Farewell

"Are you sure I can tell my brother and Papa about you?" The girl pouted as she let Ursa brush her hair.

"Unfortunately, young lady, your family cannot know my identity for now." Ursa smiled apologetically at the little girl in front of him. "It would be too suspicious if just a day after you were kidnapped, I, a stranger, suddenly am getting closer to your family. It wouldn't take a genius to connect the dots and realize that I was involved in this crime accident, and it would be easy for anyone who has a strategic position in the government to figure out my identity."

Of course, even though Aliyya was a smart girl compared to her age, she couldn't understand all the big words Ursa sputtered here. The only thing she knew was that her savior wouldn't be able to join her togreet her family, and honestly, she was unhappy with it.

Ursa could only sigh helplessly as he himself had no other choice. If anything, he would love to meet the Sunni family and build a connection with them. Unfortunately, he had to consider his own safety first here, so being anonymous would be the best.

"How about this?" He suddenly spoke, gaining the girl's attention. "If after your father solved his problem with Golak Mayar, you still want to meet me, I will personally go to your house to greet your father. Not earlier, and not later, okay?"

"How do you know if I still want to meet you, though?" She frowned, asking skeptically.

In return, Ursa just smiled mysteriously before saying, "Trust me, I will know." After all, he would also investigate Golak Mayar after this, and it was unavoidable for his road to intersect with Lawyer Hasan. Just from that, monitoring the little girl's well-being would be an easy task for him.

"Is that a promise?" Her voice was so weak and full of hesitation as she offered her pinkies. Seeing that, Ursa nodded solemnly, grabbing her pinkies with his before saying, "After everything is over, I will visit you again. That is a promise."

-0-

Meanwhile, in Lawyer Hasan's residence…

"How is it, Dad? Is there any news about Aliyya?" A boy about 16 or 17 years old asked his father about his little sister's situation.

"Still nothing! God, this is so infuriating!" The old man who the boy identified as his father growled in frustration. He looked so haggard currently, with messy hair, wrinkled clothes that he hadn't had a chance to change since yesterday, and the dark bag under his eyes. If anyone saw his current state, they would never associate the man with the best lawyer in this city who always looked neat and confident. "I don't get it! If this was a kidnapping crime, someone would've definitely called me and asked for ransom. But no one calls me for the entire night! Is it because the kidnappers don't have any business with me? Or is it because Aliyya is lost, not kidnapped?"

"Dad, stop thinking over any unnecessary things and focus on searching for any information about Aliyya!" The boy next to him snapped, operating the small laptop in front of him in a God's speed. "Damn, it! Nothing got caught in the security cameras in the Citybank Area! This is the sixth security system I have broken in a night, and it is still nothing!"

A day had passed since Aliyya's whereabouts were missing, and it was not exaggerating to say that the situation in this house was completely chaos. Hasan hadn't had a chance to sleep in the last 48 hours, kept calling all the contacts on his phone to see if someone saw his little girl or not. The only answer he received was condolences and promises to keep an eye on if they had any information about his daughter, nothing much and nothing less.

Meanwhile, Bai, the oldest son of the Sunni family had been staring at his laptop all night, hacking the city system to gain access to the security cameras all around the city. Still, even with all the efforts he made, he hadn't found anything yet, not even the sight of a child missing could be seen there.

"Is it time for us to call the police?" Bai asked hesitantly, pushing his glasses upward.

 Hasan stopped his doing for a moment, hesitation flashed on his face. Honestly, if he didn't have to, the lawyer didn't have to alert the cops. Currently, he was still in a crucial stage of investigating the scandal involving a veteran member of the city council, and if the news of this report spread around, a lot of people could take advantage of it to hold back his investigation, and that was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

Still, he had no choice here. The longer he waited to get help, the lesser the chance his daughter could be found. Hell, for all he knew, his daughter could've already been on the ship, crossing the sea to get through the Akasia continent and reach Republic Valaria, the country far on the other side of the world. He shuddered at the thought of his daughter alone in a completely different country.

"You are right, Bai. We need to call – "

KRING! KRING!

The sound of the house bell ringing suddenly interrupted his words, and the pair of father and son stared at each other for a moment before the former jumped immediately, trying to see who was on the other side of the door. He had a slight hope that some of his acquaintances would be there, giving him good news about his daughter's whereabouts.

However, what – or who – he found standing in front of the door stunned him. There, he could see Aliyya, looking clean and intact as if nothing had happened. At first, Hasan couldn't believe his eyes. He stood frozen, his mouth slightly open in shock.

"Is this real?" He muttered unconsciously.

When the little girl answered, "This is very real, Papa," that was when everything finally sunk in. Before he could think or say anything, his arms reached out, and he pulled Aliyya close to him, holding her tightly as if he was afraid that this was just a bad dream to mess him up.

As he was holding Aliyya tightly in his arms, Hasan suddenly heard footsteps behind him. It was Bai who was curious about who was visiting them, and as the boy saw the little girl hugged by his father, he froze in utter shock.

"Aliyya…. Is that you?"

"Hi, Bai." Aliyya waved at him softly as if she had just arrived from the school.

In that instant, without even thinking twice, Bai rushed over and joined the hug. They all squeezed each other tightly, trying to convince themselves that this was real. After about 48 hours of missing, the little princess of their family was finally back, and the two men who had been running all over the city finally let out a small cry full of joy and relief.

Ursa who watched it from afar couldn't help but smile, putting back the hood of his windbreaker to cover his head. As he was about to mix into the crowd again, the boy muttered, "Good for you, young lady. See you later." And then, he blended with his surroundings once again before he disappeared, going back to complete his mission.