Chapter 119

Chapter 119

But I decided to ask again, just in case.

“By any chance, is the artifact an old gun?”

“A gun? Ha, an old gun.”

Right? Who would use such an old-fashioned–─

“It was a very old double-barreled shotgun. I bought it because it was an artifact, but the only good thing about it was that it was solid, so it’s been sitting on the wall in my study, unused, I guess.”

“A shotgun.......”

“Yeah, come to think of it, that’s what I happened to have on hand when your father asked for my permission to marry your mother, so I shot him with it. Well, it didn’t kill the damned thing.......”

“What?”

“Hmmmm, no big deal. He seemed to be in pain anyway, so it must have done the trick.......”

‘No, you can’t tell us you tried to kill our father like this.......’

No matter how many times I heard it, I couldn’t help but think it was just what I was looking for.

“Grandpa, did you shoot him?”

I wondered if he was reminiscing.

His words came out so casually that Jiyun stopped chewing her meat and asked.

At this, Han Jin-wol’s expression stiffens as he realizes his mistake.

“It’s not what you think, it’s just a joke. A joke. Do you understand?”

“A joke? I know, joke!”

“Yes, a joke. Joke.”

Somehow, I managed to smooth things over.

Still, I couldn’t just turn around and leave, especially not after realizing that the one thing I came here for was missing.

“Grandpa.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Do you mind if I stay here for the night?”

“Hmm? Here?”

Grandpa, surprised, as if he had heard something unexpected from my mouth.

“What.....I don’t care, but are you sure, you have to get ready for the academy and get permission from your father.”

His expression quickly returned and he said so in a blunt tone, but his legs were shaking violently under the table.

“I’ll convince my father, and the assignments for the academy......can be taken care of in no time.”

Luckily, this week’s assignments aren’t too many, and none of them are difficult, so I suppose it won’t matter.

Or maybe not, but does it matter now?

“Hmmm. Well, if you say so......then I see no issue.”

“You mean that?”

Haru glances in my direction at the question directed at her. In response, I nudged her leg and smirked.

“Is that okay?”

It would be much more helpful to have Haru around to help me move the way I wanted to.

Luckily, Haru nodded as if it wasn’t a problem.

“I don’t mind either, since most of my work can be easily done online.”

“Really? Did you say that Haru......lives alone?”

“That’s right.”

“Well .....Yes. By the way, Eugene, you should ask your father first. No matter how good the two of you are, if your father says no, I can’t help it.”

“Yes. I see.”

As Grandpa said, I must ask my father’s permission first so I left immediately and called my father.

* * *

To conclude, it was a great success.

At first, my dad was confused, but then I told him that since I hadn’t seen my grandfather in a long time, I wanted to make sure I spend some time with him.

“So I’m going to sleep over at your house?”

Jiyun asked grandfather with her head held high.

In response, Grandpa strokes Jiyun’s head and nods.

“Yes, I think so. Kang-chul, will you prepare the rooms for the children and those from Corleone?”

Is she the one who’s surprised?

No, she’s not surprised, but.......

“What......doesn’t make sense?”

Eugene Han Corleone was born speeding.

They call it a shotgun wedding in the West.

Shotgun wedding it’s a time-honored tradition in the Western world where a man points a shotgun at the bastard who impregnated his daughter and asks him, “Will you marry her or die?”

In Grandpa’s case, it’s a bit of an anomaly, as he shot the shotgun as soon as he saw father, but who can ignore father’s noble heart.

Perhaps my father has always felt sorry for my grandfather.

“I think I know what you’re after, how about we start gathering evidence?”

“No. This is grandfather’s mansion, not some other place, and he’s not going to stand idly by while we wander around.”

“Then what do you think we should do?”

“Oh, nothing much. Let’s just kidnap one person.”

“......?”

It was no big deal.

What I asked Alessia to do wasn’t that difficult.

I wanted her to find one of the mansion’s occupants, a maid with a scratch on one eyebrow.

Surely she must be somewhere in the manor, as she had been seen when we first arrived.

So here we were, standing in the garden, talking about our plan.

Alessia, the one who received the mission, arrived.

“I found her.”

“Already?”

“Apparently, the Corleone and the Hanwol Group are connected by blood, and members who want to work in both places often move over. Luckily, a friend of one of the organizers I came with is in charge of security at the mansion, so it was easy to find them.”

With that, she handed me a briefcase of papers.

“The identity and name of the woman you mentioned. And the room she’s currently staying in.”

I checked the photo, name, and age on the papers, and smiled when I was sure it was the person I was looking for.

“Well, then, let’s get right to work.”

It would be simple.

* * *

After being led to our respective rooms by Kim Kang-chul.

“......You mean her?”

Kim Kang-chul is puzzled by the sudden request to meet a maid exclusively.

“She was there when we arrived, and I recognized her, so I just wanted to say hello.”

“...... Is that so? Okay then, I’ll ask her.”

After some time passed a woman’s voice came from outside the door, accompanied by a clicking sound.

-Sir? I hear you’re looking for me.

“It’s open.”

A few moments later, the door opened with a click and a girl with a puzzled expression walked into the room.

The scratch on her left eyebrow caught my eye immediately, she was the person I was looking for.

“I’m here because you said you knew me, but......where have we met?”

“.......”

“And......?”

I didn’t answer.

Instead.

“One day.”

“Yes master.”

Just as she was about to close the door behind her, Alessia, who had been hiding behind the bed, popped out and placed a cotton bag over her head.

“What the-?!!”

She was stunned by what happened so quickly but I walked over to her with my hands in my pockets and whispered quietly in her ear.

“......Do you know what’s going on?”

You’ve been kidnapped.