457 Chapter 457: Assassin’s Pride II (1/2)
”Are you serious?” I demanded, staring at the chapter title again. ”We're still going to continue ripping that light novel or its anime adaptation off? Aren't you afraid of being sued for plagiarism or copyright repercussions?”
Even though I was staring directly at the fourth wall, there was no reply. The creator couldn't be bothered to respond from beyond the fourth dimension. On the other hands, the readers were impatiently glaring at me.
”Hey! Get back to the story! You left us on a cliffhanger the previous chapter!”
”Oh, right. Sorry.”
I returned to reality, only to find Amelia and the other two maids staring at me. Unlike me, they didn't have the ability to see past the fourth wall and hear the voices of the existences beyond. To them, I seemed to be talking to ghosts…or worse, myself. They were questioning my sanity, or would have if they currently weren't concerned with something more important.
”Lady Melina!”
Perhaps I should rewind a few minutes earlier prior to Melina's dramatic dropping in on the scene. Yeah, I meant that literally.
”Is Sensei not here yet?!”
As Amelia mentioned, Melina was impatiently pacing up and down in her room as she eagerly awaited my arrival. She wringed her hands excitedly as she occasionally raised her head to stare out of the window.
”It's been some time since Amelia went to welcome him. Sensei should behere already!”
”Really now, Young Miss.” The dark-haired maid who was attending to her in her room sighed in exasperation. ”How many times are you going to ask that question?”
She poured some tea into a cup, offering it to Melina in hopes of calming her down.
”Amelia and the others will definitely bring him here, without any issues. You will be able to meet him again soon. So just be patient for now, okay? Drink some tea.”
”But it's already past time…”
”We told you he will only arrive in late evening.” The maid gave Melina a reproaching look. ”You know as well as we do that it's a long trip from Jing Tian City to Flandor by train. Well…” she broke off, her cheeks coloring a little. ”Maybe you don't…”
The reason why the maid stopped herself at the end of her sentence was because, well, being a daughter of the Franklin family, Melina obviously didn't have to ride a train back home. She had the luxury of having a private hovercraft ferry her and her staff from Jing Tian City back to Flandor City. So the journey was pretty much made in less than an hour, as opposed to the five hours I spent on the damned train.
”In any event, Sir Richard took a train here, and he must be tired after spending so many hours riding on it.”
”But it's already late evening! Isn't he stipulated to arrive in less than three minutes?!”
Then Melina gasped and jumped to her feet, one of her hands flying to her mouth as if she had just realized something. ”Don't tell me that he got lost on his way to our house?! I knew it! We should have sent a car to pick him up at the station! No…what if he took a bus here and got involved in a traffic accident?!”
Dropping the teddy bear that she had been hugging this entire time, Melina sprinted for the balcony, flustered and worried.
”I'll go look for Sensei!”
”Wait!” The maid's jaw almost dropped as she spun around, beads of perspiration dripping down her dark hair. ”Lady Melina!? Hang on…!”
At the same moment, Amelia and I reached the garden, and I was glancing upward and studying the mansion. My glasses went on overdrive, the sensors scanning for threats, possible positions of ambush, optimal places of cover and the infrared signatures of the people residing inside the house. There were far less than I expected in a mansion of this size, and I recalled that Melina was isolated from the rest of the family, assigned to a ”small” manor in the outskirts of the city, and only given the bare minimum of staff. Evidently her relatives had been forcing her father to take the rumors seriously, and considered her an outsider undeserving of residing in the main house.
What a bunch of pricks.
Anyway, that was how I picked up the sight of Melina reaching the balcony and leaning on the railings, even from a good distance away. Her long, golden hair billowing out from behind her, courtesy of the cool night breeze, she scanned the area with her deep blue eyes, as if searching for something. From this distance, of course she couldn't see Amelia, the maids or me, but I could because of the in-built sensors and visual magnification function in my lenses.
And readers mocked me for continuing to wear glasses, and demanded that I undergo lasik or whatever to get rid of them. Well, they could screw off. If I wanted to wear glasses, I will.
I found myself mesmerized by the sight, not because she was a loli, but she struck me like a star. A single, brightly lit star that stood out proudly in the night sky. One with the burning potential to outshine the millions of other stars that shared the landscape with her.
”Ugh…” Melina was still looking around impatiently, glancing from side to side. Her eyes swept over the garden, which was dimly illuminated by electric lampposts. Even so, the shadows cast by the neatly groomed trees and meticulously pruned hedges made it difficult for her to see anything. See? This was why you need glasses.
”I can't see Sensei anywhere! Where is he? He doesn't seem to be in the garden. Maybe he's still in town? Or has he already reached the front gates?” She glared at the garden. ”Damn it, I've been thinking this for a while now, but there really are too many plants!”
With a swift motion, she climbed up on the railing and glanced around, balancing precariously atop the handrail with practiced movements.
”Whoa…whoa! Wait, my lady!” Amelia and the other maids began waving their hands frantically, taken aback by her bold gesture. ”It's dangerous, Lady Amelia!”
”Get down from there! It's dangerous!”