Chapter 76: The Girl
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All he cared about this time was making the best use of the new scene to feast his eyes and keep the threatening boredom at bay. Xzavier was under the impression that waiting for a leader was a tasking job that demanded a serious amount of patience. In this case, the leader in particular was a governor of a whole state capital. So, Xzavier reassured himself that he had nothing to worry about in that regard.
Xzavier embarked on his wandering mission, fully prepared for the inactivity and placid atmosphere that was to be expected from a ruler's home. This was the last place he thought he would see trouble. He was right- at least for now.
It turned out that the open courtyard had been situated in the middle of the mansion. This maximized the air flow in the mansion and balanced the concrete to vegetation ratio within the walls of the mansion. A garden bloomed in the open space, bathing the generic white paint of the walls with a splash of colors. Right in the middle of the courtyard, four marble sculptures of angel like creatures camped about a water fountain. With open wings, they surrounded the beautiful water fountain like throne angels.
Obviously, Xzavier had seen a lot more impressive sights in his day. But there was just something intoxicating about this particular sight. It was the serenity that followed. It also could have been the fact that it was all natural, completely devoid of any tech whatsoever.
Xzavier navigated his away around the open courtyard. Not allowing himself to be overrun by the allure of his new environment, Xzavier kept his mind firmly on the notable landmarks he could use to get back to the waiting room. It was a pretty big mansion and he really couldn't afford to get lost.
As Xzavier melted through the corridors like a stealthy visitor creeping around, he finally caught his first glimpse trouble sneaking around the corridors and skulking behind the thick sturdy pillars of the mansion.
Obviously, the girl was very familiar with her environment. She took advantage of the multiple pillars, and skulked behind them, looking like an sketchy individual with questionable intentions. Xzavier watched the amateur curiously as she slithered about, completely unaware of the fact that she was being monitored at the time.
Xzavier wondered.
"What an amateur! She really must be a rookie to leave herself open to be spotted like this."
Xzavier went into stealth mode and hid himself behind one of the pillar. From there, he observed the sneaky girl closely and took in her features.
Facially, the girl was pretty. Not in a flagrant or overbearing way, just a simple face with well defined features. She looked young. Young enough to be considered Xzavier's age mate. As Xzavier watched the cute girl, he tried his best to make out her deal. Was a she a criminal? Was she a petty thief who was simply looking for a good score? Xzavier's pessimistic mind steered him in a completely different direction with a more adventurous thought;
"Maybe she's an assassin? This is a very high profile target, she must be really good if she was contracted to kill the governor…"
Xzavier wanted to grouse. Just when he was settling in to the casual routine of a normal person, here he was, getting sucked into the endless vacuum of another possible trouble. Xzavier began to think very quickly.
If he ended up being spotted with this intruder, it would be the nail in the coffin that Dale had already prepared for him.
It was no longer a secret that the Silver Knight suspected him gravely. Xzavier instantly deduced that if this was to implicate him in any way, he would be no better than a chunk of meat in a bowl of hot spicy pepper soup!
As he was still wrapped up in his own thoughts, he heard the echo of several feet pattering on the soft polished floor of one of the hallways.
"Shit!" Xzavier cursed as he ducked behind one of the pillars.
It was too late now. He had wasted time, and now, several servants were scurrying on their feet, rushing towards that very location. Soon enough, a bunch of household servants emerged out of one of the many hallways leading to that particular corridor.
From where Xzavier stood watching them, he could tell that they were worried. They glanced around frantically, searching for something… or someone! Xzavier soon figured out the fact that the servants were indeed searching for the young girl.
"What the heck? She's been discovered already? What the hell did you do you vermin!"
Xzavier whipped his head away from the servants and fixed his eyes on the hiding girl. Xzavier froze up when his eyes finally landed on her. Within the very short period he had averted his gaze, she had actually managed to fish him out despite the fact that he had hidden himself in one of the darkest spots where even the rays of light emanating from the reflective surface couldn't him.
Xzavier was surprised. Somehow, she had spotted him! Even more surprising was the brazen look on her face. It wasn't the look of one who was going to be caught. She looked at him as though he was the one who had been caught! Xzavier was thrown off guard by the dramatic shift in the dynamic. The impudent look in her eye wasn't consistent with that of a thief who had just been caught. In fact, it was more of a glare.
It was only when she gestured to him to keep silent that Xzavier began to think again. The girl lifted up her fore finger to her lips and made the universal sign to keep quiet. She didn't need to exaggerate her movements for Xzavier to understand her. Her flaming eyes gave up her request.
The air was charged with tension from all parties, including the servants. They breezed around the foremost part of the corridors checking for footprints or skid marks that would lead them to the girl.
Luckily, the servants weren't thorough with their search. Xzavier didn't envy them at all. It wasn't fault. The mansion was large enough to accommodate an entire school. They had a lot of ground to cover, so they obviously couldn't afford to linger in one location for too long. After a few seconds of just breezing around, they turned around frantically and left to begin their search in another location.
A few painful minutes passed in silence as both Xzavier and the cute girl waited for the servants to fully retreat. Xzavier kept his eyes on the entrances, waiting to see if they were truly gone. When his suspicions were finally abated, he stepped out of the shadows with the intention of heading towards the girl who had almost put him in trouble.
Just as he took the first step, mid-stride, he heard someone call his name from behind him. Xzavier's face turned sour. His face had the pale discoloration of one who had seen or in this case, heard a ghost. Xzavier wasn't feeling very motivated to turn back to face his accoster.
"Wait, how did they know my name again?"
His name came again. This time, it sounded less doubtful and more confident. This time, it also sounded familiar.
Xzavier turned round with the quickness of a predator. And with unbelieving eyes, he looked at the person who had just outed him.
"Adalia?"
True enough, it was Adalia standing right before him, gawking at him like he was some creature that had escaped the confinement of its cage at the zoo.
"Xzavier! What are you doing here?"
Xzavier wanted to ask her the same thing. Then he remembered that at their last meeting, she had been summoned by the governor as well. He opened his mouth to answer her, but then again, Adalia being who she was, she interrupted him with another question.
"Hold on a minute. Did you happen to see a girl who was running away?"
Xzavier wasn't usually one to snitch, but at this point, he decided that it was best that he dissociate himself from whatever trouble the girl was in. So, without even the tiniest bit of remorse, Xzavier promptly pointed to the girl crouched, and hiding in the corner.
Adalia's eyes followed his fingers and traced the path to a hiding place not to far away. At the end of it all, the young girl with the pretty face came out. This time, instead of her look of condescension, her face was twisted in a mask of rage.
Yet again, Xzavier found himself on the end of another surprise party. His own over analytic mind had completely misread the situation. Hence, he was about to be schooled in another one of life's endearing lessons- appearances can be grossly misleading. Though he didn't know it yet, he was about to find out just how delightfully irrational his perception of the whole scene had been.
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All he cared about this time was making the best use of the new scene to feast his eyes and keep the threatening boredom at bay. Xzavier was under the impression that waiting for a leader was a tasking job that demanded a serious amount of patience. In this case, the leader in particular was a governor of a whole state capital. So, Xzavier reassured himself that he had nothing to worry about in that regard.
Xzavier embarked on his wandering mission, fully prepared for the inactivity and placid atmosphere that was to be expected from a ruler's home. This was the last place he thought he would see trouble. He was right- at least for now.
It turned out that the open courtyard had been situated in the middle of the mansion. This maximized the air flow in the mansion and balanced the concrete to vegetation ratio within the walls of the mansion. A garden bloomed in the open space, bathing the generic white paint of the walls with a splash of colors. Right in the middle of the courtyard, four marble sculptures of angel like creatures camped about a water fountain. With open wings, they surrounded the beautiful water fountain like throne angels.
Obviously, Xzavier had seen a lot more impressive sights in his day. But there was just something intoxicating about this particular sight. It was the serenity that followed. It also could have been the fact that it was all natural, completely devoid of any tech whatsoever.
Xzavier navigated his away around the open courtyard. Not allowing himself to be overrun by the allure of his new environment, Xzavier kept his mind firmly on the notable landmarks he could use to get back to the waiting room. It was a pretty big mansion and he really couldn't afford to get lost.
As Xzavier melted through the corridors like a stealthy visitor creeping around, he finally caught his first glimpse trouble sneaking around the corridors and skulking behind the thick sturdy pillars of the mansion.
Obviously, the girl was very familiar with her environment. She took advantage of the multiple pillars, and skulked behind them, looking like an sketchy individual with questionable intentions. Xzavier watched the amateur curiously as she slithered about, completely unaware of the fact that she was being monitored at the time.
Xzavier wondered.
"What an amateur! She really must be a rookie to leave herself open to be spotted like this."
Xzavier went into stealth mode and hid himself behind one of the pillar. From there, he observed the sneaky girl closely and took in her features.
Facially, the girl was pretty. Not in a flagrant or overbearing way, just a simple face with well defined features. She looked young. Young enough to be considered Xzavier's age mate. As Xzavier watched the cute girl, he tried his best to make out her deal. Was a she a criminal? Was she a petty thief who was simply looking for a good score? Xzavier's pessimistic mind steered him in a completely different direction with a more adventurous thought;
"Maybe she's an assassin? This is a very high profile target, she must be really good if she was contracted to kill the governor…"
Xzavier wanted to grouse. Just when he was settling in to the casual routine of a normal person, here he was, getting sucked into the endless vacuum of another possible trouble. Xzavier began to think very quickly.
If he ended up being spotted with this intruder, it would be the nail in the coffin that Dale had already prepared for him.
It was no longer a secret that the Silver Knight suspected him gravely. Xzavier instantly deduced that if this was to implicate him in any way, he would be no better than a chunk of meat in a bowl of hot spicy pepper soup!
As he was still wrapped up in his own thoughts, he heard the echo of several feet pattering on the soft polished floor of one of the hallways.
"Shit!" Xzavier cursed as he ducked behind one of the pillars.
It was too late now. He had wasted time, and now, several servants were scurrying on their feet, rushing towards that very location. Soon enough, a bunch of household servants emerged out of one of the many hallways leading to that particular corridor.
From where Xzavier stood watching them, he could tell that they were worried. They glanced around frantically, searching for something… or someone! Xzavier soon figured out the fact that the servants were indeed searching for the young girl.
"What the heck? She's been discovered already? What the hell did you do you vermin!"
Xzavier whipped his head away from the servants and fixed his eyes on the hiding girl. Xzavier froze up when his eyes finally landed on her. Within the very short period he had averted his gaze, she had actually managed to fish him out despite the fact that he had hidden himself in one of the darkest spots where even the rays of light emanating from the reflective surface couldn't him.
Xzavier was surprised. Somehow, she had spotted him! Even more surprising was the brazen look on her face. It wasn't the look of one who was going to be caught. She looked at him as though he was the one who had been caught! Xzavier was thrown off guard by the dramatic shift in the dynamic. The impudent look in her eye wasn't consistent with that of a thief who had just been caught. In fact, it was more of a glare.
It was only when she gestured to him to keep silent that Xzavier began to think again. The girl lifted up her fore finger to her lips and made the universal sign to keep quiet. She didn't need to exaggerate her movements for Xzavier to understand her. Her flaming eyes gave up her request.
The air was charged with tension from all parties, including the servants. They breezed around the foremost part of the corridors checking for footprints or skid marks that would lead them to the girl.
Luckily, the servants weren't thorough with their search. Xzavier didn't envy them at all. It wasn't fault. The mansion was large enough to accommodate an entire school. They had a lot of ground to cover, so they obviously couldn't afford to linger in one location for too long. After a few seconds of just breezing around, they turned around frantically and left to begin their search in another location.
A few painful minutes passed in silence as both Xzavier and the cute girl waited for the servants to fully retreat. Xzavier kept his eyes on the entrances, waiting to see if they were truly gone. When his suspicions were finally abated, he stepped out of the shadows with the intention of heading towards the girl who had almost put him in trouble.
Just as he took the first step, mid-stride, he heard someone call his name from behind him. Xzavier's face turned sour. His face had the pale discoloration of one who had seen or in this case, heard a ghost. Xzavier wasn't feeling very motivated to turn back to face his accoster.
"Wait, how did they know my name again?"
His name came again. This time, it sounded less doubtful and more confident. This time, it also sounded familiar.
Xzavier turned round with the quickness of a predator. And with unbelieving eyes, he looked at the person who had just outed him.
"Adalia?"
True enough, it was Adalia standing right before him, gawking at him like he was some creature that had escaped the confinement of its cage at the zoo.
"Xzavier! What are you doing here?"
Xzavier wanted to ask her the same thing. Then he remembered that at their last meeting, she had been summoned by the governor as well. He opened his mouth to answer her, but then again, Adalia being who she was, she interrupted him with another question.
"Hold on a minute. Did you happen to see a girl who was running away?"
Xzavier wasn't usually one to snitch, but at this point, he decided that it was best that he dissociate himself from whatever trouble the girl was in. So, without even the tiniest bit of remorse, Xzavier promptly pointed to the girl crouched, and hiding in the corner.
Adalia's eyes followed his fingers and traced the path to a hiding place not to far away. At the end of it all, the young girl with the pretty face came out. This time, instead of her look of condescension, her face was twisted in a mask of rage.
Yet again, Xzavier found himself on the end of another surprise party. His own over analytic mind had completely misread the situation. Hence, he was about to be schooled in another one of life's endearing lessons- appearances can be grossly misleading. Though he didn't know it yet, he was about to find out just how delightfully irrational his perception of the whole scene had been.
All he cared about this time was making the best use of the new scene to feast his eyes and keep the threatening boredom at bay. Xzavier was under the impression that waiting for a leader was a tasking job that demanded a serious amount of patience. In this case, the leader in particular was a governor of a whole state capital. So, Xzavier reassured himself that he had nothing to worry about in that regard.Xzavier embarked on his wandering mission, fully prepared for the inactivity and placid atmosphere that was to be expected from a ruler's home. This was the last place he thought he would see trouble. He was right- at least for now.It turned out that the open courtyard had been situated in the middle of the mansion. This maximized the air flow in the mansion and balanced the concrete to vegetation ratio within the walls of the mansion. A garden bloomed in the open space, bathing the generic white paint of the walls with a splash of colors. Right in the middle of the courtyard, four marble sculptures of angel like creatures camped about a water fountain. With open wings, they surrounded the beautiful water fountain like throne angels.Obviously, Xzavier had seen a lot more impressive sights in his day. But there was just something intoxicating about this particular sight. It was the serenity that followed. It also could have been the fact that it was all natural, completely devoid of any tech whatsoever.Xzavier navigated his away around the open courtyard. Not allowing himself to be overrun by the allure of his new environment, Xzavier kept his mind firmly on the notable landmarks he could use to get back to the waiting room. It was a pretty big mansion and he really couldn't afford to get lost.As Xzavier melted through the corridors like a stealthy visitor creeping around, he finally caught his first glimpse trouble sneaking around the corridors and skulking behind the thick sturdy pillars of the mansion.Obviously, the girl was very familiar with her environment. She took advantage of the multiple pillars, and skulked behind them, looking like an sketchy individual with questionable intentions. Xzavier watched the amateur curiously as she slithered about, completely unaware of the fact that she was being monitored at the time.Xzavier wondered."What an amateur! She really must be a rookie to leave herself open to be spotted like this."Xzavier went into stealth mode and hid himself behind one of the pillar. From there, he observed the sneaky girl closely and took in her features.Facially, the girl was pretty. Not in a flagrant or overbearing way, just a simple face with well defined features. She looked young. Young enough to be considered Xzavier's age mate. As Xzavier watched the cute girl, he tried his best to make out her deal. Was a she a criminal? Was she a petty thief who was simply looking for a good score? Xzavier's pessimistic mind steered him in a completely different direction with a more adventurous thought;"Maybe she's an assassin? This is a very high profile target, she must be really good if she was contracted to kill the governor"Xzavier wanted to grouse. Just when he was settling in to the casual routine of a normal person, here he was, getting sucked into the endless vacuum of another possible trouble. Xzavier began to think very quickly.If he ended up being spotted with this intruder, it would be the nail in the coffin that Dale had already prepared for him.It was no longer a secret that the Silver Knight suspected him gravely. Xzavier instantly deduced that if this was to implicate him in any way, he would be no better than a chunk of meat in a bowl of hot spicy pepper soup!As he was still wrapped up in his own thoughts, he heard the echo of several feet pattering on the soft polished floor of one of the hallways."Shit!" Xzavier cursed as he ducked behind one of the pillars.It was too late now. He had wasted time, and now, several servants were scurrying on their feet, rushing towards that very location. Soon enough, a bunch of household servants emerged out of one of the many hallways leading to that particular corridor.From where Xzavier stood watching them, he could tell that they were worried. They glanced around frantically, searching for something or someone! Xzavier soon figured out the fact that the servants were indeed searching for the young girl."What the heck? She's been discovered already? What the hell did you do you vermin!"Xzavier whipped his head away from the servants and fixed his eyes on the hiding girl. Xzavier froze up when his eyes finally landed on her. Within the very short period he had averted his gaze, she had actually managed to fish him out despite the fact that he had hidden himself in one of the darkest spots where even the rays of light emanating from the reflective surface couldn't him.Xzavier was surprised. Somehow, she had spotted him! Even more surprising was the brazen look on her face. It wasn't the look of one who was going to be caught. She looked at him as though he was the one who had been caught! Xzavier was thrown off guard by the dramatic shift in the dynamic. The impudent look in her eye wasn't consistent with that of a thief who had just been caught. In fact, it was more of a glare.It was only when she gestured to him to keep silent that Xzavier began to think again. The girl lifted up her fore finger to her lips and made the universal sign to keep quiet. She didn't need to exaggerate her movements for Xzavier to understand her. Her flaming eyes gave up her request.The air was charged with tension from all parties, including the servants. They breezed around the foremost part of the corridors checking for footprints or skid marks that would lead them to the girl.Luckily, the servants weren't thorough with their search. Xzavier didn't envy them at all. It wasn't fault. The mansion was large enough to accommodate an entire school. They had a lot of ground to cover, so they obviously couldn't afford to linger in one location for too long. After a few seconds of just breezing around, they turned around frantically and left to begin their search in another location.A few painful minutes passed in silence as both Xzavier and the cute girl waited for the servants to fully retreat. Xzavier kept his eyes on the entrances, waiting to see if they were truly gone. When his suspicions were finally abated, he stepped out of the shadows with the intention of heading towards the girl who had almost put him in trouble.Just as he took the first step, mid-stride, he heard someone call his name from behind him. Xzavier's face turned sour. His face had the pale discoloration of one who had seen or in this case, heard a ghost. Xzavier wasn't feeling very motivated to turn back to face his accoster."Wait, how did they know my name again?"His name came again. This time, it sounded less doubtful and more confident. This time, it also sounded familiar.Xzavier turned round with the quickness of a predator. And with unbelieving eyes, he looked at the person who had just outed him."Adalia?"True enough, it was Adalia standing right before him, gawking at him like he was some creature that had escaped the confinement of its cage at the zoo."Xzavier! What are you doing here?"Xzavier wanted to ask her the same thing. Then he remembered that at their last meeting, she had been summoned by the governor as well. He opened his mouth to answer her, but then again, Adalia being who she was, she interrupted him with another question."Hold on a minute. Did you happen to see a girl who was running away?"Xzavier wasn't usually one to snitch, but at this point, he decided that it was best that he dissociate himself from whatever trouble the girl was in. So, without even the tiniest bit of remorse, Xzavier promptly pointed to the girl crouched, and hiding in the corner.Adalia's eyes followed his fingers and traced the path to a hiding place not to far away. At the end of it all, the young girl with the pretty face came out. This time, instead of her look of condescension, her face was twisted in a mask of rage.Yet again, Xzavier found himself on the end of another surprise party. His own over analytic mind had completely misread the situation. Hence, he was about to be schooled in another one of life's endearing lessons- appearances can be grossly misleading. Though he didn't know it yet, he was about to find out just how delightfully irrational his perception of the whole scene had been.
