[Would you like to examine the Fragnt of Despair?]
[Yes (selected) / No]
Kururu!
As soon as the selection was confird, a faint vibration reverberated through the parlour. The scene transford, revealing a vision of several people laughing. These were not real people, but the shadows of characters from the fragnted mory.
"Gulp* Who rembers the ti we used to gulp* take care of the garden?"
"Take care of it? We wrecked it, let's be honest."
"And then Father would storm out, yelling, 'You bloody kids!'"
"Haha… such a good mory. He always looked so frustrated whenever we tore through the house like a hurricane…"
"Yes, yes, and Dante will always get us into trouble while flirting with the maids."
"Dammit! Didn't I tell you I'm not like that anymore?!"
"You say that, but I haven't forgotten the ti you tore my stuffed bunny right in front of ~ And you never even apologized~ You're a terrible brother! How could you be so an to your little sister~?"
"You.... You still rembered that~ That was long ti ago. I'm sorry, okay~ Please forgive this dear ~"
Laughter echoed through the room.
Dante, Elena, Isabella, and Julian.
They were all hopelessly drunk, drowning themselves in alcohol and babbling nonsense.
Where had the air of elegance gone? Was this really the sa group that had been so composed only monts ago?
For a mont, it felt like a peaceful family gathering, with the siblings laughing together as if they had forgotten all about their inheritance dispute.
Indeed, It was a strange story.
Wasn't this how siblings should behave? But considering the bad blood between them, this peaceful scene felt entirely out of character. Perhaps the alcohol was a way to numb the tension and avoid confronting their true feelings about the inheritance.
Yes, with the inheritance no longer at stake, there was no reason for them to continue antagonizing each other.
I scanned the room and noticed other familiar faces in the parlour. Luna and Simon were there too, drinking alongside everyone else.
Their faces were flushed, unmistakably showing they were drunk, and their words were a muddled jumble of nonsense.
What was going on here? Wasn't this mory supposed to be a clue? Instead, all these people were doing was drinking.
Moon Jiyeon noticed the situation and frowned.
"What is the aning of this mory? Why is it called the Fragnt of Despair when all they're doing is drowning their past in liquor?"
"Honestly, I don't know at this point."
Yoo Rin groaned. "Can we skip this mory and move on? Their laughter is starting to get on my nerves."
"I agree. Let's go sowhere else."
Ryu Yeji also added.
I frowned. Weren't they all impatient?
"How can you be so sure this mory is useless if you haven't even watched it to the end?"
"Isn't this mory like a boring movie? Watching it to the end won't make it any more interesting."
"What about those stories that start off slow but have a great ending?"
"Ah, those movies are very rare you know."
Ryu Yeji, unable to co up with a strong counterattack, could only manage those words.
His words weren't completely wrong. In the first place, good and great stories were difficult to find.
But how can you discover those stories if you don't see them through to the end?
Reluctantly, we all agreed to watch the mory through to the end, hoping it would reveal sothing important.
5 Minutes
.
There was hardly any relevant information. They were just reminiscing about the ti when Dante was a playboy, constantly ssing around with countless girls.
There was even a ti when he got three girls pregnant and completely abandoned them right after.
Wow. What a nice guy.
His siblings weren't exaggerating when they said he was a real piece of work in the past. Honestly, I don't think he's changed all that much.
It wasn't easy for people to change. They just conceal certain parts of themselves and portray the image they want the world to see.
That version of themselves would stay hidden for a long ti, perhaps until their death, or until the right mont allowed it to surface.
Dante Valont was a perfect example of that.
The best way to describe Dante's existence was that of a
'Snake'
.
Snakes shed their skin to reveal a new layer, but beneath it, they remain the sa creature. They coil themselves in the shadows and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.
They won't hesitate to turn on their own kind if it ans securing their survival.
Despite building a successful company, marrying a good woman, and having a remarkable son, he still managed to ruin it all sohow and conspired with others to exploit his brother for money.
In the end, he was still the sa person with the sa layer.
10 minutes
.
At this point, Elena began spouting random words, but I managed to piece so of those words together and constructed a m narrative inside my head.
Elena was the second child of the Family Head. But with her exceptional academic achievents surpassing those of her siblings, she relentlessly worked to secure her place as the sole successor to the family legacy.
Despite her relentless efforts, the Family Head rejected Elena's claim to the succession simply because she was a woman, and ultimately chose her eldest sibling, Julian as the next successor instead.
This rejection hardened Elena, turning her into a bitter person who despised others and channeled her resentnt toward anyone she deed unpleasant or unworthy.
Elena married a successful businessman and had him adopt the Valont na. But her husband's shareholders had bought majority of his company's stock, putting them in a difficult financial position.
With no other choice, Elena must have reached out to Dante before the Family Head's birthday, teaming up with him and her husband, Simon, to devise a plan that would force Julian to give them money ahead of ti.
That plan failed spectacularly, but if it had succeeded, she would have manipulated her brother into giving her a large sum of money and lived comfortably with her choice.
The best way to describe Elena's existence was that of a '
Fox
'.
20 minutes
.
The next person was Isabella.
She was the youngest of four siblings and held the least influence within the Valont family.
Her timid deanor when speaking with her older siblings suggested she had been frequently bullied by them during their childhood.
The reason was unclear, but unlike her crimson-haired siblings, she had silky black hair. Perhaps her striking resemblance to their mother, the family head, had drawn more attention to her, stirring jealousy and envy among her siblings.
The relentless bullying she endured likely broke her spirit, leaving her ntally fragile and unable to resist as an adult.
She had a daughter, Beatrice, but no husband. It might have been understandable if he were simply busy and unable to be present, but she never once ntioned anyone resembling a husband figure.
Nevertheless, she owned a beauty company that was struggling financially, mainly due to her own mistakes. Eventually, she was contacted by Dante and beca involved in their sche to exploit their eldest sibling.
No matter how I look at it, she she seed like the type of pathetic person who couldn't even stand up for herself.
The best way to describe her existence was that of a '
Rabbit
'
30 minutes.
Finally, there was Julian.
The eldest among the four siblings and the successor of the Valont Family Head.
Unlike the other siblings, he was the one about whom I had the least information, making it difficult to fully understand his personality and character.
All I knew was that he had married his wife, Victoria, in an arranged union and had a daughter nad Iris.
He was a real estate investor who oversaw several projects, though nearly all of them ended in failure. Along the way, a series of mistakes and growing liabilities led him to accumulate a substantial amount of debt. Perhaps he must have tried to embezzle his Father's funds to save himself only to discover sothing terribly wrong.
Wait a minute....
I imdiately beca suspicious.
If the eldest was responsible for overseeing the Family Head and his assets, how did he fail to notice when the Family Head sold off all his assets and gave away his funds?
Looking at it, it made no sense.
The Valont Family Head had tens of billions of pounds to his na. It was a rather large sum of money that couldn't possibly be spent all at once without raising suspicion.
Realistically, it was impossible. He could manage a few million, but a billion was a different story. There's no way anyone wouldn't have noticed if that amount of money was spent.
If Julian was responsible for managing his father's finances, how on earth did he fail to notice his father's actions?
He didn't strike as the careless type. After all, wasn't he the sa shrewd and calculating man who had outwitted his siblings' every attempt to corner him and siphon off his money?
That's right, sothing was off, and the more I thought about it, the more suspicious he seed.
I needed to check the study before making any conclusions.
Even the narrative I had built in my mind could be flawed. I needed to dig deeper into their personal lives, gather more information, and sift through the inaccuracies and errors (flaws)
Yoo Rin spoke with a hint of frustration.
"Ahjussi, this is so boring. How much longer do we have to watch this?"
"I agree it's boring. But wait, do you actually find the Fables fun?"
"Honestly, I'd rather fight so enemies than slog through this boring mystery. I thought we would be fighting stronger enemies from the Sixth Fable upwards."
Of course, we're going to face stronger enemies, but the nature of the Fable itself would be unpredictable.
We continued watching the events contained within the mory fragnt, but by this point, so mbers of the group were already showing signs of fatigue.
Could soone get tired of watching a mory?
I was starting to feel tired as well. The characters weren't revealing anything relevant to the mystery.
Heck, we still don't know what even happened in this place.
How much longer are they going to keep talking like this?
Finally, Elena, clearly drunk, blurted out, "Hey, do you all believe that Mother was a witch?"
At so point during the conversation, she accidentally let those words slip from her lips, causing a subtle shift in the atmosphere.
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