Prologue
Club, Diamond, Heart, and Spade

“It’s time for me to step down,” a middle-aged man uttered in front of his daughter. He looked at the window behind his desk, carefully scanning the city below his feet. His daughter stood still across his desk. She wondered why she was the one who was called instead of her brother, the one who would inherit his company and abundant wealth?

“Should I call brother?” She asked. The middle-aged man let out a chuckle, even though there was nothing funny in his daughter’s question. The daughter tilted her head, puzzled with her father’s reaction.

“I’m not talking about the company, my daughter,” he said.

If it wasn’t about the company, what was it about? The girl couldn’t help but become more confused than before.

“You’re my beloved daughter, the one that I trust the most. No one can deny that, not even your brother.” He turned back to face his daughter.

He said she was the one he trusted the most, what a blatant lie. She knew that her father had never trusted her since her birth. She was told that she would not even be eligible to inherit his smallest company.

The middle-aged man reached for his desk drawer, taking four peculiar white envelopes out. The envelopes were sealed by a wax with a strange insignia embossed on them. In one corner of the envelopes, four different symbols of French suits were printed on each.

“You must send these envelopes to four people I already chose,” he said, spreading those envelopes on his desk.

The daughter moved forward so she could see the envelopes clearly. Beside the strange insignia and the symbols taken from the French suits, nothing could be noticed from the envelopes.

“What are inside of those envelopes?” She asked. She was totally clueless with her father’s words. She looked at the insignia thoroughly. It was strange, but she wasn’t really unfamiliar with the symbol. When she was younger, she felt that she often saw it on the media, whether on a television or newspapers.

“You’re my precious daughter, you can figure it yourself,” he said calmly, feeling sure that she would understand what he was talking about.

The daughter silently cursed her father. How the hell she could figure her father’s will if there was no clue beside the insignia and the envelopes?

Why should it be French suits, after all? Curious, she took one of the envelopes and checked the insignia thoroughly, hoping that there would be any other clue. She noticed an embossed word on the wax seal.

Fortitudo.

The daughter tried to process the word she just read. Maybe there was any relation between the word and the suit of heart? What about the other envelopes? She took the remaining three envelopes, checking them one by one.

Prudentia.

Iustitia.

Temperantia.

Her suspicion was right; each envelope bears different words and suits. Still, she was unable to figure anything. Realizing his daughter’s confusion, the middle-aged man smiled.

“You didn’t look at them thoroughly,” he said. Hearing her father’s words, the girl once again looked at those envelopes.

She squinted her eyes, thinking that she would find another clue that way. Nothing could be found. The insignia on the wax seal intrigued her, though. She was sure that she often saw it in the past.

After staring at the insignia for a while, two alphabets on the insignia finally came to her vision, “Y” and “U”.

YU.

Upon her realization, she gulped. During her childhood, “Yu” was the name she often heard of. She could remember that everyone admired the existence of “Yu”, hailing his name everywhere. He was loved by the people... well except by the rich and the police.

“Yu”, the Arsène Lupin in real life. Until his disappearance fifteen years ago, no one knew about his true identity. The police were unable to catch him until his last action, causing an uproar among the elites.

Still, in people’s eyes, “Yu” was a hero. He might be a thief, but the things he stole from those elites were historical artifacts and fine gems that were obtained illegally. How he could return those artifacts and gems to the original owners or places remained a mystery.

For the daughter, it was no longer a mystery. If the person in front of her was indeed “Yu,” returning those artifacts and gems would be easy.

Perhaps she was really her father’s favorite. If not, it was impossible for him to trust her with such a responsibility. Her heartbeat was significantly increased, excited with her new duty.

“To whom I should send those envelopes?” She asked, looking at her father. A smirk plastered on her face.

“My dearest daughter, why don’t you stay here for a little longer while I’ll get some fresh air outside?” He said, not answering to his daughter’s question. He reached towards the door, leaving his daughter alone.

As the middle-aged man was leaving his daughter in his room, she turned back while looking at her father’s back. When her father closed the door, four paintings hung in line with the door came to her sight.

When she was a kid, she hated those paintings. Somehow, she felt that the four paintings were intimidating her every time she was in her father’s room. This time, instead of being intimidated, she was curious with them. She walked to the painting on the left end, the one with a lady holding a mirror and snake. She found a small golden plate below the painting.

Prudentia.

The word on the golden plate was exactly the same as the one she read on one of the envelopes. She quickly checked the other paintings too.

Iustitia.

Fortitudo.

Temperantia.

The girl smiled. Inheriting her father’s obsession towards puzzle and mystery stories, this kind of puzzle would be nothing for her.

For the first time in her life, she could feel an overflowing excitement running through her veins.