*Hah* *Hah* Hah* "Sto-Stop for me, vi-villain!" *Hah* *Hah* Clara was panting heavily while soaked in sweat, her legs trembling on the thick branch of a tree, shouting nonsense to Parcell, who was just about to leap forward
"Hmm, please" -Parcell
"H-Huh?" *pant* *pant* Clara face turned into a "?"
"Say please" -Parcell
Shocked Pika-*cough* Clara face
"You!! You big Villain! like you would stop from a simple please!" Clara said fuming
"I will"
"Huh?" Even though Clara knew he was probably lying but seeing the Miss still in the hands of this 'Big Villain' she gritted her teeth and with a hateful tone spoke:
"P-Please stop"
Even though she spoke hatefully her clear soft voice just made it sound cute
"Okay" -Parcell
"Eh? Really?" -Clara
"What, should I keep going?" -Parcell
"Ah, no... please don't" this time Clara spoke in a softer tone, actually throughout this chase she has figured some things out, first of all the 'Big Villain' could actually escape from her sight with his speed but he purposefully waited from time to time for her to catch up, from this she could infer that the 'kidnapping' was actually just a game of chasing each other for him, secondly her Miss Alice was snuggling up quite comfortably in the hands of the 'Big Villain', she even stopped screaming after a few jumps and started laughing instead! as if she enjoyed the ride! Third, at the last jump she almost slipped but that villain actually turned around like he was going to help her! what kind of kidnapper turns around and helps their chaser?! so in short she could tell that the 'Big Villain' didn't actually have any bad intentions, as for why he 'kidnapped' in the first place... 'who knows let's just ask' Clara thought
"Why did you even pretend to kidnap the Miss in the first place?" after stabilizing her breath, Clara asked the question that was itching her
"Hmm, I didn't like the tone you took with me, so... I made you sweat a bit Genius Knight Clara, hahaha" -Parcell
"You! Vil- wait what did you just call me?"
"Genius Knight?"
"No! After that!"
"Clara" This time Parcell said her name gently and she could feel some hidden affection in his tone
*ba-dump* the way Parcell called her actually moved her heartstrings and the lady knight blushed a bit
'No! Wait! How can I be shy in front of this Big Villain! he must have used some kind of poison, yes! that must be it!' as the knight girl was trying to reason out things in her heart and mind the 'Big Villain' spoke again:
"Well, should we move to a more comfortable place? a tree branch isn't exactly ideal"
"I'm comfortable!" Alice said innocently with a smile in the eyes
"..." -Parcell
"..." -Clara
"hahaha, well then you can keep occupying 'your spot' princess, but we'll move to a cafe or something either way" -Parcell
"Okay!" -Alice
"okay..." -Clara
Parcell jumped down first, it was weird, the jump should have shocked the girl in his arms from the velocity but somehow she didn't feel it at all.
'It's not just this, even before, his jumps were either performed such that the momentum would die out by the time he lands somewhere or he would somehow dampen the impact when landing. In fact this ride was more comfortable than laying in my bed!' Alice analyzed
Clara also noticed these and much more, after all she is a professional Bodyguard
---15 minutes later---
In a high-end cafe/restaurant by the side of the Park two youthful girls and a guy sat at a window table on the second floor, they looked around 19-20 years of age, one girl was sitting opposite the other two.
Alice looked quite cheerful as she was chatting while Parcell listened and nodded from time to time.
Clara was quite sulky and just drank her coffee, she already booked the floor and ordered the other female bodyguards to wait outside, she also made a call that went unnoticed to Alice before entering the cafe.
At this time Alice was happily recounting a story from her's and Clara's childhood when all of the sudden the bodyguards outside seemed to be startled and moved about, giving way to someone and calling "Mistress!" loudly.
Seeing this Clara smiled and looked at Parcell only to notice that he was also smiling while looking at her and in his eyes there was a playful look.
"Eh? Mom!" -Alice
"Mistress" -Clara
"Alice, Clara, and... what should this gentleman's name be?" -???
"Hey there, Veronica" Parcell smirked and called out the newcomer's name, meanwhile something flashed in his eyes 'Hmm, right, at this time Alice didn't know yet...'
"I see you already know my name so I will skip my introduction" Veronica smiled calmly and sat down besides Clara, she looked at the two opposite her, after seeing the close distance between them and the unconscious happy smile on Alice's face she narrowed her eyes 'Hmm, this is quite interesting, Alice never took the initiative to befriend the opposite sex, this time it seems I'll have to take a good look at this kid'
"Eh? Parcell how do you know my mother's name?" Alice asked confused, she never told him her mother's name but after all he knew her name as well as Clara's so it seemed normal for him to know her mother's name as well...
"Yeah, also why don't you make it clear how you knew Alice's name as well as my own? Also would you mind explaining your where you learned Martial Arts? I never saw your technique's before anywhere else" -Clara
'Hmm' Veronica's eyes narrowed again, she heard a lot of information in Clara's questioning, she also looked at Parcell with an inquiring look.
Parcell took a calm sip of his coffee and unhurriedly started speaking:
"Veronica, before that I have something that I want to ask you, if you wouldn't mind" -Parcell
"Hoh? are there still things this gentleman doesn't know about us?" -Veronica
"Hahaha, it isn't something I don't know, I just want to hear your answer, that's all" -Parcell
"Then please, by all means, ask" -Veronica
"Hmm, what I would like to ask is..."
At this time Parcell paused and looke Veronica in the eyes, the latter didn't shy away and took the challenge straight on, they continued like this for a few seconds before Parcell continued
"a bit tricky and a bit private, so I would like to ask you while we are alone, do you think that's possible?" -Parcell
Veronica raised her brow 'Hmm, interesting'
"No way, I'm not letting you Big Villain be alone with the Mistress" -Clara
"That's fine" -Veronica
"Eh!? Mistress! that's too dangerous, who knows what this villain plans to do!" -Clara
"Haha, if he wanted to do something, wouldn't he have done it when he had Alice in his hands? besides, even if you are present, if he wants to move, can you stop him?" -Veronica
"That's!" Clara bit her lips and looked at the 'villain' then back at the Mistress then at Alice, in fact, she wasn't sure she could protect either from this fella if he really wanted to move so she decided to threaten him as she couldn't do much else
"If you dare touch even one strand of hair on the Mistress I will screw your head right off! do you hear me!?" -Clara
"Yes yes, Miss Clara is very overprotective, I hear ya" Parcell smirked
"Hmph!" -Clara
"Well then, girls, give us the room, okay?" -Veronica
"Mom, can I stay?" Alice started acting like a child and shook Veronica's arm
"Now now, this was the gentleman's request, be a good girl and wait in the car, mkay?" -Veronica
"Mmh, mkay" Said Alice with a dejected look
"Haha, it's okay, I'm gonna tell you later Alice, it's not really a secret, I just need to talk to Veronica about some stuff first, okay?" -Parcell
"Okay!" Alice bloomed a smile and after laughing happily she hopped downstairs in a good mood
Clara followed
"You only met today and yet you can make that girl listen to you more than she does her Mother, I'm impressed" Veronica said with a somewhat helpless smile
"Well, this might have something to do with her genes" -Parcell
"What could you possibly mean?" Veronica had a somewhat alarmed look but composed herself rather quickly and asked calmly
"I mean Edensburg genes" -Parcell
"..." -Veronica
"How do you know?" At this time Veronica threw away all pretense and asked coldly
"hahaha, there's no need to act so cold Veronica, I'm not your enemy and I don't want to use this knowledge to harm either you, your house or Alice, that's also the reason I asked Alice and Clara to leave before talking"
"...You keep calling me Veronica intimately as if we know each other... why?...and you still haven't told me your name" After a pause Veronica asked, at the end of the sentence she actually started pouting, which was a sharp contrast with the look she showed so far
At this time Parcell's gaze on Veronica softened a lot and looked very gentle 'As expected, Veronica is Veronica after all, she goes straight to the core of the problem'
Veronica saw this look and was surprised, at this point she felt her heart go *ba-dump*, she was very surprised that she could have such a reaction to someone more than 10 years younger than her, not to mention that she never felt like this before!
"First, my name is Parcell, as for why I keep calling you Veronica... well that needs to be discussed later"
*pout* "So you kept dragging and only told me your name after all that?" -Veronica
"Hmm, then I'll tell you something else, something very very important" -Parcell
"And what could that very very important thing be?" Asked Veronica with a fearless smile
"Veronica, I love you" -Parcell
*bump*
"???!?!?!" Veronica was so shocked that she jumped from her seat like a startled kitten, she hit the table with he legs, that's how startled she was.
"W-What are you talking about! I have a child you know?!" -Veronica
Parcell rolled his eyes
"We already went through this, I know Alice is adopted from your knight family" -Parcell
"Th-That's that but I'm more than 10 years older than you, you know?!" -Veronica
"So what?" -Parcell
"?!" -Veronica
"I, do you like an older experienced woman?!" -Veronica
"Bahaha, please Veronica, at this point you have less experience than Alice, you think I don't know?" -Parcell
"..." -Veronica
"How do you know so much about me... about us, the secret of Alice's birth... nobody on this planet knows... except you" -Veronica
"This... is a long story, it's best to start after..." -Parcell
"After what?" -Veronica
*sigh* -Parcell
"Just trust me, okay? Veronica" -Parcell
"..."
Veronica looked into Parcell's eyes, she could see his sincerity, his gentleness towards herself... his love. Prior to today Veronica thought that she would never fall in love, even more, if someone told her that a stranger would confess to her and make her heart move she would probably have laughed it off, but now...
"Alright... I'll trust you" -Veronica
"Eh, really?" -Parcell
"You!" -Veronica
"hehe, just kidding, leave everything to me, I'll keep you and the girls safe" Parcell said and smiled gently at Veronica, he looked at her tenderly and stretched his arm.
"...Why are patting my head?" -Veronica
"Do you like it?" Instead of answering, Parcell asked with a smile
"...Mhm" Veronica nodded her head gently and blushed