Chapter 142 - Brotherly Love

After the successful plan of infiltrating the Assassin's Guild and giving a good scare for its members, Elle did not need to worry about them in the meantime.

"By the way, I advise you, don't go somewhere near the underground, our assumption was right." Elle turned to Charles with her serious voice.

"Charles, you are their target, thinking that through you, they will know Catseye's whereabouts. So you need to be careful. Stay with Master Phantom and train."

Charles's face became slightly pale. He did not know what was most frightening, assassins targeting him or the intense training with Phantom will soon start.

He could not find the right word to utter. Phantom and Elle just laughed at him for being silent.

Charles never knew but Elle had another thing to share with him and Phantom that would make him more speechless.

"So after Assassin's Guild, who will be your next target?" Phantom asked Elle curiously.

"I bet it will be Black Shadow!" Charles suddenly found his voice. Elle just looked at him helplessly.

Every time they would mention about training, Charles would always keep his mouth shut like a well-behaved child.

But when it comes to other topics, he could not stop his blabbering mouth.

"I think Black Shadow is just some attention-seeker who would not stop pestering me until I notice him. Just let him be for a while." Elle responded.

"I will focus on collecting the debts, one person at a time. I will check if who will be that next person on the list." chilly glints flashed through her eyes as she smirked at them.

"Nothing could escape from Catseye's grasp once she started her hunt," Phantom said proudly while smiling back at her.

"Ahem, count me in. I love getting into action for these last few days." Excitement could be heard from Charles's voice.

"Okay, I will inform you of the details of the plan once I finalize it. How's our Cafe Business doing?"

"Same as usual, we have loyal customers. They are looking for you." Charles replied.

"By the way, I want to inform you that I could not come to Cafe in the meantime. I have to take care Erick. Can you manage it without me?"

"Sure, we don't have a problem with that, am I right Charles?" Phantom turned to Charles only to see his grim expression.

"Why are you doing that? His parents are there to take care of him." Charles said. He sounded displeased and not happy after Erick's name was mention.

"Because it is my duty as his girlfriend," Elle said a matter-of-factly. Charles wanted to vomit blood after hearing that.

"I thought you are leaving him already? Besides, both of you are just pretending." Charles snorted at her.

"Oh, I have not told you yet, haven't I? I decided to stay with him as long as my identity is not yet exposed."

"And one more thing... this time we are not pretending anymore. It is for real now, we are officially in a relationship." a bright smile appeared on her beautiful face.

Thud!

Charles fell off his chair after hearing that revelation from Elle. Then it followed by a moment of silence.

After no one knows, how long time had passed after that deafening silence, Charles spoke up again.

"Pardon... I think I just heard it wrong. What did you say again?"

Elle's eyes rolled skyward seeing Charles's reaction. 'Why do I need to repeat. Did I not say it clearly.'

"Okay let me rephrase it. Erick and I are in a serious relationship now. I am not a fake girlf friend anymore."

Seeing Elle was happy right now, Phantom was satisfied with it. He knew the pros and cons of this but as long as he could see Elle was happy, he would not object to this relationship.

But it looked like someone else there was not happy hearing that news. Phantom just shook his head while looking at Charles.

Charles could not take in all that information. But seeing Elle's bright and vibrant expression that he saw for the first time, he realized that she really likes the man.

He did not know how he could accept it. Charles stood up and walked out, leaving their secret bas.e.m.e.nt without saying a word.

Elle gave Phantom a questioning look "What happened to him?" she asked.

Phantom just let out a soft chuckle. "I think you need to talk to him."

"Anyway, I am happy for you. I will support you in this so don't worry. That punk is the only problem since he looks like he did not like the detective guy."

"Thank you, master. I need to talk with that stubborn punk right now." Phantom just nodded at her.

Then Elle followed Charles outside the Cafe. Fortunately, she was able to catch up with him. She grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Hey, where are you going? Can we talk?" Elle saw his dark expression. She had the urge to laugh at him but she was able to suppress her laughter.

"Why him? He won't do you any good. He is a detective, you know that. And he is the one assigned in your case." Charles started to rant at her.

Elle just let him speak. She just stood there listening to him.

"You know what will happen when he discovers your identity. He might hate you. How will you manage that?"

"What if he will use your feelings to his advantage? What will you do if he asks you to surrender? Will you do that for him?" he was so upset right now.

"Did you think about these consequences? You are putting yourself in danger Elle! I can't accept it. I can't! Stay away from him."

Charles was done speaking. He was now waiting for Elle's response. Elle could understand what he was saying to her. 

She had thought about these things already for so many times. She even tried to stay away from him but now she could not do it.

Elle sighed deeply before she gave him her response and explanation. Elle met Charles's questioning eyes.

"If it is not him, will you become happy for me?" Elle asked him first instead of answering him.

Charles was stunned in a moment.

'If the guy is not a detective, will I be happy for her?' he asked himself.

With this confrontation, he could assess his feelings for her. He stared at Elle who was waiting for his reply.

There was a point when Charles also asked himself about his feelings towards Elle. At first, he admitted to himself that he was attracted to her.

Despite her terrifying reputation as the Devilish Assassin, he got to know her more as times goes by.

He started to care for her to a certain point he wanted to protect her with his life.

After so much confusion, he ended up with an answer. Before he mistook it but now he was certain.

'I like Elle, I truly care about her, I love her... I love her more than a friend but not in a romantic way. I love her as my younger sister.'

Sometimes he felt jealous when Erick came to picture because he thought he was his competitor in Elle's attention.

He was not used to seeing Elle so comfortable with others aside from him and Mr. Phantom. So he started to hate Erick.

He felt like he was taking away Elle from them especially now. He felt mad because he was worried about Elle.

Charles was afraid that Elle would be hurt in the end. That's why he was acting this way.

"Yes, I will be happy for you if you love someone else, not a detective like him." Charles finally answered.

Elle could feel his sincerity. He was telling her the truth. Elle heaved a sigh of relief.

She felt relieved that Charles was acting this way not because he felt something for her but because he cared for her as his family.

Elle smiled at him and suddenly hugged Charles. He was taken aback by her action. 

"Hey, What does this hug mean? Are you going to stay away from him now?" He was confused. He heard Elle chuckled.

"No, I am not going to stay away from him. I am sorry but I don't think I can love someone else aside from Erick."

Elle released Charles from that hug and she held his shoulders while looking at him in the eyes.

"Can't you be happy for me this time? Can't you see... I am happy because of him."

Charles thought about it and it was true. He could feel that Elle was happy

"If you really care about me, please support me. Can't you do that?" Elle asked him softly.

Charles had conflicting thoughts right now. Elle continued to convince him.

"I know the possible consequences of this but this time I want to follow my heart. Besides, if I ended up hurt, I know I have you and Master Phantom."

"You will be there for me to comfort me right?" Elle asked him with a hopeful look in her eyes.

Charles could not resist Elle who was acting so gentle at him for the first time. She looked like a little sister asking her elder brother a favor.

In the end, Charles raised his white flag and he surrendered to her.

He took a deep breath before saying. "Alright, alright. I will support both of you. But still, I don't like him. I will surely beat him to death if ever he hurts you."

Elle laughed at loud because of that remarks.

"Well, if you are planning to beat him then make sure you will not be slacking off when you started training with Master Phantom." She teased him.

"Because, I think, with your current condition, you won't be able to land a punch at him and you will end up being beaten by him," she added.

"Ouch, you are always so harsh when it comes to me," Charles complained.

"Well, you know bullying you is one of my stress relievers. Haha." Elle could not stop herself from laughing so hard.

She was glad that Charles finally listened to her request.