Chapter 126: The Visitor
Realizing that his sister was now aroused and could possibly wake up at any moment, Christian finally came back to his senses. He had clearly gone too far with what he'd done and momentarily forgotten the risk of her waking up like this. The thought of her discovering him in such a compromising position sent a wave of panic through him.
So, slowly, carefully, yet reluctantly, he began to pull his hand away. It felt as if his own hand protested against the command, already longing to return to its "home."
Once free, he cautiously rose from the bed, moving with the utmost care to avoid waking her. It felt almost like he was fleeing the scene. Heading for the door, he slipped out quietly, leaving his sister still sound asleep.
Well, at least, that was what he thought, as he hadn't looked at her face closely in his panic. Had he done so, his thoughts would have been very different.
Because as soon as the door clicked shut behind him, Annabelle, who was supposed to be sound asleep, opened her eyes. Her face was flushed, her breathing uneven, and she was clearly a mess.
Her lips, which she had been pressing tightly together, and her teeth, clenched in tension, finally relaxed.
Annabelle, who had been awake for quite some time but couldn't bring herself to wake her brother or move his hand, now grumbled softly under her breath:
'Why couldn't he have continued at least for just a little longer?'
Had her brother pushed his limits even a lot further, she still wouldn't have stopped him or opened her eyes. That was why she now felt a twinge of disappointment.
She also found herself wondering if she was actually sexually frustrated to want her brother to do something like that to her.
'No... maybe it's the opposite. Maybe it's because it's Chris that I've become like this?'
Annabelle couldn't help but question if this was the reason she had never found a boyfriend. Was it possible that her feelings for him were genuine? Or were they merely a fleeting response, driven by the moment and the intimacy of their current situation?
In the end, she couldn't arrive at a clear answer, and remembering the unusual circumstances they were now in, she took a deep breath to calm herself and decided to set the matter aside for later reflection, as this clearly wasn't the right time.
Then, she considered getting up to figure out what to do next, but the memory of what had just happened made her hesitate. She decided to stay in her room a little longer to avoid arousing her brother's suspicion.
...
Christian, who had already freshened up, was now back in his room. He first checked the time and discovered that he had actually slept for more than ten hours, something he rarely did. So, he immediately asked Iris, just to make sure of the situation.
"Did anything happen while I was asleep?"
[No suspicious movements have been detected in the vicinity of the house, and nothing of importance has occurred on Damian Slate's side either.]
Hearing her, he felt relieved and intended to continue his work immediately, but before he could do that, Iris continued.
[It's just that, since Master didn't give any further orders yesterday, I continued my work, trying to gather information regarding Miss Eva and Damian Slate.]
[But, while there were some discoveries here and there, it still needs your further assistance to complete everything.]
[Even then, there was an important discovery, unrelated to their background issue.]
[I found out that a car actually came to the vicinity of the house on the night the assassin arrived.]
Christian, hearing Iris's report, felt a pleasant surprise at her actions, especially since she had taken the initiative to investigate so many things on her own. And although she needed his help for further discoveries, he was not disappointed.
But when he heard about the car, his eyes narrowed. He wondered exactly when it had arrived and couldn't help but curse his foolish decision at the time, when he told her to trace the assassin instead. However, knowing that it was already a past event and that nothing had happened in the end, he calmed down slightly and decided to continue listening.
[But not at the same time you engaged with the assassin. It arrived just before you went out of the house to bury the corpse. It was during the time gap when I was reviewing the previous surveillance camera records, before you instructed me to return monitoring the surroundings. The car stayed parked some distance away until you left and returned, and only then did it drive away.]
[No one even got out of it.]
[And when I investigated where this car came from, I discovered that it was actually Miss Eva and her maid.]
"Huh?"
At first, he exclaimed in surprise at the identity of the person in question. But he quickly tried to think back to everything he had discovered and make sense of why Eva had come.
It was then he remembered what Damian Slate had said in the voice recording about how Eva would try to protect him, in accordance with his importance, and that he was simply testing the waters.
He was also certain it had nothing to do with the assassin. After all, if someone wanted to harm him, they would at least attempt to target his sister once they realized the assassin they had sent was dead and he was absent from the house.
Most importantly, she still waited until he left and returned. She could have simply come and left immediately, or, if she had something against him, informed someone else that he was outside alone to set up an ambush, or many other way.
So, he felt that her coming and staying was for his sake, and he couldn't help but feel a warm sensation inside, even if she was the very reason he was in this situation.