The location that the kidnappers sent was a small, desolate mansion that was nearby the inn, likely so that other assassins couldn't get to Emily before they could. At first, Alicia sent her secret guards to verify what Adrian told her, but unfortunately, it was all true. Emily's mother, father and aunt had been restrained with their arms tied behind their backs, a blindfold and a gag in their mouths. It would have been nice if they could be rescued without any trouble, but the kidnappers were watching them carefully so that would be difficult. Although Alicia and her secret guards would be enough to overwhelm the kidnappers, she couldn't see a way to do that without losing at least one hostage.
"What will you do? I don't think it'll be easy to pull them away from the hostages," said Adrian.
The two were looking at the mansion from the roof of a building two streets away. Alicia knew that this would be difficult, but she had to at least keep the hostages alive until Shui arrived. Alicia already had a plan in mind, but before she started it, she turned to Adrian.
"I know. I can handle the rest by myself so you can go."
"I'm sorry, but I have a duty to ensure that they're safe so I can't leave."
Alicia narrowed her eyes, but Adrian didn't even flinch. She wanted privacy so that she could briefly read the fate of the kidnappers and the hostages, but there was no way she could do that with him around. Even her guards only had a faint idea of what she did while meditating, so she would never provide a hint to someone she found suspicious.
"Hmph, do as you wish."
'Ugh, I suppose I'll have to rely on a general reading.'
Since she wouldn't be able to get rid of him without resorting to force, Alicia decided to use a certain ability. It had been with her since birth, but as soon as she learnt how to control it, she rarely used it anymore. It didn't come with any physical burden, but she had terrible experiences with it so she hoped that this would be worth the sacrifice.
Alicia took a deep breath and closed her eyes so that she could release the power that she had locked up. Even while it was restricted, she could still use it in a vague sense, but the difference was incomparable for when she opened her eyes again, the world was filled with colour. 'Palette of Fate', that was the name of the primary ability that came from her sacred treasure. With it, she could see the past, present emotional state, intentions, and future potential of anyone she looked at, in the form of colours. Once she turned on this ability, walls and obstacles had no effect on the colours so she would be able to see the figure of anyone in her line of sight regardless of whatever stealth technique they were using, unless they could hide from fate itself.
'It's been a while but, I'm sure of it. I hate this feeling.'
She took another moment to steady her mind and then took a quick look around.
'What?!'
The things she just noticed left her heart in turmoil, but her expression was the same. Her childhood was filled with similar experiences so she wouldn't expose herself so easily.
'I still hate this power, but I'm glad I used it.'
"So, what's the plan?" Adrian asked.
She was now even more reluctant to speak with him, but she still had to hold herself back for a little longer. Adrian could tell that something about her had changed; that she became more dangerous. However, he didn't think that there was any need for worry. After all, the enemy was the kidnappers, so she wouldn't attack him, at least not yet.
'I have to be careful.'
Alicia wanted to make a move based on what she just saw, but she was at too much of a disadvantage so she couldn't have a lot of hope. With her eyes looking straight ahead, placing Adrian at the edge of her vision, she spoke.
"For the plan, I need you to do something for me," Alicia said softly.
"Yes?"
Adrian leaned in to hear her clearly, but right when he reached a certain distance, Alicia's right hand moved like a flash and swiftly reached for his throat. In this hand, was a blue dagger that had a cold shine in the moonlight. Thanks to his good instincts, Adrian was able to dodge her dagger by the skin of his teeth with a step backwards, but she then threw the knife at him and made a handsign.
"Die!"
The dagger exploded on impact, violently knocking Adrian away. The dagger was a spirit-rank artifact, so its self-destruction should have been enough to severely wound any Earth Realm cultivator, especially since the explosion was concentrated so that it didn't do much collateral damage. Unfortunately, even without looking with her eyes, Alicia knew that he wouldn't suffer too badly from this.
"Oi! What was that for?!"
A green armour now shone on his chest, but a streak of blood rolled down from his lips so it was clear that he hadn't escaped unharmed.
"Drop the act. More importantly, why don't you explain to me why you tried to bring Emily into this trap?"
When she looked around, she had not only noticed Adrian's intent of betrayal, she also spotted all of the hidden assassins that were surrounding the building. She knew that she had already been caught in a trap, one that her guards could hardly extract her from, but even so, this sort of threat was, too ordinary for her to feel despair.
Facing those eyes free from fear, Adrian finally broke out of the 'Senior brother' mask that he wore for Emily.
"Hah, I guess that's why you're the cursed child of the Sphere clan."
"That's fairly old news, but it seems you've done your research. If so, are you sure the one that ordered this will be able to handle the consequences of touching me?"
Adrian clicked his tongue in response. He had heard stories of how this girl could read minds, and although he didn't fully believe them, he certainly didn't like the feeling of being seen through. And all of this was captured in the colours that wrapped him. The colour that represented the past never changed and it was a rare occurrence in terms of the future potential, but as she talked to him, she could deduce how he was feeling and thinking based on the other two features.
"You're right, this might earn him a lot of trouble, but I don't care. Just like he doesn't care about me."
"Oh, then I guess it's just his fault for trusting a jealous loser crying for his daddy's attention."
Adrian was shocked by how accurate she was, but more than that, his anger was awakened by her contempt.
"You sound all high and mighty, but I wonder how you didn't see this coming?"
He then stomped on the roof of the building they were on, activating the tier 4 array hidden here. The outline of the array lit up for brief moment before a isolation barrier captured the roof, along with them. Albeit annoyed, Alicia was calm as she looked at the barrier. Adrian's associates were busy holding back Alicia's guards so the two were alone in this space.
"How unexpected. I thought you would wait for help."
"Hmph, I don't have time to waste. This trap was meant for someone else, but I need to take care of you before the main guest arrives."
"Main guest? You-!"
Realizing who he meant, Alicia's face contorted.
"Kuku, finally got that irritating look off your face."
Adrian appeared to be at the peak of the third level of the Earth Realm while Alicia was in the first level, so she knew that this would be a hard battle, but she had to work with the cards she had at the moment.
She took out a slender sword of tesora-rank, and faced him in a ready combat stance.
"You may be stronger than me, but that won't be enough to win."
"Heh, don't worry," to compete, Adrian took out a great battle-axe of supreme spirit-rank, "I have a few cards up my sleeve too."