Chapter 70
Chapter 70
“Good. Is she resting? Has she been treated?” The head butler watched Isaac’s direct path to the annex, clearly agitated. Sensing the unspoken from the butler’s silence, Isaac frowned. “What?”
“Big Cat… the Remains Investigation Team retrieved the item.”
“What?” This was as unexpected as Arietta’s stubborn refusal to yield to the toxins.
***
Isaac sat in the main hall, gazing out the window at the desolate garden and the glass dome beyond, battered by the relentless rain. He replayed the butler’s account.
Arietta had gone to the house she once shared with Seia. At this point, Isaac had cursed, “Damn Seia.”
Arietta, in her own way, missed her so-called mother. Did the regret of not even having a lock of Seia’s hair after her death still cling to her? The thought of Seia always soured his mood. No one had ever been such an obstacle in his life.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on Seia. He refocused on Arietta. He’d been told that a member of the Remains Investigation Team had found Arietta collapsed in front of her old home.
Benjamin Lenota. The young upstart who constantly challenged him. Apparently, upon seeing Arietta, Benjamin had knelt and administered emergency aid with a nebulizer. When the downpour intensified, he’d carried her to the team’s quarters.
The team remained unaware of Arietta’s connection to him. He had never revealed her existence. They likely assumed she was a strikingly beautiful woman who, by a strange coincidence, had collapsed on the street. Perhaps a particularly astute member might have noticed the quality of her clothes and shoes, their Downstream origins.
The butler had cautiously suggested contacting the team to retrieve Arietta. Logically, Isaac knew it was the right course of action. The image of those relic hunters safeguarding his prize was absurd.
But…
‘Isaac, I’m tired of you. Aren’t you happy? You wanted me gone.’ Her words echoed in his mind, an incessant buzzing like the wings of an irritating insect.
He couldn’t bring himself to give the order. With a weary, impassive expression, he said, “Leave her.” He didn’t want to be at her mercy any longer.
But if this was the end… The thought darkened his features. If this was the end, what then?
***
Benjamin opened the door to the vacant room. The woman lay still, dressed in clothes borrowed from a female team member whose build was similar. Even now, her beauty was breathtaking. With her dark hair spread across the white sheets and her eyes closed, she resembled an exquisite wax figure. Only the gentle rise and fall of her chest betrayed that she lived.
The team’s physician had credited Benjamin’s timely intervention for saving her life. A strange sense of satisfaction filled him. The woman’s captivating beauty had mesmerized the team, distracting them from the unusual circumstance of Isaac’s men finding her and not taking any action.
“When will she wake?”
“Soon.” Murmurs drifted through the room.
The physician excused himself to check on the team’s health, promising to return shortly. Benjamin gave a perfunctory “Yes,” his gaze fixed on the woman, who lay like a figure in a painted legend.
Time seemed to both race and crawl. Benjamin felt a sense of eternity and fleetingness as he watched her.
Then, a soft sound. “Mmm…” The woman stirred.
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