Fair Trade

A gentle breeze blew on the beautiful beach of Nice. Taking advantage of the short break, people got off the boat with cameras and handbags.

Sei leaned against the balcony railing and watched them. As planned, she should have gotten off this harbor and vanished like the wind. But she was still in the Royal Room, and there was a terrifying Yuri Petrov by her side.

“I want to see the lavender field.”

“It’s too early for the lavenders to bloom.”

“I don’t want to just see the lavenders bloom. I want to see the field.”

“Hmm… If you walk around like that, people will give you strange looks.”

“And why would they look at me strangely?”

At that moment, she recalled her reflection that she had seen in the bathroom mirror. Her neck was covered with dark red bruises, and her wrists and ankles had scars from being tied with cable ties. Anyone who saw her would think she was a victim of kidnapping and incarceration.

It had already been two days. Yuri Petrov didn’t let Sei go back to her room and still kept talking nonsense.

Fortunately, the man’s face suited her taste. The biggest comfort was that there was no wickedness in him from head to toe. Even though he kept her in confinement, he didn’t put her in some remote place; rather he let her enjoy a luxurious time throughout the two days. It didn’t seem like he wanted to kill her for no good reason.

“Come on in. Let’s eat.”

Sei followed him, still rubbing her sore wrists.

The dining room table was full of food that had just arrived. The fun thing about cruises was that one could taste food from all over the world here.

A peal of laughter came out of Sei’s lips when she found kimchi fried rice among the food ordered by the man.

“It’s just to my taste… But I’m afraid you might have put something strange in it again.”

“You haven’t eaten anything in a while. If you don’t eat it now, I will throw it out.”

Sitting on the sofa, he pretended to throw away the food as if to prove he wasn’t kidding around. Sei approached him from behind, reached out, and snatched the plate right out of the man’s hand.

“I never said I wasn’t eating it.”

Yuri smiled and cocked an eyebrow at her. Then he put a can of beer in front of her, followed by a spoon and a pair of chopsticks. Her stomach was already empty to the point her insides were hurting. After gulping down the kimchi fried rice, she then picked up an untouched club sandwich. The flavor of fresh vegetables and melted cheese spread in her mouth.

Sitting cross-legged, he looked at her again this time as if observing a mysterious animal. He found it interesting that she looked at him in the same way.

After licking the sauce around her mouth, Sei asked, leaning her body forward, “I’m asking out of pure curiosity. Why were you acting like that at the casino? Don’t tell me… Do you usually behave like that?”

“Why, was it strange?”

“Rather than strange, your image….”

“Felt like the rich easy game types that can be regarded as a good client by the lady?”

Just as she was picking up her second sandwich, her body froze.

Could it have been that she was under Yuri Petrov’s palm this whole time?

The twitching corners of her eyes contorted.

“Then, did you act like that on purpose?”

“If I behaved like now, would you have thought about coming into my room?”

It was an extremely straightforward answer, so Sei couldn’t find anything to refute it.

“So, have you seen everything that I’ve done all along?”

“Do you think I just watched you and did nothing?”

Oh my god.

The more she talked with him, the more she realized just how ignorant and stupid she was.

Sei decided to change the topic. She didn’t have a choice anyway. No, she did have a choice, but then her life would not be guaranteed.

I had heard of the saying that when whales fight, the backs of shrimp are torn*. Wouldn’t it be nice to just have my back torn?

{*A proverb: In a fight between strong people, the weak suffer the damage.}

Not only was she now involved with the Sicilian Mafia, but she also somehow attracted the Red Mafia’s attention. Literally, the Russian surname Petrov was followed by the name ‘Red Mafia.’

Of course, not all mafia committed illegal things.

It wasn’t widely publicized, but the Petrov family was a “corporate mafia” and was a huge social enterprise that dealt with shipbuilding, aviation, cruises, and various sports clubs.

That didn’t mean they were fair, though. They still engaged in drugs, arms trafficking, and murders and whenever people heard their name they would tremble in fear.

Yuri Petrov was the middle child of this Petrov family. His face and age, much less his gender and nationality were unknown to everyone. He was a genius hacker and the head that ran things in the company. A man famous enough to make rumors spread that everything will be over in one go if one took out Yuri Petrov without even having to take out the boss.

But the problem was that no one knew Yuri’s face. Some said that he did not exist and some even said he was an AI. This was probably because he was known only to a small group within the organization.

‘I got caught by such a hacker… It’s not surprising that he was able to pull out Giulio’s account just like pulling out weeds.’

Her sigh deepened.

In an instant, under the DE:A logo engraved on the napkin, the Petrov family crest embroidered with gold thread entered her view.

“Then this ship…”

“It’s mine.”

“Then why are you staying on the 14th floor?”

“If I had stayed on the floor above this, you wouldn’t have been able to come here. This floor is the Maginot Line that the general public can access.”

“I’m going to go crazy…”

“There’s nothing to think that hard about. You only need to catch the traitor. The thing that that rat sold to Giulio is very important to me.”

“Do you know who that is?”

“If I knew that, there would be no reason for me to contact you. Your job will end once you find and kill him.”

Ah, okay. So we’re going by the way that’s most convenient for you. Very well.

I’ve occasionally heard people say I’m a crazy bonehead, but the more I talk with this ego-centric man, the more I feel like I’m not his opponent.

Sei gulped down the cold beer and wiped her lips.

“Fine. First of all… My luggage could be a risk. There are a lot of valuables in it. So please let me go to my room for a moment. Okay?

As soon as she finished speaking, the man raised his hand. Then, a man with a short crew cut came out of nowhere and nodded to Yuri.

“Kirill, get the lady’s luggage from her room. Give utmost care to the valuables present.”

Hey!

Sei almost screamed. By sending someone else instead of her meant that he didn’t trust her.

Just before the man named Kirill left the room as per Yuri’s instructions, Sei crushed a completely empty can of beer with one hand and said unpleasantly, “There’s a Hermes Birkin bag under the bed. More than anything, bring that one. Please!”