You Hate The Rich?

A moment of silence followed Jilan's words.

Every one of them knew his last sentence was a snark at what Aidan had said about the Assasin profession and how it had come back to bite his ass and claim his life, but no one rebutted Jilan because, in a way, he was right.

Eventually, Lea cleared her throat and held her head high.

"Thank you for letting us know, Vincel. Come on guys, we should go.

Unless there are any more questions you wish to ask us!"

Lea directed her last sentence to Gareth who appeared unbothered by her tone and just shook his head with a light smile.

"No. We know all we need to know" he said.

Knowle and Jilan stood to their feet and Lea walked closer to Vincel.

"You'll stay here?" she asked him with her brown eyes wide.

Vincel looked over at Gareth and then back at Lea.

"Yes," he said "They seem to know some things about me and why I'm here"

Lea sighed and nodded her head.

"Okay"

'Does she- Did she want me to come with them?' Vincel wondered in his mind but he didn't ask out loud.

Lea gestured to Jilan and Knowle and they started to walk towards the exit of the lounge.

"What are you going to do now?" Vincel asked.

Lea shrugged.

"We'll keep training. Keep raiding Gates. Take it little by little and not bite off more than we can chew" she said.

"We'll watch each other's backs" Knowle added.

*Pow*

Jilan punched his palm menacingly,

"We need to get better and stronger. And WHEN we meet Kleon again, we'll be ready to make her pay"

Vincel's eyes went a bit wide at Jilan's words.

"Wait, you're planning to take revenge?"

Lea nodded while her brown eyes stared into Vincel's grey ones.

"Aidan would do the same for any of us"

"But you didn't know each other for that long"

'Why would you start yourself down a path of revenge for someone you already claimed not to know all that well?'

Lea chuckled.

It was a sad chuckle.

"Just how well do you have to know someone to want their killer dead?" she asked and walked forward.

When she was by Vincel's side, she leaned close and whispered into his ear.

"Be careful"

Vincel was surprised by the caution but since he could tell she was looking at Gareth when she whispered, he understood what she meant.

"I will" he whispered back.

In a normal tone, he added "Thank you"

Lea nodded with a smile and walked past him.

"A carriage has been prepared to take you anywhere you want," Gareth said with a polite smile as he opened the lounge door.

Outside the door, a guard was waiting to lead them away.

Jilan and Knowle walked out but Lea paused.

"We'll send over your share of the beast core once we have had it valued"

Vincel turned around with a surprised expression. He had almost forgotten about the core.

"Um, there's no need. I'd like you to keep it" he said.

Lea nodded with a sad smile.

"Thank you"

She walked out of the lounge and the guard led them away.

For the first few seconds, Vincel just stared as the three kept walking away. He would likely have kept staring had it not been for Gareth who shut the door with a soft *Bang*.

"Well, that's that," Gareth said with a solemn nod.

"Are you serious about forfeiting your share of the core?" he asked.

Vincel nodded.

"Yeah, I don't need it."

"Everyone needs money," Gareth said.

"I wouldn't even know what to use it for. It's fine. I think they need it more than me right now" Vincel said feeling a bit uncomfortable talking about it.

"Hmm. That's generous of you.

From what I heard, you had a big part in killing the beast."

"What exactly DID you hear?" Vincel asked with a furtive glance.

Gareth shrugged.

"Not much. Just something about an inconsistent bout of strength and speed display from you.

If nothing, they painted you as someone with potential. The Sorceress will like that"

"You haven't told her" Vincel realized.

"I haven't yet had the chance to get in-depth with my report. I was about to but then Zay'in arrived with you" Gareth said.

"Speak of the Devil," he added with a smile and pulled the door open to reveal Zay'in with her knuckle raised in preparation to knock on the lounge door.

"Hi," Zay'in said perkily.

"Hello," Vincel answered automatically.

Zay'in had changed out of her maid attire but what she had on now did not cover her up more.

She was now dressed in a short green gown that had slits on both sides to allow her to show off her milky thighs. The neckline was even more plunging now and her breasts were perked up to make them even more eye-catching.

She had also equipped a peculiar-looking bracelet on her wrist.

"Are you done? I saw them leave so I assumed you were done"

As Zay'in spoke, she gestured in the direction Lea, Jilan, and Knowle had disappeared in.

Vincel nodded.

"Um, yeah. I guess"

He looked over at Gareth who nodded as well.

"You can have him, Zay'in. I have to report to the Sorceress anyway"

Zay'in clapped.

"Fantastic. Vincel, come with me"

She turned around to walk away and as she did, Vincel saw a small pouch attached to the small of her back, balanced right atop her perky butt.

"You'll see it better if you come closer," Zay'in said in a singsong voice and made exaggerated movements with her waist.

Vincel went red but regained his composure quickly.

"I wasn't staring"

He ran after her and left Gareth alone in the lounge.

Zay'in led him to other parts of the estate and the more buildings they passed, the more in awe, Vincel was.

Zay'in was quiet the whole time.

Vincel wondered if she was thinking about the naked moment they previously had in the bathtub.

'Should I bring it up? Nah, that'll be awkward.

But then again, she might want to know she's the first to ever touch me there. The first to ever see me naked besides Agatha when I was a kid.

I mean, it could be a nice ice-breaker; "Hey, Fun fact, you molested a virgin"

Arrgh, my God, why would I think of telling her that?!

So fucking embarrassing. I should just remain quiet.

Remain quiet and keep staring at the buildings.'

"So- The Agatha you knew didn't have all this?"

Hearing Zay'in's voice shocked Vincel out of his thoughts.

"No. Agatha never had a lot of money and even if she did, she won't have spent it on a luxurious estate." he said with a shake of his head.

Zay'in furrowed her brows.

"The Sorceress didn't build all this. She inherited it"

Vincel shrugged.

"Same difference. My point is, the Agatha I knew won't want a life of luxury.

All donations by beneficiaries, she always spent on the children in her charge."

"So that's your measure of goodness. Selflessness?" Zay'in asked.

"Well, yeah," Vincel said.

Zay'in's tone became sharp.

"So you mean, according to you, if someone is rich and willing to indulge in luxuries, they are automatically not 'good'?"

Vincel held up his palms.

"Whoa whoa, that's not what I said at all. When did I say anything like that?" he asked.

"You don't like the Sorceress because she's rich," Zay'in said.

Vincel shook his head.

"No, that's not it. I don't like the Agatha you know 'cause so far, all she has been is a Bitch and a potential pain in the ass.

The Agatha that raised me is a Saint but she has a high standard of goodness that even I've never dreamed of trying to reach.

Besides, being 'good' is not all it's cracked up to be."

Zay'in raised a brow.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Vincel sighed.

"The world doesn't bend over for you just because you are 'good'.

All the beneficiaries of the Orphanage Agatha runs are rich and they all made pledges that they are supposed to fulfill every month.

They have more than enough to spare but Agatha, despite being known for her 'goodness', still always has to wrestle the funds from them. Even then, some still don't fulfill their pledges."

Spending so much time in Agatha's charge with no adoption in sight, Vincel had gotten glimpses of the runnings of the orphanage.

'Those damn rich pricks.'

Zay'in smiled lightly.

"So I was right then. You hate rich people."

Vincel opened his mouth then shut it to shake his head with a chuckle.

"Maybe I do. But it's not because they are rich. It's 'cause they're greedy"

They walked for a minute more and then Zay'in announced.

"We're here."