Chapter 7

Indra almost jumped with surprise when he just got out of the bathroom after sleeping for almost three hours, finding Ariel in his room casually as if entering the men's room was no big deal. As soon as he saw her, Ariel immediately turned her face the other way while throwing the pillow that was near the woman at her. He quickly caught the pillow and walked over to Ariel who was now swallowing saliva while avoiding meeting his gaze while she was putting the pillow back behind her.

"P-put on the clothes first! You pervert!" Ariel shouted, getting ready to grab another pillow when Indra's hand grabbed her, locking her movement.

"Who is a pervert? How about you, then? Mind to tell me the reason why did you come in here in the first place? Did you forget, when you entered the man's room?" he whispered in Ariel's left ear while exhaling a breath that made her amused by it. As he was satisfied with Ariel's reaction, he let go of her hand and moved away from her a little bit.

"Th-that, how do I know you are taking a shower?"

"Is that so? Are you sure of it? But it looks like you will enjoy it," Indra touched Ariel's wavy pink hair, playing with her hair, still wanting to see Ariel's reaction. "Do I need to take off my towel to let you have full access, too? Count of it as an additional service."

"No!! Who needs it!?" Ariel pushed Indra's body. Ariel's hands trembled, making him want to tease the young woman even more. "I-I-I am going out now! Who the hell wants to see your not so perfect body anyway!?"

"Well, you can say that. But, mind to explain to me why your hand says otherwise? Care to explain to me?" he said again, pointing at Ariel's hand which was currently feeling his perfectly formed abdominal muscles, the result of his martial arts training when he was still living with his family, who were still alive before the tragedy two years ago.

Ariel looked up, realizing her hand was touching Indra's stomach, and immediately pulled her hand away. "Who touched your body, pervert!! I-I did not mean to! Yes, it was an accident!"

"Are you sure you do not want to continue touching my body? I do not mind if you are doing that, though."

"Who wants to touch your body? Oh my! I am going out of your room first! Hmph! Pervert! Pervert!" Ariel stamped her feet, and ran out of his room, slamming the door loudly until he jumped in surprised.

He laughed in satisfaction as he shook his head slowly, realizing the sweet side of Ariel in his eyes. In his heart, he was relieved to see the woman back to normal health. Luckily he was able to use healing energy that could help him treat any wound. Otherwise, he might have lost her by now.

His head was throbbing, a sign that the blue flames that he had put into the green-haired man's body earlier had disappeared. The colour of his irises turned grey, reading the information conveyed by his blue flames through the image fragments.

Very nice. It seemed that he already knew where the enemy was. He also saw the man's body which had been scorched, turned to dust, and vanished without a trace right in front of the figure called Master. The body of the figure called Master took on the figure of a red-haired child with a double ponytail, cold-faced. The child's eyes were piercing, staring at the blue flames as if they were looking at him.

"Don't expect to get away from me, Indra Soedirjo."

His eyes widened, realizing that the figure was talking to him in a very horrifying echoing voice. He shook his head quickly, turning his eyes brown again, then sat on the side of the bed panting for breath.

Is that the figure that Fernando has been talking about? But as he recalled, Fernando said that his figure took the body of a middle-aged man. He realized his whole body was shaking with fear, unable to forget the sight he had just seen.

It's not human. He was absolutely sure. Must be the devil. Even the figure knew his full name. Surely the person knew him. But he himself did not know him at all. He had no recollection of ever meeting such a terrifying figure.

No. That should not his focus right now. He had to quickly contact Fernando, reporting today's incident. His hands immediately grabbed the cell phone which he placed on the nightstand near the bed, looked for Fernando's name in the contact list and pressed the green button.

***

"The food is delicious. Are every dishes in this table cooked by Uncle Louis?" Indra blinked, not expecting that the food in front of him was really delicious. He understood now why Ariel said his food was still far less than Uncle Louis's. Although it was difficult to compare on the grounds that he was taking a pastry degree at a culinary school, Valentine's residence head chef must have majored in culinary arts. So it's definitely different.

"You even already know the name of the cook in our house," Roberto clapped his hands together.

"Ariel mentioned to me about your head chef's name and his amazing skills. Sometime, may I come here again? I want to study with Uncle Louis."

Indra enjoyed the dinner menu served by the cook of Valentine's residence, pretending not to notice the annoyed stare of Ariel sitting beside him. Roberto again ordered his family servant to refill the red wine in Indra's almost empty glass while laughing. Even though he still clearly remembered how the old man reacted when they first met, he did not even want to look at him at all.

"Okay. Of course, it is okay to come here often. Eat a lot. Do not hesitate to take a second plate, Young Man!"

"Of course. I will do it gladly, Mr Roberto."

"Call me Uncle. Or Dad. It does not matter to me either! Whatever you feel comfortable with!" The man patted him on the shoulder, laughed again, and then drank the red wine in one gulp.

"Okay, Dad."

Roberto looked surprised to hear that he immediately called the man 'Dad', then looked at his beloved daughter, who still looked grumpy with pride. "Ariel, I do not have a problem with him if you want him to be your boyfriend anymore. I have approved him. Now, I just need to think of the right time for you two to get married."

"I am still sixteen years old, Pa."

"Soon you will be seventeen, right? I do not see any problem with that." Roberto looked back at him, ignoring his daughter, who was now eating her food greedily. "By the way, how old are you Indra?"

"This year I am entering twenty-seven years old, Dad."

"So it means you are the same age as Fernando?"

He nodded slightly, sipping his wine slowly. From the taste, he guessed that the drink he was drinking was of rare-type quality.

"I will leave my daughter with you. Is that okay?"

"I will take good care of her gladly. Don't worry about that."

"I am relieved to hear that."

Secretly, he glanced at Ariel, who was blushing violently, not daring to look at him. Hm, it looked like this young woman did not mind Roberto's suggestion either. All he had to do was wait until Ariel said it to him directly.

Perhaps there was still a little hope for him to make Ariel his girlfriend.

"Since this house is no longer safe for my son, do you mind if my daughter stays with you for a while?"

Roberto's relaxed words nearly choked him. He swallowed his food, turning his body to face the old man. "You mean, you want Ariel to live with me, Dad?"

"Is there any problem? You two will be married soon after all."

Haha, talking about marriage, eh? he laughed sarcastically to himself. How can I discuss the marriage thing if your daughter is still curt like this, Indra muttered to himself. He immediately took his feet away from Ariel, who was ready to step on his feet using sheep-headed house slippers. Actually, it should be fine if the young woman stepped on his foot too. It will not hurt any more. But his body reflexively did it. "I do not mind if you are okay with that, Dad."

"Then, the problem is finished. Well, I should probably discuss this matter with Fernando, first. I will excuse myself," Roberto wiped his mouth with the napkin that was beside him, then put it back on the table, rising from his seat. "Do not worry about me. You can keep eating. It is okay."

"Yes."

Roberto smiled at his response, then turned and walked out of the dining room. Leaving him right now in the dining room with Ariel.

"Wow, you can become familiar with my dad in a matter of minutes without any trouble. Even though I am pretty sure that my dad did not like you the first time he met you," said Ariel, not looking at him at all. The young woman's eyes were still on her plate of food, which was a little left.

"Your father was fun, not so scary at all," he replied lightly. "But, yeah, I have to admit that what you said was true at the cafe was true. Uncle Louis's cooking is so much better compared to mine. Maybe I am too exaggerating with my cooking."

"N ... no, that—I mean, yes! You really have to learn a lot from Uncle Louis."

Indra nodded, then brought his face closer to Ariel. "May I ask you something?"

"W-what? "Don't ask or say anything strange as you did before!"

"No. I will not. I am totally serious," he whispered, coming closer to Ariel's ear. "Would you be my girlfriend?"

"Th-th-that, ng... ah, don't be so self-conscious!" Ariel pushed back against his body with her trembling hands. "Papa giving your blessing does not mean you are free to ask me to be your girlfriend! Hmph!! Are you out of your mind!?"

"Well, it is not like I am asking you to answer now, to be honest," Indra laughed softly. It seemed that the longer he talked with Ariel, the more time he spent with Ariel, whom he had just met, the more he began to like her and the more curious he was about Ariel. "Any time. Whenever you are ready to reciprocate my feelings, you just need to tell me."

"I could not promise you to give you an answer," Ariel turned her face away from him while puffing her cheeks to hide her blushed cheeks from him. "Wh-why should I do that for you, hmph!"

After saying that, the young woman left the room, leaving him, who was trying as hard as he could to hold his amusement towards Ariel.

***