Once Ruby left her room, she made it to the dinner table where her father, Neo, and a few other guests were present at the table. Ruby gave a wry smile as she sat down beside Neo. Surprisingly, the two girls have gotten very close to each other, considering their first meet wasn't...nice. Ruby's father greeted her along with the guests, the servants brought out the meal for tonight. Cobalt steak with a few side dishes like a salad, some potatoes, fruits, and some wine for those who wanted it.
Neo whispered into Ruby's ear and asked about Ivy. She didn't really see Ivy today besides the morning, so Neo was worried about her friend. Ruby replied with Ivy sleeping, she mentioned how Ivy wasn't getting enough sleep and was taxing her body past her limit. Neo nodded as she remembered Ivy doing those kinds of things that would kill a normal human being. Though she was still worried, Neo knew that Ruby would act more wholesome than she may be.
Ruby smiled before hearing her name asked by one of the guests. She knew a few of the guests; most of them were CEOs of large companies in this city. She greeted the guests as Ruby turned her attention to the person who called her. However, Ruby froze when she saw the person. It was her own fiancée that she was supposed to marry if not for the fact that she outright declined the offer.
The man lightly chuckled before smiling. One the outside appearance, he seemed like a handsome and elegant man, completely mannered properly. But inside, he's very cruel to those he likes. In fact, Ruby declined because she investigated a raped woman, saying it was from the same man that Ruby was supposed to marry. Ruby decided to examine more on her own and found out that the family the man was from is more of a criminal mafia. Numerous cases of sexual harassment, kidnap, even some tortures to those who opposed them. When mentioning it to her father, he immediately declines the marriage. Though he kept in contact with the family, he was very wary of them and made sure to have people checking on them.
Ruby looked at her father, who responded with a serious tone, before withdrawing her hatred towards the man. She politely said, "What do you want, Alex? Could it be of importance?"
The man chuckled again before opening his mouth, "Oh dear Ruby, why would I be here if it wasn't important? Besides, your family is vital, it would be ashamed if it was ruined by a spoiled girl."
Ruby's brows twitched as she stared at the hypocrite. She smiled before deciding to expose a bit of Alex's life. "So, I'm a spoiled girl, huh? I'm sure your family almost went bankrupt for your ass. Your family net worth is around 3.6 billion, right? I believe they spent about 2.8 billion on you for toys, education, clothing, drugs, bailouts...oh, and my favorite. Wanting to buy your own mansion at the age of 10 because and I quote. "I wanted a bigger and better because this place is crap.""
This time, it was Alex's turn to get enraged as he dropped his fork and stared at Ruby. She had a smug expression and simply pretend nothing happened. Alex stood up before being forcible sat down by Ruby herself. The king chuckled a bit as he ordered that not a single word of this meeting was to be talked about.
The other CEOs were shaking in their shoes as they never have seen Ruby in such a foul mood. They always thought she was a pure, kind girl, but with a few flaws. They whispered to each other about never mentioning this meeting and pretended it never happened. Alex, on the other hand, was so close to outbursting if it wasn't for the dining room doors being slammed open.
Immediately, everyone stood up. After seeing the metal arm and hand, the king, Neo, and Ruby sat back down. Seeing the king and Ruby sit down, even the strange girl. The others sat back down as well. However, they were still as tense as ever. Alex was the only one that wasn't too worried about the new person, he believed that the king would protect them.
Ruby looked under the table to pull out Alpha. She whispered quietly to record everything that was going on until she said stop. Alpha nodded her head before disappearing and starting recording. Ruby didn't like having to record everything secretly, but she would enjoy seeing Alex in prison.
The guards immediately surround the person before the captain shouting, "M-Miss Ivy?! W-Wha reason do you have to interrupt a royal dinner? And what's with the bodies?"
Neo immediately spits out all of the wine in her mouth as she stared at disbelief at Ivy. She thought Ivy was asleep, unless...no, she wouldn't lie to her. So then, what woke Ivy up? During her time with Ivy, Neo hasn't been able to successfully find a way to wake Ivy up.
Before Neo was going to say something, Alex started laughing his head off. He actually couldn't believe he got scared of a single person. "Bahaha! To think that a single person was able to scare me! I'll teach this bitch a lesson."
Ivy immediately removed her attention to the captain and stared at Alex. She set down the bodies that she was carrying before instantly appearing in front of Alex. The smell he gave was more than enough for Ivy to beat the hell out of him. Seeing the little brat appearing in front of him, Alex sent out a bolt of lighting dead center of Ivy.
Ivy quickly dodged before saying, "So, it was your men that were surrounding the palace! You interrupted my fucking SLEEP!"
It was the first time that Ruby or the king have ever seen Ivy enraged, but more so, they were surprised by how sneaky Alex was. To be able to surround the palace was an achievement, to say the least, but a death sentence in another. Ruby was about to help Ivy before feeling her father's intent pouring down on her. She looked at her father and sighed as she had to watch Ivy fight Alex all alone.
Ivy was barely panting while Alex was already used up all the Mana inside. She cracked her neck before charging and sending a sucker punch right in the crotch. Ivy flung Alex in the air before he fell down and held onto his crotch. What made the blow more painful was the fact that it was metal against skin.
Ivy looked over at Ruby and the king before apologizing for her intrusion. She went over to the captain and talked about the unconscious bodies she was carrying were actually assassins. Her guess was to kill the royal family and take over.
The captain thanked her before ordering his men to take care and increase security for the time being. Ivy sighed before yawning, she walked over to the table and fell asleep. Ruby and the others were surprised by Ivy's actions before the king addressed to the CEOs about coming to his study room. All of them agreed as they silently ate dinner. Occasionally, Ruby would try to get Ivy to eat, but every time, she failed.
Once the servants cleaned up, Neo said she was gonna sleep early tonight. Ruby frowned before saying she'll probably be staying up late tonight. When Neo asked why, Ruby simply said she had work to do.
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Around 2200, Ruby was locked in her study room with Ivy sleeping on her lap. She didn't understand how or why Ivy come into her study office, but she accepted it. Ruby opened her email with Akagi as she read through some of the articles that she sent. Apparently, Akagi speculated that Ivy was part of a tragedy called the Neverland Tragedy. Ruby remembered reading up on the event, but she didn't understand what scientist or monster would do such a thing.
From multiple articles, it stated that the tragedy was convicted with thousands of children from orphanages and homeless. It was never understood what happened, but it appears that twelve scientists decided to try to great a "perfect human." A human that surpassed all generations and knew the only way was to infuse demons inside the children. When a local police station heard multiple strange sounds along with one of them was a building being demolished and burned. They had a full military and numerous hunters and huntresses on the field. Apparently, a hidden building was destroyed and burned while there were multiple graves with crosses. When the military dug them out, they were attacked by possessed children. Most of them were weak, but the occasional strong needed the assistance of a hunter or huntress.
As Ruby went through multiple articles about the Neverland Tragedy, she came across a link. Though there were a few links in the email, most of them were pictures. This time, it was about the House of Roses. Specifically, the fall of the house. Ruby opened up the article and was greeted with a video recording of Akagi, who seemed very stress but also very concerned. Ruby played the video as she felt Ivy move a little bit. She adjusted Ivy before hearing the video play.
"Hey Ruby, as you can see, I've done a lot of research on this matter. And..well..this was very hard on me. Let's start with the beginning. The House of Roses, which you may remember them, was a very loyal house to the king and royal family. Their children were incredibly powerful, but they were very soft and kind. They cared for the people who suffered and those who didn't have much of a job. Fast forward about 20 years ago, the House of Roses went into conflict with themselves. They had a corrupted patriarch in which he thought they should have ruled the kingdom. He recalled every Roses and those who were hunters and huntresses, and those who were clearly headed disagreed with the patriarch's idea. Which was the majority of the Roses. Long story short, the house fell due to the house suddenly burning down, which was assumed to be the patriarch's doing, but no one knows since he also died. So, apparently, there was a sudden body found in an alleyway. And from what officers were able to infer was that she was part of the House of Roses. How she survived the burning? I'm not sure, but they ran some tests on her body before giving the woman a proper burial. And when they tested if she was ever pregnant, it was clear positive. Now, we don't know who is the last Rose. Unless we do? See, what I'm saying is that Ivy is the last Rose. Don't you find it a bit weird by her aura and presence whenever she was in a room with you? Plus, Ivy might have actually been part of something worse. It is possible that Ivy was a part of the Neverland Tragedy AND is the only survivor we know. I'm sorry to dump all of this on you at once, but I had to get this out. If you can, I would like to have Ivy for a few days before the entrance exams come up. End recording."
Ruby sat in her chair with Ivy, hugging close to her body. Ruby deeply inhaled, then exhaled for ten seconds. She rubbed her templed as she turned off her computer and sat in the dark.
"So Ivy's a part of the House of Roses. Tsk...how the hell am I gonna tell her that. Or my father, for that fact. Fuck...I really am not ready," Ruby said in the dark before looking at Ivy's sleeping body. She gently petted Ivy's head before closing her eyes, hugging Ivy's tightly, and falling asleep.