567 Source of the Matter

"9th April. I just returned from Countess Wawrinka's masquerade party when I suddenly felt an emptiness in my heart.

"One woman, one woman, one woman after another. The monotonous and mechanical movements, the indistinguishable smell of perfume, and the warmth from the entanglement of their limbs; all these in exchange for a few seconds of pleasure, followed by endless boredom, disgust, emptiness, and numbness.

"What pleasure is there in such a life? Is the meaning of life to just do this every single day?

"I can't go on like this. I have to get out of this sorry state.

"Also, I need to remind myself that I shouldn't habitually write Arabic numerals."

…Emperor, there are actually times when you reflect on yourself and act like a hipster? This doesn't fit with my image of you! Klein almost pricked his brows up.

He looked down at the second entry of the diary.