said, “I’m not staying here, you know. I’ll walk back if I have to.”
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