Chapter 2
Fear enveloped Hamilton's entire being, his struggle casting a crimson hue upon his eyes as he desperately sought freedom from his immobilized state.
"Did you notice? Your young master is such a fool. Drowning in opulence, yet oblivious to the lack of surveillance and guards," Ark's words resonated, dripping with disdain and derision. Each instance Hamilton was subjected to that voice, an overpowering urge surged within him to unleash his fury upon that smug countenance and prove his strength.
And, in a sense, Ark wasn't entirely wrong. It wasn't that the young master was a simpleton; it was more that he chose to retain only a pair of guards. Even more remarkably, he adamantly opposed the notion of installing security cameras throughout the mansion. Lord and Lady Tiyan had, at times, endeavored to surreptitiously embed some cameras, only to be thwarted by the young master's astute vigilance. Even the young miss had employed individuals for espionage, an endeavor that met only with failure.
To the outside world, the Tiyan family maintained the façade of caution, yet paradoxically, Ark possessed this intimate knowledge. How? Hamilton's mind raced. Could there be a betrayer nestled within their inner circle? Impossible—each member bore unswerving loyalty to the young master. That left one possibility: Ark had dispatched his own covert agents. But if that were the case, why hadn't the young master exposed them? After all, he had promptly detected the spies his sister had enlisted. Then, how?
Hamilton's mind buzzed with questions, but they remained frustratingly unanswered.
His attention flicked to Sia, who sat there with an icy demeanor, calmly watching the unfolding drama. Hamilton had her figured out though.
Ark caught Hamilton's gaze on Sia and chimed in, "Yep, you got it. She's the one set to do you all in." His voice confirmed Hamilton's thoughts. "Unlike me, I'm no fan of violence. Peace is more my jam," he chuckled.
Yet, there was something off about Sia that Hamilton could sense, though he couldn't put his finger on it. What was it? That was a mystery yet to be cracked.
"Enough words. Let's settle this," Ark declared, his attention turning to Sia, only to find her inexplicably absent. Panic gripped Ark, fear stark on his face as the icy touch of a blade grazed his throat.
"Were you ordered to kill me too?" His voice trembled. "So, this is how it ends?" Yet, silence was Sia's sole response, her silence a shroud of mystery. Hamilton's expression mirrored both understanding and bewilderment. A knowing lingered, shadowed by uncertainty. Perhaps, as Ark had suggested, Sia's role was to ensure no impediments remained for the one seeking the young master's demise.
However, within the keen depths of Hamilton's experienced gaze, a subtle disquiet stirred, an elusive thread he couldn't quite grasp. What truth did his discerning eyes catch? The answer evaded him, a puzzle piece lost in the tapestry of unfolding events.
The room fell into an icy hush, a silence that seemed to cling to the air. Ark's forehead glistened with a thin sheen of cold sweat, his trepidation palpable. Sia remained immobile, the blade gripped tightly in her hand, its frigid caress still pressed against Ark's throat.
"Why haven't you done it?" Ark's voice trembled, a quiver of fear weaving through his words. He understood the futility of resistance; Sia's strength outmatched his own.
Regret coiled around him like a vice, constricting his thoughts. How foolish he had been to accept their offer! Trusting them had been his downfall. The allure of their proposal had ensnared him, blinding him to the impending peril. The realization dawned that he had been naively ensnared in their web, a pawn used and discarded once his purpose was fulfilled.
With a heart laden with remorse, Ark recalled the reluctant deal he had struck with the nefarious organization. It had been his only way out, a path twisted by his desires. The task of assassinating the young master of the Tiyan family had seemed justified, a means to an end in his eyes.
And now, he stood on the precipice of his own demise, ensnared by the choices he had made.
Amidst the unfolding tableau, Hamilton's keen eyes were unyielding, each detail etching itself into his consciousness. An uncanny intuition coursed through his veins, a whisper of destiny written in blood. Sia's essence was anything but ordinary; her aura bespoke an awakened power reaching the esteemed echelons of A rank. Even at the peak of his prowess, Hamilton could only lay claim to a B rank status.
Five minutes ebbed away, a breath suspended in time, neither Sia nor Ark granting a fraction of movement. Hamilton remained a silent sentinel, perched upon the couch, a witness to a scene untouched by surveillance cameras and ignored by the household staff, as Hamilton's explicit orders had ensured.
A prescient inkling unfurled within Hamilton—an awareness that Sia awaited another's arrival. As the seconds waned, the threshold of anticipation drew nigh, a prelude to an inevitable knock.
*Knock.*
Three minds resonated with thoughts as distinct as divergent paths.
Ark's sweat flowed as though trying to escape his pores, his thoughts grappling with the specter of their guest's identity, his heart harboring an unvoiced dread.
A surge of panic welled within Hamilton, like a tempest seeking release. His limbs tensed, rebellion against the paralysis that gripped them. Amidst this internal turmoil, his gaze snagged on a vision—a smile, Sia's smile. A flower of beauty and menace that seized his attention, setting his heart racing not with enchantment, but with an ominous cadence.
Within Ark's periphery, the smile bloomed, a harbinger of terror. Fear clutched at him, propelling him towards an ill-fated choice. He lunged at Sia, but her mastery eclipsed his desperate endeavor. Swiftly, decisively, she quashed his rebellion, his body pinned beneath her command. Her knee pressed upon him, his head forced to confront the door, an unwavering gaze into the abyss.
The door groaned open, Sia's smile unfurling in sinister elegance. A symphony of motion followed, blade meeting flesh, the note of death struck with precision. The room resonated with the final refrain of Ark's existence.