Chapter 83
“This is…”
Gerard looked around with a stiff face, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
Inside the palace, furniture and objects were piled up like a mountain.
The garden’s soil looked as if a herd of moles had torn it apart.
“Chuut? Chuut?”
A mess? A disaster?
I couldn’t find the right words either and just stepped back.
“Oh, you’ve come…?”
Ferdinand scratched his head awkwardly as he greeted us.
Judging from his guilty face, he was clearly the culprit behind this chaos.
Led by Gerard, we sat at the one garden table that hadn’t collapsed.
Before starting today’s mission—searching for Lady Solania’s hidden treasure—we needed to plan.
“For a more effective search, I’ll need to confirm a few things.”
Gerard spoke firmly, and Ferdinand nodded seriously.
“First… Do you have any idea what kind of treasure Lady Solania left behind?”
“Well… surely something very precious.”
“Preciousness depends on the person, sir. Then… do you at least know where it might be?”
Gerard asked carefully. After a long pause, Ferdinand answered,
“Ahem… Somewhere in Black Dragon Castle, I suppose?”
“So even its being in the Hundred-Day Palace isn’t certain. I see. Understood.”
Gerard dragged his words flatly, already looking hopeless.
From just this short interview, he seemed to know what today’s results would be.
And honestly, I thought the same.
“Chuut…”
This grandpa… does he even know anything?
His wavering eyes glanced at the pile of furniture in the corner of the garden.
At least he’d cleared out the rooms, leaving only the excess furniture here.
That would make searching the palace a little easier.
“Time is short, so let’s begin. We’ll start from the first floor.”
And so, with Gerard’s suggestion, our treasure hunt began.
But an hour passed… two hours passed… and still—
“Lady Cherry, have you found anything?”
“Chuut, chut.”
Not at all.
We searched everywhere: the lobby, the library, even checking every shelf.
Nothing close to a “treasure.”
“I’ve found nothing either.”
“Same here.”
Gerard and Ferdinand trudged back empty-handed, and we moved on to the second floor.
“Lady Cherry, please take the room at the far end. I’ll check the bedrooms.”
Even though Ferdinand said he had checked many times before, sometimes familiarity blinds the eyes.
While they headed east, I went west—toward the farthest room.
“Chuut…”
Unlike the others, its door was tightly closed. But that wasn’t a problem for me.
I clung to the doorknob and wiggled until—click!—the lock gave way.
“Chut-chut.”
Excuse me, I’ll just snoop around a bit.
I greeted the empty room and stepped inside.
Everything inside was covered in white sheets, as if untouched for years.
A secret room, maybe…?
Well, my goal here was to find hidden treasure.
So this was absolutely fair.
I bit the edge of a cloth and tugged it down carefully.
Beneath it was a canvas so large, it could belong in a royal gallery.
A portrait?
Of course, it was of the Kreutz family.
Ferdinand in the center, Lady Solania by his side, and a young couple holding a child.
It didn’t take much thought to realize who the couple was.
“Chuut…”
König’s parents. Ferdinand’s son and daughter-in-law.
I found myself staring at them.
Naturally—
König looks so much like his father.
Except for his white hair, inherited from Solania, he was almost a copy.
And Eloise… She’s a mirror of their mother.
Tall, fiery red hair, sharp features—a striking beauty.
“Chuut.”
Hello. I’m Cherry—no, Muriel Aymond.
I bowed unconsciously to the portrait.
“Ahem.”
A sound came from behind me. It was Ferdinand.
“Chuut…”
I froze like a child caught misbehaving.
I hadn’t done anything wrong, but it felt like I had uncovered a carefully hidden secret.
But Ferdinand waved his hand dismissively.
“It’s fine. Not a secret. Tell me—what do you think?”
“Chuut?”
About what?
“Solania. Isn’t she the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen?”
He sat cross-legged and smiled faintly as he asked.
“Chuut…”
I nodded without hesitation.
This time, I couldn’t disagree at all.
Without exception, Solania was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen.
“Ahem, maybe I shouldn’t brag, but really… How else could someone like me have had children like König and Eloise? It’s all thanks to our Solana’s strength.”
“Chuuu!”
An exclamation escaped me.
I had always wondered—
How did such a bandit-faced man produce a porcelain doll like König?
That mystery was finally solved.
“You little thing. You don’t even try to hide what you’re thinking.”
“Chuut…”
Sorry, but it’s the truth.
Ferdinand only frowned briefly, then turned back to the portrait.
“How fortunate that we had this painted back then.”
His rough fingers didn’t touch the figures themselves, only brushed the canvas edge—
as if afraid to damage it.
“In fact, everything in this room is a treasure to me.”
The piano where his wife and son once played together.
The handkerchief she embroidered with care.
The plaques his son earned at the academy.
And the portrait of their happiest times.
Every item held memories—each touched by the ones he loved.
Even with just these, he said, he could live content.
But still—
“I want to know what Solana wanted me to see.”
That’s why he had searched restlessly for years.
I looked at Ferdinand’s face—smiling, but heavy with sorrow—and thumped my chest with my tiny paw.
“Chut-chut!”
Leave it to me!
I already told you—I’m a born expert at finding hidden things.
Even a cookie crumb hidden in a bear’s den can’t escape me!
I was determined to ease his long-held pain.
So I threw myself into the search.
The piano, the ceiling corners—everywhere.
But no treasure revealed itself.
The blue sky turned crimson, and finally, Gerard and I had to leave.
“I’m sorry… it seems we only caused you more grief.”
“Chuut…”
I bowed deeply with Gerard.
But I wasn’t giving up.
“Chuut!”
We’ll come again tomorrow!
I raised my paw high, but Ferdinand only shook his head slowly.
“Your heart is enough. Someday it’ll be found. I can’t stay chained here forever.
The living must keep moving forward.”
He laughed loudly, like trying to chase away sorrow.
Just then, the white marble palace of the Hundred Days turned red with sunset.
And then—flash.
Flash?
The window glimmered, scattering the sunset light.
It was the same room where Ferdinand’s most precious memories were gathered.
And suddenly, a thought struck me.
Maybe it’s there!
No… it is there. I was sure.
Fueled with certainty, I sprinted.
“Lady Cherry!”
“Little squirrel!”
We rushed back to the second floor.
Through the arched window, the sunset flooded the room in crimson light.
“Lady Cherry!”
“Chuut!”
I pointed at the carpet covering the floor.
“You want me to roll it up?”
“Chut!”
Before I even nodded, Gerard had already started.
He rolled it from the wall toward the center, until—
A plain wooden floor was revealed.
But our eyes fixed on the exact middle.
Lit by the sunset’s glow, the floor shone brightly.
And there—clear traces of something cut and patched back together.
Ferdinand let out a choking gasp.
His trembling hand reached down. He pried open the old, rotting planks.
And beneath them—
A small box lay hidden.
