The lights were dim and yellow, lending a bit of warmth to the room.
Raiden Mei closed the door and stood by the entrance without going any further.
In the middle of the night, behind her good friend Kiana's back, she was alone in a room with a member of the opposite sex she had only known for a day.
"..."
She was a little nervous.
The faint blush on Raiden Mei's face was not noticeable under the warm-toned lights.
The girl held her head high, maintaining a relatively safe distance.
Brian sat on the edge of the bed, holding a beautifully bound book of fairy tales.
One Thousand and One Nights.
Raiden Mei remembered that in this storybook, it was mostly about boys from the East who obtained mysterious powers from the East, then battled various evil forces, and finally gained money and power, winning the princess's hand.
However, the contents of this book were not her main concern tonight.
She had agreed to let Brian stay longer, not just because she was moved by his good looks.
"I'm here. What do you know about my father's situation?"
Her amethyst-like eyes held a determined light, and Raiden Mei's expression was a far cry from the weakness she usually showed.
Since a certain day last year, she hadn't seen her father, nor did she know where he was being held. She couldn't even arrange a visit.
Even when she asked her family's past allies for help, she was invariably turned away.
She knew nothing, and so she was filled with worry for her father.
In a situation where a man claimed to know something, Raiden Mei had no other choice, even if she knew there were risks involved.
Closing the book, Brian's expression was gentle: "There's no need to be so tense. I'm not some demon, I won't eat you."
In his vision, the girl was wearing a simple dress, her long, purplish-red hair draped over her shoulders; she had a slender figure and a slim waist, and her calves below the hem of her dress were as smooth as jade under the light.
She was indeed very beautiful.
Raiden Mei: "..."
You won't eat my person, but you'll sway my will.
During the day at school, she had been dazed by his good looks and had foolishly brought this man home.
It was the same when they were cooking. She had already been regretting letting him stay for a night, but then she had inexplicably let him stay for a few more days.
After two consecutive instances, Brian was no different from a Ginza club incubus in Raiden Mei's eyes. With just a few words, he could sway her wavering will.
This man was toxic!
She had to maintain a safe distance, lest her father lose his beloved daughter upon his release from prison.
"No need, I'm fine here."
"Alright, alright, it seems you have some prejudice against me," Brian said with a smile.
He was clearly an upright and good young man, who had only used some less-than-honorable means to get things done.
Yet, in the eyes of this beautiful girl, he had become a symbol of danger. What an injustice.
"Let's get straight to the point. We are in great danger and could be killed by your father's enemies at any moment."
"Why?" Raiden Mei frowned with her delicate eyebrows.
Several months had passed since Raiden Ryoma's imprisonment.
During this long time, she had been all alone.
If her father's enemies had wanted to deal with her, then she, a young lady with no one to help her, would have been taken out by an assassin long ago. She certainly wouldn't have survived to this day.
From the perspective of time and interest, this argument didn't make any sense at all.
She didn't believe it, because it was completely illogical.
Amidst her doubts, Brian put down the book, his gentle face filled with a rare seriousness: "Raiden Mei, you probably don't want any harm to come to your father, right?"
----------------------------------
ME Corp Underground Factory.
A woman with a military green coat draped over her shoulders and long golden hair falling naturally stood before the Titan production line, silently watching the killing machines roll off the assembly line.
A man in a black suit walked up behind her and respectfully reported the results of his mission.
"Lady Cocolia, this is the latest intelligence regarding Raiden Mei."
"Let me see." The woman, long accustomed to a high position, exuded a commanding aura.
Even though she had an extremely voluptuous figure, no one dared to have any improper thoughts.
It wasn't that no one had ever had improper thoughts about her; many powerful figures were filled with a desire to conquer such a woman with a voluptuous figure and high status.
However, all the men who had dared to have designs on her had already become statues covered in snow and ice.
She was a ruthless person who had fought her way out of the barren wasteland of that Siberian academy.
Compared to a few trivial desires, one's own life was more important.
The Anti-Entropy member in the black suit lowered his head, his respectful demeanor intensifying.
"Yes."
Cocolia took the paper documents, her she-wolf-like eyes absorbing the essence of the file in a few breaths.
It included recent personality profiles, psychological state assessments, and interpersonal relationship intelligence on Raiden Mei.
Judging by the dates, although Raiden Mei had the comfort of this Kiana Kaslana, the long-term school bullying had already pushed her mind to its breaking point, just one step away from collapse.
Except, at the very end of this intelligence report, which was today, this important strategic asset's psychological state had shown a clear improvement.
Evidently, it was related to this new man who had appeared in Raiden Mei's life.
Anti-Entropy had not found any related intelligence on him, and his origins were questionable.
However, that wasn't important to Cocolia.
The key was...
Raiden Mei had a favorable impression of this man, and had even agreed to let him stay at her home.
Raiden Mei was hoping for a lifeline to pull her out of the drowning waters.
Then she would grant her wish.
She ordered: "Continue to monitor Raiden Mei's movements. If there's an opportunity, create chances for them to deepen their relationship."
If you have never touched the light, you will not yearn for beauty; if you have always been in despair, you will not crave hope.
Give people hope and light, and just as she is about to feel that tiny bit of warmth, destroy it. The flower of despair that blooms in that instant will be incomparably splendid.
Just like...
The despair inflicted upon the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, by the researchers in Schicksal's Tower of Babel laboratory in the year 2000.
"Yes." The man in the black suit received his orders and was about to carry them out.
But before he could get far, a silver-gray-haired girl with exoskeleton armor on her calves came uninvited.
"The Bronya will complete this mission."
The girl's expression was cold, her silver-gray eyes looking at Cocolia without any emotion.
The man in the black suit, who hadn't left yet, stood to the side, trying to make himself as small as possible, hoping that the dispute between this mother and daughter wouldn't involve him.
Cocolia looked at her adopted daughter, their gazes seeming to spark in the rumbling factory.
Cocolia was silent for a moment.
"Then you will carry it out, my daughter."