Lauren had come to this house for the first time just before the wedding as a matter of procedure. The small-scale lightning wedding was also held in the garden of this house. She had the ideal garden for a beautiful wedding in the spring, but for some reason Lauren couldn't remember good things about her wedding.
She wasn't even wearing a wedding dress to rehearse. She regretted that she didn't want a wedding dress. If she had the mind right now, she would prefer a wedding dress in which she looked very beautiful and young, and insisted on Brendon to wear a wedding suit in which he would look great, in spite of the Walker Dynasty, who were very involved in Brendon's life. "Have a dignified wedding." Brendon would have liked the idea of doing something out of spite.
As she was sitting in the large hall, she heard the heels of a woman descending the stairs. Thinking that the heels were now touching a carpet, Lauren stood up and turned around. She bowed respectfully to the tall woman, dressed in an elegant, jet-black dress, and her white hair beautifully styled.
"Thank you for accepting my visit, Miss Walker." she added. With a satisfied expression, she invited Lauren to sit down and sat across from her. She gestured to one of the servants. This was probably an order to bring treats.
Lauren was happy that she had successfully passed the first stage. If she had called Elizabeth Walker "my aunt" instead of "Miss. Walker", she would have received a low score, drank her tea before she could reach her goal, and was sent from this house.
It was also a plus point that she called before she came and got permission. Brendon's never-married narcissistic and perfectionist aunt Elizabeth was his father's sister, who took on the task of caring for Dominic Walker, who fell seriously ill after returning from his last job. She was the person who was most opposed to Brendon's remarriage, especially to someone so young.
Lauren asked about Elizabeth's health. After Elizabeth replied to Lauren, "I thought you'd bring the Michelin when you wanted to visit." she said. Lauren was taken aback by Elizabeth's expectation. It was actually a good idea to bring Michelin as well, but bringing it with a broken arm would have wiped out all the plus points.
Without going too far into these matters, "I would like to visit you with Brendon at a more convenient time." she said. She wanted to finish her work as soon as possible. Because she didn't want to leave a baby who had been accidentally targeted with a broken arm alone at home with Margaret.
"I'd like to see Mr Walker, too, if you'll excuse me." she continued. Elizabeth stared at Lauren for a few seconds before answering. Lauren was sure her rashness had cast doubt on Elizabeth, but she also believed it was a good idea to come to terms with it.
"Of course…" Elizabeth said after a few seconds. Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. "But I would like to know why." Elizabeth added, tensing Lauren again. There was no way she could convince Elizabeth that she wasn't after something. She had to somehow give an answer that would please her. Just then, a servant came and left tea. Lauren thanked him, which gave her time to collect her thoughts.
"Miss Walker…" she began, after taking the first sip. Afterwards, she said in a slightly more serious tone, "I realize that our marriage is not approved in this family. Probably Brendon wouldn't like my coming here either." she continued. Thus, with the confession that she had come unannounced from Brendon, she gave a trump card to the other side. Elizabeth's disdainful gaze also showed it.
Lauren placed the cup on the coffee table, "But as a bride, one way or another, I have to visit my father-in-law and fulfill my duties and responsibilities to my wife's family." she said. "After all, my last name is Walker now, and I am officially a representative of this family." she added. Thus, she left no open door for Elizabeth.
If Lauren had offered a more emotional excuse than duty and responsibility, it would probably backfire. Elizabeth Walker was such a person. She didn't have to tell her the real excuse. It was enough to give her an excuse that she liked.
Elizabeth stood up and said, "You can see him anytime after you've had your tea. But whatever your intentions are, remember that Dominic is a sick person." and left the room. Lauren took another sip of her tea until the sound of the heels subsided. She didn't want to show her impatience.
"What masochist wears such uncomfortable shoes during the day?" she thought. She wore a similar dress and similar shoes to please her. When she was sure that Elizabeth had left, she got up and followed the servant who was accompanying her.
Lauren walked into a room that was tastefully furnished for a human room called a patient. It was larger than the living room in their home, and half of the walls were filled with books.
In the part full of books, there was a huge shuttle model in the middle. A man sitting in an electronic chair was dealing with part of the model. He didn't even notice anyone entering the room. The maid did not come through the door. Lauren walked in and approached the man.
Reclining from his chair, he looked at the man's white hair and wrinkled hands. It felt strange to Lauren already seeing what Brendon would look like when he was older. Seeing the picture on a table to her right, she went that way. Her father-in-law didn't make a sound, so it was okay for her to glance around the room.
Dominic Walker and his wife had a photo taken at the main entrance of the house, holding a tiny baby in their arms. It was the first time Lauren had seen Brendon this small. She smiled. It was as if Michelin and Brendon had traveled back in time and had this photograph taken thirty years ago.
When she heard that Dominic Walker was sick, Lauren had first thought of it as an organic disease that put him in bed. She had seen him walking around the garden when she was brought to this house before the wedding. Margaret called it "A kind of dementia." Unfortunately, Margaret was the only source of information on this subject.
According to the media, Dominic Walker experienced a rapid physical and mental breakdown that began after his last space travel. But, according to Margaret, that was how Dominic was when he returned from the trip. It was as if he had left his soul and memory where he had gone. Margaret had said that within a year Dominic looked twenty years older. In the same period, conditions such as a disorder in his behavior, emotional apathy and inability to recognize his relatives were added.
Margaret, who was in charge of the main house at the time, also talked about her employer's terrible dreams. "Before he became consciously desensitized, he had such terrible nights that I can't help but shyly say, 'Well, he's too demented to have dreams.'" she said. Hallucinations and nightmares... Coincidentally, Dominic Walker's last space trip was to PG001.
Lauren stepped away from the painting and approached the mock-up. "Hi Dominic." she said in a calm tone. There was no answer. Dominic was still trying to fix a part of the mockup. The materials around it showed that the model was made recently.
When Lauren noticed the detail on the shuttle's main exit door, "How can a senile do this?" she thought. "Kampfer52," she muttered as she saw the tip as she circled the fifty-inch-wide model.
Dominic said, "This baby is just recognizable." Lauren had caught Dominic's interest by knowing the name of the space shuttle, of which the shuttle was her role model. She turned to him and asked, "Do you know me?"
Dominic didn't answer. Lauren waited in silence for a while. Then she looked around. She saw papers scattered around a table ahead. Pencil drawings of the shuttle and astronaut suits were scattered all over that corner.
One of the pictures caught her eye. She wondered about the object drawn on a lunar background. On a cube box, there was a lens pointing the other way and a small bowl on it. Lauren immediately recognized her little friend. A month ago, she almost sent Michelin to this friend.
There was an astronaut dressed in a pencil drawing, and the transparent part on the front of the astronaut's helmet was drawn in black. Just below it, it seemed as if a dark liquid was flowing from both sides.
This picture frightened Lauren. She seemed to be remembering one of the nightmares she couldn't remember. A picture that had been hidden under other papers immediately caught her attention. In the corner it said "go away".
She was shocked when she rescued the picture from under the other papers and looked at it. In this picture, the box device combined with the astronaut was drawn. And what was drawn just behind the astronaut made Lauren drop the picture and back away. Everything was clearer now.