Chapter 48- The Escape Plan (5)
After that enlightening and disheartening discussion, Clayo decided to hole himself up in his mansion and simply rest for three days straight.
His hopeful wish of getting himself out of school and away from the novel plot was shattered, leaving him despondent, lethargic, and dismayed. And he couldn’t even think properly because his mind was numb.
But when they returned to the mansion, Behemoth had come near Clayo and hugged him warmly while fervently whispering to him, ‘You actually went out there alone and managed to come back alive?!’
Then, Behemoth also refused to get away from Clayo, as if guarding Clayo so he wouldn’t run away and leave it behind again.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Canton and the other maids only thought that their young master ran away from home in a fit of teenage rebellion. So, they also keep a watchful eye on him.
However, Clayo was still feeling dejected from everything. Fortunately, during this time, Behemoth was quite friendly and gentle in interacting with Clayo.
‘Here comes the wine delivery we’ve been waiting for, Clayo. A whole 25 cases of it! And they are delivered in good condition! Really, the wholesalers your father deals with are the real thing. Their champagnes are excellent!’ Behemoth said, trying to cheer him up with what it thought as comforting words. Furthermore, it also stuck its belly mass on Clayo, allowing the boy to rub it. And that, more than anything else, made Clayo feel better in recent days.
The escape plan ended up in failure. So, it’s impossible to go against the main quest of this story. Now, since it is impossible to escape… how should I live my life here?
After all, Clayo still had plenty of money even though it came from his father. And he also had a house that was given to him by his old man. However, if he depended on the things that were given to him by his father, then it would be useless even if he avoided the mandatory military enlistment the way Dione told him about. He wouldn’t be able to avoid the thorny path that his father had planned for him.
Meanwhile, as Clayo laid still on his bed thoughtfully, ‘Promise’ flashed with blue color two times and brought a piece of the same contemptible information.
[–user’s narrative involvement increased].
Everytime that phrase flashed before his mind, he felt outraged. After all, to him, such information would only increase the probability of death and injury in the future. However, he was helpless against it. Because this world, whether you moved or not, had already rolled towards the next page.
You’ve already done a good job on your own. What are you asking me to do? Oh well, I guess there’s no easy way to become a bum. Clayo sighed out loud when he thought of the hardship he would face in the future, feeling dejected.
Click―
The sound of the door opening resounded across the room, and Dione came in with a meal in her hand.
“My sleepyhead young master, are you going to wake up now?”
“I think it’ll help more if you just stop using that sarcastic tone with me.”
“Oh, then you may as well stay in bed forever then.”
Dione winked as she laid down the tray on Clayo’s lap.
“Even if you don’t have an appetite, try to eat some. Mrs. Canton is restless because you didn’t eat.”
“… I’ll eat now.”
Clayo honestly didn’t have any appetites as he simply wished to sleep. But, even so, he was able to stomach the fruit and bread puddings in before refusing everything else.
While watching Clayo eat his meal, Dione brought out an invitation letter and gave it to Clayo.
“When are you going to respond to Lady Tangpet de Nege’s invitation? The one where she invited you to a summer party at Novantes Hotel.”
“Should I go… ?”
Clayo mused out loud before shaking his head in refusal. Even up until now, his mind was in a knot, thus he couldn’t afford to deal with the twins and Celeste.
“A summer party held in Novantes usually had a lot of politicians and entrepreneurs participating. Are you out of your mind to reject the invitation to a summer party that is held in the De Nege Hotel?”
“……. ”
“I have already told you the way to avoid compulsory military service. So, stop beating around the bush and get up. If you go to Novantes now, at the very least you’ll get some diversions from your mind. And as the party required guests to bring companions, I’ll go with you.”
“Will my father attend the party as well?”
“Hello~. This party is too small for Baron Asser to come. After all, this event is held for those who specialize in the hotel industry, food and beverage industry, and real estate investment.”
Hearing that, Clayo put his fork down as a flash of idea came to his dejected mind.
This… may be an opportunity for me to break free from father’s hold on me. I may just be able to shake off his hold on me by dipping in an area where he didn’t dabble in.
“Besides, there is a branch of Trinity Auction House in Novantes, too. I’m sure an auction is going to be held there this summer since the wealthy people are going to come in droves to enjoy their vacation. So, there should be many interesting things happening there.”
For the first time since he was brought back three days ago, Clayo’s eyes lit up in excitement.
“What? There is a branch of Trinity Auction House in Novantes?” Clayo asked with barely repressed eagerness.
“My young master really lacks common sense. Well, I suppose Dione just has to risk everything to make a normal man out of you.”
“… Alright, I’ll reply to that invitation. Yes, let’s go there.” Clayo said, deciding to ignore what Dione said.
“Oh, I don’t know what’s going on to make you this interested. Nevertheless, I’m glad that you’ve decided to go. Now that everything is finally settled, I’ll go pack up. Then, we can go there straight away as soon as we receive a reply!”
“Woo-woo-woo? (Have you finally thought of living like a person?)” Behemoth meowed making people who couldn’t hear its words had an illusion that it was talking to Clayo and Dione.
Dione got up in a hurry. Meanwhile, after a few days of being listless, Clayo finally regained his liveliness. He felt his heart beat faster in anticipation. He got out of the bed and opened the window wide to let fresh air in; since he suddenly felt the room was stuffy.
It was summer. And he could smell the vivid scent of the grass that was brought in by the wind. It was as if the scent was reminding Clayo that this world was real. As real as his previous world.
However, this novel world was far crueler and more generous compared to the world ‘Kim Jeongjin’ knew of. However, this didn’t matter to Clayo. After all, although he was thrown into deep end here, it wasn’t like he was bare without any advantage of his own.
Clayo knew what would happen in this world in advance. And although some things had changed in correlation with the main character’s changes, the detailed settings didn’t change much. That meant, Clayo himself was like a prophet for things that were not related to Arthur!
What was the advantage of knowing the future? Investment! He could gain an extremely advantageous position in investment because he knew the future trend of this world’s economy!
With that, Clayo immediately accessed the ‘Memory’ function of the ‘Promise’ and skimmed passed the part that he had read. He then carefully combed through the text that hadn’t become the reality in this world and thought.
I didn’t know a thing about the mandatory military service exemption since it wasn’t mentioned in the book. But I do know of the goods that would appear at the Trinity Auction House in the summer of 1890.