After dinner, Ryan takes Lily to her playroom instead of to her bedroom like he normally does. Curious to know what's going on, Lily keeps quiet and hastens her steps in order to rush to the playroom. Ryan takes heed of Lily's curiosity and quickens his pace as well.
"Miss Lily, can you guess why I brought you here?" Ryan asks as he places a hand on the doorknob.
"Because there's a surprise for me inside!" Lily eagerly answers, hopping up and down.
Ryan chuckles and turns the doorknob revealing the five men who were chosen to be Lily's security detail. Not really familiar with their faces, Lily steps into the room with a bit of hesitation.
"Miss Lily, starting from today, these men will be protecting you from the shadows," Ryan explains as he pushes Lily forward a bit. "Even though they may look a bit scary, they will do everything they can to make sure that you don't get hurt."
Lily looks up at the towering men before her. The group finally realize that they are very imposing, so they kneel down to Lily's level to appear less frightening which ends up working a little.
"Good evening, Miss Lily," Henry Dingles greets with a warm smile. "My name is Henry. I will become your shadow from now on. You may not see me much but know that I am always nearby. If you need me, just call for me, and I will appear in an instant."
Nodding her head, Lily gives a small smile as she sets a hand on Henry's head. "It's nice to meet you, Henry. I hope to see you more often than you claim since we will be together for a long time."
Henry's eyes widen while Lily pets the top of his head. He is a very sensitive person who doesn't like it when people touch him, so showing a bit of vulnerability to Lily is a new feeling for him.
Clearly leaking in jealousy, Angelo Tan holds out a hand to Lily. "Miss Lily, my name is Angelo, but you can call me Angie. I'll be the one who will be next to you the majority of the time, so we can get to know each other slowly."
Lily takes the offered hand, thinking that it is a hand shake, but Angelo brings Lily's hand to his lips and kisses the top of it. Surprised by the sudden gesture, Lily simply stands speechless until Ryan smacks the back of Angelo's head which moves them to the next person.
"Good evening, Miss Lily," Bryle Kingsly welcomes with his best voice. Since he doesn't talk much with people, he has a naturally quiet voice, but he tries to speak up so that Lily can hear him. "I'm Bryle, and I will be spending my days in your playroom as your personal intelligence guard, so we might not get to see each other a lot. However, I do look forward to working for you."
Lily glances over to where Bryle is pointing and notices a small area in the corner that has been slightly moved around to accommodate Bryle's computer and other devices. "I play in here a lot, so I will be able to see you every day," Lily assures with a warm smile. "Maybe we can play together when you're not busy."
Enchanted by the fairies only he can see, Bryle wipes his eyes to make sure that what he is seeing is true. An angel-like figure that stands in front of him showing no sign of fear or disgust but only kindness.
"My name is Clyde Lee, Miss Lily," Clyde intervenes, not wasting any time. "Along with Angelo, I will also be by your side during the day when you aren't in school. As you can see, I have a lot of muscles, so you don't have to worry about anything."
"I hope you can keep up with me," Lily giggles, poking at Clyde's biceps. "I'm small but very fast. You're big and heavy, so you might not be able to keep up."
Clyde laughs to himself before grinning at Lily. "You don't have to worry about me, Miss Lily. I will be able to keep up just fine."
"Hello there, Miss Lily," Dennis Yap finishes, lifting his head up a bit to see Lily. "My name is Dennis. I will be acting as your tutor and helping you with your studies. However, I am also part of your security detail, so I look forward to seeing you grow and progress in life."
"These five men might also be working at the school as faculty if they pass the school board's assessment," Ryan further explains. "Mr. Lucario wishes to have extra protection put in place because your existence is extremely valuable to other organizations."
Unsure of what Ryan means by that, Lily understands that if this is something that her father has decided to do, then it's for her own good. "I understand," Lily answers with a firm nod.
The men notice this sudden change in her eyes as it becomes serious compared to its brightness from earlier. Exchanging glances at each other, the five men stand up then lower their heads to Lily. "Please take good care of us!" the men shout.
Taken back from their sudden shouting, Lily clutches onto Ryan's pants. However, when she calms down and realizes what they said, a smile etches itself onto her face. "Likewise!"
Eager to serve their angel immediately, Angelo and Clyde slide over to Lily's side.
"Now, let's get you ready for bed!" Clyde suggests, opening the door for Lily.
"We have to get you washed up first," Angelo counters, picking up Lily.
As they are about to step foot out of the door, the pair feel an icy wind blowing onto their back.
"Put Miss Lily down, Ryan commands with an eerie calmness. "Your roles start tomorrow as you two will be Miss Lily's drivers. Be mindful that Ethan will be under your care as well during the car rides to and from school now that he is under the protection of the organization as a trainee."
"Y-yes sir," Angelo and Clyde shakily respond. Angelo slowly lowers Lily back onto the ground, and the pair disappear from the doorway.
"Henry," Ryan calls out as he picks Lily up. "You are to be stationed outside Miss Lily's room. Sleep when you can, but the moment you hear anything, wake up and check it out."
"Yes sir!" Henry promptly answers before quickly leaving the room.
"Bryle. Dennis. Follow me," Ryan commands as he walks out of the room. "I will teach you how to tend to Lily in the event that I'm not able to."
Excited that they aren't being shooed away, the pair immediately catch up to Ryan with stupid smiles on their faces.
—
At the same time in a different area of the estate…
"Is this too much for you?"
Spitting out blood, Ethan wipes the sweat off of his face. "I'll be fine," he answers through his heaving.
"Oi... Luca… He's just a child," Billy reminds as he clenches onto the clipboard he's holding. "This type of obstacle course is made for grown adults."
"His body is of a child's, but his mind is that of a grown man," Lucario refutes, crossing his arms. "He'll let us know when he can't take it anymore."
Billy furrows his brows as he painstakingly watches a seven year old boy fighting against a group of men around every corner and dodging rubber bullets. Lucario sees his assistant's reaction and understands. Lucario understands the pain that Ethan might be enduring right now. Growing up, Lucario was put in this exact same obstacle course at around the same age, so he knows how difficult it is for a child to go through this.
However, Ethan is different. Ethan has tried to go through this obstacle course five times in the past hour after dinner. There's a fire in Ethan's eyes that resonates with Lucario because he knows that Ethan is doing this to protect Lily, and that is something that the both of them can agree on.