53 Chapter 53: Visi (1/2)

The formal ceremony took the whole night, but when it finally ended, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I shouldn't complain, actually. I got a free meal – free delicacies that were normally exorbitantly expensive and available only to the upper class, which was probably worth the few hours standing around awkwardly waiting for the damned thing to end.

I couldn't remember exactly what happened – my lack of interest meant that everything flew by so fast. All I remembered was the meal, and the dance with Alicia, and squabbling with Adrian over trivial stuff (he was teasing me about Alicia and asking me whether she truly was better than his cousin). Other than that, everything just passed in a blur, and the next thing I knew, we were dismissed.

”Shall we go?” Alicia asked with a smile. I nodded.

”See you around, Adrian,” I told the kid. Despite our verbal spar, we had actually become quite good friends. I had a lot more in common with Adrian than I realized.

”Make sure you come again!” Adrian said brightly. I grinned and shrugged noncommittedly.

”We'll see.”

”Goodbye, Adrian.”

”Bye, Big Sister Alicia!”

After waving farewell, the two of us stepped out of the hotel lobby, only for Cecilia to catch up.

”I'll send you both back to Jing Tian City,” she offered. Flanked by a group of bodyguards, she gestured toward them. One of them nodded and made a call, and within the next minute, a limousine pulled up.

”No, we can't put you through so much trouble,” Alicia protested, but Cecilia shook her head.

”I was the one who invited you. I won't be able to sleep well tonight if I don't make sure the both of you reach home safely.”

Alicia and I exchanged glances, and then I bowed.

”Thank you very much. We'll take you up on your offer then.”

With that settled, the three of us climbed into the long, black limousine. Her bodyguards followed, sitting in a different compartment. We gave our addresses to the driver, who then input it in his Global Positioning System fixed to the dashboard of his car.

”Do you two mind if we drop by somewhere first?” Cecilia asked as the limousine began to move. The both of us glanced at each other, and then shook our heads in unison.

”You're doing us a favor, so of course we don't mind.” Alicia smiled.

”Please go ahead,” I added.

”Thank you.” Cecilia then leaned forward to speak to her driver. Sliding the window shut, she then leaned back in the rich, leather seats that made up the compartment of the limousine. ”This won't take up too much time.”

”Where are we going?” I asked curiously. Cecilia merely smiled mysteriously.

”Just going to pay a short visit.”

Since she didn't elaborate, I didn't press her for details and simply nodded. She was doing Alicia and me a favor, so we really didn't have the right to complain.

The limousine traveled through the brightly illuminated road, which was surprisingly still bustling with traffic at this time of the night. A big city like Southampton was certainly different from a small one like Jing Tian City. The population here, and the nightlife were on another level.

At least that was what I thought until the limousine took a side route and drove into a less crowded road. There were a lot less cars here, and the further along we drove, the more deserted it became. Evidently we were heading to a remote part of the city, which was less populated and less busy.

The streetlamps also thinned out, making this part of the city look darker and gloomier. I caught a glimpse of mountains. So we were heading toward the edge of Southampton City. That made sense. Jing Tian City was outside Southampton, several dozen kilometers north of it, to be exact. To get there, we had to exit the city and go into the highway.

Most likely Cecilia planned to visit a stop along the way, a place that was on the outskirts of Southampton and just before the highway.

”It's a beautiful city, isn't it?” Cecilia asked suddenly, breaking the serene silence. I didn't know if Alicia had dozed off, but she abruptly sat up straight and nodded with a smile.

”Yes. It's so huge…” Alicia's voice was full of wonder. ”No matter how many times I come here, I'm always amazed by how magnificent Southampton is.”

Cecilia giggled. ”If you live here long enough, you'll get used to it. In fact…” her eyes took on a distant gaze. ”I kind of prefer how simple your Jing Tian City is.”

The grass was greener on the other side, as they always said. Not that I cared. One city was the same to me, especially since I had lived in a variety of cities prior to my death, and eventually ended up in Jing Tian City after coming to this far future. I wouldn't say I had seen everything, but I was aware that each city had its own beauty and ugliness.

”We're here, Mistress.”

The limousine slowed down and pulled to a stop. Cecilia nodded as she glanced at the window that had been slid open for the driver to inform her of the news.

”Thank you.” she then pushed the door open. ”You two can wait here.”

”Do you mind if we come along?” Alicia asked curiously, glancing outside. It was pretty dark and we could hardly make anything out. Evidently she wasn't comfortable with letting Cecilia walk around on her own in such an environment. The glance she sent me confirmed that I was right about her opinion regarding that.

”Sure, but it's nothing much.” Cecilia looked surprised. Again, evidently, she didn't think she needed anyone's protection. And from what I had seen of her combat abilities, I was inclined to agree. Rather, anyone who attempted to assault her was going to need protection from her. ”And it shouldn't take too much time.”

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.