"Regrettably, my lady, we were unable to apprehend them."
The head butler of the mansion spoke, his head bowed and his fists clenched; it was clear that he wasn't satisfied with his performance as well, but what could he do? Neither he nor the head maid knew which direction Lucious, the archbishop, had run off to.
"Very well, you are dismissed." As both of them—the head butler and maid—waited for their owner, their lord, to reply, they heard those cold words, as if unbothered by anything happening.
They, however, knew better than to believe things as they seemed to be.
Both of them knew that it was just the way Vannesa, the grand duchess of the Drakathor empire, was.
Even if she didn't show it, she did care for her people.
It was clear from how she had saved their children, instead of chasing after Lucious, who could later become a greater threat.
Yes, it was true that they weren't conscious and there was no surety if they would ever wake up—something they were lamenting about. But they were sure that Vanessa did her best.
So with a nod, they left the room, leaving their master with her son and student, who were traumatized by the incident.
They had seen Alex Drakathor, their one and only young master, trembling in fright, unable to recover from the shock, even after he was saved by his mother.
They couldn't blame him though; they knew that it was a bit too much for a child like him.
*Creak**Thud*
The butler closed the door, his eyes catching the sight of Alex, who, unlike a second ago, didn't seem to be trembling; he appeared normal instead.
He frowned his brow in confusion.
"What's wrong?" The head maid, who saw his expression morphing into confusion, questioned him from the side, causing the guy to shake his head.
"Nothing," he muttered, not sure if he saw it correctly.
'I must be imagining things.'
With that thought, he left the place, moving toward the room where all the saved children, including his son, were kept.
The head maid, who saw this, followed behind him as well, still regretting not being able to catch Lucious who was responsible for everything.
............................
'Are you sure they won't be able to recall anything?' Alex, on the other hand, still sitting in the room, asked Sophie inwardly, his worry related to the same children the maids and butlers were worried about.
To prevent the information about what had happened to leak, Alex had done something.
He had used an ability he had brought from the system on them. An ability that cost him a lot. So much that he had to lock one of his abilities to get it.
It was a slave seal. And with that ability, he could make anyone his slave. All that person had to do was agree to be his slave.
When Vanessa had sent the maids and butlers off to chase after Lucious, there was no one other than the children, who looked dead to others, Vanessa, Alex, and Mira in the mansion.
So, at that time, he had woken the children up, and told them about the situation, explaining how they were alive because of him and Vanessa before he had asked them a question.
"Your lives are now mine, so you all are my slaves. Do you agree?"
The children, swept by emotions, didn't even know what was happening, and replied with a yes, and the moment they did, they had turned into Alex's slave.
They were turned into beings who would die if Alex asked them to, but his order wasn't that extreme.
He had asked them to do a simple thing.
"Forget about anything and everything that had happened during the the awakening ceremony, and that you are my slaves. When that's done, fall unconscious for few days."
Until now, they were still unconscious, so Alex was a bit worried if the slave seal had really worked or not.
[The slave seal is absolute. Unless someone tried to read the past, they won't be able t find the memories erased by the slave seal.] Sophie reassure him as she heard his worry, making him sigh in relief, unaware of the fact that he was almost caught by the butler when his expression had relaxed.
He had been trying to act terrified, as he didn't want to be seen as a guy with very strong willpower for now.
Right now, he wanted to appear as weak as he could, only to reveal his power when everything was settled and things had calmed down.
The awakening artifact was broken by one of Lucious's first attacks, so it was impossible for anyone to know what had happened and what kind of talent he had—exactly what Alex wanted.
If he were to play strong and not appear weak, then people would grow curious about his abilities. So, although for just a while, but he had to act like this.
After all, how did a child of 16 years not get horrified by that incident? Anyone would think that a child who can laugh and smile after what had happened was not normal.
Which would lead to them further investigating this case, and although they won't be able to get anything, one could never be sure.
"Are you sure that whatever ability you had used on them would work perfectly?"
It was then that Vanessa's voice was heard. She was still concerned about Alex's actions.
In her opinion, it would've been better to just kill everyone who was present there as that would leave no witness.
Alex, however, just smiled at her question. "Believe me. It will work."
He knew that she was worried about him, but she wanted her to believe in him.
Vanessa stared into his eyes for a while, not saying anything until she nodded with a hum. "Hm."
Just like he asked her to, she decided to believe in him.
"...why?"
Just then, a voice as low as a whisper was heard, causing both Alex and Vannesa to turn to look at Mira, who had been silent since the moment she was picked up by Vannesa, or more like she never spoke anything.
Her facial expression didn't change—they were still lifeless as if she were a robot that was unable to feel any emotion, but her lips were parted, quivering a bit as they were used for the first time ever.
Alex and Vannesa, on the other hand, had frowns on their heads, both for different reasons.
But soon they shook their heads, and Alex raised a brow at Mira.
"Could I have more context, please?" Alex asked Mira and Vannesa, although not saying anything, had her frown loosened.
Her eyes kept scrutinizing Mira, observing her body closely, looking at things way differently than Alex or Mira could see.
"W-Why did you keep them alive?"
Her voice was cracked as if she were having a really hard time speaking, but she didn't stop as she was doing it for the first time, and she wanted to keep going.
Talking somehow felt good to her.
Mira's large blue eyes locked on Alex as a single thought flashed through her mind. 'I like him.'
She didn't know what those words meant, nor did she know how one felt when one liked someone, but those words would flash past her mind the moment she looked at him.
All she could tell was that it was because of her desire to speak with Alex that she even let out those words.
What was happening? And what would this development lead to? Only time will tell.