Chapter 331: Reunion

Hearing no response from the house another round of knocks resounded inside the empty walls of the small house. This time, however, an aged voice could be heard from the other side.

"Greetings, guests. My mistress wishes to meet with you all. Madam Sarah and her company are also waiting for you at the residence."

Hearing the voice, Aiden slumped his shoulder and heaved a sigh of relief as he walked to open the door. Before he could reach it, and let the stranger inside, Drake stepped in his way, stopping him.

"Wait!" He exclaimed, pushing against Aiden's chest lightly. "Do you know who is on the other side and what is he talking about?"

Drake had an inquiring look on his face as interviewed his friend.

In response, Aiden silently nodded before walking past the perturbed prince. Before he could react and block him again, Aiden promptly opened the door, revealing the stranger that turned out to be an elderly man, wearing a slick, black full set of a suit, with a white shirt underneath. A matching black tie was neatly tied around his neck, whilst he was also wearing white silk gloves over his hands.

All in all, his entire appearance was quite a sight, especially considering they were currently inside the depths of the Slums District. 

As the door opened, the elderly butler-looking figure gave a deep courteous bow, as he spoke again, addressing the figure standing at the other side. His words gave quite a shock and surprise to Aiden, as the old man seemed to be able to see through the disguise. That, or he had some sort of a way to pinpoint his identity even when he was hiding behind his mask.

"Master Aiden, it warms this old man's heart to see you safe and sound after your recent adventure. The Mistress has been eagerly awaiting your return. She has already summoned Lady Sara, Lady Scarlet, and the currently unresponsive Lady Naybeah to the mansion."  The old butler repeated his previous words, whilst slowly raising back up from his bowing posture.

Hearing his words, Drake's figure appeared in the doorway slightly behind Aiden.

"W-what did you say?! My sister is with your master?!" He agitatedly exclaimed, pushing against Aiden's right shoulder.

Feeling the sudden uncomfortable pressure, he gently pushed the silver-haired boy back smiling at him with his usual calm and collected outlook.

"Relax Drake… No need to be nervous, they should be fine. Also, it's 'Mistress', not 'Master', she likes to be addressed that way.

Turning around, he looked at the butler again as he asked.

"Uhm... Sebas, right?" 

The butler nodded, patiently waiting for the boy to continue.

"So, Sebas, you mentioned that Naybeah the tall, blonde woman is unresponsive. Can you explain what you meant by that?" 

Although he tried to force it, his voice trembled when mentioning the blonde amazon's name, betraying his true emotions.

Sebas, the butler, however, kept his professional courteous manner, as he answered with a calm, friendly but respectful tone.

"Yes, Master Aiden I can." He nodded, continued after giving a moment of pause. "Lady Naybeah was unconscious when she was brought to the mansion. As the young lady already informed the Mistress about the specifics of her condition, the Mistress gave her treatment, before she was carried to one of the guest rooms for rest. She is stable, you do not need to worry."

"I see." Aiden thoughtfully nodded, understanding the gist of things. It seemed that the girls did face some troubles along the way out. 'Could it be related to my blunder with the stone guardian? That definitely has alerted the orcs…' He thought.

Anyway, after arriving back at the city, Sara must have gone and informed her mother of how things went down, who in return probably opened a quick gate to the mansion directly.

As he thought about it, he couldn't help but silently praise Sara for her quick action. Either way, with this, he could meet up with the rest of the team, check up on Naybeah, get the brother and sister reunited and also report to the Masked Woman about her assigned mission before she could return to her room in the inn.

Thinking it through, he nodded, whilst mentally sending a call to Galina who stood hidden, behind the wall.

"Alright, lead the way Sebas!" He exclaimed, walking out of the door, with the frowning Drake slowly behind. Shortly behind them, the wary Galina appeared. She tried averting her gaze and hiding herself focusing her attention on the floor instead of the elderly man, hurrying after her young master.

Still, despite her best efforts, she couldn't possibly hide from the elderly butler's experienced sight. Seeing her look, he hummed with an understanding look on his face, before he turned and walked after the trio. Taking the leading position, he swiftly guided them towards the large mansion in the central area of the district.

When suddenly a lavish, exquisite courtyard appeared out of nowhere Drake and even Galina's eyes went wide with shock. Drake was astonished, he never heard about such a building existing in this run-down area of the city. 

As they crossed the invisible barrier, and the large mansion suddenly appeared seemingly out of thin air, he almost fell on his back. The building was lavish, even more grand than the richest noble's in this city. It was so gorgeous, that calling it simply a mansion wasn't giving it true justice. It was akin to a smaller castle, a true bastion.

He just couldn't understand; what was such an ornate and bountiful structure was doing in this part of town. Why was it hidden? Just who could be this mysterious 'Mistress'?

At the same time, Galina was also flabbergasted. After all, she has never seen such a big structure in her life before. However, what got her attention the most was the beautiful garden surrounding it. It gave a huge contrast to the muddy, dirty streets that they were crossing through; the courtyard had beautiful healthy grass, a huge colorful flowery garden at the back. At the other side, a series of small figurines stood still: she could see a small patio of statues where one could rest on one of the wooden benches and just enjoy the magical atmosphere.

As they saw the group led by the Head Butler Sebas closing towards them, the group of uniformly dressed black guards, stepped aside, signaling to the ones inside to open the gate to let them in.

—

Standing in her study, an elegantly dressed slender, feminine figure stood by the window, looking at the small group of new arrivals. 

Just like always, her face was hidden behind a lavish, elegantly designed silver mask with only her black irises were visible from the tiny holes. 

"He has arrived." She spoke, with a tinge of sweetness in her voice. 

Upon hearing her words, the second resident of the room perked her head towards her mother, the famed Mistress, and jumped up from her seat.

"H-he…" She coughed, swaying her unruly purple hair behind her ears. "Is he looking fine, M-Mo, khm… Mistress?"

The woman smiled at the girl's question, enjoying a bit more of her nervousness before she turned away from the window and looked at her daughter.

"Yes, he is completely fine. He also has come with guests, one of them seems to be the prince, whilst the other…" Her tone turned mysterious, uncomprehending. She turned towards the door, putting her hands behind her back, awaiting the soon-to-be coming knocks.

"Let's just say, we will have a very interesting discussion soon." 

Before Sarah could react and ask for more, the already expected knocks echoed inside the small study. From the other side, the voice of the aged elderly butler, Sebas spoke.

"Mistresses, I have brought the guests as you requested."

The woman gave a mischievous smirk behind the cover of her silver mask, waving with her hands and speaking a moment later.

"You may come in."

Before the trio could come back to their senses and register where they actually were, suddenly a purple-haired figure came rushing at them, throwing herself at the masked figure leading the trio. She hugged his neck, planting her face in his broad chest. 

Muffled sobs could be heard, as she could finally have a sigh of relief. Aiden finally returned, and he was fine!

Meanwhile, the silver-masked mature woman signaled with her hand to her trusted butler, who gave a slight bow and hurriedly left the room.

Whilst Drake was watching and feeling uncomfortable as everything unfolded before him, he pushed the hood back from his head, revealing his silver strands of hair. He turned to look at the masked woman and was about to ask when his body suddenly trembled in shock. 

A loud and familiar yell reached his ears, followed by another human rocket crashing into their group, clutching herself around the back of her brother. 

"Drake! You are finally back!"