" where is zombie girl?" Lennox asked the umbrella butler.
The umbrella butler answered:" I am sure young lady Everly will be here in a minute".
Lennox snorted:" to make me wait for her, she really has some guts".
' it has been two hours since that old bastard snatched her from the dining hall, he better not forget about the deal. I don't get a chance to torture the Alphonsus every day'.
Few seconds passed, and out of the blue Everly fell from the sky. She landed heavily before Lennox making the couple bricks under her feet cracked noticeably.
Thanks to his thick skin, Lennoxs' astonished expression wasn't obvious for her. He kept an indifferent tone while scanning Everly from head to toes.
Lennox: "where did you come from?".
Everly: "from his majestys' study room".
It wasn't what he asked about, however, Lennox remembered that Everly could jump over the palace walls like it was nothing.
Lennox shifted his gaze to the documents she was carrying, Everly immediately handed the papers she was holding over to Lennox.
"His majesty told me to give it to you, he said that you might find something useful in there".
Lennox received the pack of papers and joined them with the ones he brought.
'Hmmm, her way of talking is strange, is it because of her age. No, rather she is simple.... a commoner?'
Lennox:" I will go through them on the way there, let's move for now".
*******
"How is Adelaide doing?". Roosevelt, the elder son of the Alphonsus family asked his younger sister.
Bertha:" no much difference than yesterday, she has been whining and crying like a widow ".
Roosevelt:" it can't be helped. Adelaide is the youngest and the softest, she can't handle such a thunderbolt ".
Eleanor butted in the conversation:" This is because you spoiled her too much ".
Bertha: "talk about yourself, aren't you who always brings her mountains of gifts whenever you return home from travel?".
Eleanor said provocatively:" you also acting overprotective, you even run a background check of her every friend and maid".
Roosevelt: "you both stop now, we are already in a hard situation".
Bertha: "is this about his majesty?".
Eleanor: "I don't think that his majesty would cause us difficulties without any good reason. I mean just because the investigators said so, it doesn't have to be true".
Roosevelt:" if it was his majesty, the emperor, then I won't be at unease. However, the one visiting us today is actually the crown prince ".
Bertha instantly stiffened, she fixed her gaze on Eleanor who's eyeballs were already trembling.
Eleanor:" that f***er is taking over the investigation!!".
Roosevelt:" watch your words, no matter what our opinion of him is, he is still a crown prince. The future emperor".
Bertha:" brother, what should we do? I mean he is.... he is a crazy devil!! Who knows, maybe we will end up dead because of single mistake".
Roosevelt:" We can only pray that he is in a good mood".
*********
"Mister ghost, may I ask you something ".
Everly disturbed Lennox, who was reading some contracts and documents related to the recent activities of the Alphonsus family members.
Lennox:" go ahead".
Everly:"... his majesty said that this case is really important, then why doesn't he give it to the older people?".
'Funny how all her words are way too simple '
Lennox said indifferently:" because it is important, that the investigation was entrusted to me".
Everly started sparkling:" does that mean that mister ghost is smarter than the elders?".
Lennox continued to scan the documents, he said without looking at her direction:" they say that to catch a bad guy you need to think like a bad guy. And I believe that this is what we are doing here ".
'though, they are using a real bad guy here...'
Everly exclaimed with a tone full of admiration: "waaah, I don't really understand. But mister ghost is amazing. Even though we are the same age, you are way too cool".
Lennox coldly said: "would you stop addressing me like that, it's embarrassingā".
He paused for seconds, then quickly raised his head. saying solemnly: "how old are you?".
Everly did not notice the sudden change in Lennox's attitude as she answered: "I am 10".
Lennox seemed a bit astonished, however, he said calmly:" then why are you skinny like a corpse?".
Everly answered helplessly:" I actually can't feel hungry like the others, so I forget to eat sometimes ".
Lennox blurted blankly:"....you forget to...eat.....".
Everly nodded her head vigorously like a little chick pecking on rice.
'Now this is bothersome, she is dumb enough to die if no one shoved something in her throat. No wait, this might actually be helpful. If I used her properly, many future difficulties would be erased'
The crown prince raised the young girl's value as he thought of new ways to put this stupidly strong nonhuman kid to use in the future.
"Ah, right" Everly untied a cute pink bumbag, which was hanging on her waist. The bumbag was filled with snacks and cookies, She offered it while forming a nervous smile.
Everly:" miss Rachel gave it to me and said to eat it in the way. How about we share this for our friendship?".
'Friendship? Ah yes, low IQ people take friendships way too serious. Well I don't need such crap, but I will go along with you, for the sake of the snacks'
Lennox accepted her offer with a smirk on his face, and both began chewing down the cookies. Suddenly Lennox realized something, he asked:" by the way zombie girl, why are you with the old man? ".
Everly paused for a moment before she answered:"...I don't know ".
Lennox:"....".
*******
Gradually the carriage stopped, Lennox opened the small window at his side, he said loudly:" Is there any problems?".
One of the knights answered:" do not worry your grace, we are about to enter the town over the Alphonsus family territory. However, the entrance is quite crowded due to the festival taking place at this day".
Everly began sparkling again, said in Enthusiastic tone:" waaa, mister knight may I raid the horse with you?".
Lennox looked at her helplessly ' just where the hell do you bring all these starts from? Do you really have to sparkle over every little thing?'
The Knight answered:" of course my lady, all as you wish".
though, he made it like he was fulfilling her request, the knight was pleased to ride a horse with this ball of cuteness.
Everly quickly jumped from her seat and headed out of the carriage. Lennox was about to close his window, but he suddenly stopped. coldly he asked the knight:" and who are you?".
From his features and the aura around him, it's obvious that this knight came from a high noble family. Someone like him won't be doing shit like babysitting some kids.
The knight dismounted of the horse and knelt to Lennox, he said in a clear voice:" Henry Raj at your service your grace".
Lennoxs' murderous eyes almost bore a hole in Henry Rai's head. he kept his cold tone saying:" did the old bastard send you to keep a watch on me? Or are you here to disturb my justice?".
he said justice, however, both Lennox and the knight knew that he was here to bully the Alphonsus family.
Henry Raj said Earnestly:" I dare not your grace, his majesty the emperor has commanded this lowly one to ensure the mental safety of the young lady Everly. No other intentions ".
in other words, to keep Everly away from the bloody scenes.
Lennox snorted: "better not be".
he shut the little window tightly and began sorting his thoughts, on the other side, Henry Raj carried Everly and mounted on his horse. soon after the carriage moved, they followed close behind.
The town was crowded and the people were lively, there were some who wore scary and amusing customs. and this definitely drew Everlys' attention.
She asked Henry Raj:" mister knight, what kind of festivals is this?".
Henry Raj, who was silently admiring Everlys' loveliness with a dumb expression on his face, startled by her question, but quickly regained his composure and answering the young girl's question.
Henry Raj:" it's called Samhain. in the past our world was covered in magical energy, we used to have monsters, ghosts and spirits. At the end of the summer, all the realms merged for one night, our ghosts and spirits would meet the ones of another world and spend the night together celebrating. However, after the black snow incident, we lost all our magical energy, so most of the spirits eventually vanished. But some people wanted to greet the spirits and ghosts of the other realms, and because of that they wear such customs and pretend to be a ghost or a monster ".
Actually, Everly was more experienced around the nonhumans than the knight himself, she was one of them after all.
More stars began gathering around Everly, her smile was full of excitement. She said in admiration:" you know a lot mister knight ".
Henry Raj felt flattered, he added:" maybe you will be able to visit one next year lady".
Everly:" huh, why not today?".
Henry Raj sighed deeply, he said after a pause:" his grace won't let us run around and play as we please".
Henry Raj brushed his hand on her fluffy head, he said softly:" my apologies young lady ".
Everly kept her silence for a while and did not insist on going. She continued chatting with Henry Raj along the way.