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Annette felt his face was so fragile and transparent that it seemed like it could easily break. Even though all his expressions were completely out of character for him.
Heiner opened his mouth in despair.
"You always say that. You don't blame me. You don't resent me."
“Because it’s true.”
“I wanted you to blame me and resent me.”
He barely managed to raise one corner of his mouth to smile.
“Then can you at least give me an excuse for why I did that to you?”
“...Excuses are made by the person who was at fault.”
“Do you think I have done you no wrong?”
“There were times when I thought that way, and times when I didn’t.”
“Then what about now?”
Annette's hand twitched slightly. She curled her fingers weakly, then relaxed them, letting out a soft sigh.
“I want to stop talking about this.”
“...”
“Shall we go now?”
Before he could even answer, Annette had already arranged the sheet music on the stand and placed it in an envelope. She was about to close the piano lid.
Her face turned a bright red as if on fire. She stopped moving and raised her head.
The clouds parted, and the sunset poured directly into the window. The lighting inside the chapel gradually increased. Red and blue lights filtered through the colored glass, shimmering in the air.
It was as if a handful of the most beautiful sunsets floating on the surface of the sea had been taken and placed here.
Annette, who had been staring blankly at him, opened her mouth as if in a trance.
“The sun is setting.”
“...”
“This is my first time at church at this hour. I always attend morning service...”
She never knew that stained glass, bathed in sunset light, could be so beautiful. Beneath this vast light, Annette felt as if she had become a transparent object.
Her clothes were stained with stains as she sat on the piano bench. Suddenly, she looked down and saw a rainbow-colored light flowing across the keyboard.
Annette held out her palm. A rainbow formed within her hand. She smiled and muttered softly.
“It’s so beautiful.”
Annette slowly turned to him. His face, too, was bathed in a multicolored light. It was so dazzling and brilliant that it obscured his expression.
"...Yes."
After a pause, a reply came. It was a voice that seemed to be submerged in water.
For a moment, the interior darkened as if clouds had gathered again. Only then could she see his face in detail. But only his features, hard as the ground after rain, were clearly visible.
An unfamiliar gaze fixed on her. It was both precarious and tenacious, as if it could break at any moment.
For some reason, she felt trapped in that gaze.
Annette turned her head and closed the piano lid. The rainbow had vanished. She lifted her hand, which had been resting on the lid for a moment.
“Let’s go back.”
A few days have passed since she went to church.
Every day was as usual. Annette had breakfast with him every day, and otherwise spent the rest of the day looking at sheet music or reading books.
If there was anything in the score that bothered her, she wrote it down and reported it to Heiner. Of course, she couldn't know whether it was actually used as a cipher or not.
That day, too, Annette was looking through her sheet music, spread out. The papers strewn about her desk were densely packed with scribbled letters.
Annette's eyes, which had been staring at the notes and rests for a long time, writing something down, comparing and contrasting, and looking at them again, suddenly stopped at one place.
Annette scribbled down a few numbers on a piece of paper. Her hand, which had been growing slower and slower, finally came to a complete halt.
She stared at the numbers she written for a long time, forgetting to breathe. Then she snatched the paper away.
Annette left the room, holding the paper. Her pace quickened as she crossed the barracks. Finally, she arrived in front of the Commander-in-Chief's office and asked her aide urgently.
“May I see His Excellency now?”
The aide, buried in a swamp of paperwork, pushed up his glasses and glanced at the door.
“Oh, there’s another guest inside right now. Is it urgent?”
“...It’s urgent, it’s urgent, butmm.”
Annette trailed off. She'd clearly come immediately because she thought it was important, but she wasn't sure if it was important enough to warrant interrupting his visitor.
The aide noticed her expression of hesitation and hesitated for a moment. Then he pulled back his chair and spoke.
“I’ll go inside and ask. Please wait.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
After the aide knocked on the office door, he reported on her. There was a sound of conversation coming from inside the door.
After a short conversation, the aide nodded at her.
Annette walked forward, clutching the paper to her chest. As she entered the office, the aide closed the door. She glanced up.
Heiner, sitting in the center of a large desk, was the first to come into view. Ahead, a man half-turned, staring at her with disapproval.
Annette paused and froze.
The man's face was delicate, if you look at it positively, or nervous, if you look at it negatively. Of course, she was more familiar with the latter.
The guest who had been inside seemed to be Major Eugen. Even though it had been nearly a year since she seen him, he didn't seem to have changed much.
Annette bowed her head in greeting without showing any expression.
“I apologize for the interruption. I have something urgent to report.”
Her tone was as businesslike as when they first met on the battlefield. Heiner, perhaps sensing her feelings, responded dryly.
“It’s okay. What’s wrong?”
“That, it’s something related to the sheet music.”
“You can tell me right away. The Major is the operational planning staff member.”
It was difficult to determine exactly how high a rank he held. But in any case, since he was called a staff officer, it seemed Major Eugen also held a place in this war.
Indeed, apart from his position as superintendent, he was a capable man. Major Eugen, despite not being a graduate of the military academy, was recognized for his abilities and became a close associate of the Commander-in-Chief.
For someone who had risen to this point solely on his own abilities, his resentment toward the nobles was justified. Anette doesn't remember exactly, but she heard he suffered significant harm from them.
In any case, it was awkward to meet someone again she had a connection with in the past, and someone who had hated her so much.
Annette approached the desk without looking at Major Eugen. Whether he was there or not was irrelevant at the moment.
“...Let me get to the point quickly.”
She put the paper down on the desk and continued speaking.
"This is a guess related to the numerical ciphertext you mentioned last time, so I decided it was appropriate to report it immediately. There's a point that matches the number you shared last time."
“Point of agreement?”
"Yes. First of all, in the minor scale, 'la' is the main note. In other words, it's considered the fundamental number, 1. If we look at the last measure of each variation of the original song..."
Annette briefly explained, scribbling down the paper. Heiner and Major Eugen remained silent until the explanation was complete.
“...If you compare it like this, it will be substituted identically to this number. It may have been forced, but it still matches.”
Annette, not entirely convinced, added an excuse that wasn't quite an excuse.
For a while, Heiner and Major Eugen remained silent, their faces stern, staring at the paper. Annette, for some reason, felt anxious, as if waiting for the results of a contest, and bit her lip.
Time passed slowly. Finally, Heiner spoke.
"I understand what you mean. I'll reflect on it and pass it on to the deciphering department. Thank you for your hard work."
His voice sounded so calm, as if he were simply congratulating her on a routine errand, that Annette couldn't tell if it was something serious or not.
But all she could do was lower her eyes and finish her report.
“...Yes, then.”
As soon as Annette left, Heiner relayed the information directly to the decryption department. Major Eugen, watching, chuckled in disbelief.
“Sorry, you use the methods spies use.”
“You must have noticed that Codebook 1) is being read. Or maybe it belongs to a real spy.”
This was certainly not a common method. While some spies had used this type of encryption in the past, sending encrypted messages in codebooks had become commonplace in recent wars.
To this, Major Eugen replied cynically.
"It's likely they've noticed we're deciphering it. But they have no choice, so they'll have to keep using it."
“There is not enough time to develop a new cipher.”
"A code that couldn't be read would never have been transmitted in a codebook. So, using this method means you either have a unique taste or..."
“It’s information so important that they can’t risk it being read.”
“That communication device has fallen into our hands. It seems God is on our side.”
Major Eugen spoke with a grin. Heiner stared blankly at the paper Annette had left behind, then replied dryly.
“...Well, I hope so.”
Heiner opened his mouth in despair.
"You always say that. You don't blame me. You don't resent me."
“Because it’s true.”
“I wanted you to blame me and resent me.”
He barely managed to raise one corner of his mouth to smile.
“Then can you at least give me an excuse for why I did that to you?”
“...Excuses are made by the person who was at fault.”
“Do you think I have done you no wrong?”
“There were times when I thought that way, and times when I didn’t.”
“Then what about now?”
Annette's hand twitched slightly. She curled her fingers weakly, then relaxed them, letting out a soft sigh.
“I want to stop talking about this.”
“...”
“Shall we go now?”
Before he could even answer, Annette had already arranged the sheet music on the stand and placed it in an envelope. She was about to close the piano lid.
Her face turned a bright red as if on fire. She stopped moving and raised her head.
The clouds parted, and the sunset poured directly into the window. The lighting inside the chapel gradually increased. Red and blue lights filtered through the colored glass, shimmering in the air.
It was as if a handful of the most beautiful sunsets floating on the surface of the sea had been taken and placed here.
Annette, who had been staring blankly at him, opened her mouth as if in a trance.
“The sun is setting.”
“...”
“This is my first time at church at this hour. I always attend morning service...”
She never knew that stained glass, bathed in sunset light, could be so beautiful. Beneath this vast light, Annette felt as if she had become a transparent object.
Her clothes were stained with stains as she sat on the piano bench. Suddenly, she looked down and saw a rainbow-colored light flowing across the keyboard.
Annette held out her palm. A rainbow formed within her hand. She smiled and muttered softly.
“It’s so beautiful.”
Annette slowly turned to him. His face, too, was bathed in a multicolored light. It was so dazzling and brilliant that it obscured his expression.
"...Yes."
After a pause, a reply came. It was a voice that seemed to be submerged in water.
For a moment, the interior darkened as if clouds had gathered again. Only then could she see his face in detail. But only his features, hard as the ground after rain, were clearly visible.
An unfamiliar gaze fixed on her. It was both precarious and tenacious, as if it could break at any moment.
For some reason, she felt trapped in that gaze.
Annette turned her head and closed the piano lid. The rainbow had vanished. She lifted her hand, which had been resting on the lid for a moment.
“Let’s go back.”
***
A few days have passed since she went to church.
Every day was as usual. Annette had breakfast with him every day, and otherwise spent the rest of the day looking at sheet music or reading books.
If there was anything in the score that bothered her, she wrote it down and reported it to Heiner. Of course, she couldn't know whether it was actually used as a cipher or not.
That day, too, Annette was looking through her sheet music, spread out. The papers strewn about her desk were densely packed with scribbled letters.
Annette's eyes, which had been staring at the notes and rests for a long time, writing something down, comparing and contrasting, and looking at them again, suddenly stopped at one place.
Annette scribbled down a few numbers on a piece of paper. Her hand, which had been growing slower and slower, finally came to a complete halt.
She stared at the numbers she written for a long time, forgetting to breathe. Then she snatched the paper away.
Annette left the room, holding the paper. Her pace quickened as she crossed the barracks. Finally, she arrived in front of the Commander-in-Chief's office and asked her aide urgently.
“May I see His Excellency now?”
The aide, buried in a swamp of paperwork, pushed up his glasses and glanced at the door.
“Oh, there’s another guest inside right now. Is it urgent?”
“...It’s urgent, it’s urgent, butmm.”
Annette trailed off. She'd clearly come immediately because she thought it was important, but she wasn't sure if it was important enough to warrant interrupting his visitor.
The aide noticed her expression of hesitation and hesitated for a moment. Then he pulled back his chair and spoke.
“I’ll go inside and ask. Please wait.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
After the aide knocked on the office door, he reported on her. There was a sound of conversation coming from inside the door.
After a short conversation, the aide nodded at her.
Annette walked forward, clutching the paper to her chest. As she entered the office, the aide closed the door. She glanced up.
Heiner, sitting in the center of a large desk, was the first to come into view. Ahead, a man half-turned, staring at her with disapproval.
Annette paused and froze.
The man's face was delicate, if you look at it positively, or nervous, if you look at it negatively. Of course, she was more familiar with the latter.
The guest who had been inside seemed to be Major Eugen. Even though it had been nearly a year since she seen him, he didn't seem to have changed much.
Annette bowed her head in greeting without showing any expression.
“I apologize for the interruption. I have something urgent to report.”
Her tone was as businesslike as when they first met on the battlefield. Heiner, perhaps sensing her feelings, responded dryly.
“It’s okay. What’s wrong?”
“That, it’s something related to the sheet music.”
“You can tell me right away. The Major is the operational planning staff member.”
It was difficult to determine exactly how high a rank he held. But in any case, since he was called a staff officer, it seemed Major Eugen also held a place in this war.
Indeed, apart from his position as superintendent, he was a capable man. Major Eugen, despite not being a graduate of the military academy, was recognized for his abilities and became a close associate of the Commander-in-Chief.
For someone who had risen to this point solely on his own abilities, his resentment toward the nobles was justified. Anette doesn't remember exactly, but she heard he suffered significant harm from them.
In any case, it was awkward to meet someone again she had a connection with in the past, and someone who had hated her so much.
Annette approached the desk without looking at Major Eugen. Whether he was there or not was irrelevant at the moment.
“...Let me get to the point quickly.”
She put the paper down on the desk and continued speaking.
"This is a guess related to the numerical ciphertext you mentioned last time, so I decided it was appropriate to report it immediately. There's a point that matches the number you shared last time."
“Point of agreement?”
"Yes. First of all, in the minor scale, 'la' is the main note. In other words, it's considered the fundamental number, 1. If we look at the last measure of each variation of the original song..."
Annette briefly explained, scribbling down the paper. Heiner and Major Eugen remained silent until the explanation was complete.
“...If you compare it like this, it will be substituted identically to this number. It may have been forced, but it still matches.”
Annette, not entirely convinced, added an excuse that wasn't quite an excuse.
For a while, Heiner and Major Eugen remained silent, their faces stern, staring at the paper. Annette, for some reason, felt anxious, as if waiting for the results of a contest, and bit her lip.
Time passed slowly. Finally, Heiner spoke.
"I understand what you mean. I'll reflect on it and pass it on to the deciphering department. Thank you for your hard work."
His voice sounded so calm, as if he were simply congratulating her on a routine errand, that Annette couldn't tell if it was something serious or not.
But all she could do was lower her eyes and finish her report.
“...Yes, then.”
***
As soon as Annette left, Heiner relayed the information directly to the decryption department. Major Eugen, watching, chuckled in disbelief.
“Sorry, you use the methods spies use.”
“You must have noticed that Codebook 1) is being read. Or maybe it belongs to a real spy.”
This was certainly not a common method. While some spies had used this type of encryption in the past, sending encrypted messages in codebooks had become commonplace in recent wars.
To this, Major Eugen replied cynically.
"It's likely they've noticed we're deciphering it. But they have no choice, so they'll have to keep using it."
“There is not enough time to develop a new cipher.”
"A code that couldn't be read would never have been transmitted in a codebook. So, using this method means you either have a unique taste or..."
“It’s information so important that they can’t risk it being read.”
“That communication device has fallen into our hands. It seems God is on our side.”
Major Eugen spoke with a grin. Heiner stared blankly at the paper Annette had left behind, then replied dryly.
“...Well, I hope so.”
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