Badrutt's Palace Hotel.

The car stopped in front of the hotel. The first thing that caught my eye was an enormous stone building.

It looked like an old castle rising with the snowy mountains at its back.

A spire soared so high I had to crane my neck to see it. Heavy outer walls looked capable of shutting out any danger from outside. Warm exterior lights hung at every window.

Black sedans and luxury SUVs kept pulling up in front of the castle-like hotel, one after another.

"Wow……"

Kang Junu let out an exclamation as he got out of the car and looked around. His face, without a trace of playfulness, looked genuinely amazed.

"What?"

"No. This place is a little different……"

Kang Junu had been born into the Ilseong house and must have been in and out of world-class hotels countless times since he was a kid.

He was the heir who would run Ilseong Hotel someday. He studied the building differently from the other kids.

"It looks like it's got a long history…… but it doesn't feel old."

He looked around again, more slowly and seriously.

"It's completely different from new modern hotels that build a luxury image by throwing money at it."

At Junu's words, I took another look at the hotel too.

"You like this kind of feel?"

"Yeah."

He nodded firmly a few times.

"This is a work of art made by time."

It was a short remark, but a fitting verdict from a hotel family's heir.

I'd looked up the hotel before coming. Its history went back to 1896.

Over all those years, countless royals, tycoons and celebrities had stayed there.

It had the kind of air no one could ever create overnight just to show off their money.

We went inside the hotel.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Ah!"

Exclamations burst from Jang Jiyu and Choi Harin almost at the same time.

The ceiling was so high you couldn't guess how tall the room was. Crystal chandeliers hung there, more delicate and ornate than any I'd seen. Dark wooden pieces and classic furniture were set…