The Scholar's Scenario

Harris froze for a moment. Brissia looked as surprised as he was. Meanwhile, Benjamin, who was locking Brissia's neck, looked at him indifferently.

The hazel-eyed man gritted his teeth. With his knuckles turning white, he walked toward the two of them.

"Ben, what are you doing?!" Brissia whispered. "He'll beat you up for real!"

"Don't move, Brissia," Benjamin replied while staring unblinkingly at Harris. "He won't beat—"

Bugh!

People screamed as Benjamin's body collapsed onto the street with red blotches on his cheeks and the corners of his lips. Brissia was stunned to see that it wasn't Harris who had punched him, but an unknown figure in a black robe with a round hat.

Harris widened his eyes as he remembered the black robed men who had taken him and Brissia by force to Benjamin's residence. He hurriedly pulled Brissia's arm away from Benjamin. The entire passerby watched the scene in suspense.

"I got orders to teach Young Master a lesson if he touches women carelessly," said the black robed figure, glancing at Brissia and Harris. It made Brissia hold her breath at his icy gaze that were as sharp as swords.

As soon as the mysterious man led Benjamin away, Harris let go of Brissia's hand. The two fell silent with fixated gazes at the direction Benjamin was taken away. But then, a letter on the ground caught their attention.

"Is this from him?" asked Brissia as she picked it up and unfolded it.

Harris glanced around warily and beckoned Brissia to follow him somewhere.

***

"What on the earth? Why did you bring him here with you, Brissia?"

Harris turned his back on Brissia as soon as Gabriel walked up to her. Firmly, he said, "I was the one who brought her. This is the only safe place I could think of."

"Oh, really?" Gabriel asked with a sour smile. "But why does this place feel unsafe the moment you came?"

"Please... leave us alone, Old Man."

Gabriel stared intently for a moment at Harris, who put a pleading face in front of him. But seeing their hands intertwined, there was nothing he could do but sigh and give them a single nod.

"Fine, as long as you two don't make out here in the middle of the night."

Harris blinked. "What do you mean by..."

His hazel eyes widened when he found the direction Gabriel's gaze landed. He quickly let go of Brisia's hand, which immediately made Brisia lower her shoulders with a sigh of relief.

As Brissia walked toward the sofa, Harris approached Gabriel and said, "I-I didn't intend to do that!"

"Why defend yourself as if it's a mistake? I was just warning you."

Gabriel's toneless reply made Harris blink. He then turned around and sat next to Brissia, who unfolded the paper in the envelope.

Brissia, with her mouth half open, read a neatly written paragraph on the paper. "He said that he would no longer be able to help us often due to strict supervision."

An amused smile graced Harris's lips. "I wonder if he finally gave up following me because of my unexpected movements."

With a small shake of her head, Brissia turned to Harris.

"He said because he couldn't be by your side all the time like someone. Wait, did he mean Gabriel?"

The girl furrowed her brows as Harris burst out laughing.

"Why do you think it was him?"

"Because... you two seem close?"

Harris's laughter faded as he got closer to Brissia. "I've never been close to anyone."

His low-pitched voice gave Brissia goosebumps. The girl immediately straightened her head, cleared her throat, then folded the paper and put it back in the envelope.

In contrast to her, Harris's gaze never left Brissia's face from the moment he said that. Even though his gaze didn't show much emotion, he briefly held his own hand. And when the memory of him releasing his grip on Brissia quickly came back to his mind, he immediately looked away.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from behind the stairs. When Harris got up from his seat, he crouched down to prevent anyone from seeing his light brown hair through the gap in the steps.

He watched silently as Harris spoke to Gabriel in a half-open room. When he glanced at Brissia, she also seemed unaware of his presence. It was only when Harris returned to Brissia that he turned away from the living room of the editorial office, leaving the two of them in the spotlight of the only warm light still shining that night.

***

As the soft golden light in the sky extinguished the lamps, two people stopped at a building. Three knocks opened the tall, teak door with intricate carvings and a golden doorknob.

"Good morning. How may I help you?" asked a butler while standing firmly in the doorway.

A woman in a knee-length blue formal dress and a fur hat glanced at a man in a dark brown suit next to her, who stood properly in front of the butler. "We would like to have a talk with someone who lives here, who's also a close friend to us," he answered gracefully.

"Whom you have made an appointment with?"

The two looked at each other for a moment before nodded slightly.

"Benjamin. Benjamin Stuart."

The butler studied the faces of the two. Then, he spoke calmly, "I apologize, sir and madam. We don't let people make an appointment with Young Master without an identification letter. Do you perhaps take it with you?"

The man in the brown suit adjusted his sunglasses, clearing his throat for a moment before replying, "We don't bring that, but Benjamin and we get along well."

"Well, I must regretfully tell you that you cannot enter without it, sir and madam."

The man in sunglasses clicked his tongue silently. When he was about to speak to the woman beside him, he suddenly heard a distinctive voice from inside.

"Cecilia? Robin? Is that you guys?"

The three of them turned toward Benjamin who was coming down the stairs with his dignified smile. "My, I thought you two would never come."

Seeing Benjamin approach the two and hug them, the butler let out a small sigh. He lowered his head and moved to the side, letting the two guests in with his young master.

"Forgive my impudence, sir and madam..."

The man and woman turned to the side as the butler spoke softly to them. "...but I highly recommend you to read fashion magazines because Young Master pays great attention to the appearance of his guests."

Harris snorted with a small grin. "We don't follow trends," he said, adjusting his glasses briefly and lifting his chin slightly. "We discover trends, aren't we, Cecil?"

The woman walking beside him nodded with a polite smile. Benjamin walked over to the two of them, took their arms in their arms and led them toward the stairs.

"They are my exceptional guests, Nite. Thus, I expect from you to give them a warmer welcome next time," said Benjamin with a cold glance at the butler.

Nite bowed his head politely. When the three were on the stairs, he glanced at them for a moment. One looked annoyed because he almost tripped but Benjamin didn't help him, one seemed to be holding back a laugh. He chuckled slightly at the strange bond between the two people and his young master.

As soon as the three entered Benjamin's private library, the woman and the man took off their glasses.

"Well said, Harris. Where did you get those words from?" asked Benjamin as he took a book on the table and put it on one of the shelves.

Harris grinned, glancing at the woman beside him. "It was Brissie's idea. She inspired me not to worry about people's judgment."

Benjamin turned to Brissia, who laughed dryly.

"So, who are Robin and Cecilia?"

The man with turquoise eyes flinched a little when suddenly Brissia was beside him. He spontaneously dropped the book in his hand when his finger touched Brissia's.

"They... the two main characters in that mystery novel," Benjamin answered with a faint smile as he lowered his body, taking the book that Brissia had taken.

Harris, who saw their gazes meet, furrowed his brows. Moreover, Brisia's eyes lit up when Benjamin told her where the shelf containing his fiction books was.

"Enough with the small talk. We came because we really wanted to talk."

Benjamin stood up, staring confusedly at the envelope that Harris handed him.

"How could you sacrifice yourself for us?"

That seriousness only managed to move Benjamin's eyebrows, which made Harris put his palm on his face. "What I want to say is, how did you feel the presence of that black-robed figure that you had to pretend to hurt Brissia?"

An awkward laugh escaped Benjamin's lips as soon as he understood Harris's words.

"I apologize for surprising and upsetting you, Harris," said Benjamin with a casual smile.

"I'll accept your apology if you tell us how. You seem sorry for not being able to help us based on your flowery words in the letter. Prove us that you are."

Benjamin was speechless. Brissia, who saw it, approached Harris and called him softly.

"Why don't you just take him to Bouville, Harris?" Brissia whispered.

"That's indeed my plan! But I need to know more about his abilities first before putting him in the same boat as me!"

Both of them turned back to Benjamin, who was still silent with a thoughtful look.

"I've prepared two tickets for you to Bouville."

Harris frowned. "You bought them for us?"

Benjamin nodded while handing him two rectangular pieces of paper. "That's all I can do as a favor to you two. Hopefully it's enough."

The hazel-eyed man stared complicatedly at the ticket in his hand. Bouville was a place across the ocean and it wasn't cheap to get there. Some of the reasons were there should be information regarding the real identity of the ticket holder provided to ticket agents and the ticket officers.

"No, it's not enough."

Harris and Benjamin stared at Brissia, confused.

"You need to come with us. Don't worry that we'll be in danger because we have to face it at any time."

Brissia paused for a moment. "On the other hand, can you help us detect those black-robed men if they appear on the way?"

Benjamin, with his charismatic little smirk, crossed his arms.

"Aren't you afraid I might blind your eyes at any time with a flashlight?"

"I'm not. Besides, it's mine and I'm going with Harris."

Benjamin stared unblinkingly at Brissia as the girl's gaze at him did not dim in the slightest. For him, the sharp look in her eyes moved him even more than Harris's words. His fingers spun Brissia's cellphone behind his back.

"Are you coming with us, Ben?"

With a winsome smile, he handed the cellphone to Brissia along with an answer.

"If that means we're leaving for Bouville this afternoon, I'll say yes."