Chapter 97: To See the Stars

The next morning when I returned to my room, Reiner was there leaning on my door. The last thing that I need right now is to explain why I wasn’t in my room and where I went.

“Where have you been?” Reiner asked without looking at me.

“I went to find something to snack on in the kitchen,” I replied. Yes, I lied. I hate it, I’ve been lying so much lately.

“Since 2AM? Did you fall asleep in the kitchen as well?” Reiner shot back with narrowed eyes.

“Have you been standing there since 2AM?” I asked in shock.

“Long enough to figure out that you were gone practically all night,” Reiner replied as he faced me.

“I don’t think I have to explain myself to you. Step aside, please. I want to be alone,” I said softly as I tried to walk past him into my bedroom.

To my surprise, Reiner did not try to stop me, and he didn’t ask anymore questions. Once inside of my room, I closed and lock the door behind me.

Edward…I need to see Edward.

…

Reiner sighed loudly after Natalia entered her bedroom. Since he couldn’t go to sleep last night, he had a sense of foreboding which was confirmed the moment he came to Natalia’s room and found it empty.

He spent the next hour looking all over the mansion for her but to no avail. He looked everywhere except for Lucien’s wing. That wing was off limits to all other staffs except those exclusively granted to enter to serve Lucien. Things are getting messier than I thought possible.

I guess leaving the tracking device intact in the pendant was the right move after all. After checking the pendant, it was evident that there was indeed a tracking device inside. At first thought, I was going to remove it right away but on second thought…no one should underestimate Edward’s foresight. If he put it there, then perhaps it served another purpose than just to find Natalia on that rainy day.

Guess I’ll give it back to her as is. Natalia’s been pestering me to find it ever since that day…

…

“Princess! I thought you’d never call,” Edward’s cheerful voice greeted me over the phone. I haven’t spoken or seen him for weeks.

“Hi. I need to see you,” I said briefly as I got straight to my point.

“I’ll pick you up. 5pm? Use my exit,” Edward replied in a serious tone.

“Ok. See you then…Thank you,” I replied back softly before I hung up.

I’ll talk it over with him when I meet him.

…

This red dot on the screen here is Natalia. However, the red dot is now located at the building of my office. It’s been less than five minutes since I got off the phone with Natalia, which means that there’s no way that she is here. There’s also no reason for her to show up here to meet me since I’ll be picking her up later today. The most reasonable conclusion is that the red dot on the screen now is no longer Natalia.

“Let’s see which devil is here to see me today,” Edward mumbled to himself with a knowing smile on his lips.

…

Pushing open the secret trap door at the end of the dark and cold underground tunnel and I was now in the middle of the woods in the garden. I’m a little earlier than my appointment time with Edward. I guess, I’ll wait for him if he’s not here yet, I thought to myself as I closed the trap door behind me and disguised it with dried leaves.

Phew! I made it.

This is the first time that I’ve used that passage again since going through it with Edward. It was so dark and damp down there. I will forever be grateful that I did not run into any spiders or other similar creatures. Looking up, I spotted a dark blue Porsche 911 parked where I was supposed to meet Edward. Why did I go and expect a red Bentley, I should have known that Edward must have other cars as well. Lucien for sure had a bunch…these brothers.

“You’re here,” Edward greeted me a little tensely when I got in the passenger seat of his car.

“Yea…” I replied dryly. What now?

Edward started driving away from the mansion without another word. This reminded me a little of our escape from the mansion a while earlier. Once again, I didn’t know where he was going to take me but strangely, I felt that I was in safe hands. Last time I could guess where he would be taking me;

however, this time, I had no clue at all.

“Where do you want me to take you?” Edward asked. I see, so he wasn’t sure where we should go either. I’m glad he’s at least asking for my preference this time though.

“Are there options that I can choose from?” I asked casually. I didn’t exactly have a place in mind.

“Umm…Somewhere you can see the stars, a private cinema…or my place?” Edward voiced his options before flashing a smile my way.

All those options seemed nice except his place, although I didn’t even know where his place was.

“Let’s go with somewhere that we can see the stars. You good?” I replied with a small smile.

“Sure. Let’s go, Princess” Edward said lightly as he drove even faster.

Along the ride out of town, I wondered if Edward realized that I wasn’t wearing the necklace he gave me. Then I stopped wondering, I’m sure he’d realized since the first moment that I stepped into the car.

Edward never misses anything.

The ride was silent, but it was more peaceful than awkward. I could sense that what we needed to say to each other was best saved for when we arrived at our destination. Stealing glances at Edward’s handsome face, I could tell that he was very tired. He may have acted cheeful and full of energy when he was with me but there are rare glimpses like now, when I can tell that he must be exhausted, and sleep deprived. I should tell him not to work too hard but perhaps he would just laugh at me.

“I’ve seen you on the news a lot lately. Have you been busy?” I asked lightly. I guess I couldn’t tell him outright that I was a little worried for his health.

“A little…I only go on TV to attract attention and donations. Otherwise, I would prefer not to appear in public at all. No choice there though, research requires funding. Non-profit philanthropic projects require massive amount of monetary backup…” Edward explained a little as he continued driving.

“Umm…perhaps you should take some breaks here and there…you know...you look a little tired,” I said hesitantly.

“I’m fine. Thanks for worrying, though,” Edward replied without any change in his tone. I’m sure he’s anything but fine.

Edward smiled a little, but our brief conversation ended there.

…

“Master Edward! It’s a pleasant surprise for you to be here. Welcome home. I will have the chefs prepare dinner immediately,” A man who must be in his fifties greeted Edward with a deep bow. He must be a butler judging from his uniform.

“Call me Edward like always, please,” Edward replied with a small smile of his own.

“I can’t do that. There’s a guest here with you. Welcome Miss. It is an honor to serve you,” the old man said professionally as he bowed.

I waited for the old man to lead us into the mansion before I turned to address Edward.

“I thought…we weren’t coming to your place. I didn’t choose to come to your place, right? I chose the option where we could see the stars, remember?” I asked in confusion. Why am I at his place? The butler greeted him as the master of the house so obviously this is his place, right?

“I never said that we weren’t coming to my place. All three choices were all references to my place.

Your choice determines which one, out of the mansions that I own, I would bring you to,” Edward explained with a small laugh. He must be enjoying toying with me so much.

“What about the third choice? The third choice was your place!” I asked, a little pissed that he was playing me again.

“If you’ve chosen that I would have randomly chosen one of my places for you. Oh…and the third choice was there so you would think that the first two choices were not my place. It worked out well, didn’t it?” Edward unraveled the puzzle for me with a child-like smile.

Technically, what he did didn’t go against his word and I had nothing much to say in return.

--To be continued...