Chapter 3. Her Guest

As the Duke went home from his duty in the town of Dawli, he was visited with very bad news. He clearly saw how bad the situation was, which greets him with bad shoulders.

He quickly called an audience when he reached his manor. His place was in ruins; all of his items were stolen, and none of his maids or the rest of the staff were alive; they were mostly beheaded. No one survives the attack of the thieves.

The bandits are known as Alpha Maxima'. The identity of these bandits is merely unidentified due to the new trend of items that are able to hide identities. It is really a useful item that costs a lot of pennies.

"He was relieved that then. Full of horrors in every corner, he had nothing to do in his care," Cax said. He remembered when he glanced at his Duke, he saw 'his smirk' hidden on his signature sympathy act.

"The situation has gotten worse than the last time. Alpha Maxima is terrorizing acknowledgement now. They really utilize their situation." Fairol brushed a note on his leaves, and a little fairy lighted its own body as a share of the light of his writing and also for casting a spell.

"Alpha Maxima is not an ordinary group of bandits; they have multiple connections from higher ups. As much as the coronation is getting nearer, the enemies of rising royals are also raising their terror." Cax glanced at his note and knitted his brows. Instead of writing words on it, it was full of drawings. Birds in a flock and a bird with only one win

"You're god at drawing, but we're here for a serious situation right now; skip that drawing and do your task," Fairol horridly groaned. Task is what bores him the most, and he doesn't give a slight like to it.

“Fine.” He folded his paper back and put it in his pocket.

Cax looked at him for a second before shaking his head. He can't be wrong; the image Fairol drew is not just a drawing; it is also a spitting image of the missing demon. Fairol is hiding something from them and the Duke.

***

The whole room is full of the sounds of the instrument. Every musician savors their moment playing their own instruments. Their eyes were closed. And others were talking in groups.

“It seems like you are taking your soul easy,“ a lady angel wearing a blue dress said. Her eyes were also blue; she has pale skin and white hair.

He gave her a small glass of special wine, and she gladly accepted it. “I am much more delighted to hear that I'm taking a rest for a moment.“ She smiled at him and smelled the wine.

“How are you, Khiko?“ He gave her a smile, then tossed their glass before sipping his wine and answering her. “It is not that long since we haven't seen each other. And I should be the one asking you. How are you, Melissa? I heard the soul that you had guarded for so long failed.“

“I can't say he failed; he's still breathing and kicking. The fact that he cut off our connection miraculously means that he is having a better life without my guidance. It is much worse to have me witness his numerous failures.“ He gazed at her.

Cutting the connection between the angel and the soul means death to the reborn soul. The soul will be disadvantaged. Though they were given a second chance at life, the balance of the world they are in still needs to be formed. That is why the angels and demons under the Rebirth's Lair are guarding and monitoring the Rebirth's soul. Having memories of the future is not quite amusing; along with the passage of time, humans also change in every situation.

“But you are sad.“ She just smiled at him. “I would like to hear your situation. How about the soul you are guarding?“

“Quite fond of her, though.“ She shook her head and never asked for more. And as seconds passed, a call from the leader of the lair came. And it was meant for Khiko and the others who are newly appointed to a new soul.

“It is nice to see you again, Melissa.“

“You too.“

When he reached the said zone meeting of the lair, he got notified to enter a small single room. He entered the room, and the fake-cold ambiance of the place greeted him. “I, Khiko, do the honor to do my duty.“

A hologram popped on his front, and the hologram contains information about the soul he is guarding. “Xaqion Delluha" comes from the name of a former warrior, Raeilla Peliea Woles.“

***

She withdrew her sword from a podium and tied her hair in front of the mirror. It's been weeks since she planned to sneak. She is secretly grounded by his uncle due to the strict monitoring by the minister for the VIPs, short for "Veiled Incarnate Persons'.

The Minister hated disobedient individuals that only led him to the path where that person couldn't last any longer, not being killed or murdered but savagely tortured in his dark room.

The Minister is the control head of all places in the country since the rightful heir of the crown, the last prince, hasn't reached his rightful age to rule and to take authority over his throne. It would be the Duke instead of the minister, but the Duke is against the Crown Prince, who merely has no solid proof of yearning for him to become a royal. The Duke has also filed a candidacy to rule as a royal, as a thought of far-reaching relevance to the fallen royals.

And the VIPs are the chosen veiled persons since they were born to serve the royals or be able to marry the throne. And since she is a special Veiled lady in the Veiled clan of persons, the minister is also eyeing her every movement. And there is a possibility that her sneaky deals have already reached the minister's ears. There are a lot of gossipers living in human form inside their big lair.

But because of his uncle, all the rumors about her are stopped by his uncle, or maybe the minister already knows, but he doesn't care about her.

"I still don't get the wolves severe hunger at that moment. I still have no clues for the thing that triggers them," she awfully said while wearing her school hat tightly.

"Sorry, I couldn't help in your case. Khiko will kick me out if I'm helping my student." His sincere tone is perfect for his innocent look.

“It's fine. It is my problem.“

“Indeed. And I presume, Khiko will be staying with you for the next few days. So, all your plans of sneaking again will be abolished.“

"That guy—” She gritted her teeth. “He's always blocking me!" She almost crumpled her hat while positioning the pin on it. Damn, just the idea of that bastard really boils her system. Since she graduated in her BYEBYE "lair, the bastard Khiko never fails to ruin her goal.

She heard him laugh, which is why she glared at him. "I'm not a clown, Clyde," she said, wearing a cold tone to stop his laughter.

"Sorry. It was just cute to see you react like that." He could feel her dearly sarcastic glare. "I'm not emphasizing that you're a clown; it's just that hearing your disapproval towards the newly promoted half angel is hilarious."

If he's not in his child form, she might already have done something dark on him, like cutting his tongue.

"Why are you here? Did that bastard send you here again?" She's referring to Khiko. Khiko is one of the most bumble trash demons in the lair, and his filthy mouth is what she hates the most.

"No. I came here all by myself," he truthfully responded. Clyde is a pure angel, not shared in half, and one of the youngest. She was new when she was in her sophomore stage in the lair at that time.

She creased her forehead. Before she left the lair, the lair gave her a memo, and one of the items listed on the memo is monitoring. The monitoring system of the lair towards the graduated souls is assigned to two skilled lair staff, whether an angel or a demon. Yet hearing him say that is not really convincing. He's not here to monitor her. "Then, what are you up to?... I heard a rule in the lair that you can't visit the human world without being given permission, given a task, or taking a mission, and the general rule is also that you can't do it alone."

He smiled and brightly cast his summoning spell to summon his wings, his true form as an angel. It just happened a few seconds later when he'd done his transformation; now his hand was holding a flute along with his golden white silk angel uniform.

She made an 'owww' sound. This is the first time she has seen him with his instrument. All angels and half-angels are prohibited from showing their powerful instruments. Because the instrument of an angel and half are ritualized in a right state of being to recognize its owner.

"I'm here to give you my flute." Yet, she seemed to not hear him because her eyes were pinned on what was sticking to his hair. It is cute. A hairpin. A white snail with a blue stone in the middle hairpin. He's a boy, right? But he's so pretty cute in his outfit today.

"Hey, are you listening? "Damn, why doesn't the lair bless her with a kind of hairpin like that? It is so beautiful. And she couldn't be mistaken, that snail cost a great fortune in her journey. Snails are slow, but there are reasons why most humans are attracted to snail species or its cousin species.

Clyde clapped his hands in front of her face, which led her to pull backwards. "Did I lose myself suddenly? '

"What were you saying a while ago?"

Clyde shook his head. She really did not listen. "I'm here to give you my flute. The system chose you to own my instrument for this timeline. This is what the promise reward of the lair is."

“I thought you were not here on someone's orders.“

“Yes, I'm truly not. But it is my own reason, and it is not part of your business if I am here all by myself.“

What? She couldn't digest it properly. Yes, the instrument is powerful, but the instrument is connected to its owner; it is like the foundation of the owner's life.

"I won't accept; you could die," she said, wearing her mocking tone in disapproval. She doesn't want to be the reason for the death of an angel. It is a HUGE sin that costs more than gold.

“It is not like I am giving you my heart. Don't be too foolish.“

She clearly knew how impossible the words he said were. Giving her his instrument means committing a crime against life. It is not acceptable.

“If I want you to be killed by accepting your flute, it is even better by using my sword to slit your throat. That way I can have my entire conscience be at peace. Because I was the one who personally killed you, and not the one who killed you out of force of accepting your flute.“

And there is no time for this drama at the moment; she can sense the clock is ticking; if she didn't attend her class today, she might get fired up with a long-term nagging that she only wishes she had a bed and a blanket to sleep with the annoying melody. She can still remember the time she was caught by her uncle; she spent a long time nagging.

"This is yours." He tried to lend it to her, but she slapped his hand away and turned her eyes on him, asking, "Why is having a young angel bothering her? '

Could anyone else do the work?

"I don't own it. Keep it for yourself, Clyde, and I excuse myself now; class is more important than waiting for nagging later." And she could hear a few footsteps closing her bathroom door; totally, her lady in waiting is here to fetch her. And if her lady in waiting hears something noise inside the bathroom, especially a particular tone of room music, the "unusual' noise will alert her lady in waiting's level and will add to the problem.

She had a strict lady in waiting. Keep reminding her of that. “And please, take your own leave. She will be on her tantrums if she might sense unusual things in the bathroom.“

“But she can't see me—only the rebirth souls can see me.“ She gave him a sour look.

“Yeah, indeed. But it is not appropriate for a man angel like you to have a woman inside the bathroom. It is displeasing.“ She saw his face blush when he realized where they were.

“My bad, sorry.“