Diary – Entry III
We're close to breaking. Truly surrounded on all sides.
The main road reached the central district—then construction was suddenly ordered to halt, citing "public disturbance."
The rebuilding of the residential quarter had barely been laid when the construction materials "mysteriously disappeared" en route.
Even the funding that had already been approved was abruptly frozen—we're now being asked to submit more paperwork, go through more review processes.
But we've already submitted everything—three times.
There was a time I truly believed:
If we had sincerity, vision, and courage, the city would respond to us.
But now I realize:
The city never responds to anyone.
It only protects those already sitting firmly in their seats of power.
Elias' father didn't come home last night.
I know he went to meet some of his "old contacts."
He told me perhaps it was time to "try another way,"
that maybe we should start compromising.
I understand him—
but I'm terrified.
Terrified that one day, we'll become the very people we once despised.
But what scares me even more—
is this lingering thought:
Did we already lose, right from the beginning?
We bet everything on the hearts of people…
But maybe, the human heart is the most worthless wager of all.
Our family's savings are almost completely drained.
I've even started thinking about selling our stables and the summer estate.
Each "suspended" stamped on the project schedule feels like a mockery of our beliefs.
Late at night, I often sit alone at the table,
flipping through the children's old scribbles—
Marcellus drew "a hero guarding a fortress,"
Elias drew "a bridge linking two shores, people hand in hand."
We started this dream… to make the world in their drawings real.
But now, it's all teetering on the edge of ruin.
If no miracle comes—
Diary – Entry IV
Strangely enough… something may have shifted.
And absurdly—
It started with little Livia.
Apparently, while playing, she "discovered something."
She said it was "the sound of wind blowing from underground."
Then she snuck off with Elias and Marcellus, and the three of them spent the entire afternoon squatting behind the garden with a tattered piece of parchment.
Later, they even ran off to the barren hillside behind the North Tower.
One of the maids told me they were "looking for treasure."
At first, I just laughed it off as childish play.
But that evening, Livia came bounding into my study, tugging my sleeve:
"Uncle, do you think this map is real?
Is it showing the old quarter?"
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
She was completely serious.
I took the crumpled parchment and studied it for a long while.
And honestly… it didn't look like a child's doodle.
The markings and linework—especially the symbols—
They resembled some kind of ancient topographical fragment.
Of course, I didn't tell her that.
She's still too young.
And that sense of adventure—the joy of a childhood "treasure hunt"—
is something I couldn't bring myself to ruin.
Still, I quietly put the map away.
I'll have someone look into the layout of the garden and the hills behind the tower.
Just in case… there really is something buried there.
That girl, Livia…
She's not only clever,
but she has this uncanny intuition—
like a little fox, quietly peeling back the veil of the adult world without anyone noticing.
She and Elias and Marcellus have become inseparable lately.
The three of them are like they've been tied together since birth—
always bickering, never letting one another suffer.
Sometimes, I even find myself wondering—
Maybe someday, she'll become part of our family?
Though truth be told, I've no idea which of my boys she might "end up with."
Now that's a real problem.
But whatever happens—
As long as she chooses to stay,
our two families will be bound even tighter.
And maybe, just maybe—
that's the city offering us a rare moment of tenderness.