Chapter 155.1

Chapter 155.1

At Winter Castle, the wife of Prime Minister Solzhenitsyn was looking for a servant who understood Korean.

Joo Seolheon, who did not want Damon to know about this, cut off contact and stepped inside the vast mansion.

She quietly observed Winter Castle, meticulously recording each day there. The habit of keeping a daily journal for sixteen years without fail had not left her.

Before long, she found herself frequently attending to Prime Minister Solzhenitsyn and his wife. The prime minister, in his mid-seventies, and his much younger East Asian wife, who had just turned sixty, never exchanged a single word but always drank tea together every morning and evening.

Their icy, brittle silence was suffocating to witness. She had heard in passing that their relationship had become irreparable after losing their only son and his wife.

“Ivan and Yani…”

Rigay, lowering his voice, mentioned someone’s name intimately, the prime minister’s son and daughter-in-law.

“Some Russian officials saw Koryo children as playthings and occasionally demanded them from the cult leader. Back then, Ivan and Yani of the Solzhenitsyn family also summoned children from Sakhalin separately…”

“….”

“Each time, rumors spread that the Solzhenitsyns were so brutal, they beat the children to death. None of the children ever returned alive.”

“…!”

“But Ivan and Yani. They were secretly smuggling the Sakhalin children to their own mines or islands. They were purged when the truth was discovered.”

So that couple… died for smuggling Sakhalin children?

“They must have had a young son.”

Rigay’s voice trailed off as he gazed up at the grand and opulent Winter Castle.

Joo Seolheon had grown close to the lady of Winter Castle, but she had no access to the strictly controlled annex.

As her frustration grew, one day, the Solzhenitsyns’ only grandson suddenly disappeared, throwing the household into chaos.

Seizing the moment of disorder, Joo Seolheon headed toward the annex where the children were said to stay.

The place was beautifully decorated with plush red carpets, appearing luxurious at a glance, but like a staged set, it was covered in dust. It didn’t seem like a space where children actually lived.

Passing through the annex, she entered a crumbling shack. Even a stable wouldn’t be this dilapidated.

Inside the foul-smelling space, ready to collapse at any moment, children were packed together like mushrooms. They wore tight masks over their heads, slumped weakly, and somehow reeked of mold.

Then, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“The date is set, Zoya.”

It was Rigay, now dressed in a white coat.

“On the Solzhenitsyn grandson’s fourteenth birthday. We’re going to blow up Winter Castle.”

“What?”

But Rigay wasn’t the kind of person who could pull off something like that. He had bowed to his own father, powerless to resist, and lacked the courage to kill, always pushing the responsibility onto others.

Especially something as massive as destroying Winter Castle;it was too bold a plan for the timid, fearful Rigay to have conceived alone.

Besides, the estate spanned over 500,000 square meters. How could anyone smuggle explosives past the Solzhenitsyns’ thorough surveillance?

Was that even possible?

Joo Seolheon stared at him with suspicion. Sure enough, he averted his gaze.

“Rigay, whose puppet are you playing this time?”

“….”

He pressed his lips shut and turned away.

After that meal, their relationship never returned to what it was. The affection built over years vanished without a trace the moment the deception was exposed. All that remained was the shared guilt of being sinners.

“Zoya, I can’t trust you… but I have one request. If you find the child… don’t let anyone take them. No matter who it is, once they learn of the child’s origins, they’ll surely crack the child’s skull open first.”

Joo Seolheon stared at her husband, who had been ignoring her and turning away. As she let out a heavy sigh, her eyes met those of a child.

From behind a mask with holes cut out for the eyes, a cold gaze pierced straight through her.

The child’s bloodshot eyes bore the marks of countless brushes with death. Though there wasn’t a single unscathed part of them, their stubborn will to keep struggling to their feet was astonishing. Still, seeing them sway unsteadily, Joo Seolheon reached out a hand in concern.

“You’re Zoya?”

The child clawed at her arm.

“You were a rat too, huh? A rat hiding in Winter Castle…”

This was her first meeting with Kia.

The only surviving record of Winter Castle’s final days. Without realizing it, she had filled the now-thickened notebook and was putting the final punctuation mark on it.

After learning in advance about the planned terrorist attack on Winter Castle, Joo Seolheon wrestled with her thoughts before finally contacting Damon.

“A terrorist attack on the Solzhenitsyn estate…”

Damon flipped through the report she handed him with an air of satisfaction. Handing over the records of Winter Castle, which was soon to be reduced to ashes, was a kind of exchange for her failed assassination attempt.

Information had to be traded for information. There was still something she needed to learn from Damon. She had to hear the child’s name.

“So, you’re saying all the Siloviki and oligarchs gathered at the Solzhenitsyn family’s birthday party will be wiped out in one go. Russia’s losses won’t be small.”

“I helped prepare the invitations.”

While compiling the guest list, Joo Seolheon had confirmed the names of those invited.

“All the key figures in Russia will be there.”

“Hah, if all those factions are swept away, I’ll have to report to my superiors about who will fill the power vacuum. An entire era of rulers is coming to an end.”

“….”

“It’s a shame the Koryo children will be caught in the crossfire, but there’s no helping it. From our perspective, a clean sweep isn’t a bad outcome. We can even claim credit for thwarting Russia’s ambitions.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you sooner,” said Joo Seolheon.

“At first, I thought you’d eloped or something…”

Damon scratched his chin and let out a strange snort.

“Who’d have thought you’d be under Maxim Solzhenitsyn’s roof? That’s one bold plan. How did you even come up with the idea of infiltrating Winter Castle? Did Rigay end up confessing everything?”