SALOME Ch 12

To be precise, it was to return to the embassy’s intelligence department and wiretap the daily life of Mrs. Primrose, Ann, at the Meissen house. At that reply, Cedric asked back with obvious curiosity:

“What kind of work do you do? Thank you.”

The waiter, who returned quickly, placed the Pharisäer coffee in front of Cedric.

“Thanks. Just work.”

Work that a young master stuck in a private school wouldn’t know a thing about, Yuri thought to himself, reaching for the coffee cup set before him. He wasn’t planning to drink it, just warm his hands on it just in case. Seeing that, Cedric’s expression turned into a subtle ‘hm’.

“Are you doing manual labor again?”

“Something like that.”

Escorting or spying—it was all manual labor just the same. At Yuri’s brief reply, Cedric took a sip of his Pharisäer and thoroughly observed Yuri’s face as he sat with his arms crossed. The slight blue tinge under his eyes made him look exhausted from hard work, just like when he helped him move houses back then. And through the gap in the untied scarf, a glimpse of blue was visible. Did he get hurt while working? However, he refrained from bringing it up. He simply wished he didn’t have to go through such things.

“Then, how about I hire you?”

At Cedric’s serious yet ridiculous proposal, Yuri unwittingly let out the loudest voice he had used so far.

“…What?”

“That kind of work is too hard for you.”

Yuri let out a dry laugh. Is this young master blind? That he, who had undergone special training in the intelligence department, would find it hard? Where on earth did he get such an idea? Feeling somehow like a fool for coming here with his original purpose—to retrieve the wiretap and buy his silence—Yuri spat out sarcasm without restraint.

“Do you even have the money to say such a thing?”

“How about… 100 Marks an hour?”

100 Marks was enough money to buy ten days’ worth of meals. Yuri wondered if this British young master had lost his mind. Yuri looked at Cedric with suspicion. Unaware of what was going through his mind, Cedric smirked at the silent Yuri. At that smile, Yuri recalled his purpose once more.

He had to get it back. Cedric probably didn’t know what it was. Seeing that he didn’t give details about the item, he likely just thought it was important because it was a piece of machinery. If he had known it was a bug, he would have already tattled on him to his father.

“Would that be enough?”

“If I accept that, will you give back what I left behind?”

At Yuri’s uneasy expression, Cedric nodded as if it were obvious.

“Of course. I keep my promises.”

∞ ∞ ∞

After picking a day to meet during their free time, the two turned their backs on the cafe after talking about silly things for a long time. Things like family, where they lived, books, or popular music. Of course, Yuri answered vaguely with things he had picked up somewhere, while Cedric answered earnestly, seemingly pleased inside. After spending about two hours like that, they set their next meeting for next Friday. Christmas Day.

Whatever. He got what he was supposed to get, so he’d just play along and chat.

Since having an acquaintance wasn’t a bad thing, Yuri reassured himself that if he handled himself well, Cedric would be a decent source of information. Once he got the bug back safely, the situation itself wasn’t bad. He was far easier to deal with than those old officials. Above all, Cedric didn’t demand disgusting tastes.

If anything, trying to give him money like a fool was the exact opposite. Because he had always been the one giving, not receiving, his actions felt a bit awkward. Yuri adjusted his coat to prepare to leave. Then, Cedric pulled a small handkerchief out of his inner coat pocket.

“Don’t forget the time. And this.”

The handkerchief, clearly woven from silk, was glossy and colorful—the type girls would like. Yuri picked up the neatly folded handkerchief from Cedric’s hand. Was the wiretap this small? It’s too light, he thought as he unfolded each fold.

“Don’t lose it next time.”

Inside the handkerchief, a cheap ribbon string—which he had no memory of whatsoever—was neatly coiled. Yuri was struck dumb by the contents, which were excessively pitiful compared to the item wrapping them.

“This…”

It wasn’t a wiretap. Despite Yuri’s dazed expression, Cedric waved his hand with a satisfied face and left without lingering, as if he had accomplished his original purpose.

“Crazy… Ha…”

Shaking with hollow disbelief, Yuri’s hand trembled around the ribbon string. Is he playing with me?

∞ ∞ ∞

Same day evening, Interception Room, Russian Embassy Intelligence Department

Yuri was faithfully listening in real-time to the wiretap from the Meissen house, where a signal was coming through. It irritated him because it reminded him of Cedric, but it was a job he had to do. The Primrose couple sounded busy as if going out somewhere, and someone entered the house, causing the glutton to run up the stairs hard enough to break them. Hearing the noise, Yuri tuned the frequency to the front door channel.

[Brother! Did you meet? Did you meet?]

[Beth. Please respect the stairs a bit. Yes. I met her.]

The person who came home was Cedric. Dammit. As the space between Yuri’s eyebrows creased further, Beth made a whining sound.

[Must be nice. You should have taken me, too. I wanted to see that sister…]

[I’ll invite her over to our house later. Let’s see her together then.]

Who said they were going? Hilarious. Yuri snorted.

[Really? Honestly, I’ve always wanted a pretty sister like that. Every time Emily talks about her sister, I get so envious. Of course, I like you too, Brother.]

Beth blurted out her secret desires enthusiastically, then added softly afterward, seemingly checking Cedric’s mood late. And Yuri placed his hand over his aching brow. Right. He had forgotten that those two fools mistook him for a woman. Because he was totally distracted by the wiretap… he had forgotten to set them straight. While Yuri spiraled into uncontrollable confusion, Cedric replied playfully:

[Honestly, I wanted a younger sister like Daniela, too. Quiet and pretty.]

“…”

Yuri stopped his hand, which was writing the report. And then Beth’s gorilla-like screech went off loudly:

[Brother!]

Ah, damn it, my ears… After that, it drifted into mundane conversation. Just like last time, Yuri located the segment of the recording tape that had just been recorded and lightly scratched it with his fingernail, so that it wouldn’t be easily intelligible when the second person in charge listened to it. Georg turned around, saw Yuri’s actions, and asked in wonder:

“Yuri, what are you doing?”

“The tape got caught.”

To readjust the playback section. At Yuri’s nonchalant words, Georg said “I see,” and turned back around to his station. Since the tape reader occasionally slipped, it wasn’t an unusual occurrence. Yuri sat back down and finished writing the rest of the report.

〈Daily conversation between the eldest son and the younger daughter. General impressions of life in Germany.〉

He omitted his own story entirely.

∞ ∞ ∞

One week later, Christmas Eve, Russian Embassy in Brandenburg, Berlin

In the basement level of the intelligence department, even though it wasn’t a training day, they had pushed the central tables together into one and were busy assembling firearms. As Dimitri assembled a Walther PPK with a rhythmic clack-clack-click, inserted the magazine, and tucked it into his waist, the iron door leading to the ground floor opened with a clatter.

At that impact, the triangular iron-shaded lightbulbs swayed left and right like pendulums, repeatedly illuminating the squad members’ faces brightly and casting shadows over them. Dimitri carelessly tossed magazines toward Yekaterina and barked without even turning around:

“Yuri, you’re late. Hurry up and come get ready.”

“Yes, sir.”

Yuri walked down the stairs with heavy, rapid steps and tossed his leather satchel into the gray iron locker inside the room. The bag flew lightly, as if it had nothing inside. Seeing that, Yekaterina twisted her red lips while securing the magazines received from Dimitri onto her thigh one by one.

“Aren’t you living your life a little too carelessly just because your face is somewhat pretty?”

Yuri replied as he placed an unopened gun box, which was clearly his share, onto the empty table:

“Don’t worry needlessly—I’m still younger than an old hag like you.”