"Sebastian!" I called out too as I stand in surprise. My former chauffeur, standing in front of me. I looked around if the car is nearby. When I noticed that it wasn't, I raised my eyebrow in suspicion.

"What are you doing here, Little Miss?" He asked calmly, looking around me too.

"That's what I should be asking you." I blankly stared at him.

"I came to look for you...but not at this time, alone, in the dark, outside!" He scolded me in a dark sidewalk where there are few people passing by. I never once noticed any person passing by because they are so quiet but today, I can see now, I can sense people again. When I saw Patricia, my soul became calm. And now I'm seeing Sebastian, my soul became calmer...

"Haha. I agree. This is such an inconvenience for the both of us." I laughed it off, trying to shake off the reason that he's going to ask sooner or later. "But it's more inconvenient if we're going to depart and arrange a more organised meeting. Do you agree?" I walked towards him with my hands behind my back. "So start talking or I'll fucking shoot you." I continued, snatching the revolver gun from inside my trench coat with the speed of light.

"You know I don't die that easily, Princess." He smirked. "Well, I would talk even if you don't point a gun at me." He cleared his throat first before continuing, "everything is gone for the Auden family."

"Well duh! I--"

"Not for the reason that you thought. They were kidnapped, along with the car. The guards were merely unconscious but nevertheless injured." He continued. Is he looking for me to ask for my help?

"So why exactly are you looking for me?"

"To just tell you that the kidnappers...are the Evans."

"What?! You can't say that for sure!" Why am I trying to defend them? They were the ones who proposed such marriage!

"I was one of the people that were kidnapped. Do you think I'll speak ill about others without any reason at all?!" He protested. "They're trying to make you marry Carol just so they could get your riches!"

"So in reality, if I refuse..."

"You could save the Auden family." He turned and flew away. "Think about your decision well, m'lady. I shall take my leave now." He completely disappeared from my sight.

The Evans...kidnapping...to forcibly make me marry Carol...just to get the riches of the Auden family?

An idea came to mind. "Aha!" I snapped my fingers and ran as fast as I could to get to Kanae's house. I sneaked in my way to get to an empty bedroom. Once I entered through the window successfully, I walked around until I find a computer. I quickly sat down and turned it on. I waited for it to turn on and so, I started searching what Patricia was searching..."The Auden Bankruptcy" I clicked on the article and read it with my eyes.

"The Auden family did not really become bankrupt, and so, sold our house to anyone. We are not selling anything that belongs to us. In actuality, the Auden family plus all our maids, butlers, cooks and chauffeur, are all kidnapped by one family-- the Evans."

The first paragraph hits me. It's only the beginning yet I feel like this is enough for me to know the truth. Patricia edited this, it's obvious enough. She is one of the victims and when speaking the truth, completely off-guard. That's the reason why she was easily startled upon my awakening. She didn't sense me nor expect me to wake so soon.

This is the truth...

I don't know if Carol is associated with this plan or his brother is just working behind the scenes. Either way, they are really trying to get me to marry him. This is their plan so if I plan to ruin it, I wonder what will happen. Not only did they kidnap my family to create a bluff about The Auden Bankruptcy but they are also taking them as hostage so if I were to ruin it, I would still face the consequences of losing them.

I then heard the door rattle. I immediately turned the computer off since I don't see any use of it anymore and quickly took out my gun, accurately pointing it at the person's head.

The door opened but I did not shoot. It was just Kanae.

I sighed as I put the gun back inside my trench coat with a plan to walk out from the room. I stood up from my seat.

With that alone, Kanae stopped me. "Hold on, Missy." He says.

"Why are you speaking so clearly? I thought humans should be asleep at this time." I faced him with a tired face.

"This time? It's 6:00, you dummy!" He knocked my head.

"What? 5 hours had passed? Time sure is fast in Earth!" I gasped in amazement but continued on trying to exit the room.

"Do you want to talk?" He willingly invited, blocking my path as he did. He's really perceptive, no? What a troublesome kid. If I'll refuse, he'll just bug me for the whole day!

"I guess if you say it like that, you know something." I put on a smirk and for the last time, continued on exiting the bedroom as planned from the very beginning.

•

December 6. Lunchtime.

"...that's the story." I finished.

"Knowing Carol, I don't think he's involved in the plan. He thinks that it's only coincidence and so, acts appropriately." Joan immediately gave me her own insight. "When you talked with Carol about the marriage, did you sense any lies or did you peek through his thoughts?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be troubled with the fact that Carol may or may not be a part of the plan." I stared dryly at her. Sometimes she lacks common sense.

"Just saying. I defend him. Who's with me?" Joan feeds herself as her left hand is raised. Zan and Cervi raised their hands too.

"Carol is a very nice guy. He is a pure gentleman with a pure heart and his only objective is to treat girls better. He would never take advantage of a girl, even if his family needs it." Zan explained his own guess.

"I agree. I can sense such a calm aura around him." Cervi furthered Zan's guess.

"You, Kanae? What do you think?" I sharply turned my head to him while crossing my arms.

"Carol is a mystery to me. I don't trust him." He muttered.

"Why? You two seem familiar with each other. Are you not? Especially his brother..." I trailed off, patiently waiting for his answer.

Not only is the Evans family suspicious enough for their different behaviour but also the relationship with them and Kanae. I don't know if the whole Baade family is involved but I'm sure that Kanae is involved.

First, Carol said that him meeting Kanae is secret information. Then Jasper suddenly pinned me on the wall and threateningly ask me if I know him. Kanae answered for me though. I was saved. But still... Jasper and Carol have the same aura yet I already witnessed Jasper getting serious. I wonder if Carol can get serious too...

"I didn't attend the party since it's embarrassing to know that the Baade family has only one member. My family is in a trip in America and so, I was left alone. Plus, I didn't feel like going so I didn't." He started. No one commented because all of us are attentively listening to him. His story is a huge crucial information that leads us to the truth about the Evans and Baade family. "The next day, Jasper came in my door. We talked about the inconvenience that I wasn't able to come. I humbly apologised and gave him a basket with fruits as compensation. That basket was prepared in my free time, on the day that the party was held as I expected someone will come knocking on my door as usual. This happens every year with different families knocking. Jasper accepted this and so, exited my house."

All of us raised our hands as to ask a question. Kanae sighed as he pointed at Joan first.

"Who's Jasper?" She innocently asked. No one smacked their own faces since this is the most common question one might ask if he/she doesn't know about Carol.

"Jasper is Carol's older brother." Kanae immediately answered in a monotonous voice and so, proceeded to point to the next guy-- Zan.

"When was this 'party' you talk about?" Zan asked in an interviewer voice.

"Oh, you don't know? The yearly-celebrated 'Top 50 Richest Families Party' which consists of the top 50 richest families all around the world to celebrate a year that they become one of those 50 richest families. It is held every 15th of August." Kanae briefly explained.

"I never once received any invitation there." Zan complained.

"I guess there were none when it was as early as 1623!!" I protested, angry that some people really don't use their common sense.

"August 15, huh..." Joan thought deeply. She had finished eating before we knew it. "So you first met Jasper in the 16th of August?"

"Use your common sense, Joan." I stared dryly at her. One more person that doesn't use their common sense and I will do a facepalm.

"Then you never saw each other since then?"

"Yes." Kanae immediately answered, complete with an obedient nod. "The time I saw him again was when he was talking to me at the playground near Zan's house. At that time, he was too focused with Celeste as a subject, that I think he forgot about the thing that made him enraged as soon as he hears my name or see my face." He pondered and tried to remember. "He snapped back to his consciousness when he was pinning Celeste on the wall and I was watching by the staircase."

I glared at him as he refused to entertain to answer my and Cervi's questions. When he noticed my glare, he jolted in surprise and pointed at Cervi to answer his question first. What a blood-boiling-causing human!!

"It's not that weird, right? Sometimes, people tend to drift away from their mind if they like something else more than the person in front of them now." Cervi cleared his throat first before moving on to his real question. "Do you like the Evans family?"

All of us stared at him in awe and surprise. That was a powerful question. How will Kanae answer it now...? As usual, Cervi doesn't fail to amaze or surprise me.

"I don't feel anything in particular about them." Kanae finally answers after a short pause. "I hate them because of how they are trying to somehow take advantage of the Auden family and not just try to be serious once in a while, but I admire their style and personalities. I can't possibly just pick one."

Cervi nodded in understanding. "So you're half/half in favour for Celeste's marriage with Carol?"

Kanae stayed silent, hanging his head very low. We were waiting for his response. "Don't ask me questions that I couldn't answer." He begged in a low and quiet voice.

Joan laughed like a hyena, Zan gawked at him with his jaw and eyes open wide, Cervi stopped all his movements like a statue but not as extreme as Zan, and I laughed triumphantly as I kicked one foot on one foot of the table and exclaimed, "hahaha! That's one hell of a karma for someone who intended to not entertain my question first!"

"But can't you see, Celeste? He--" before Joan could finish, Kanae had already walked behind her and covered her mouth tightly with a handkerchief. She struggled with a smile on her face. What a weird angel.

"What's wrong, Kanae? Embarrassed?" I smirked widely with a huge feeling of triumph, humming in an arrogant tune.

"You shut your yapping mouth too, Auden!" He demanded. I laughed it off.

"Is your story complete?" I changed the subject in an attempt to calm him down.

"Is that your question?" He dryly stared at me.

"Nah. I just forgot what my question was so I asked another one."

"Well..." He sighed. "Yeah. That's all."

"Hmm..." I try hard to remember what my question was and so, retraced my thoughts while closing my eyes.

•

I finally remembered what my question was! As I was about to ask, I opened my eyes to see myself in Kanae's room, lacking light. I hear the bathroom. Kanae's in there.

"Kanae?" I called out from the bathroom.

"Talk to me later." He responded and continued on showering.

I patiently waited for him. He exited the bathroom, all clean and in his pyjamas and walked to me with a white towel hanging about his neck. "What is it?" He asks as he took the towel and started drying his hair.

"I remember what my question was now!" I cheered.

"Good for you. It only took you half a day." He sarcastically commented.

"Shut up!" I angrily shouted at him. "It's about the Evans family. Since you further proved to us that you are quite familiar with the Evans family because you admire their style and personalities, which means you know their personalities and style one by one. So tell me...I know you know the answer to this: is the reason why Jasper was angry at you somehow relates to that basket of fruits you gave?"

Kanae stared at me, not moving at all. His surprised face somehow made me stop as well. His reaction is so unique and unusual so I don't know what to do.

I'm irritated how long he can continue not moving so I snapped him back to reality. Literally.

"How did you...?" His mouth still trembled in utter shock.

"Ah, I was right? That's great. Mind telling me about it?" I eagerly and excitedly waited for the great climax of the story!

"Jasper told me that when his mother ate the fruits in the basket, her illness started to become worse. He blamed me yet I don't think the other family members know this." He answered in a very low voice. "I was only 5 years old back then. August 16, 2007 was the exact date that we met. This is the only year we met again."

"What?! You were only 5 years old when your parents already leave you alone?!" I completely asked in surprise, unrelated to the main topic but still related in the topic.

"Yeah, why?" He asked like it's only a normal question.

"I thought that humans need more attention. That's why I...wasn't bothered when my parents also left me alone when I was only 4 years old..." I remembered my past in a flash. I miss them. I can't go back to Hell so I wanted to just look for evidences pointing at my father's innocence so why? Why am I experiencing all these in the middle of my search?

"Your parents? Oh, the real ones? How are they like?" Kanae leaned closer to pay attention.

"My mother is kind and gentle but I don't quite get Father's personality well. He's also kind and gentle yet he was wrongly accused of such act!" I gritted my teeth in anger. "When I was 4, my mother died in Father's cell, again accusing Father for something that he did not do. No one seems to listen to him. No one cared...except for me and an organisation, 666." I finished.

"That's right! You're not one of the Audens!" He cheered but nevertheless, I'm sure he still listened to my story well.

"What about it? Even if I'm not, it still doesn't change the fact that I'm one now." I protested.

"What I mean is: you can cancel the marriage and you don't even care if they take your family as hostage!"

"Kanae..." I paused a beat. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT, YOU MORON!!" I shouted as I smack him multiple times with a pillow.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" He said as he's having fun guarding himself from my attacks. "You want a plan to ruin? You turned to the right people. Our group...is anything but ordinary, isn't it?"

I stopped smacking him with the pillow and faced him with eyes sparkling in awe and delight. But when I think about it, it's wrong... "But it's Carol. I don't--"

"So let's add Carol to the team! There's no harm in explaining to him what our current situation is!" He smile widely.

"But Carol is all against this! He's eager to marry me. I don't want to crush his dreams and hopes just like that!"

"As those guys said, Carol is a nice guy. He is obliged to follow every and any orders he has given. I don't trust him because of this personality but we're talking about desperate measures here. Do you want the Auden family to perish in such a way? Maybe right in front of your eyes?"

I hung my head. I'm in a dilemma. I thought.

If I marry Carol, the Auden family will suffer as slaves while the Evans take control. If I don't marry Carol, I would have to witness a scene where he rampages or breaks down in tears. I don't want to witness him feeling broken. I like him but not as much as to marry him. I could've saved the Auden family, yes, but I would've left a permanent scar in his pure white heart...

"I leave it all in your care." I tilted my head and warmly smiled before pouncing on his bed, hugging the pillow that I smacked Kanae with, tightly.

------

"Carol." I called out from the abandoned Auden residence. "Carol." I called out again. Carol seems to hear it. "Carol." I called out for the last time. "Come here..."

After a while of waiting, Carol reached where I am-- Celeste's bedroom. I'm hiding under the bed while constantly looking out for him.

As he enters, he looked around in awe and whispered, "maybe this is Celeste's room."

What a great intuition he has...but does he see this coming?

I quickly jumped out of the bed pouncing to him with a knife-shaped chocolate wrapped in foil with a real knife designed on it. I won't actually harm him, I will only just threaten him but I might harm him with the real knife so I used this substitute instead.

I was surprised that he stepped to the side calmly to avoid my assassination attempt. But since I'm just across the door, I tumbled around and locked the door to avoid him escaping.

"You're on-guard everywhere." I commented, standing up while twirling the knife-chocolate in my hands.

"I have to. Now that people who care about the Audens continuously attempted to assassinate me." He honestly answered.

"Do you like to marry Celeste?" I asked straight to the point.

"I...want to, yeah." He hesitantly answered since he knows that I may attack him whenever I want and I'm very protective of Celeste so he doesn't know what I might do if he answered yes. "But not because of those rumours spreading lately. I want to marry her because I love her and by living in the same roof, I can guard her easily."

"How shallow." I smirked. Of course, I don't want him to answer the second option either but his mind is too shallow to just simply think about this. "Don't you know that the two families are being dragged in this problem and not only you two? Open your eyes to see the things beyond your sight."

Carol can only hang his head in silence. Did he only know about it now?

I scratched the back of my head and heaved a heavy sigh. A short amount of talking to him made me know about some information regarding on what he knows and feels about this arranged marriage. I won't involve him in the plan since it doesn't look like he is against the idea of being married to her.

.....

I want to do this job quick.