Curse The Mainframe!
/ Curse the Mainframe! 80 Spilled Moonligh
Alec was practically devouring the knowledge that had been stored within. It was such a crime that this book would never see the light of day, but it was enough for him that he was able to read it.
The System did his best to remember each written word, studying with an intense focus, such that Dietrich, who had also been reading, felt startled looking at him.
Dietrich, who always thought that he had a laser focus, felt like he was actually losing against a small child, no matter that he was supposed to be his uncle, in an aspect that he prided himself in. As such, the man also threw himself into his reading with abandon, subconsciously trying to outdo the boy.
Alec's finger twitched.
His eyes sharpened as he broke out of the engrossed state that he'd been in, frowning. Fuck! These bastards… were interrupting his reading time. He was pissed. It was rare that he ever found the time to completely engross himself, but now someone – or rather – some people were interrupting his happy time!
Alec's lips pulled into a snarl, baring his teeth. He was in such a good mood too. Was this why the Ash Phoenix had been sticking to him so closely? It had to be. There was no other explanation.
He was lucky that Dietrich was so engrossed in his book, allowing him to get away with the slip showing his true nature. He was sure that had Dietrich seen him with that expression, the damn Mainframe would have immediately interjected and deduced his points.
Dietrich shivered as the temperature of the room dropped a little, looking around. What just happened? Wasn't the room's temperature regulated because of all the books that were being painstakingly preserved?
He looked at Alec but didn't sense anything amiss. The boy was still using a light smile like usual.
Dietrich, "???" Dietrich just felt more confused seeing as nothing was wrong.
Alec closed the book and put it back in its place, surprising Dietrich. He thought that the kid would try and smuggle the book out of the library like he did when he was a child. Or was it just that he was that childish when he was younger…
"Dietrich," Alec said, catching his attention. "There are rats in the house."
Dietrich's eyes sharpened. "And just how do you know this?" Was he wrong about his judgement in his 'uncle'? He hated to think that he'd let a snake into their house, but for his family, he always had to look at the bigger picture.
Of course, he only had that thought for a split second before he put it away. He trusted his mother's judgement. More than that, he trusted his mother when she said that he had good instincts.
His gut had saved him a couple of times on a few dangerous missions, so he preferred to defer to his judgement.
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Dietrich liked to think that he was able to read people properly, something that was needed as a member of the Rothschild family, who always had people with ulterior motives sidle up to him and their family.
Alec didn't say anything, but his smile remained, unwilling to explain. It had taken him so long just to open up to Elias, which was already a rather major concession on his part. He wasn't about to go around throwing his secrets out left and right.
"Alright. Let's go," Dietrich said, trusting the boy.
Though, he might not have agreed to it so easily if he knew what awaited them at the end of the hallway.
Even if there were no such alerts in their mansion's barrier nor wards, that didn't mean that they were infallible, no matter how much they pretended that they were.
Alec nodded.
The two set off rather quickly, heading down the hallway. Alec headed up the stairs, going to the third floor.
Faced with an option of left or right, Alec didn't hesitate and immediately went left, following the feeling that he received from the bunch of doors that he'd Awakened previously when Dietrich had been showing him around.
He wasn't following Dietrich so closely because he was sticking to him, like the other thought, but getting an excuse to touch the various doors that were along the hallway.
Of course, at that time he'd been silently cursing just because there were so damn many doors in the whole mansion, but it looked like his hard work paid off faster than he thought it would.
As a consequence, his magic capacity had dropped sharply, but he had been able to recover some of it during their read in the library earlier.
There were more than ten of them infiltrating the house. If Alec wasn't wrong, they were the ones that Dietrich mentioned earlier.
The branch family of the Rothschild family!
Alec clicked his tongue. He just knew that having the branch family leaving their things here wouldn't be a good idea.
Alec could imagine that the branch family probably wasn't doing well as compared to the main family, so he could see how that would incite jealousy and hatred.
Comparison is the death of joy.
Dietrich frowned as he took this more seriously than ever. While he might have been a bit doubtful at first due to Alec being so young, he could not help but feel that there was truly something amiss.
The atmosphere in the house did not seem right.
The mansion was eerily quiet, as if no sound penetrated the night air. Something was indeed wrong!
The two were rapidly approaching the east wing of the mansion, where Dietrich and Kieran both stayed.
Alec held a hand out, stopping Dietrich in his tracks. With a single look, Dietrich understood.
They would have to be silent and stealthy as to avoid the infiltrators realizing that they'd already been discovered.
Dietrich's heart was burning with anger when he saw that the room on the far end of the hallway had a door that was slightly opened, as if waiting for someone to make a quick escape.
There was the shadowy form of an avian creature perched on the windowsill. Cold, impartial moonlight spilled in from outside casting it in darkness and light, giving the avian creature its namesake.
It was the Ash Phoenix.
The creature both hated and feared, was present. Its dark, beady eyes held no emotions within it, and Dietrich could understand what the books all said when they raved about the death reaper looking at them through eyes of those trapped between the living and dead.
Something was happening. Something terrible. Something that they wanted to prevent at all costs.
These few in Kieran's room were not all of them. The other group was still hiding, lurking. They were waiting for a sign. Waiting to ambush.
Both Dietrich and Alec's hearts pounded.
Dietrich recognized that bird. It was the Ash Phoenix. The harbinger of death, chaos and sorrow.
Kieran!
The two could hear faint coos and chirps from the Ash Phoenix that was seated, unmoving. The sound produced a series of goosebumps that formed on their arms. There was an innate feeling that there was something wrong as the song of death was crooned so softly from the avian creature's throat.
Dietrich restrained himself, clenching his fists. His nails bit crescent moons into his palms, the pain helping him regain a bit of his senses.
There was no telling how they would react if Dietrich just burst into there without a plan. Dietrich bared his teeth in a snarl, his usually friendly features replaced by burning hot rage.
In comparison, Alec looked cool and detached, studying the situation.
No doubt that the intruders of the Rothschild Family Mansion came here for a banquet of death and blood, and this was only their first stop.
Kieran was not dead. Not yet.
Otherwise, the Ash Phoenix would have already flitted off, in search of its next destination.
Chapter end
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