Ch 9: You chose the wrong side [pt1]

The day kept on dragging longer and longer for Rachael. The teenager remained seated next to her throughout the day, and no one seemed to find it weird.

Rachael was thankful for one thing throughout the day - the teen did not talk to her until the end. Finally, once the final bell rang and everyone got up from their seats to leave, the teen turned toward Rachael and gave her a soft smile.

"It was a pleasure to spend the day with you, little lady. I had a lot of fun. Now, can we exchange names? I want to know what I should call you?"

The teen asked in a silky-smooth voice. This was a tone that Rachael had heard Emily use on the other servants when she wanted something from them. 

So, as soon as Rachael had heard this tone, she knew that this did not bode well for her. This man was trying to take advantage of her.

"I do not tell my name to perverts and possible paedophiles. Please find someone else to target."

No seven-year-old should know these words, but Rachael was different. Not only was she gifted with a high IQ, but she also liked to read books.

The most commonly available things to read were the newspapers and the romantic novels Emily liked to keep around. That had helped shape Rachael's world a lit.

"A pervert? A paedophile? Where did you even get that idea? I genuinely like you, little miss, and I intend to marry you once you grow up. Don't you feel anything when you look at me?"

The teen asked Rachael, and she had to step back and think about this. But then she quickly concluded her feelings once they were reaffirmed.

"You want to know how I feel about you? Should I tell you?"

Rachael asked, and she noticed how excited that made the man in front of her. It was too bad for him because Rachael was about to dash all his hopes and dreams in a single shot.

"You make me feel…. bad and annoyed. I don't know why, or maybe I do know why, but as soon as I look at you, my body and instincts tell me that I must stay away from you."

Rachael never thought that a face could look as sad and hopeless as the teens looked right now. It seemed he had lost all hope and was now lamenting his fate.

She could also hear the teen mutter, 'They said this would be a new and clean start for us,' under his breath, and Rachael could see the seeds of madness sprouting inside this teen as well.

'It will be best for me to stay away from him. I do not need to be tangled with this disillusioned man.'

"Hey, where are you going? Don't you at least want to know my name?"

The teen asked, but Rachael was not in a mood to entertain him. She did not even know why she bothered to reply to this teen, but her mouth worked independently when she turned around.

"No, I do not want to know your name."

After all, Rachael already knew the class aid's name. He had been wearing a pin of his name the whole day, and it was difficult not to notice it. But Rachael did not want to associate with this man if she could help.

'Elias. I hope we never meet again. You make my emotions go all over the place.'

With these hopes and dreams, Rachael quickly walked from the teenager. 

What Rachael did not notice was the teasing tone in Elias's eyes. He watched Rachael walk away from him, but he was not annoyed.

After all, he was sure Rachael would return to him one day. They were both young for now. But one day, they will grow up, and Rachael will realise that he needs Elias in her life.

Elias couldn't wait for that day to come. After all, he was an impatient person by nature.

...

'Now, this is awkward for me. I was so sure that the gods had given me a second chance. They even promised me that Rachael would not remember anything in our past lives. So, did those gods lie to me?'

"Or! Don't tell me she walked away because she found me ugly. Am I that bad looking?"

Elias asked while looking at his phone screen. But it seemed objectively handsome no matter how he looked at his face. Even people often told him that he was beautiful.

So, he could not understand why Rachael had ignored him and walked past him like that.

"Anyway, I will try to approach her again tomorrow. I am sure the young girl will warm up to me over time. And then, I will be able to make her fall in love with me again."

Elias's face had a goofy smile, which did not suit him. He quickly controlled his expression when he realised what he was doing.

He knew that he could not afford to make any more mistakes. This life with Rachael was their last shot at a happy life. Elias needed to make up for all the mistakes he had made in his past life.

Elias needed to head home, and a car stopped right before him. The window rolled down, and the familiar face of Dark Matter's guard dog appeared from behind the window.

"Luca, I trust that the matter I entrusted to you has been settled. Did you take care of everything?"

Elias asked as he sat in the car as well. Luca looked happy to be driving the vehicle and hummed as the answer to Elias's question.

"Everything has been taken care of, young master. All the shadows charged with looking after you have cleared out the area. The mastermind of this assassination attempt has been caught as well. What would you like to do with him?"

Luca asked, and Elias chuckled. There was only one thing that should be done in such a situation.

"If that is the case, take me to the mastermind, Luca. It's time I have a stern talk with the other side. Always trying to kill me is not a good idea."

Elias reminded Luca, but the air inside the car turned tense. Luca's fingers tightened around the vehicle's steering wheel, and his face looked just a little pale.

"And, hypothetically speaking, what if the target of the attack this time had not been you but someone else? What would you do about it?"

Luca asked, and Elias took a sharp gasp that went unnoticed by himself. His eyes sharped, and the atmosphere in front of him turned tense.

"Well, if those jerks were not after me, then I cannot imagine a reason for them to come be circling this area. So why don't we ask them *very clearly* what they wanted."

Luca knew better than to question his young master. The twelve-year-old kid was not only sharp in mind but also in power. He might have been young, but he had all their retainer's respect and fear.

So, the only thing Lucas found questionable was his master's obsession with a child who was barely seven years old. This obsession started when his master saved the young child after he had been kidnapped.

Even if Luca knew this was weird, he said nothing about it. After all, he did not want to die. Or worse, be killed by his young master for questioning him. This world also had weirder kinks for people to get off on.

Who was Luca to judge his young master?

The pair soon pulled into a luxurious house, and Luca opened the door. He led his young master toward the basement where they had kept their prisoner. 

At first, the prisoner looked happy to see Elias. The prisoner had not realised how fucked he was to have Elias before him.

"H-Hey kid, help me out. Someone has locked me in here and is now holding me hostage. You are a good person, so that you will help me, right?"

The mastermind asked as he tried to break free of his binds. He thought his acting might gain him some sympathy from the kid before him.

But that was not the case at all. A few seconds passed and then a whole minute, but neither the kid nor the man moved. The mastermind began to feel as if something was wrong.

"Young master, how long will you keep standing around like that? You are making our guest rather nervous, you know."

As soon as Luca entered the room, the man went pale, and he flinched. He had not expected to see the Dark Matter's guard dog here.

Then he realised what Luca had said, and his face went from pale to lacking all colour. He finally understood his situation.

"Luca, you ruined all my fun. I was having a moment here with our prisoner. It is fun to watch them get all hopeful and slowly lose that hope. It makes breaking people easier for me."

Elias explained, and their conversation sounded like the pair were discussing the weather outside. It made the prisoner sweat, and he instantly closed his eyes.

But Elisa did not like it. He grabbed hold of the prisoner's face and squeezed it. It caused the prisoner to open his eyes and look at Elias right in the face.

"Now that we know each other, why don't you tell me what you and your men were doing following me around? I don't you dare leave anything out of your report because I will know if you did."

Elias held the face tightly in his hand, and the prisoner flinched. But finally, he decided to speak up and spill the beans.

"W-We were not following you. The one who contracted us has no beef with you. Rather, they wanted us to try to find a green-haired girl in that school. Our mission was to kidnap her and then ask the Chlorance family to pay us money."

"Believe me when I say I had no beef with you or your family."

The man sang beautifully. It was a shame that he did not know what he was digging his grace into.