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However, after forcing himself to watch the movie, Giorgio found himself struggling to get up from his seat after the movie ended. Even after mulling over it for quite some time, he couldn’t seem to comprehend what he had just seen, so he watched the movie two more times, despite his initial reluctance to watch it.

And after watching the movie for the third time, he flew to LA.

***

As soon as his phone rang, Ilya answered it immediately without hesitation. Not many people knew his personal phone number, and they wouldn’t call him without a good reason. In fact, Woo-Jin was the only person who would call him without a reason. Hence, there was no need for Ilya to check who the caller was.}

However, all of that went out the window today.

{How did you get my phone number?}

–– Ah, of course it wasn’t easy. Still, it was easier than stealing the CIA’s top secret documents.

After hearing Giorgio’s nonchalant response, Ilya immediately frowned and asked what his purpose for calling him was. From what he remembered, it had been twenty years since the two of them last talked on the phone. Ilya wondered why Giorgio even called him since they had nothing to talk about.

–– Come here.

{You tell me to go over there all of a sudden, how would I know where it is… Don’t tell me you’re referring to that place?}

–– Yeah.

Ilya fell silent for a moment before saying ‘okay’. And he ended the call.

{He figured it out in the end, huh.}

It was an outcome he had somewhat expected. If Giorgio had seen Confession of White, Ilya thought that he might’ve noticed it, because people often realized certain facts they had missed out in the novel the moment they saw it in the movie. Ilya was also able to reflect on his own emotions bit by bit, one he he hadn’t fully comprehend them back when he was writing.

When a novel gets adapted into a film, hundreds of pages of content would be summarized into two to three hours of footage. Thus, films often failed to express novels in depth. However, this time around, the movie portrayed parts of the story that wasn’t fleshed out in the novel.

The jealousy and despair Lloyd showed while he was talking about the password was truly pathetic. Ilya wanted to hide it in the novel as much as possible, so he glossed over it by expressing it curtly. But Woo-Jin unraveled and portrayed all of the complicated feelings with just one facial expression.

Ilya felt embarrassed because he felt as though his inner feelings had been exposed, but he felt strangely comforted at the same time by the fact that Woo-Jin understood his feelings. Hence, Ilya felt it was only natural for Giorgio to figure out the password to that place. If he didn’t manage to figure it out, Ilya might have been disappointed in him instead.

Lansky’s safe house was in the suburbs of LA. Even after decades without an owner, it was well taken care of, so it still looked like a clean and elegant mansion on the outside. As Ilya made his way to the inner part of the house, he would key in the passwords to the doors blocking his way one by one.

Ilya took a moment to catch a breather in front of the last obstacle, and slowly keyed in Giorgio’s birthday. His terrible fate of having to remember Giorgio’s birthday for decades was ironic and hilarious. As the door opened, the first thing he saw was Giorgio’s back view.

Even though Giorgio could sense his presence, he didn’t turn his head around –– he was looking at the bookshelf that his grandfather specially made.

{You finally figured it out.}

{Yeah, it somehow happened.}

Both of them looked at the bookshelf in front of them without saying a word for quite some time. Even though there were novels all around the place that would widen one’s eyes, both their eyes were fixated on the bookshelf. The titles of the old books that were stored in good condition on the bookshelf alone were enough to make collectors foam at the mouth in excitement.

Ilya didn’t know the value of those books in the past; just looking at them was enough for him –– he didn’t dare to open them. But now, he was able to pick them up without hesitation and read each and every page to his heart’s content. When he was younger, he judged those books based on their monetary value, but he knew their true value now. More importantly, there was no reason for a book to exist if nobody read it.

{I didn’t like this place.}

{I know.}

{No, it used to be just a boring place, but there are things that have been bothering me for some time now. It probably started when my grandfather moved this collection here.}

Originally, this collection was placed in a safe house near New York. At that time, even though it was troublesome, Giorgio used to go to the safe house with his grandfather if the latter wanted to, and he would listen to his grandfather talk about the paintings and the other items in his collection.

Although it was boring, Giorgio didn’t dislike it. It was somewhat enjoyable, and it was a happy memory. But one day, his grandfather started moving his most treasured artworks to LA, which was quite a distance from New York. Nonetheless, he came to this place with his grandfather without any complaints during the initial few visits.

{To be precise, I think it happened ever since this book was added into my grandfather’s collection.}

Giorgio took a box out from the drawer in the middle of the bookshelf and placed it on the desk at the back. The box, along with the bookshelf, was specially made and was vintage-looking; it was optimized for storing books.

When he opened the lid of the box, a novel titled, The Bard Does Not Sing, could be seen.

In terms of the family business, and business in general, Giorgio was a successor who exceeded Lansky’s expectations. He was well-loved by Lansky, and there were also many memories shared between them. The only things they didn’t have in common were their hobbies and tastes.

Ilya was the one who filled the void that Giorgio failed to fill, so Giorgio was jealous of Ilya because of that –– he was like a wealthy man, who had ninety nine things but was obsessing over the one thing he didn’t have. He became even more jealous when he realized that the reason why his grandfather chose to move his most cherished works of art to the newly-built safe house in LA was because Ilya said he was going to settle down in LA after graduating from college.

His grandfather never looked happier as he kept Ilya’s novel in a box that he specially made, while singing praises about it. He looked even more liberated and happy than when he was the head of the Consccia family, or when he was Giorgio’s grandfather. Back then, Giorgio couldn’t help but hate how happy he looked.

{But even that became a memory over the years.}

Even the memories of that time, when he was angry and annoyed, had become distant and faint. Before he knew it, the negative feelings had vanished, and all that was left was longing.

Ilya ran his fingers along the rim of the box containing the book. He had already heard and knew about it from Woo-Jin, but it was a totally different feeling seeing his book here. He wanted to smile with joy, but he was also sad for some reason, so he thought for a moment about how terrible his face must have looked if he were to look in the mirror right now.

Giorgio looked at Ilya, and wondered if he looked just like that back when he saw the door opening after keying in the final password earlier on. He tossed the envelope he had put aside earlier in front of Ilya.

{What is this?}

{It’s the document that shows this mansion and works of art in this place belong to you now.}

{What?}

{Grandpa had always wanted to give you this mansion, along with everything in it. He couldn’t do that because of my aunts and uncles.}

Moving his collection to LA in the first place was part of Lansky’s plan. However, he failed to give the mansion and the collection within it to Ilya while he was still alive, and neither could he include it in his will because of his greedy children. It was obvious how they would’ve reacted if Lansky were to write Ilya’s name on the will.

Since Lansky had raised Giorgio to become his successor since childhood, his power and legitimacy had been firmly established. Even his own father didn’t dare to challenge his authority, and the authority he had built since childhood even made his aunts and uncles surrender to their nephew.

More importantly, Lansky didn’t excuse his children if he thought they might pose a threat to his beloved grandson, and he didn’t even give them the power or money to oust Giorgio in the first place.

However, even without power, they were still Lansky’s children and members of the Consccia family. Even though they were lesser than their father or nephew, they still had the means to do terrible things to the young and orphaned novelist. Although they couldn’t lay a finger on him back when Lansky was still alive, they could easily deal with him after his death.

Giorgio’s second uncle, in particular, highly coveted his grandfather’s collection. He had always wanted Lansky to pass on his collection to him. He even complained to the stubborn Lansky and had even gotten mad at him.

If Lansky had left everything to Ilya, it was evident what the person, who was that angry with his father and nephew, would’ve done to a mere novelist. It was likely that Giorgio wouldn’t have actively protected Ilya either. But that said, Giorgio’s grandfather wouldn’t have wanted him to be protected and threatened his entire life too.

Thus, Lansky couldn’t give Ilya anything. Instead, he mentioned Ilya to his grandson from time to time, and told him to take care of Ilya even after his death. He wanted Giorgio to inherit this mansion, and to quietly hand it over to Ilya later on. It was an inheritance that had been meticulously planned, while seemingly disregarding Ilya\'s opinion in the process.

{Why was he so worried about me when I’m living well even without anybody taking care of me?}

Even if nobody had taken care of Ilya, he had a bright and promising future as a novelist, and there wasn\'t anyone tormenting him. The aunts and uncles they were concerned about merely regarded Ilya as one of the many artists Lansky sponsored, so they didn’t pay any attention to him.

{He only said it once –– that he wanted to give you this mansion, as well as the collection here.}

It seemed as though Giorgio himself was vaguely aware of his jealousy towards Ilya. Hence, it seemed like he had just casually mentioned it in passing without provoking him as much as possible.

But Lansky knew that was enough to get the job done. Once it was in Giorgio’s hands, his children would no longer be able to covet this place. And whether Giorgio liked it or not, he wasn’t a child who would betray his grandfather’s wishes.

This place had been forgotten for years after his grandfather’s death, but as expected, Giorgio became a reliable successor. His aunts and uncles who had coveted his grandfather’s legacy didn’t know the exact location of this mansion, and once it was in Giorgio’s hands, they had given up, knowing there was no more hope.

The legal proceedings were carried out in accordance with the will without any interference, and all that was left was Giorgio’s signature. However, he was spiteful about the fact that Ilya was the only person that knew the password to this place, so he held out for decades without signing it.

He finally signed this document today.

{Why? Do you feel better because the password is your birthday?}

{Am I that petty of a person in your eyes?}

{...}

His silence spoke volumes. After seeing Ilya’s gaze shifting away as he evaded his forthright question, Giorgio frowned.

{I just thought you must’ve had a hard time too!}

Giorgio always saw Ilya from his own point of view. He had once thought of Ilya as someone who was eyeing his territory. He saw him as a nerve-racking competitor, and for some reason, there were times he felt as though Ilya was his grandfather’s illegitimate child.

However, his perspective turned one hundred and eighty degrees after watching the film adaptation of Confession of White. Giorgio looked at himself from Ilya’s point of view. He felt Ilya’s jealousy and despair, which couldn’t be sensed from reading the novel alone, and learned that they was similar yet different from each other.

In any case, as someone who was neither Lansky’s child nor grandson, Ilya must have felt very insecure and terrified to be in a position where he craved for Lansky’s affection.

The fear that his only connection with this world might suddenly abandon him one day was an emotion Giorgio had never imagined. Rather than feeling superior to him, he came to understand Ilya’s feelings a little more. He could no longer mock the desperation of desperate people.

Additionally, he also understood the affection and pity his grandfather had for Ilya. Giorgio also empathized with his grandfather and understood why he had been worried about Ilya living alone in this world as a social misfit, without openly doing anything for him till the day he died.

{From now on, everything here belongs to you. So it’s up to you whether you want to give them back to society in the future, or to sell them right away.}

Giorgio didn’t care what Ilya did with them in the future as they were given to him unconditionally.

{In that case, does it mean you won’t say anything if I give them to someone else?}

{Is there someone you have in mind?}

Giorgio thought there was no way that would be the case as Ilya had neither family nor close friends.

{Could someone like me even have a person I can give these things to?}

{By any chance, are you going to give them to Selena?}

{I’m sorry, but no. Ah, come to think of it, Selena must be very disappointed.}

Since Giorgio figured out the password to this place, Selena’s hope was dashed as she was currently dating Dustin. Seeing how Selena looked happier than before, Ilya supported her love for Dustin, but it was unfortunate.

{I’m going to keep pretending I don’t know the password to this place, so don’t tell her about it either.}

{Is that a tacit approval?}

{I want to pay it forward and give my child as much as I have received. In the future, I want my children to remember and love me the way we currently remember and love my grandfather.}

There was no way Selena’s father couldn’t see how happy she was, when others could already notice it. He also wondered why it even mattered to him how trivial things like this would turn out to be in the future.

As a father, he supported and believed in his daughter, and if necessary, he would become her pillar and shelter. Selena only needed to know that she had a father who wouldn’t betray her regardless of what happened.

In the past, Giorgio’s words would’ve made Ilya feel a little bitter. But now, he could smile at him. That was because Lansky\'s feelings and Giorgio’s concerns had reached his heart.

{Do you believe in reincarnation?}

After hearing Ilya’s sudden question, Giorgio looked at him with a look on his face that seemed to suggest he had heard something ridiculous.

{Novelists…}

{Well, it’s fine if you don’t believe in it.}

{What are you going to do if I believe in it?}

Nevertheless, Giorgio was a little curious because Ilya wasn’t a man who would ask a useless question for no reason. Since he had already brought it up, he might as well say what he wanted to say.

{I was wondering what you’d do if he had been reincarnated as someone, somewhere else in this world.}

It was obvious who Ilya was talking about. Giorgio turned serious for a moment, even though he had a pitiful look on his face in response to the novelist’s wild imagination.

A pleasant imagination was always enjoyable. It was meaningless because it was something that could never happen, but there were many fools in this world that would risk their lives for something even more meaningless than that.

{On the premise that reincarnation exists, one must first have the memories of their past life, right?}

Regardless of whether or not one believed in reincarnation, it wasn’t worth discussing it without memories of the past life. Even if Giorgio’s current life wasn’t his first life, and that he had other lives before this one, it was meaningless as he couldn’t remember any of his past memories.

Ilya nodded instead of answering Giorgio’s question.

{In that case…I’ll pretend not to know.}

{That was unexpected.}

Ilya thought that Giorgio would run to the reincarnated Lansky as soon as he found out about it. But he gave an entirely different answer instead, so Ilya was surprised.

{He had always wanted to be free. If he didn’t come to see us despite having memories of his past, wouldn’t that mean he doesn’t want to be associated with the Consccia anymore? I have to give him the freedom that he longed for in this life. Even if I were to find out about it by chance, I would pretend not to know until the very end.}

Giorgio had many memories with his grandfather –– he was confident he would recognize the person he had reincarnated into by piecing his memories together. And he loved his grandfather so much that he wanted to make his dream come true, rather than fulfilling his own desires and reliving his memories.

{But why did you bring this up?}

{For some reason, I think L. Dmitri will write a second novel.}

After hearing Ilya’s response, Giorgio casually guessed that he was trying to collect data and conduct an interview for his next novel. Writing as L. Dmitri instead of Ilya meant that the story would be mixed with autobiographical elements, just like it did in Confession of White.

{I decline to have my life story written in the novel.}

{If I write about a womanizer with a grandfather complex, what are you going to do about it?}

Giorgio was currently dating someone new. He laughed out loud after hearing what Ilya said.

{But stories like that are popular. It’s provocative.}

{Crude bastard.}

Ilya rebuked the chuckling Giorgio, as he put the novel back in its place and carefully arranged the documents. Giorgio watched him in silence before speaking his mind.

{To be honest, I didn’t think you were going to accept this mansion even if I gave it to you.}

{You’re right. I probably wouldn’t have accepted it in the past. Even if I accepted it, it would only become a burden, and it would be difficult to deal with in the future. I would’ve been satisfied with just one visit}

{But that’s not the case. You seem extremely unfamiliar today.}

It had been a while since Ilya’s change, but Giorgio couldn’t have known about it as they weren\'t close with one another. Lansky’s grandson was very curious as to what had caused Ilya to change so much.

{Come to think of it, from what you’ve said earlier, you seem to have someone you want to give this mansion to. Who could that person be?}

Ilya looked around the place for a moment. There were so many memories in this place, but that particular person was the reason why this place was so precious. Ilya smiled as he thought about Lansky, who was always standing at the spot Giorgio was currently standing at. The afterimage of the past was now pervaded by a different image.

{I do. He’s someone who is best suited for this place.}