Cecilia stopped where she stood, her shoulders shaking as she laughed.
She had come rushing over armed with her most dazzling dress and a razor-sharp sense of tension, only to realize she had trusted Seoha far too little.
‘He was always this kind of person.’
Why did people become intimidated in a party hall? Perhaps it was because of their desperate longing to admire that world and blend into it completely.
But because Seoha did not crave splendor, he had no need to be servile, and thus he could remain the freest outsider in this place. The purpose Seoha carried was far too great for him to be captivated by a glittering world.
‘Nice try.’
They must have thought that with a suitable amount of praise and glamour, sweet music, and a honey trap, a naive twenty-year-old young man would be easy enough to cook.
But Seoha had honestly accepted only the question they had thrown out as a pretext.
“Now, if you look here at the structure of the group formed by the rational points on curve E…”
It was Cecilia’s first time hearing Seoha speak Korean.
At MIT, and of course at the lab, he always used English. But as she looked at the board, Cecilia could understand everything Seoha was explaining. That was the charm of mathematics—the power of numbers and symbols transcended language.
‘Is it because it’s his native language? It feels different.’
The breaths between his words were shorter, and his tone had lowered, making him seem more confident. Cecilia covered her face with the fan Emma had handed her and looked around.
“Pfft!”
A laugh escaped her at the sight of the distinguished guests breaking out in cold sweat. She awkwardly coughed a few times to cover up the crisis.
Even though the situation was uncomfortable, why were they unable to stop Seoha? Looking at their faces, she could guess the reason.
He was far too sincere about this situation.
‘You want to understand Utopia? Wow, really? I can’t let an opportunity to explain the beauty of this encryption slip away so easily!’
Such a simple process.
If anything, that sincerity seemed to have paralyzed their thinking.
Cecilia decided to extend a helping hand to these pitiful distinguished guests.
“Excuse me.”
She approached Seoha’s side with elegant steps.
The gazes of the distinguished guests, who were already at their limit, turned toward her. Their eyes looked as though they were seeing a savior.
She looked at Seoha, raised her hand, and asked.
“Director, how long do you foresee Utopia’s lifespan to be? And what is your basis for thinking so?”
Seoha looked at Cecilia and flinched in surprise. But soon he smiled brightly and answered.
“Since we cannot know the future, I cannot guarantee it one hundred percent, but even assuming the worst-case scenario, I believe it will be safe for at least three centuries. The reason is that the mathematical basis of this encryption…”
Seoha fell back into his explanation.
While his gaze was focused on Cecilia, the distinguished guests stealthily backed away and naturally moved farther from the spot.
Their faces were full of relief, as if to say, “We’re saved!”
“Huh? Where did everyone go?”
After finishing his explanation, Seoha looked around with a hollow expression.
Only ten minutes earlier, he had been surrounded by a crowd, but now only a few people remained. People who had taken out pens and notebooks and were staring wide-eyed. They were probably key researchers from companies.
“I guess I couldn’t explain it simply enough…”
Seoha’s shoulders drooped. He looked genuinely dejected.
Cecilia comforted him.
“Don’t worry. The budget won’t be a problem. This wasn’t even a gathering for that purpose in the first place.”
“Right? I actually thought that might be the case too. Still, I hoped at least one of the influential people would properly understand. It would be a great help in making policy.”
“Relax. Just the definite answer you gave—‘three centuries’—will have already given them peace of mind. They must have become convinced that it’s all right to go all in on Utopia.”
“I thought I’d gotten pretty good at explaining after holding meetings with the team.”
Cecilia felt sorry to say it, but in truth, she was a little relieved.
“Now, Director. The lecture is over, so we should go enjoy the real party, shouldn’t we?”
“What?”
With a captivating smile, she led Seoha into the crowd.
Under the dazzling chandelier, the green silk dress that held the light sparkled like jewels with every step she took.
Cecilia accurately picked out the big shots who had been hiding their presence in the corners.
“Congressman Ted, it has been a long time.”
“Hahaha! You are as beautiful as ever today, Countess.”
Ted Rogers, a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee who had intended to quietly observe the situation, wore a troubled expression.
He had attended today’s party unofficially.
“Did you enjoy the lecture?”
“It was a precious lesson one couldn’t hear anywhere else. Though it seems the interpreter had a bit of a hard time…”
The Korean-American man beside him, who appeared to be his secretary, scratched his head awkwardly.
“Then you must have heard about Utopia’s security. I don’t know if you are aware, but our director never says empty words.”
The British ambassador to Korea, the Asian branch heads of multinational corporations, figures from academia and charitable organizations as well. Cecilia took Seoha and thoroughly targeted only the places where the foreign distinguished guests were gathered.
Out of the corner of her eye, she confirmed that the expressions of the Korean figures were gradually stiffening.
‘Hmph!’
Cecilia sneered inwardly.
She could see perfectly well how today’s gathering had been arranged. From their point of view, sitting directly at the negotiating table would have been a risky choice. They would have had to deal with MIT. So they brought in political circles first to exert psychological pressure.
‘Though it doesn’t seem to have worked at all.’
The reason they had invited foreign figures was likely along the same lines. They were trying to give Seoha a plausible pretext called a technical presentation and send a message to them.
The message: ‘We can control Seoha.’
Seoha was conversing with the vice president of the world’s largest semiconductor company. He was explaining the theory passionately and smiling.
The title on the business card he had received from the man had probably already evaporated from Seoha’s mind and disappeared. Seoha likely wanted only to boast about Utopia, the result of the achievements the team had made together. He probably wished that, through this, humanity’s life would become safer.
“Is it all right to leave him like that?”
Chairman Choi of Seonyeong Group asked Lee Hyeonseok, the Minister of Science and ICT.
The minister felt his head throbbing as though a fever were rising. He was sick of the behavior of corporations that, despite knowing the circumstances, could not give up special privileges.
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
“Isn’t Apex Lab Korea an institution under the government?”
“Not exactly. MIT and Director Yu also hold shares.”
“Still, isn’t it a research institute built on Korean soil? And our government holds the authority to execute the budget. You should have taken measures to prevent these fruits from leaking to the wrong places.”
Anxiety was mixed into Chairman Choi’s voice.
“That is impossible.”
At his blatant pressure, Minister Lee Hyeonseok clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“When the contract was made, MIT sent its legal team directly. The independence of the research institute’s operations is also clearly stated in the contract. In other words, just because we hold the budget does not mean we can restrict Director Yu’s actions.”
“Why did you allow such a contract?”
The minister sighed.
“If it had not been such a contract, Director Yu would not have come to Korea in the first place. From the government’s position, we literally did our best. So if you want something as well, Chairman, compete transparently with those companies.”
The minister no longer wanted to pour energy into a meaningless conversation, so he turned his gaze toward the hall.
Chairman Choi closed his mouth and looked toward the center of the hall.
‘Cecilia Ashley.’
A countess, in this day and age, as if this were the Middle Ages…
He had thought she would be an insignificant figure trapped in past glory, but he had been wrong. Of course, he had known. He had known that her family, as hereditary peers and life members of the House of Lords, was deeply involved in Britain’s financial and political networks.
But the status she displayed in person was not merely that.
“Lady Ashley.”
A low, controlled voice.
When she turned her head, an elderly gentleman with silver hair stood at the end of her gaze. A smile spread across her lips.
“It has been a long time, Roger.”
Roger Bradford. He was a banker of Italian origin and a heavyweight who could exert influence even over the European Central Bank.
When Cecilia naturally extended her hand, he bent his knee without a moment’s hesitation and kissed the back of her hand. As she exchanged small talk, she naturally drew Seoha into the center of the conversation.
At first, Seoha wondered why Cecilia was doing this, but before long he noticed her intention.
“Thank you.”
Seoha’s voice was barely audible.
“Don’t mention it. Korean society is far more rigid than you think. Within this country, the influence of the chaebols surpasses imagination. But there is no need for you to follow the rules of the system they have set.”
“Mathematics knows no races or nations.”
Cecilia nodded.
“David Hilbert.”
“I should get going. You came because of me today, didn’t you? Thanks to you, I survived.”
“It seems my worries were unnecessary.”
“No. You really were a great help.”
Seoha slipped quietly out of the party hall.
When he stepped outside the building, the night view of Seoul unfolded beautifully. Stars were scattered sparsely above the ridgeline of Namsan. Only after breathing in the cold air did his mind seem to become clear.
Seoha dropped onto a bench and fell into thought.
Since the past, mathematics had never been free from politics and capital. Galileo had received the patronage of the Medici family, and Leibniz had been a court adviser to the Duke of Hanover.
“I never even thought about it.”
Newton, Lagrange, Laplace, Fourier, Hilbert, Einstein, Neumann.
All of them had received state support, and in return, they had been forced to place major restrictions on the direction of their research. The European scientists’ participation in the Manhattan Project had also been, in a sense, the bill presented by the United States for accepting their asylum and helping them obtain professorships.
“I get it!”
Seoha had not understood Erdős.
Despite his immense fame, he owned nothing. Without a house, a position, or a bank account, he wandered from the homes of mathematicians all over the world. Even though he could have done research in a far better environment if he had wanted to.
“Was Perelman’s seclusion for the same reason?”
Cecilia’s worried expression, the domestic and foreign political and business figures who had looked at him with greedy eyes.
“Government budget, huh…”
The independence stipulated in the contract was not independence in the true sense. Freedom that was permitted could be taken back at any time. Even if he returned to MIT after his military service, this would not be so different.
Then what should he do?
The conclusion came easily.
“Daisy, I want to establish a corporation. How much money do I have?”
Daisy’s avatar on his phone smiled brightly.
[Hehe. I have waited a long time, Master. You have finally made up your mind. Are you planning to put the world beneath your feet?]
Seoha looked dumbfounded.
“No, I just want to be free from politics and capital.”
Erdős and Perelman had only been able to obtain freedom after abandoning everything. But he intended to pursue it in a different way.