Obvious Trap (9)

Shui's stress relief continued for a few minutes before he stopped. However, he didn't stop because he thought that enough time had passed, but because Adrian had run out of energy needed to heal himself.

"Tch, weak."

Since he had to hold back, Shui didn't feel like he had done enough damage, but Adrian thought differently. Just being acknowledged by Shui made him flinch and fearfully hold his head down. Shui was pleased by his reaction, but that wasn't important.

Once he was finished pummeling Adrian, Shui dragged him over to the others. The sight was a bit too horrifying so he had applied minimal healing to Adrian's face, even so, the look in his eyes hinted on the agony he had endured. None of them felt sorry for him, but they all made a mental note not to anger Shui in the future.

Shui dropped Adrian in front of Emily, and then lightly kicked him so that he sat up. Adrian had obvious signs of being traumatized despite the way he tried to act normal, but his fear quickly died down as he faced Emily. That vile smile of his didn't resurface, but the power of his 'love' won over his fear.

Emily didn't know exactly what was going through his head, but she felt uncomfortable feeling his gaze. They had been through so much together, so she thought that she knew him, but this incident had completely flipped that idea on its head. Before she could even begin to judge him, she had to get answers for the questions that had sprouted in her heart.

"Senior brother, why are you doing this?"

"Shouldn't you already know that? You're the one who betrayed me first."

"What? What do you mean? When did I betray you?"

"Hmph, of course you don't realize. You only care about yourself. I was the one who was always there for you! I was the one protected you this entire time! On our way here, do you know how many times I've risked my life to save yours? You would be dead, if not worse, if it wasn't for me. I brought you here! I kept you alive! And for what? The moment some good-looking guy helps you out and buys some crap for you, you throw yourself on him."

Adrian didn't say a name, but everyone knew who he was speaking about. Shui already knew he was jealous so he wasn't surprised, while both siblings understood that he was just a giant ball of corrupted love, which wiped out any bit of sympathy that they might have had for him. On the other hand, Emily felt more confused.

"I didn't throw myself on him, we just became friends. And, senior brother, he saved you too. How can you say that?"

"Hah! I never needed saving. Everything would have been fine if he just stayed out of the way. I had everything under control, but he ruined it all! All of my hard work was wasted because he interfered. I was so close from-"

"Wait, what do you mean you had everything out of control? Didn't you tell me to run because it was dangerous?"

Adrian opened his mouth to respond, but then he realized that he had said too much so he closed his mouth. He was passionate about shouting his motive, so Emily wondered why he suddenly stopped, and Shui wouldn't allow him to run now. He dropped his palm on his head and slightly squeezed it.

"Do you want to tell her about your father, or should I?"

Adrian flinched and clenched his teeth. Shui had only seen Adrian with his father once, but it was only after exchanging information with Maha after the concert that he remembered the person he was with, and after asking Maha more about him, he figured out the rest of the story that Emily didn't know.

"Senior brother? Now that I think about it, you never talked about your father. Did, he order you to-!"

"No! I found you first. He tried to kill you, but I told him not to because I was sure I could make you mine."

"Hmm, since you were so sure, does that mean it was your father that set up those failed assassination attempts?" Shui commented.

Adrian shook off his hand and glared at him with a deep hatred, but both of knew that his glare wasn't intimidating. Adrian wanted to see Emily tear up and admit her fault, but he also knew his own faults. If everything was revealed then he knew that Emily's distress might become rage, however, Shui was glad to reveal the inconvenient truth.

"What, so those incidents, were fake?" Emily asked hesitantly.

"..."

Adrian kept his silence, but that answer was loud enough. She didn't want to believe it, but the logical mind that had been trained as an array master, picked up on the suspicious points that she chose to ignore until now.

'Even though we almost died several times, neither of us received serious injuries and despite forcing back assassins on multiple occasions, they always attacked with the same number with approximately the same strength.'

Emily felt her mind going towards an answer that she wanted to ignore, but she had an obligation to see this through. Still, she wasn't ready yet. She squeezed Dull Harmony and bit her lip before going back to a topic that had been skipped over, unaware that it was at the core of everything.

"Senior,...Adrian, who is your father and why did he want to kill me?"

Emily changing her way of addressing him hurt more than expected, but it was the question she asked that really contorted his expression. Adrian had a pensive look as his eyes switched between Shui and Emily. Announcing the identity of his father had been part of the plan, but he didn't like the way he was being forced to say it. However, he didn't want Shui to mess things up any further, so this time he took the initiative.

"He's someone that was involved in the incident that led to your master's death. He tried to kill you because he didn't want to leave behind any hidden danger, but I convinced him that I could get you on our side. Do you understand now? If it wasn't for me, you would be dead already."

Just as he intended, Adrian's explanation was like a clap of thunder to Emily's heart, but everything after his first sentence faded into obscurity. When it all happened, there were countless times when she suspected that someone was behind her master's death, but without evidence, all that did was dye her in paranoia so she eventually suppressed that line of thought. Even so, the reveal of a prime suspect awakened the spirit of her vengeance, instantly dominating all hesitation.

'His father, killed my master. He, killed him. He didn't even get his hands dirty. He besmirched my master's name. He came after me. My master did nothing wrong but he killed him. He killed him for no reason. My only master. He killed him. He, killed him.

He killed him!'

As abrupt as a ghost, Emily lunged at Adrian like a predator and wrapped her fingers around his neck.

"Who is he?! Who the hell was behind it? Answer me!"

Frightened by her transformation, Adrian didn't have the slightest clue as to how to handle this situation. Shui and the siblings were also surprised by her change, but none of them interfered.

"Tell me! Tell me now!"

Once he saw that Emily was seriously trying to kill him, Adrian tried to resist, but without his nature energy, he was like a mortal to Emily. He grabbed her hands and pulled and pulled, but his feeble hands had no effect. He thought that he was prepared to die as a last resort, but Emily's terrifying bloodshot eyes crushed that resolve.

In a desperate attempt to stay alive, he tried to utter the answer she wanted.

"His, name is-"

That was all he could say. Before another word was let loose from those lips, his head popped like a bubble. And hit by that blood and mushy organs at close range, Emily slowly looked down at her hands. They were red, wet and warm.

She fainted.