With so many questions weighing on her mind, Elara returned to headquarters and went straight to Adrian's office. Nolan greeted her with a deeply worried expression.
"You're finally back. No one punched or strangled you, right?" For some reason, the anxious question sounded ridiculous to Elara.
"If that had happened, you might have been waiting here for the next three days, Nolan." Elara studied Nolan for a moment, then walked past her cousin, who had been standing in the doorway all this time.
"Thank goodness I don't have to wait that long," Nolan replied before sitting back down on the sofa.
Meanwhile, Adrian was still there, looking extremely busy as he checked through a stack of documents. Of course, he had already noticed Elara's arrival as well.
Elara set the metal box she had brought on Adrian's desk. "Mission accomplished."
"You didn't open it?" Adrian asked in an investigative tone, his eyes fixed seriously on Elara's face.
"Of course I did," Elara replied with confidence.
Although she was curious about the box's contents, Elara was even more curious about the folder she had found. Could Adrian actually have known about the folder and deliberately placed it there so Elara would find it? Or... did Adrian really have no idea it was there?
"Uncle, why did you give me this assignment? You know perfectly well that I'm capable of much more than this."
"It's precisely because I know what you're capable of that I gave you this assignment."
"But—"
"Didn't I already tell you not to ask too many questions?"
Elara let out a rough exhale. "Hm... all right."
"That's enough. Finish up. Come on, let's go home," Nolan urged, suddenly cutting in as she slipped an arm around Elara's shoulders. She was ready to take her cousin home to rest.
Elara could only obey resignedly. She was already exhausted after spending the entire day doing physical training at Dominion, then having to carry out her first mission. However, before they could leave the room, Adrian's voice stopped her.
"You didn't find anything else there?" Adrian asked, successfully making Elara freeze for a moment.
Did Adrian know about the old folder? Or was he merely curious?
Elara glanced back briefly. "No."
Yes, it was better for Elara to keep it secret. Her instincts told her that her uncle truly knew nothing about the old folder or what was written inside it.
The next day, Elara was just about to leave for school when she found Julian already standing in front of the house. Who knew how long he had been there?
Julian greeted Elara's appearance on the porch with a beaming smile. Of course, Elara did not return it.
Julian had now become another target of her suspicions. So Elara had no intention of being too kind to him, even though Julian was her childhood friend.
Instead of saying hello, Elara simply walked past Julian and got straight into her car. She usually left with Nolan, but today Nolan had gone earlier because of student council business.
Yep, her cousin was the student council president, and she had been incredibly busy ever since taking office the year before.
"Elara, can we talk for a minute?" Julian asked as he tapped on Elara's car window. But Elara chose to keep ignoring him and drove away, leaving the house and Julian behind. He could only watch her departure with a disappointed look.
During lunch break, Elara once again spent her time on the rooftop. The sky was fairly overcast today, and a gentle breeze drifted through the air. It was as if the universe fully supported her sitting and relaxing at the edge of the rooftop without having to worry about the heat.
Even with the atmosphere this peaceful, Elara's thoughts were anything but calm. The old folder she had found the previous night seemed to offer her so many clues. Yet she had no idea where to begin.
Elara heard footsteps approaching. She let out a rough exhale. She knew exactly who it was.
Not Nolan. Her cousin was still incredibly busy all day today. Understandably so, since there would be a change in the student council administration.
The person approaching was obviously Julian.
Throughout the day, Julian had kept trying to steal an opportunity to talk to Elara. But Elara had always avoided him because she still didn't want to speak with Julian.
However, after thinking it over, she decided it would be better to face him this time. Besides, Julian didn't seem like he was going to give up.
"If this isn't important, you'd better forget about talking to me," Elara said without turning toward Julian even once.
"I won't stop you from joining Dominion."
Elara smiled bitterly. "Good."
"So, are you willing to forgive me now?" Julian asked cautiously.
"Go away. My angelic side isn't with me right now," Elara said, hoping Julian would understand what she meant.
Yes, she still wasn't ready to forgive Julian. It certainly wasn't that easy.
"Elara, what do I have to do for you to forgive me?"
Elara rose from her position and walked toward Julian. Once again, her cold gaze pierced straight into his eyes.
"Is it really true that you had nothing to do with my parents' deaths?"
Elara asked the same question she had asked a few days earlier. She only wanted to make sure Julian truly wasn't involved.
"Of course not. You know we were the same age back then. How could I possibly have been involved?"
It was a fairly reasonable answer, but that didn't mean it was impossible. Still, it was difficult for Elara to refute him.
"Or do you know something about my parents' deaths?"
"Elara, come on. You still suspect me?"
"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"
Julian let out a rough exhale. Disappointment showed on his face. "I see your vengeance has changed you a lot."
"I don't need your judgment, Julian. If you're done talking, please get out of my sight," Elara dismissed him bluntly before returning to her previous position.
She sat at the edge of the rooftop, gazing at the vast sky as if Julian were no longer there.
"I'll prove that your suspicions about me are completely wrong, Elara."
Julian left, irritated.
And Elara didn't care.
She had something more important to deal with. A single name in the file written by her Father.
Silas Vane.