historical

"Miss Rox, please show us to your office room, and please call your mother immediately. Tell her that her better half is back and is requiring her debt to be paid back in full. She will understand."

Luckily, her face and with that her expressions and pale, shocked face were covered behind her magical hood. One had to know that being gifted with the power of the mind due to her unique bloodline power, nobody besides her mother managed to get through her mental barriers before. So for her, to suddenly hear another voice, sending her a message without her knowledge or consent was a frightening revelation.

Still, it didn't take more than a glance to understand who the owner of the intrusive voice was. Knowing the severity of the situation, she only nodded, and silently walked forward, away from the group, behind the counter, and hurried to the back office door without saying another word.

As she walked away, Number 3 turned towards the royal siblings and spoke to them normally. Her voice however carried a slight concern, and a hint of familiarity as she addressed them.

"You two could either wait here or explore the city while we are busy. I presume you all have a meeting point already set. I'm sorry but for the time being, we will have to leave you."

—

For a moment, the royal siblings couldn't respond, they turned utterly speechless at this mysterious masked woman's words. However, Drake quickly regained his senses and tried to come with an argument.

"Wait! W-we also want to help! Our brot-"

Unfortunately for him, he was mercilessly cut off, when Number 3 raised her right hand again.

"No. Not yet. You both will be included in that part of the planning, but before that, I need to talk with my apprentices." Her tone was cold, however, there was a certain strangeness to it, that only Aiden seemed to pick up. As if she merely put up a play, she used her mind and energies to mask the true depth of her feelings and only let this rigid coldness reach the surface.

Still, without the system, he couldn't be sure, so in the end, he didn't say a word about it. Instead, he turned to Drake and Scarlet, looking at them apologetically.

"Sorry, you two. While we are busy, why don't you guys go ahead with Scarlet's registration? She will need to go through that examination anyway. By the time you guys finish, we should be back as well!"

Seeing as how Lily had a pouting expression on her face and was about to speak up, reminding her brother about their exercise they were planning, he turned to look at her and speak with a smile.

"We can still test our limits. I'm sure there are private rooms available for such purposes in the back."

"Y-Yes, A-Aiden is right, you two will be able to find a room if you wish to.. ehrm, duel."

Gathering all her courage, Mary suddenly interjected, confirming Aiden's words. In fact, Aiden knew very well that there were such rooms designed specifically for that purpose. After spending quite some time at the back side of the Adventurer's Guild, the system conveniently mapped everything out for him to see and memorize before.

He was even aware of several hidden underground tunnels that would lead out or into the guild. Whilst he wasn't sure where they led, he was fairly certain that most of them were used by the several other factions and big families to gather intelligence either on the prominent figures associated or working with the guild, or the guild's machinations itself.

Being the largest, and international organization as it was, knowledge about the local branch's dealings could come in handy after all.

Anyway, after listening to Aiden and the others, Drake and Scarlet finally acquiesced and agreed to stay behind, albeit quite begrudgingly. Both of them being somewhat similar in nature to Aiden, they wanted to be involved, and not just left behind. They were sure that despite being a 'Master-Disciple' premise that the masked lady had said, whatever they would be talking about would be related to their situation as well.

In the end, though, they could only agree even if they didn't want to. The lack of presence that they felt from the masked woman had told them that she was most likely much stronger than them. Adding the fact that she addressed them with such distant coldness, both of them understood that they shouldn't get on her bad side.

With the situation addressed, Number 3 turned towards Mary, who jumped in fright upon being inspected to this terrifying figure's gaze, she hurriedly turned around and scampered towards the back door, opening it and signaling for Aiden and his family to come over.

"Let's go. We have much to discuss." Number 3 curtly said, turning around and leaving towards the door.

"Come dearie, I know you have questions as well as a story to tell, let us hear it all. Also, don't worry, she is quite happy to see you, even if she has difficulties expressing herself. You will understand at some point, her history is just as colorful as yours." With an apologetic smile, Granny turned towards Aiden, giving him some reassuring words before going towards the door herself.

Aiden sighed, nodding at the elderly woman, following behind silently, Lily and the two hounds of hers following behind.

A moment later they entered the back area, Mary closing the door behind them, and walking back to her place with a complex look on her face.

'Just who is this terrifying woman? She seems even stronger than the lead examiner..' She wondered, trembling as she remembered how she spoke into her mind directly. 'Aiden has such a weird family..'

—

Barely a minute later, the little group was already in front of Sara's office, surprisingly led by Number 3 and not Aiden. He looked at his master, pondering about just how many secrets could she still hold when her voice suddenly brought him back from his abrupt reverie.

"Okay, we should have a couple of minutes before that annoying fly would arrive." Without turning around, she reached for the knob on the door and pushed on it as she added another sentence. "We have a lot to discuss Aiden."

As the door opened and they walked in, Sara was already there, without her hood covering her face. She was standing by the windowsill, looking towards the distance, heaving a heavier sigh. She was tightly holding onto a dark crystal in her right, similar in shape and size to what Number 3 gave to them, causing Aiden to raise a brow as he saw it.

When the group got in, Sara hurriedly placed the crystal back into the depths of the upper parts of her robe, before turning around and meeting them with a smile.

"Welcome, Aiden, Lily, and their family." She greeted, before turning her attention to the masked lady leading the group. "May I ask, that since the miss here knows my identity and even seems to have a relationship with my moth- *khm* with the mistress to put off the mask and reveal her identity?"

"You may ask after she does the same." She responded, causing a look of confusion to appear on Aiden, Lily, and even Sara's faces. Granny on the other hand simply smiled, calmly stepping to the side.

Suddenly, before the three youths would have a chance to inquire about who she was referring to, the air began to tremble, as a dark gateway formed behind them.

From the dark portal, the Mistress suddenly stepped out, donning a dark purple velvet dress, the strange demon-shaped mask covering her face as usual. Sara yelped in shock when her mother appeared before she regained her demeanor a second later and gave a deep bow.

"Welcome Mistress, thank you for your prompt response to my inquiry." She spoke with deep reverence in her tone.

The Mistress waved her slender right hand dismissively at her daughter's motion, focusing her attention on the other masked figure in the room.

"Well, well, well.. I never thought I would hear about you ever in this life." She spoke carrying a strange mixture of emotions in her voice. Although her tone seemed stable, the strange storm of conflicting emotions told a different tale. She seemed to be just as equally happy and frightened, worried, angered, and nervous to see Number 3.

Aiden couldn't understand it at all, however, he remained quiet, turning to look at her master to see her reactions.

Right now, he really felt that he could have used the system's assistance.. Reading these two powerful figures was an almost impossible task.. even without the strange masks they always used whenever they were out in the public.

Hearing the Mistress's tone Number 3 snorted, before returning the greeting nothing but stoic coldness. This time, however, Aiden felt clear hostility in her, her attitude wasn't fake, like before.

"It was never my intention, believe me. If it were up to me, you could rot in your prison for all eternity before I would give any care... sister."