457 Chapter 457: Assassin’s Pride II

"Are you serious?" I demanded, staring at the chapter title again. "We're still going to continue ripping that light novel or its anime adaptation off? Aren't you afraid of being sued for plagiarism or copyright repercussions?"

Even though I was staring directly at the fourth wall, there was no reply. The creator couldn't be bothered to respond from beyond the fourth dimension. On the other hands, the readers were impatiently glaring at me.

"Hey! Get back to the story! You left us on a cliffhanger the previous chapter!"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

I returned to reality, only to find Amelia and the other two maids staring at me. Unlike me, they didn't have the ability to see past the fourth wall and hear the voices of the existences beyond. To them, I seemed to be talking to ghosts…or worse, myself. They were questioning my sanity, or would have if they currently weren't concerned with something more important.

"Lady Melina!"

Perhaps I should rewind a few minutes earlier prior to Melina's dramatic dropping in on the scene. Yeah, I meant that literally.

"Is Sensei not here yet?!"

As Amelia mentioned, Melina was impatiently pacing up and down in her room as she eagerly awaited my arrival. She wringed her hands excitedly as she occasionally raised her head to stare out of the window.

"It's been some time since Amelia went to welcome him. Sensei should behere already!"

"Really now, Young Miss." The dark-haired maid who was attending to her in her room sighed in exasperation. "How many times are you going to ask that question?"

She poured some tea into a cup, offering it to Melina in hopes of calming her down.

"Amelia and the others will definitely bring him here, without any issues. You will be able to meet him again soon. So just be patient for now, okay? Drink some tea."

"But it's already past time…"

"We told you he will only arrive in late evening." The maid gave Melina a reproaching look. "You know as well as we do that it's a long trip from Jing Tian City to Flandor by train. Well…" she broke off, her cheeks coloring a little. "Maybe you don't…"

The reason why the maid stopped herself at the end of her sentence was because, well, being a daughter of the Franklin family, Melina obviously didn't have to ride a train back home. She had the luxury of having a private hovercraft ferry her and her staff from Jing Tian City back to Flandor City. So the journey was pretty much made in less than an hour, as opposed to the five hours I spent on the damned train.

"In any event, Sir Richard took a train here, and he must be tired after spending so many hours riding on it."

"But it's already late evening! Isn't he stipulated to arrive in less than three minutes?!"

Then Melina gasped and jumped to her feet, one of her hands flying to her mouth as if she had just realized something. "Don't tell me that he got lost on his way to our house?! I knew it! We should have sent a car to pick him up at the station! No…what if he took a bus here and got involved in a traffic accident?!"

Dropping the teddy bear that she had been hugging this entire time, Melina sprinted for the balcony, flustered and worried.

"I'll go look for Sensei!"

"Wait!" The maid's jaw almost dropped as she spun around, beads of perspiration dripping down her dark hair. "Lady Melina!? Hang on…!"

At the same moment, Amelia and I reached the garden, and I was glancing upward and studying the mansion. My glasses went on overdrive, the sensors scanning for threats, possible positions of ambush, optimal places of cover and the infrared signatures of the people residing inside the house. There were far less than I expected in a mansion of this size, and I recalled that Melina was isolated from the rest of the family, assigned to a "small" manor in the outskirts of the city, and only given the bare minimum of staff. Evidently her relatives had been forcing her father to take the rumors seriously, and considered her an outsider undeserving of residing in the main house.

What a bunch of pricks.

Anyway, that was how I picked up the sight of Melina reaching the balcony and leaning on the railings, even from a good distance away. Her long, golden hair billowing out from behind her, courtesy of the cool night breeze, she scanned the area with her deep blue eyes, as if searching for something. From this distance, of course she couldn't see Amelia, the maids or me, but I could because of the in-built sensors and visual magnification function in my lenses.

And readers mocked me for continuing to wear glasses, and demanded that I undergo lasik or whatever to get rid of them. Well, they could screw off. If I wanted to wear glasses, I will.

I found myself mesmerized by the sight, not because she was a loli, but she struck me like a star. A single, brightly lit star that stood out proudly in the night sky. One with the burning potential to outshine the millions of other stars that shared the landscape with her.

"Ugh…" Melina was still looking around impatiently, glancing from side to side. Her eyes swept over the garden, which was dimly illuminated by electric lampposts. Even so, the shadows cast by the neatly groomed trees and meticulously pruned hedges made it difficult for her to see anything. See? This was why you need glasses.

"I can't see Sensei anywhere! Where is he? He doesn't seem to be in the garden. Maybe he's still in town? Or has he already reached the front gates?" She glared at the garden. "Damn it, I've been thinking this for a while now, but there really are too many plants!"

With a swift motion, she climbed up on the railing and glanced around, balancing precariously atop the handrail with practiced movements.

"Whoa…whoa! Wait, my lady!" Amelia and the other maids began waving their hands frantically, taken aback by her bold gesture. "It's dangerous, Lady Amelia!"

"Get down from there! It's dangerous!"

"Your Sensei is here too!"

"Huh?"

Hearing the voices from her maid, Melina glanced downward. Then she noticed me. She quickly placed a hand on her skirt and jumped off the railing, back into the balcony, before she could reveal anything improper. Not that I was interested in anything a fourteen-year-old had to show, anyway. Even so, I avoided my gaze.

Unfortunately, in her flustered moment, Melina miscalculated and fell off the railing – in the wrong direction.

"Uh, she's not going to fall off the balcony, is she?"

"…eh?"

The maids were used to Melina's antics and assumed that she would land safely back in the balcony, but at my observation, they panicked and spun around with half-shrieks forming in their mouths.

"Lady Melina!"

"No!"

Fortunately, Melina wasn't that unskilled. She flipped over, grabbing the railing, and then spun about to land back in the balcony, safe and sound. Seemed like the training she went through had served its purpose. I was heartened to see the ease with which she moved, her practiced movements allowing her to circumvent the instance of danger.

Melina Franklin was certainly no damsel in distress, and no spoilt, pampered princess who required a prince to rescue her.

Placing both her hands on the railing, and assuming the dignified air of a noble – the only signs of embarrassment being the crimson flush of her cheeks and the slight trembling of her arms and legs – she spoke without establishing eye contact with her maids.

"Please guide Sensei to his room."

Then she disappeared back into her own room, shutting the doors to the balcony before any of her maids could respond. I could hear the voice of another maid yelling from within Melina's room, as she tried to ensure that her lady wasn't injured or hurt.

"Good to see Melina again," I muttered, not sure whether I should be amused or taken aback. Amelia nodded politely.

"I see you've met her before."

"Um, I haven't just met her before. I taught her in my dad's dojo as well, before you guys moved back here."

"Ah, I apologize for all the troubles. Lady Melina had no problem staying in Jing Tian City. Unfortunately, there were certain family…problems, and she was forcibly recalled here." Amelia bowed very deeply and apologetically. "Even though we have caused you so many troubles, I am relieved that you accepted our lord's request with good grace and are willing to make the trip all the way here just to continue your tutorship of our lady."

"It's no trouble, really." I raised a hand to assure her.

"Shall we, then?" Amelia gestured toward the front door. Before she could do anything else, the doors flung open and I caught sight of a couple of elderly butlers coming out to greet us. One of them offered to take my luggage, but once again I declined, assuring him that I could handle my own baggage. "Your room is this way."

"Thanks."

As we entered the mansion, the maids and butlers dispersed, with only Amelia remaining to guide me toward my room. I manually lifted up my luggage and followed her up the stairs, to the second level where a luxurious corridor lay, featuring multiple rooms.

"This is where the servants' quarters are located," Amelia explained and moved toward the corridor. "We would put you in the guest room, but it appears that you'll be staying here for the next three years or so, or at least for the long term, so it wouldn't be practical to house you there."

"That's no problem at all," I told her. I wasn't expecting to live in the guest room anyhow. I was here as an employee, so it made sense that I was housed in the employee quarters. Though I suspected there would be readers inflamed that I was accepting my treatment as a "servant" or some bullshit like that. Just look at the comments for Magic Emperor. "Just be a servant, what a waste!" As if being a bulter or serving a family would somehow turn the story into trash or whatever. Some readers really loved to project themselves into the story or the main characters and whined when things didn't go the way they wanted. That's not how you write or read a story, dudes. "I'm sure the accommodations you provide will be more than adequate."

"I'm relieved to hear that." Amelia nodded. And then she paused. "I don't know if you're aware of the family circumstances that our lady has been drawn into, but…be careful. There are certain members of the Franklin family who aren't taking the decision to hire you as her private tutor too kindly. They might make your life difficult. And they aim to make Lady Melina's life even more difficult."

"Because they want to ensure she doesn't inherit her father's position as head of the Franklin family?" I asked. Amelia's eyes widened briefly, and she glanced around the corridor before nodding and dropping her voice into a whisper.

"That certainly is the main cause. I see that you're already appraised of the situation. However…"

"Rest assured, I have no intention of getting involved in the Franklin family politics or the whole drama over who should be the next head. My only goal is to teach Melina swordsmanship and turn her into a fine swordswoman deserving of the Franklin household."

"That alone will have political repercussions…for, if Melina becomes an excellent swordswoman, her claim to the position of head would be that much greater. Be careful, because there are certain people in the Franklin family who will do everything within their power to prevent that at all costs."

"I will do my best." I hesitated for a moment and then narrowed my eyes. "Is one of them Kureha Franklin?"

Amelia just stared at me silently for a long while, and then she finally sighed and averted her gaze.

"I'm afraid I cannot comment on that."