Chapter 375: One big family

Hearing the unknown woman's exclaim of fright, Lily instantly rushed back from the bathroom, and charged out of her room and swiftly into her brother's, almost destroying his door in the process. 

"What, Where, Who!" She barged into the room with a fierce look, ready to throw herself on the vile 'criminal' that dared to intrude on her dearest brother's peaceful rest.

Aiden who was still bare-chested, standing beside the window, looked at the invader with a clueless expression. 

"Lily? What is…" 

"Brother, where is she?!" Lily yelled out, darting her stern gaze from left to right and right to left, searching for the source of the scream, ultimately focusing her eyes on the wooden door leading to the bathroom. 

Even though Aiden finally understood what the reason behind her sister's abrupt intrusion could have been, he was a tad bit too late. Without wasting any time, Lily tore up the door revealing the stunned and frightened-looking Galina standing in only in her underwear in front of the bathroom mirror.

As the girl's gazes met, both froze in their places, unable to react to the other's unexpected presence.

However, when Galina's golden eyes wandered behind the girl and met her Young Master's, who was still standing by the window, her frozen state instantly melted, and another loud scream filled not just the room, but the entire hallway….

—

"Once again, I'm terribly sorry! Please, Galina, I have no words for what I have done!" Standing in front of the now dressed long black-haired girl, and the stern-looking brother of hers, Lily was in the midst of apologizing for her mistake with a deep bow.

"I-I… I completely forgot about you, and fought that someone attacked brother!" She apologized again, keeping her gaze plastered on the floor below.

"There is no need for this Young Miss…." With a warm, light musical melody Galina spoke up, gently touching her Young Master's sister's bowed chin and raising it up from the ground. "We couldn't meet yesterday, I apologize for that Young Miss… My name is-"

"Galina." Lily finished her introduction, as a kinder-looking smile slowly eased up her worried expression. "Aiden introduced you yesterday. He told me, that you have joined our family… so please, don't call me 'Young Miss'. Big Sis or Sister would do just fine!"

"Yes… Young Mi-… B-big S-sis…" Galina responded, her lips trembling, she stuttered, as she fixed her words with an embarrassed look on her face. Being called an equal with her Young Master's real family was not something she could process on the fly after all. Still, she couldn't deny the happiness that rose deep in her heart at the notion and curved the edges of her small lips.

Seeing their interaction and the expected shamelessness of her sister, Aiden could only helplessly sigh. After the small event, they got a new, fresh set of clothes from Lily that surprisingly fit Galina perfectly. 

"Anyway… I'm sure Drake and Scarlet are also up by now and are probably waiting for us downstairs. Let's grab something quick to eat then get Galina registered at the guild before we pick something to do for today." Aiden spoke up, changing the topic. 

Truth be told, he was quite eager to set out. If he could, he would skip over to night time as fast as he could. After all, today was the last day he had to suffer through before the system would complete its upgrade and come back to him.

He had to accept the fact that although it was still shrouded in mystery, it was the only thing that stood beside him since his arrival in this magical, dark world. He felt empty without it…

He realized he was quite reliant on it, but what could he do? It had features that just went beyond his understanding. Not to mention the newly unlocked huge section of the Minions… its Fusion feature that he still hasn't experimented with too much was just beyond his knowledge. 

Having experienced a day without it, he wanted this day to just come to an end as fast as possible…

—

Eventually, the small group joined by the lazy hounds alighted from the rooms and joined up with the royal siblings at a larger table. Not-so-surprisingly, the old man was still quite afraid and wary of them and served them with absolute subservience. His wife, the culprit of the small trouble last night was nowhere to be seen, in her place another middle-aged lady served them. 

When asked, the innkeeper excused himself, and backed away from the conversation as fast as he could. It was quite obvious he did not want to engage in any sort of interaction with the 'Young Demon' any more than it was absolutely necessary.

He dared not to kick them out, not after what happened, but he also didn't want to have anything to do with them.

Seeing this, Aiden could only bitterly smile, turning his attention back to his sister and friends.

From the looks of it, they would be better off finding a new place to settle down. They have caused more than enough worry to the poor old man that was enough for an entire lifetime. 

Even if none of the troubles was their fault, ultimately, they still caused further suffering and pain to him. 

—

After gobbling up their luscious first meal of the day the group, now joined with Drake and Scarlet left the inn, and made their way through the bustling city streets towards the quite badly named Adventurer's Street.

Along the way, Lily and Aiden glanced into the back alley, finding it surprisingly clean and empty. There was no trace of the group of disabled thugs that they left there. Even the broken, shattered pieces of their arms were neatly cleaned up and taken away, not to mention the lack of traces of blood. 

Heck, not even footprints could be found imprinted in the ground. 

They looked at the sight with a surprised expression confused about what could have happened… Who cleaned up so fast, so cleanly? Why? How?

"Hey, you two- three!" Seeing their bewildered, stunned gazes, Scarlet called out. Behind them, the quiet, shy-looking hooded girl, Galina, was standing. She just couldn't solve the enigmatic girl, but she felt that something has changed about her since yesterday. 

While she was still hiding behind that faceless dark mask of hers and even pulled the hood over her so nothing could be spied upon, there was a shift in her stance, her figure… There was a new feel to her presence, something she just couldn't place for the time being. 

Although she knew that she was using some sort of spell or skill to change her looks matching hers, she felt that this explanation was lacking… There had to be something more to this strange girl…

For the time being, she decided not to pry further, but she also wasn't ready to let the matter go entirely. After all, it was her face that was stolen!

—

As they made their way towards the Adventurer's Hall, Galina couldn't help but look with amazement at the sight of the huge towering multi-storied wooden structure. Its size easily dwarfed over all the other buildings around it, lording over the street by its sheer size itself.

However, she couldn't help but shiver at the sigh of the large black-painted double doors, reminding her of the not-so-pleasant experience they had in the orc's camp. 

"Don't worry, Galina. You will not suffer the same ever again. I will not let harm come to you ever again." Noticing her growing fear and trepidation Aiden leaned closer to her and whispered gently into her ears causing it to twitch.

Thankfully to the mask, she was still using to hide, her deep blushing expression remained hidden from the others. She meekly nodded at her Young Master's words, clenching her small, leather glove-covered fists in the process. 

She knew this place was not the same, still, her dreaded memories came back as she stood in front of these doors. 

Still, amidst the chaos and darkness, there was also light and hope. Soon, her bad memories were replaced by the sight of her Young Master. His dashing figure appeared before her as she tore up the door to their prison and freed her, her brother, and their Teacher. Even going beyond that, he also invited them to join their family, and akin to a god he gave them incredible boons, elevating their powerless state into something they themselves couldn't even fathom.

'Yes.' She reminded herself as she remembered the fated moments. 'I have no reason to fear. Not anymore. I… No. WE are no longer alone. We are one big family, Young Master's family!'

Her fear slowly vanished, replaced by bubbling excitement, her strive to continue following in his footsteps. The Young Master, Aiden, who saved them, not just from their predicament, but from a fate that would have been worse than death… 

He was not just their 'Young Master', nor just the leader of their new family. 

He was much… much more.

Her expression eased up, Galina turned to look at Aiden, matching his worried-looking gaze with a gentle one of her own. She nodded, reaching out and grabbing his hand, interlocking their fingers together.

"Yes… Let's go inside!"