They don't speak in the corridor. When they are out of the building, Riya Saryu crosses her arms and turns around.
"What were you thinking, Krauss?" She grimaces at him. "This is not how you are supposed to handle this."
"I did nothing wrong." Valentin Krauss lets out another curse. When he takes a step, it hurts. "She lost her mind all of a sudden."
"You want me to believe that?" Riya Saryu frowns. "You already know that she has unstable magic. Her moods would be affected anyway. Did you forget how you used to be? If you want to rise up in ranks, you need to handle that temper of yours. In most cases like this, you would meet people who are blindly in love like her. These matters should be handled carefully. Thanks to you, we might lose this case to someone else."
Valentin Krauss doesn't want to work in this department. He doesn't belong to it. He's from the Krauss family. Due to internal politics, he was transferred in this civil investigation unit. In reality, today is his first day at this department. He's truly unlucky to meet that crazy girl on his first case. "Screw it! I don't care."
"You didn't read the information, did you?" Riya Saryu shakes her head at him when he doesn't reply. "You didn't even take a glance."
Yesterday, they received an anonymous intel that a ghoul is keeping a human female against her wishes. She was going to become the ghoul's meal later. That's all he heard today at work before he came here with his senior. "I know the basics. She's a human and he's a ghoul. It's an abomination if we let them get married. I don't know how she can even touch that creature."
Riya Saryu has been in this field for a long time. She has seen many couples like this. So, she's not surprised. It's clear that the intel was wrong. Surprisingly, the intel came from Eli's world. She wonders if she should have told Eli Sanguine. "Krauss, Keep your opinions to yourself. You will see many abominations from now on. In time, you will get used to it."
He turns his head to the right and shrugs. He wonders what kind of parent would allow their daughter to get married to a ghoul. Is she an orphan or something? He is going to look into this matter. She has magic. Most magic comes through lineage. He needs to find her guardian or parent. In any case, he's going to stop this wedding ceremony.
"Senior." He approaches Riya Saryu. The woman might look like she's in her teens, but she is hundreds of years older than him.
Saryu turns back and looks at him. "What do you want?"
"Senior, I need to look into that girl's background." He bows to her slightly, "Allow me to check the archives."
To have access to the Council's archive, permission is needed from a senior member like her. The Council might have information on her lineage.
She could guess what's on his mind. A slight smile appears on her lips. If vanishes before Krauss could get a glimpse. She puts her hand inside her blazer and brings out the pen drive. "Her background information is in here. You should have checked before you came. Anyway, I am heading home. Write the report and hand it over tomorrow."
"Thank you, Senior." He takes the pen drive from her palm and then, he watches her leave in her car. He walks to his car and gets the laptop from the backseat. If he can find out who her parents are, he would meet them today.
The screen of the laptop illuminates, making his face looks paler than it already is. He inserts the pen drive. His eyes widen when he reads the information.
"She's that girl?" Though he wasn't in the city at that time, the satyrs incident shook the hidden world back then. It was the first time when the council acted aggressively toward the Fae. He was the leader of a search and hunt party who went to the Fae realm. Back then, he never met the child who was barely clinging to life. But he prayed that she would survive.
"You have grown into a beautiful woman." His eyes become warm. When his leg throbs with pain, his face becomes sullen. "But why would you even think of getting married to a ghoul after what happened to you? Are all the humans dead?"
Now, he has even more reasons to stop this child. She has already been tortured enough. It's crazy to let her get married to a ghoul who could eat her anytime. Her magic is strong too. In her profile, there's no mention of blood lineage or the fact that she has any magic. The Council might not have known about her magic back then. "Who are your parents?"
When he reads the names, he frowns a bit. "Her mother's name is Isabelle Solomon and her father's name is George Willis. Why did she carry her mother's surname?"
He looks into the special remarks. So, she's not George Willis' daughter. Her father's name is not known. Both Isabelle Solomon and George Willis died in a terrorist attack.
"Isabelle?" He furrows his brows. That name sounds familiar. Then, he looks at the photographs. There are pictures of the site and the hospital where Nell was taken to. His heart throbs in pain when he sees the pictures of Nell when she was lying pale and unconscious on the bed. "After what happened to you, why would you be with a ghoul? Did you forget about the pain that you suffered?"
In the next picture, he sees a woman sitting next to a young girl lying on the bed. He zooms the picture to look at the woman's face -- hazel eyes, dark hair, and proud features.
He knows her.
Valentin Krauss becomes pale when he realizes something. "No, that's impossible."
But the facts are clear in front of him. Nell's spirit is a moon-type spirit and she has the blessings of the goddess of night.
"Damn!" He covers his face with his palms. Why did he never check upon Isabelle back then? He was young and foolish. He was rebelling against his family. When he was with her, he knew that his family would never accept a girl like her. He wanted to escape all the expectations and crap that his family forced upon him.
"She went through this." His hand trembles when he touches the screen. "I wasn't there…"
If he knew about her, she would have never gone through that. He wouldn't have let Isabelle raise her alone. He would have acknowledged his child.
"My daughter." She's with a ghoul right now. Krauss gets out of the car and takes long strides toward the apartment building. He won't let his daughter stay beside a ghoul.