Alice was deep in thought. In her office, she had been preoccupied all morning with the short message her father had sent her last night.

Papa Raphael: How are you, Alice? Can you help Papa?

Previously, when Raphael had suddenly visited her home with the pretext of having been looking for her for a long time and wanting to meet, Alice had asked him a few questions. She was naturally curious about why her father had left so abruptly. She also wanted to know how his life had been outside.

So many questions arose. They all gathered in her mind, demanding clarity or at least some explanations. At the very...