[All characters, places, organizations, events, and the like appearing in this work bear no relation to reality and are fictional creations of the author’s imagination.]
Henry barely managed to smooth out the frown that had formed on its own and gathered his thoughts. Calmly, yet with a sharp eye, he quickly looked Joshua up and down before meeting his gaze.
‘The customized appearance matches one hundred percent, and it seems the clothes appear as a set too.’
Having finished his external inspection, Henry asked the question he had prepared in advance. Depending on whether the clone recognized its own identity or was buried in its configured past, his operational policy from here on would change completely.
“Joshua. Where were you yesterday?”
Joshua did not hesitate in the slightest. In a blunt, low voice, as though reciting a prepared report, he answered.
“Yesterday, I spent the entire day inspecting the Manhattan office. Even though a week has passed since the funeral, tabloid reporters trying to dig into the family and informants from Newhous were loitering around the estate. I took firm warning measures to ensure they would not disturb your rest, young master.”
‘Newhous? I’ll have to look into that… Does estate mean the grounds around the mansion? Okay, noted.’
Joshua glanced briefly at Henry’s disheveled hair, then added.
“In the evening, I planned the redeployment of security personnel with my father in the mansion’s security room. Ever since the master and madam passed away, we have maintained the highest level of alert. Do you not remember? Late last night, when you asked for whiskey in your room, I brought you an ice bucket. It seems the alcohol has made your memory a little hazy.”
Henry inwardly slapped his knee. Yesterday, he had not drunk alcohol, let alone whiskey; he had only drunk water, and cautiously at that. This was solid proof that the system had forcibly stuffed fabricated pasts, under the name of “plausibility,” into the memories of those around him.
Then how would he react to knowledge of the future? Henry went a step further.
“Joshua. What do you think of a twenty-four-hour cable news channel?”
Anyone with even the slightest interest in America would know as basic common sense just how tremendous a success this plan would become in the future. When people thought of American news, this channel was the first thing that came to mind. In fact, after this channel’s success, the groundbreaking idea of twenty-four-hour news spread across the world and became the standard.
Joshua stared into empty space for a moment as though processing information, then opened his mouth.
“A world where gaps in information disappear… That is not merely a broadcasting station. It is like acquiring a radar that operates twenty-four hours a day. The masses will think and move according to whatever the channel says. For families like ours, who exert power from places unseen, it will become a double-edged sword.”
“Ted Runner? I can’t quite remember the name, but I think that’s right. That man is going around saying he’ll do this and getting laughed at for it. Do you think it can make money?”
“The inheritance procedures were completed last week, so there will be no issue with injecting funds. The initial losses will be immense, but if you were to take possession of that channel, young master, it would not be an investment. It would be the creation of a private army called public opinion.”
Henry smiled in satisfaction. Although Joshua did not seem to have knowledge of the future, when faced with a casual question, he had given the most conglomerate-like correct answer possible. It was time to end the small talk.
“Good. We’ll discuss this again later. For now, there is something I want only you to do, Joshua. Starting with this mansion, reinvestigate every person in the family. These are chaotic times, so we must be even more thorough. I’d like you to handle it as discreetly as possible. You are the only person I can entrust this to, Joshua.”
Joshua’s sharp eyes deepened further.
“I will start from zero without relying on existing data and report back as quickly as possible.”
“I’m counting on you.”
Joshua left the room with the restrained movements characteristic of a soldier. Now, what remained was to face the family’s power behind the scenes and living history: the butler, Bartholomew Cansington. Henry carefully pressed the silver call button on the desk, which he had deliberately ignored until now.
‘All right, the acting begins now. Let’s go win Best Actor.’
Perhaps because he was slightly nervous, before he could even finish refining the lines in his head, the butler appeared with a knock, as though he had been waiting.
“Bart, if you have a moment, prepare some coffee. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
“I was already preparing it, Henry. On a foggy day like today, you will need some caffeine, after all.”
Henry answered with a slight nod, and only after Bart closed the door and left did he exhale the breath he had been holding.
One’s language habits, the words one used, one’s attitude and way of thinking—during early childhood, these were absolutely shaped by the closest caregiver and surrounding environment. This was because children absorbed not merely language, but also which emotions to choose and express in particular situations through social learning. The relationships and education one experienced while growing up formed the framework of personality and social life.
The problem was that the current Henry possessed two sets of memories. One was the sum total of dry knowledge, as though watching another person’s life in a film, but as Korea’s thirty years and America’s twenty-two years became increasingly intermingled, he had to be careful with his conduct.
It was especially important not to give those around him a sense of incongruity. On the surface, this was the time when he had only just ascended to the position of family head and needed to establish dignity and authority. So even if he changed a little, he had to set the stage so those around him would rationalize it however they pleased: “Ah, now that he has become the family head, he must be changing himself!” That meant he could not afford to utter even a single word carelessly.
Of course, this might have been excessive caution, but Henry’s personality was the type to break a stone bridge before crossing it, and he was convinced that it would not be too late to change his attitude after he had completely seized control of the family. That was why, even in his conversation with the butler just now, Henry had to choose every single word with elegance and classical refinement. As though he were the son of a Joseon-era noble family mixing formal, archaic modes of speech.
After reviewing the conversation and confirming that he had made no verbal slip, Henry looked at the silver button on the desk and suddenly found his thoughts wandering elsewhere.
‘At this point in time, intercoms should be fully commercialized, and yet they use a silver button. I’ll have to completely remodel this house someday… No, now isn’t the time for such leisurely thoughts. Let’s run through the conversation simulation again.’
Before long, another restrained knock sounded. The door opened, and Bart appeared holding a silver tray from which steam rose. The rich scent of caffeine spread through the study.
“As you prefer, young master, I omitted the sugar and added only a little cream. It should be at a suitable temperature to drink right away.”
“Thank you. Don’t just stand there. Bring a cup for yourself and sit. Let’s drink together while we talk.”
With a gentle smile, Bart placed a bundle of documents in front of Henry. Then he made a playful joke.
“I appreciate the thought, but I must decline. While the master enjoys his coffee, someone has to organize the newspapers and check the next schedule. That is also the reason I receive a salary from this family. And this is the report compiled so far regarding the plane accident.”
“Talking about salary… That’s hardly something to say to someone whose family has protected ours for nine generations, is it?”
“If we include Joshua, it is no fewer than ten generations! That is the pride of the Cansington family. Henry, I investigated again, but… regrettably, this matter appears to have been a clear accident.”
‘Nice! Joshua, you landed very naturally!’
Henry cheered inwardly. It was the moment he confirmed that the bomb called Joshua had been planted very neatly in Bart’s memories. On top of that, he had naturally confirmed the fact that Henry, before the possession, had ordered a thorough investigation into his parents’ accident.
“I’ll review the documents myself and discuss them again afterward. I called you today for another reason.”
Henry set down his coffee cup and calmly brought up the main subject.
“The ‘Heir Preservation Project’… What happened with securing the bloodline through a surrogate mother?”
Even Henry himself thought it was a truly dreadful tradition. “There must always be at least two family members.” A bizarre system born from an obsession to continue the line even in death.
“It is proceeding successfully. We have confirmed implantation of the fertilized egg, and she is currently under isolated protection in a safe house in New Jersey. There will be no outside exposure whatsoever until childbirth.”
‘Wow, these old men are seriously terrifying. Does that mean my child, whom I don’t even know about, is being cultured(?) somewhere in New Jersey?’
After hearing Bart’s report, Henry rubbed his goosebump-covered arm and let out a small sigh. It was a cold-blooded project that had begun before his parents’ funeral had even been held, all for the sake of continuing the family line. Henry suppressed his complicated feelings and changed the subject.
“Whew… very well. These past few days, I’ve been sitting in this room trying to grasp the inherited assets, and it has been no ordinary headache. As you know, I have never been particularly attentive to such matters. So I ask: apart from the trust assets brought by Attorney William Henrick, are there any hidden assets separately managed by the family?”
“They are not large enough in scale to call assets, but there are offshore funds and a few pieces of real estate in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and Switzerland. I will reorganize the full list and report it to you by tomorrow morning.”
Henry felt a trace of disappointment inwardly, but he controlled his emotions as he drank the coffee that was beginning to cool.
‘I guess I should assume there are almost no slush funds. Well, I don’t even know how money laundering like in the movies is done, so for a beginner like me, it’s probably much cleaner to operate things transparently like this.’
“Mm, yes. We’ll discuss the rest after I receive the list. Understanding the situation comes first. And while I’ve been holed up in this room, I need to know how the world has been turning. Tell them to bring me all major newspapers and magazines from today onward, including . Ah, right. The whiskey I drank last night was quite good, but I can’t remember the name. Send up a bottle in the evening.”
“You mean the Macallan 25-year, sir. Understood. I will inform the head maid.”
Without waiting to confirm that Bart had left the room, Henry immediately began turning through the documents before him. He was curious about the end that this body’s parents had met.
‘An accident caused by sudden adverse weather conditions… Let’s see. Because of a record-breaking low-pressure storm, they descended to a low altitude to avoid the storm, and then collided with a flock of migratory birds also trying to avoid the typhoon, causing the engines to burn out? They crashed into the waters off Long Island?’
The various figures and materials clearly explained that, with the technology of the time, this incident had been an unavoidable disaster. Henry sipped his coffee and soothed his hollow heart. In his previous life, he had not even had family to cling to, yet having memories of people whose faces he had never once seen left in his head was rather unsettling.
‘It’s not something I can change, so let’s accept it and move on. But why did those people go all the way to Britain when they hardly ever even left Manhattan?’
The question remained, but he decided to set it aside for now. Henry took the trust documents out of the drawer and shoved the accident-related documents into their place. He intended to examine, one by one, the list of assets he had only skimmed through roughly before.
‘I even have a spare life now. Let’s start moving little by little. I’ll try taking first place, and really enjoy this life properly! But… there’s too much to study. Fuck… If I’d done this back in twelfth grade, I would’ve gotten into Seoul National University.’