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First Love – Part 02

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Translator: Kell

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Jacqueline left the auction hall together with the other guests. The maid was gaping up at Grevil.

The man possessed handsome, elegant features, but the glossy golden hair pointed like a cannon ruined his overall appearance. Silver cufflinks, riding trousers. He was dressed impeccably, and if it weren’t for his pointy hair, he would have looked like a prince out of a romance novel.

Jacqueline explained that he was the eldest son of Marquis de Blois and that they were childhood friends. As they walked along the pavement, Grevil tugged at Jacqueline’s dress.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Would you like a cup of tea? I’m, uh, thirsty.”

“You are?”

Grevil looked pale, like he had a stomach ache. “I feel like I’m in the desert all alone. I need a cup of tea right now. I feel like I’m dying.”

“O-Okay. I think there’s a café back here. Let’s hurry.”

Jacqueline moved away from the carriage and started running. Grevil, carrying the item he had just bought, followed with a scowl as frightening as the mask.

They arrived at a café located on the ground floor of a historic hotel. The interior was glamorous, with a high ceiling.

They ordered tea. The maid was standing beside them, listening to their conversation.

“Can you please make it quick? He’s thirsty,” Jacqueline told the waiter, then turned to Grevil.

Grevil was restlessly tapping his foot, his golden cannon swinging up and down with every tap. His elegant green eyes darted to the right, to the left, and to the right again, then down to his mask.

Jacqueline watched him curiously for a while. Then she smiled. “Long time no see, Grevil.”

“Really?” Grevil looked up at the ceiling.

Jacqueline wondered why he was so fidgety. “Yeah. Long enough for childhood friends to drift apart. You never visited me once. Unlike the old days.”

“We saw each other at the beginning of summer. But I’m sure you already forgot.”

“I didn’t forget. But I wouldn’t count that as a reunion. After solving the Jeantan case, you immediately returned to the village. I really wanted to invite you over to my house. There are only so many people you can share your childhood stories with. And you’re a precious childhood friend of mine.”

“I’ve forgotten about my childhood,” Grevil replied hoarsely.

Suddenly he looked straight at Jacqueline. His cannon-shaped hair stopped shaking. His green eyes darkened.

Jacqueline stared back at him. Flustered, Grevil brought the black mask in front of his face to hide it. Green eyes peering out of the two holes watched Jacqueline intently. His expression was invisible.

“You don’t look well,” Grevil said.

“What?” Jacqueline gave a start. “How?”

Grevil sniffed audibly. “You always do stupid things when you’re down. You head out without fixing your hair, you get excited and trip. Worst case, you become a suspect in a strange murder case. It’s happened before. It happened just now, too.”

“Just now?”

“N-Never mind. Anyway, I’ve been watching your blunders very closely.”

“Oh. I don’t know much about you, though.”

“I’m well aware of that too.” Grevil chuckled dryly.

The tea arrived. The waiter graciously laid out the silverware and poured ruby tea into the cups.

“Did something happen?” Grevil asked through his mask, not even glancing at the tea.

“Hmm…”

“When we were young, you used to roll around and say whatever was on your mind. You made a racket about everything, bloomers and petticoat fully exposed.”

“So you do remember your childhood.”

“Yours, not mine.”

“And only the ridiculous ones too!”

“Talk to me. You don’t have to roll around. After all, you’re the wife of a police commissioner now.” He snorted. “You can’t do anything stupid. So just stay in your seat.”

“Grevil, you…” Jacqueline glared at Grevil and heaved a deep sigh. “Actually,” she began, “I enjoyed our vacation this year, but there was one thing bothering me.”

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Every year, they usually went on a vacation with her husband and his family, but this year was different. Mr. Signore, the Police Commissioner, was busy dealing with the aftermath of the Jeantan case. His family had a young wife who was going into labor, a young boy who couldn’t return home from boarding school because he had done something wrong, and an old man who had caught a summer cold. Just as Jacqueline was about to decide to stay in Saubreme this year, Sophia, a classmate from her student days, called her for the first time in ages, inviting her to the Mediterranean with her.

“It’ll be fun, like being back in school. You should come and have a relaxing time,” Sophia said.

“Are you going alone?”

“No. Jupiter’s coming with me.”

“Jupiter?”

“I’ll introduce you. Oh, I’d love for you to meet him.”

Her husband encouraged her to go, so Jacqueline decided to go to a town on the Mediterranean coast.

Jacqueline met with Sophia and Jupiter at the Charles de Gilet station, where she found them snuggled up close to each other.

“Nice to meet you, Jupiter. I’m Jacqueline,” she said nervously. “Sophia and I have been friends since school.”

Jupiter returned the greeting with a short reply and a smile. He seemed a little shy, but he gradually opened up when they were on the train, perhaps partly because of Jacqueline’s outgoing personality.

“Where did you two meet?” Jacqueline asked.

“In Saubreme,” Sophia replied. “It’s your typical story. Our eyes met, and we fell in love.”

“That’s wonderful.”

For a while they were engaged in casual conversation, but when they got closer to the town by the Mediterranean Sea, something strange happened to Jupiter. He had been eating the same food as Jacqueline and Sophia, taken from the same bag, but he was the only one who was in pain. The train was in an uproar. When they finally arrived at their destination, he was taken to the hospital, but he remained unconscious and passed away soon after.

Sophia was stunned and speechless, so Jacqueline spoke to the doctor instead. Apparently the change in the environment must have affected his health, and spoiled food made it worse. Their vacation got off to an unexpected start. After burying Jupiter on a hill overlooking the sea, a quiet summer with a sorrowful Sophia began.

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“He passed away?” Grevil removed the mask from his face and leaned forward.

Jacqueline nodded sadly. “Yeah. It was all too sudden. I guess these things happen sometimes. He was too young.”

“Did he get an autopsy?”

Bewildered, Jacqueline shook her head. “No. We buried him right away.”

“Jacqueline, you’re the wife of the police commissioner. You witnessed a suspicious death, yet you didn’t bother learning about the cause?”

“Y-You’re a famed police inspector, while I’m just a civilian. Besides, I just assumed the doctor was right.”

“Hmm. So that’s not what’s bothering you, then. Continue.”

“Okay.”

Jacqueline resumed telling her story.

It was quiet inside the café. A gorgeous chandelier hung from high above. There weren’t a lot of customers. A piano playing could be heard. Waiters silently marched down the aisles to serve guests.

Grevil took a sip of tea.

“After yellow Jupiter’s sudden death…”

“Yellow?”

“Yeah.”

The maid looked at Grevil’s pointy hair. “What an unusual hairdo.”

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Every day Sophia cried as she watched the glittering Mediterranean Sea.

Jacqueline, swaying in her hammock, let out a sigh. Crying would not bring back the dead. She had to find a way to cheer up her friend.

So ten days later, she got Sophia dressed, put makeup on her, and took her out. There were supposed to be lots of fun things to do in the town—formal tea parties for the aristocracy, and casual parties held by the local youths on the seaside. Jacqueline was, by nature, an outgoing and sociable person, and Sophia, though depressed, was a bright and pretty girl, so when they showed up at a party, everyone welcomed them.

Towards the end of the summer, when Jacqueline saw Sophia’s brigthening mood, giving her relief, her friend became interested in the recent spiritual craze among the noblewomen. The lady of a house she happened to visit had just called for a famous medium.

“She lost her only son in the Great War,” Sophia said. “So she’s been doing a lot of research.”

Jacqueline felt worried. She tried to give her opinion on the matter, but her friend wouldn’t listen.

“I don’t like the idea of séances,” Jacqueline said. “They’ll probably trick you into forking out a lot of money. How about you forget about all that and we go outside for a change, yeah?”

“No. If the medium is the real deal, I might be able to hear Jupiter’s voice.”

“Hear Jupiter’s voice? That’s not possible.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Sophia…”

One of the most popular pastimes of the nobility these days was holding séances. The medium would tell participants to sit around a round table and hold hands. The lights were then turned off and everyone waited in the dark for the medium to be possessed by the dead. Jacqueline didn’t believe in it at all, but Sophia urged her to join the séance.

The medium, an old woman, said that the lady of the house’s dead son had possessed her. She then wrote down messages from him with a quill pen.

The contents of the message were things that anyone could have written, such as “Please cheer up, mom,” and “The afterlife is quiet,” but Sophia believed them completely. Ignoring Jacqueline’s objections, she paid a lot of money and started organizing her own séances.

The medium held one every time she received money from Sophia. “Jupiter was murdered, and the culprit is among us,” the woman said one day. She brought a yellow liquor, the same color as Jupiter, and had everyone present at the séance hold a glass. “Jupiter told me that the culprit’s glass will turn cloudy from their sins,” she said in a trembling voice, and slowly poured alcohol into everyone’s glasses.

And then…

For some reason, the yellow liquor in Jacqueline’s glass turned cloudy white in the blink of an eye. Everyone shuddered.

The medium’s eyes widened. “I knew it!” she shouted triumphantly. “This woman killed the dog!”

Jacqueline quickly gathered herself. “I didn’t!” she protested. “The sun spoiled the sandwiches a little. Besides, there could have been onions in it, which are toxic to dogs. Why would I kill my friend’s beloved pet? Tell me.”

“Only you know the reason. But Jupiter is telling me that you killed him.” The medium pointed at Jacqueline and barked at her over and over.

“Dogs don’t talk,” Jacqueline hissed. “You’re a fraud.” She looked at her friend. “Right, Sophia? Sophia?”

Sophia glanced at the medium and Jacqueline, unsure. When Jacqueline saw the uneasy look on her face, she went limp.

She had been worrying about Sophia all summer, taking her out and about, but now it felt like she was being too nosy. The medium asked her if she could explain the liquor turning cloudy.

Jacqueline racked her brains. But she shook her head, unable to think of any explanation.

The other women present at the séance were whispering to each other.

“Would the wife of the police commissioner really poison someone’s dog?” one said.

“I just can’t believe it.”

When she realized that her husband’s reputation was at stake, Jacqueline’s vision went black.

Sofia was silent, hanging her head. She didn’t make eye contact with Jacqueline.

In the end, Jacqueline left Sophia and returned to Saubreme dejected. Memories of what should have been a fun summer were now tainted with bitterness.

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