Chapter 213: Fox Hunt (5)
“If you need a buddy… Patricia, would you mind?”
My assigned buddy, or guide, was none other than Patricia.
Another key figure of the collateral line and Rupert’s other right-hand person.
One of the people I had to persuade.
Somehow, it had worked out again.
‘It’s a miracle we haven’t been caught.’
Anyway, that’s how the hunt began.
Pooong!
A grand blast of a horn signaled the start of the hunt. It was a sound reminiscent of battlefields from the medieval era.
The hunting dogs all darted forward at once, noses to the ground. "Woof woof!"
As the dogs barked loudly, the riders of the First Flight shouted in unison.
“Tally-ho!”
Patricia, who had approached me, explained gently.
“‘Tally-ho’ is the signal that a fox has been spotted. It means the chase begins now.”
Before she could even finish her sentence, the hounds shot forward like arrows and leapt lightly over the fence surrounding the garden. The First Flight riders followed closely behind.
Displaying the skills they had honed through years of training, they cleared the fence smoothly—it was quite the sight.
“We’ll wait about ten minutes before we head out so we don’t get in the way.”
Just then, as we were watching the scene unfold—
“Sean.”
Amid the sound of hooves, someone suddenly appeared and called out to me.
It was Judy.
But she wasn't alone.
“Say hello. This is my eldest brother.”
“The Marquis family’s eldest son, Rupert.”
Rupert extended a hand for a handshake.
“It’s a pleasure to meet the young man that Ichan and Kissinger praised so highly.”
Rupert showered me with compliments he must’ve heard at recent high-society events.
‘What is this? Is he trying to win me over directly?’
Desmond and Raymond, who belonged to the First Flight, weren’t present at the moment.
I wondered if he was trying to make contact with me while they were away…
“You’re a distinguished guest, so make sure he’s well taken care of.”
He turned his head toward Patricia and spoke without any hint of hesitation, then added to me,
“If you want to change your buddy, don’t hesitate to let me know. Everyone will be gathering during lunch, so you can just tell me then.”
My current buddy was Patricia.
And yet he brazenly said—right in front of her—that I could replace her if she wasn’t good enough.
“Actually, since this is a rare opportunity, how about joining the First Flight once you’re more comfortable on horseback?”
This was clearly his way of saying he planned to separate me from Patricia in the afternoon.
Suddenly, Judy’s words from last night came to mind.
[Rupert will definitely pit Harold and Patricia against each other. He’ll say something like, ‘Only the one who brings in the information first will get the credit.’]
That prediction seemed to be right on the mark.
Rupert wasn’t just creating competition—he was directly applying pressure.
Basically saying, ‘I’ll swap in Harold halfway through, so you’d better produce results before then.’
He was likely trying to provoke Patricia into stepping up her game.
I couldn’t help but smirk.
‘This… might actually be pretty useful.’
About ten minutes after the First Flight departed—
“Tally-ho!”
With another loud shout, the members of the Second Flight—my group—began moving.
‘Will I be able to ride well?’
It felt a bit awkward to be back in the saddle after such a long time,
But the moment the horse took its first step, I instinctively straightened my back and distributed my weight evenly.
I adjusted the reins with delicate tension to avoid straining the horse’s mouth, rested my feet lightly in the stirrups, and gently lowered my heels to relax my ankles.
A horse isn’t just a mode of transport—it’s a partner with whom you need to sync your rhythm.
It’s more important to communicate than to simply issue commands.
Then—
‘This horse… it’s pretty smart.’
The horse Harold had picked out for me seemed well-trained.
It didn’t act stubbornly and adjusted its stride appropriately, almost as if it understood I hadn’t ridden in a while and was being considerate.
However—
‘Flat terrain is fine, but…’
I wasn’t confident about jumping obstacles.
Just then, Patricia smiled reassuringly.
“We won’t be jumping any fences. We’ll find a detour and track the First Flight’s position from there.”
Instead of leaping over fences, the Second Flight exited through a nearby gate and began following the hoofprints on the ground.
Our pace was relaxed.
We weren’t galloping—it felt more like a peaceful stroll.
“How’s the riding so far? Are you getting used to it?”
Patricia looked after me attentively.
On the surface, she seemed considerate,
‘But she’s trying to build rapport.’
She’d act like she cared, then whisper to me in secret.
‘Raymond is using you. I’m only telling you this for your own good…’—something like that.
Her real goal was to persuade me to betray Raymond.
But today, I planned to turn the tables on her.
I intended to convince her to betray Rupert.
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
From what I’d heard, Patricia had been loyal to Rupert for the past eight years, working hard to earn his trust.
‘That’s a huge sunk cost.’
There’s a psychological trap in investment called the “sunk cost fallacy.”
When you can’t recover the time or resources you’ve already invested, it becomes hard to walk away.
In terms of stock trading, it’s that hesitation to cut your losses before recovering your principal.
Patricia was probably feeling the same.
She had already invested eight years and a great deal of effort into Rupert, but had yet to reap the rewards. And now, I was asking her to throw all of that away and switch sides?
‘She’ll definitely reject me at first.’
Still, that didn’t mean it was impossible to persuade her.
Ironically, Rupert had just helped me with that.
He had introduced a “time limit” into the equation.
“When’s lunch?”
“Eleven thirty.”
That meant two hours from now.
Patricia would need to deliver results before then, so she’d naturally start feeling pressed for time.
She had to build rapport with me and have a secret talk within that short window.
‘Maybe I should push her a little harder.’
So, I decided to start by sabotaging her rapport-building attempt.
And once again, Rupert lent me a hand.
“I didn’t expect Sean to be here.”
Until just a moment ago, the relatives had been treating me like I was invisible. Now, they were striking up conversations in friendly tones.
“I was surprised too. It’s nice to finally meet you in person after only seeing your photo.”
“I saw you at the New Year’s party, though I’m not sure if you remember. I’m actually an investor in Pareto Innovation.”
Originally, the relatives kept their distance from me because they were wary of Rupert.
But seeing Rupert himself talk to me so casually right in front of them, they couldn’t help but change their attitude.
“You’re a fund investor? What about the rest of you?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m invested elsewhere…”
“Oh, that’s too bad. If you let me know which fund, I might be able to give you a small tip.”
“A tip?”
“Sure. I know some insider info that only people in the industry are aware of.”
It worked quite well.
Their eyes lit up at the prospect of free investment advice, and soon they were showering me with questions.
“It’s getting too noisy. This is starting to interfere with the hunt.”
In the end, it was Patricia who stepped in and gave a warning after all the commotion.
Her expression wasn’t very pleasant.
Well, of course not.
She needed to build some kind of rapport with me, and now the situation had made it hard for her to even get a word in.
“Oh, yes. I’ll be more careful.”
Patricia held some influence among our relatives.
Some of them seemed to read her mood, but in the face of free investment advice, that caution didn’t last long.
“About that fund of funds you mentioned earlier. They usually just charge fees without providing much value, so it’s better to invest directly.”
“What? But I don’t know anything about investing…”
“In that case, there’s a simple trick…”
They hesitated for a moment, but the conversation quickly picked up again.
After giving investment advice for nearly thirty minutes,
“I’m surprised how easily I’ve gotten back into horseback riding. I think Harold must have been very thoughtful.”
I brought up Harold, Patricia’s rival.
And I didn’t just mention him.
“By the way, how is the hunt master selected?”
“The family head decides. Harold has been the master for five years now.”
“I see. That means among all the family members, he’s recognized as having the best leadership skills!”
I continued praising Harold for a full thirty minutes, and eventually, Patricia’s smile began to freeze awkwardly.
There was now one hour left until lunch.
By this point, Patricia couldn’t hide her growing impatience.
“There’s a lovely reservoir nearby. Would you like to stop by for a moment? If everyone joins in, it might disrupt the hunt, so maybe just you, Mr. Ha Si-heon…”
It was clear she was desperate to find an excuse to spend time alone with me.
But the timing still wasn’t right.
I shook my head.
“I appreciate the thought, but you don’t have to go through that trouble on my behalf.”
“But since you came all the way here, just once…”
“No, it’s fine. I can enjoy the scenery tomorrow morning. Don’t worry about it.”
Patricia made a few more suggestions, but I politely declined each time.
And so, there were only thirty minutes left until lunchtime.
It was finally my turn to act.
I frowned slightly and looked down at my feet.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m wearing new boots, and they’re uncomfortable.”
“Then let’s stop for a moment and check. Everyone else, please go on ahead. We don’t want to slow down the group.”
I said my feet hurt, and Patricia responded a little too eagerly.
She really needed to work on her facial expressions.
Anyway, the others went ahead as she suggested, and I took off my boots briefly before putting them back on.
Then Patricia quickly spoke up again.
“How about we rest for a bit? Pushing yourself could make a small injury worse.”
I nodded calmly.
“Alright then. Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Well, it’s more of a request than a conversation.”
“A… request?”
Patricia repeated my words with a surprised expression.
The word “request” was likely something she hadn’t expected.
Surprise is a powerful tool.
Surprise stirs emotion, and someone caught in emotion often loses their center and gets pulled along.
However—
If I wanted her to abandon her sunk costs and follow my lead, this wouldn’t be enough.
To make someone walk away from eight years of investment, I’d need to offer a reward of equal value.
It was time to drop that offer.
“Yes, it might be a bit sudden, but I’m planning to establish a policy research institute.”
“A… policy research institute?”
“Yes. And I’d like you… to serve as the director of that institute.”
***
Patricia was confused.
The past two hours had been nothing but relentless pressure for her.
If she didn’t get results within the time Rupert set, the opportunity would go to Harold.
‘No way he succeeds though… right?’
Harold was an incompetent man.
His only skill was flattering Rupert.
But the more she listened, the more it sounded like Ha Si-heon was surprisingly favorable toward Harold.
If, by some chance, Harold managed to win Ha Si-heon over…
She didn’t even want to imagine it.
Yet she hadn’t even had a proper conversation with Ha Si-heon until now.
Finally, she’d managed to get some alone time with him, and now—
“About my algorithm. I’m wondering if it’s right to use this information solely for my personal financial gain. If I can predict major events and share the data appropriately, it could be used to help more people, don’t you think?”
Ha Si-heon kept talking about odd things.
Now he was offering her a director position at some research institute?
She hadn’t seen this coming at all.
It threw her off for a moment…
But one thing she was sure of:
‘This must be another one of Raymond’s schemes.’
If that were the case, there were only two possibilities.
Either it was a bribe to win her over—or a cleverly laid trap.
Either way, it didn’t matter.
What mattered right now was persuading Ha Si-heon.
“A director role at a research institute… That’s a very sudden proposal. I appreciate the consideration, but I think there’s something more urgent we should discuss.”
She had to uncover the truth about the dealings between Ha Si-heon and Raymond, and plant seeds of doubt about Raymond in his mind.
So she tried to steer the conversation…
But then Ha Si-heon continued, wearing a meaningful smile.
“Are you rejecting my offer? I haven’t even told you the full details yet.”
He seemed to realize she wasn’t even interested in what the offer entailed.
And to Patricia, that was only natural.
Even if Ha Si-heon and Raymond offered her the most tempting bribe, she had no reason to accept.
What she truly wanted was something neither of them could ever provide.
But just as she opened her mouth to politely decline again—
Ha Si-heon said something completely unexpected.
“I heard the Marquis family has a presidential campaign support committee.”
It was true.
This committee provided generous funding and logistical support to the next presidential candidate, solidifying political influence in the process.
There was no need to explain how coveted the chairman’s seat was.
If you were lucky, you could build a personal relationship with the next head of state.