During the process where the maids and butlers transferred the boxes to Philip's room and the adjacent room to his, Justine guided Mathilda back inside the mansion and into her room
"Mathilda..."
Justine called out towards Mathilda, who's still tearing up and sniffling like a little child
"Do you have anything to say?"
Justine tried to talk to Mathilda and make her realize her wrongdoing, even though her past trauma has been taken into account
Mathilda kept sniffling his nose as he wipes her eyes. He inhaled several times to calm herself down. He felt dread after seeing Philip overbearing aura and the fact that he destroyed her left arm
Currently, miniature robotic arms grew from her upper arm and they are in the process of reocnstructing her left upper arm. Sparks and light was generated whenever the tip of the arms touch the stump
"Mathilda..."
"I... I'm s-sorry"
Mathilda said while hiccuping and wiping her eyes
"You shouldn't be saying that to me though?"
"B-but..."
"What is it, Mathilda?"
Justine asked in calm manner
"He seemed to look exactly like them! The people like him must die!"
Mathilda said as he sniffs her nose
"But he's different though? You should have given him a chance, like how you did to Jude and tolerated Alucard"
"I... I just could not... There's something about him that's odd"
At this point, Justine widened her eyes. Was it Mathilda's intuition and her ability? Justine thought that Mathilda was sensing other abilities from Philip. Nevertheless, Justine won't take advantage of this especially Mathilda is suffering and she already knew two special abilities of his
"Is that so? But you trust me, right?"
Mathilda nodded
"I'll tell you this, Mathilda"
Justine went closer to Mathilda and placed her right arm around Mathilda's back
"You can definitely trust Philip! You can take my word for it! I have learned of his personality and past"
Mathilda calmed down from her dread as she breathed easily
"He also has the same past as you, although it's different"
Mathilda furrowed her eyebrows. Trembling by the thought that Philip was the same as her. Was she wrong this entire time? Did she over do it?
"If I try to say sorry to him, will that help me?"
"I think so... You should try anyways"
"What if he'll get angry at me again?"
"Trust me, he won't. He also apologized to you earlier, didn't he?
"Really? Now that you mentioned it..."
"Yup! So make sure to apologize also"
Justine gave a bright smile at the sad Mathilda. It was then that Merry, the puppy that Justine gifted, walked inside the room and sat in front of Mathilda
Merry did not pant and let out her tongue, she just stared at Mathilda like an alpha wolf. Mathilda smiled upon seeing the little puppy. She bent down and caressed Merry's head
Little did everyone know, Merry was observing everyone and gauging their power. So far, she has been trembling inside the mansion ever since
"I can't hold any promises, but I'll do my best"
"Your best is good enough"
Justine assured Mathilda
"By the way, how are we going to arrange this apology?"
Mathilda asked
"Hmmm... I have an idea"
Justine then talked to Mathilda about her idea and the idea will happen likely tomorrow
~~~
After a few hours of talking to Mathilda and consoling her, Justine left her in her room with Merrt to play with her and then she went towards Vanessa's room to check on her
She wanted to have a talk with her and catch up. She is also looking forward to the test results of the mysterious vials that she found in the man-made island
Justine arrived in front of Vanessa's room and gently knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Vanessa opened the door
"What's up?"
Vanessa asked. She was wearing a pair of glasses and her brunette hair is tied up into a half ponytail with her cross bangs hanging in front of her forehead and the side hair hanging in front of her ears. She also wears casual clothing under the thick and long white lab coat
"Nothing much... I just wanted to catch up with you"
"Save it for next time. You're only interested about the progress of my research, right?"
"That too"
"Hm, alright. You can come in"
Vanessa opened the door and let Justine in. As Justine entered the room, her nose was met by a whiff of scented gas. The smell was great, it was not overwhelming nor unnoticeable
They walked through a small hallway before they would arrive at Vanessa's room
Currently, there are three divisions in Vanessa's room, there is a living room, a bedroom, and a large space to conduct her experiments and alchemy
Justine and Vanessa first arrived at the living room and Vanessa immediately got orange juice
"Sorry, I don't have any tea"
"That's fine, is this orange juice your own concoction?"
"Yes, it should have more citrus, sweetness, and the pulps. The vitamins C is also enhanced so it's very good for the body"
"Oh, I see! Nice! It tastes good!"
Justine took a sip, as well as Vanessa, while looking at her
"So, what did you want to talk about to catch up in the mansion?"
"Nothing much... What's the most changed aspect around?"
Vanessa fixed her posture and started to speak
"Well, as you know, Philip became the Homeowner... Alucard seemed to have been close to him and Natsume seemed to like him"
"I wonder why..."
Justine clutched her chin with her hand and thought
"What about you? You seem awfully close to Philip also"
"A lot happened, actually..."
"Really? You don't mean..."
Justine panicked and she seemed to be a little hostile to Vanessa at what she has done
"Don't worry, no one got hurt. I actually forgot everything that happened. All I know is that Philip must be a person to follow and help"
"Really?! You're saying that?"
"I know! I think I've changed"
"Huh..."
Justine was completely lost and became speechless. Everyone was changing in the mansjon after Philip came here. Even herself was changing because of him
"What are your first impressions of him?"
Justine asked. Vanessa raised her right eyebrow at Justine but she answered her question anyways
"I don't have first impressions initially, but he took my interest after the Old Man made him the Homeowner. I want to get to know him more after that"
"What did you do?"
Justine tried to pry for more information
"I tried to use my potions on him while he was sleeping to get more information out of him"
"You did what?!!"
Justine was surprised. She was surprised by the fact that she was afraid for Vanessa because she knows Philip has extraordinary abilities
"How did it turn out?"
"Not good... Next thing I knew, I was lying down on the floor"
"You don't know what happened during that night?"
Vanessa hid her smirk and tried to tease Justine
"Hmmm... I think I vaguely remember kissing him passionately while our bodies touched each other?"
"You did what?!!!"
Justine subconsciously stood up with shock and bewilderment. Philip and Vanessa has kissed already and Justine couldn't believe it
"Oh? Are you jealous?"
Vanessa struck a nerve on Justine and Justine was stunned
"H-how did you know? Is it that obvious?"
Vanessa's eyes widened because Justine didn't deny that she was jealous even though it was obvious for her
"Well, nothing escapes my eyes when it comes to substances and molecules. The change of hormones in your bloodstream is clear in my eyes"
Vanessa explained to the flustered Justine at how she noticed her feelings
"So, you like him, huh?"
"I don't know! I think I do, but I don't know why or how"
"Ah, I think you're just confused. You need to think about it for a while"
"No, isn't it weird for me to like him the first day that we met?!"
Justine was confused and suspicious if Philip did something
"Isn't that just love at first sight? Didn't you two also dated for a whole day at the Log Cabin?"
Justine blushed from Vanessa's words and she rolled her eyes
"You two are already adults and you act like a child. What is this? A children's love story?"
Vanessa was bitter. She was dedicated to not find any love but it doesn't mean that she feels envious
Justine cleared her throat and fixed herself on the chair
"Ehem, so anyways... What is the progress in the vials?"
"I actually haven't made any progress. It's extremely hard to identify the substances and molecules that the vials contain... I also can't just open the vials in open air. I need a vacuum room or at least a box. No need to worry, I can manage that"
"Really? You, the Master Alchemist, is having a hard time identifying it?"
"Hey, are you insulting me?
"No, not at all! It just shows how very mysterious those vials are"
"I know... I'm also very interested in them"
"Should we show it to Philip just in case?"
"Huh? How can he help with this stuff? Isn't his abilities just Pain Denial and Emotion Manipulation?"
"Hm, just a thought"
Vanessa narrowed her eyes at Justine. She could tell that Justine was hiding something. She couldn't tell what though
"Perhaps... Let me do it first since you gave the work to me first. If I'm having a hard time, I'll call you and maybe we could show it to him"
"Alright then..."
"You're going to leave?"
"I'll go check on the others!"
"Ah, alright... See you later"
"Yep! Good luck on your tests"
Just like that, the conversation with Justine and Vanessa ended. It was a casual conversation with two friends catching up
Justine stood up from the sofa and left the room. Vanessa watched her back and she also returned to her Alchemical Room
~~~
Justine then visited Alucard's room since it's the nearest. Justine knocked at the door and the door opened without someone opening it
As the door opened, a cool breeze swept the through the door way and into Justine
She saw Alucard, sitting next to the window sill and gazing outside the window as the breeze around the mansion is sweeping his silver-white hair, like usual
But this time, it was different. Justine was surprised and interested
Instead of Alucard having melancholic red eyes and curved down mouth, he instead slightly turned his head and looked at Justine with eyes full of hope and his mouth not curved down at all
Justine wanted to know what happened and she wants to catch up with Alucard also
Justine entered the room and walked towards the chair in front of the window. Usually, when Alucard have a visitor, they will sit on this chair to talk to Alucard, even though Alucard wouldn't speak unless he needed to
"How are you, Alucard?"
"I'm fine, thank you"
Alucard replied, even though the 85th Inheritor Pureblood ability amplifies his voice to make anyone's soul who heard it tremble. He was willing to speak in the presence of Justine because the effects of his voice seemed to have no effect on her
This is because Justine has been analyzing the power behind Alucard's voice and it's effect with Energy Contemplation and Energy Insight for a couple of years already
Last year, Justine has successfully analyzed the energy behind his voice which made her able to use Energy Manipulation so she won't experience the effects of his voice
According to Justine's Energy Insight, the energy signature behind Alucard's voice is an energy called Soulblood Energy
Soulblood Energy is actually a very dangerous type of energy and Justine unlocked it's secret with Energy Insight. Even the 85th Inheritor wasn't aware of the full potential of his ability
Soulblood Energy actually has the ability of command over beings that has blood and a soul within them. It converts all life that live with the instrument of blood will follow the wielder of Soulblood Energy without question
It's like brainwashing or an absolute command that decides the fate of the blood living being. Although it has many restrictions and conditions, it's still a dangerous ability or energy if it's used to its full potential
"How have you been these past couple if months?"
"It's fine, as always for the past hundreds of years"
"You seemed to have changed?"
"Really? I think it's because ever since Philip came to the mansion"
"What did he do?"
Alucard turned his head more towards Justine and he gazed at her with his red eyes. His red eyes faintly flashed for a moment
"He said he can grant my wish with his Fate Control"
Justine was surprised from Alucard's words. He knew about Philip's secret ability
"H-how did you know about Philip's Fate Control ability"
"I saw it with my eyes and Philip confirmed it. I also see that Philip has mentioned his Fate Control ability to you?"
"Yes, he did..."
"Justine..."
Alucard called out to Justine as he prepared to tell something to her
"Yes?"
"I need to tell you that you need to keep the Fate Control ability a secret. If possible, you need to forget it"
"Huh? Why?"
Justine was confused
"I shouldn't tell you. Just mark my words"
Justine contemplated the meaning behind Alucard's words. Alucard was wise and he's sometimes mysterious, but he never went out of his way to interfere at something, until now. It must be something very important
"Also, I have to tell you something"
Justine listened to Alucard
"What is that?"
"Since Philip assured me that he can grant my wish, he wanted me to do something"
Alucard pulled himself from the window sill and faced Justine. Justine was confused at what Alucard was about to do
It was then that Alucard kneeled on his right knee. He began to spoke
"I want to bid farewell to you. I have to say my proper goodbyes to everyone before I disappear. It's unfortunate but I enjoyed my time of being in this house. Thank you for being the Landlord that checks up on me. Thank you for everything"
Alucard spoke as his voice trembled and his eyes shaking. He lowered his head slightly so Justine won't be able to see his face
The room slightly trembled from Alucard's voice and Justine was being slightly affected. It was the Soulblood Energy being amplified and strengthened
Justine was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions as she began to tear up at the corner of her eyes
Alucard's body shook, waiting for Justine's reply, he wasn't sure how Justine would take his farewell, he doesn't want to use his eyes to find out
It was then that warm hands wrapped around his cheeks and lifted his head. It showed Justine, who was squatting in front of him, that had a face that seemed like an angel
"That's okay, Alucard. I'm proud that you have decided and had the courage to bid your farewells"
Justine smiled at Alucard with tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Alucard's face trembled and it's nearing break down. Fortunately, Alucard collected himself and smiled back
"I'm glad"
Alucaed said after Justine accepted his farewell. She was open minded and respected his decision
Justine let go of Alucard's face and they both stood back up
"Now, you have bid your farewells to me... You need to do it again for nine more people"
Alucard lifted his head and shock filled him upon realization. Dread filled his face and became blue
Justine placed his right hand on Alucard's shoulder then gave him a thumbs up and a friendly wink
"Good luck!"
Suddenly, Alucard became exhausted as his shoulders droop down