"I can't believe a good person like Professor Ryan was killed in his own Mansion." One of the people in the crowd said. "Yeah!! He was such a gentleman."
"My kid really loved his classes."
'Professor Ryan was killed....!!' Aditya stood staring at the burning Mansion for 10 minutes while in shock. He thought everything he was doing to save her was a secret, but it seems these people have somehow found out. "Professor Ryan was really kind. The number of times that he has helped my family over the years is too many." One of the neighbors ' wives looked very sad. "It's very unfortunate."
"I cannot imagine wanting to kill such a kind and caring person."
"I hope whoever did this dies the same way." "That aside, I am starting to wonder if this community is even safe." Her words made everyone look at her. "The Professor was killed in his own house, and then his house was set on fire. Yet, none of us noticed a thing. This is one of the safest communities in this city. But after this incident, I really doubt that."
Aditya could see all the neighbors looking worried. "Did the Professor have any family?" Another wife asked. "No!!"
"I did not see the professor with anyone."
"As far as I know, he lived completely alone in that big Mansion."
"Every week, some servants came to clean this house while he was present." "I asked the Professor once. He said that he had lost his whole family in an incident." "I did see him with a little girl a few times." Hearing this, Aditya became interested. "You mean that little girl from the orphanage?"
"She is my son's classmate. I heard that she is the top student in Professor's class."
"This may be why the Professor was so kind to her."
'But how did they find out?' This was the question that had been in his mind. From what he knew of the spiritual world, there was no way that anyone would be able to know that Rin was meeting someone. No matter how much he thought, he couldn't find an answer.
After a while, the burn was extinguished, but it was already too late. The Professor's body was burned black. His body was unrecognizable. By now, the whole Mansion also had been burned down. Only two pillars of the Mansion were left standing. The guards took the professor's body after covering it with a long white piece of cloth. Slowly, the crowd also began to disperse. But Aditya kept standing. After a few hours, only Aditya was left standing. 'Now, what should I do?' Aditya tightly clenched his fists, feeling very frustrated.
'This was Rin's last lead. Without the professor, I would never have known where she was being held.'
'If only I had come a little earlier.' It's not like Aditya moved too slowly. He moved at his full speed, but the information that Lady Eleanor had found came a little too late. 'But I cannot blame her either.' It wouldn't be fair if he took his frustration on her. 'Should I summon the entire Istarin army to Stardaw?' A crazy thought came to his mind. 'Once the entire Stardawn is in my palm, I should be able to find where they are keeping Rin.' While he was standing there, a little girl with long red hair was crying. She was silently shedding tears while standing in front of the burnt Mansion. 'Papa....!!' The girl couldn't even cry loudly for her father. This was the situation of Professor Ryan's daughter. The girl kept sobbing for some time before turning around and walking away. Jenny couldn't let anyone find out that she was his daughter. Her father had strictly warned her that if anyone found out that she was his daughter, then those people would come and kill her. 'I have to leave.' She planned to return to her orphanage. Just as she took a turn, she stopped seeing a man standing blocking her path. Aditya could see the dried tears on her cheeks. Her little eyes were red and swollen. "Who are you?" The little girl immediately became cautious. Aditya could not bring himself to be cruel to a little girl who wasn't even 6. He kneeled in front of her and then patted her head with a gentle smile. The girl was about to push his head away from her head when she heard his words. "Professor Ryan was your father, wasn't he?"
Seeing her shocked face, his guess was confirmed. "No...!!" The girl tried to run away in fear. But Aditya firmly held her shoulders. He was careful. He was firm enough to hold her but not too strong to hurt her. "Are you going to kill me?" Knowing that she could not escape, the girl fearfully asked. "Little girl, I am not your enemy." Aditya picked the girl in his arms. His gentle actions lowered her guard. "I don't believe you." The girl still did not believe him. 'Despite being so young, this girl is already this smart. As expected of the Professor's daughter. She certainly inherited Ryan's smart mind.' Aditya was very impressed by the maturity that this girl was showing. "You don't have to believe in me. But let me tell you a story." The girl cautiously looked at Aditya. It was as if she was afraid that he was deceiving her with sweet words. Aditya understood her concerns. "Let's talk somewhere a little quieter." Before she could protest, Aditya brought her to the roof of an abandoned house nearby. The girl looked relieved to find that this stranger hadn't taken her to some dark place. Till now, his actions suggested that he meant no harm to her, which was a big relief to her. "Mister, did you know my dad?" Her father warned her to never reveal her identity to any one. But now that this mister knew his identity, it made her wonder if this man was her father's friend or something. Aditya shook his head with a smile. He wasn't in the mood to smile but compared to him, this girl has lost way more today. She needed his gentle side more than anything. Besides, Aditya did not want to show his negative side to a little girl.
"Actually, I was here to see your dad for the first time. We have never met."
"Then how did you know that I was his daughter?" The curious girl asked. "From your actions when I first ask you." Hearing this, the girl pouted feeling very dissatisfied that she was tricked by him. "Uncle, what is your name?" Hearing her calling him uncle, Aditya felt as if he had suddenly taken a huge blow.
'Uncle? Did she really call me Uncle?' 'My mind may be a lot older, but I am still only 20 years of age. I am not an uncle.' "You can call me Big Brother instead of Uncle." Jenny nodded her head. "Little miss, what is your name?" "I am Jenny. My full name is Jenny Ryan." Though no one knew her full name aside from her father. "That's a very beautiful name." He understood that he couldn't rush things while dealing with a child, even though he wanted quick answers.
"Jenny, I have a secret." Since she was very mature for her age, Aditya felt he could trust her with his secret. Besides, by revealing his secret, he would gain her trust as well. "I have the Dragon Monarch." Aditya did not expect a 5-year-old girl to know about the Dragon Monarch, especially since she lived in a Pocket Dimension World. 'She might not even know that there is a bigger world out there.'
"Are you really the Dragon Monarch?" Opposite of what he had expected, Jenny's eyes shined as she looked at him. "Yes!!" Although he was taken aback, he still nodded. "But you look nothing like the Dragon Monarch."
"Have you seen the Dragon Monarch before?" Aditya asked. "No, but I heard that the Dragon Monarch is really handsome. But you don't look so handsome to me." She said while tilting her head as if trying to see if anything was handsome about his face. Somehow, Aditya felt offended. "....That's because I am in disguise."
"Why?" She curiously asked.
"Well, the people that your daddy used to work for are holding my future wife. I wanted to meet you, Daddy, so that I can know where I can find these people to rescue my future wife." "But if I appeared here, then those people might have fled, so I had to use a disguise." Aditya kept things as simple as possible in hopes that this little girl would understand. "Ohh...!!" "But don't you already have like four future wives?" The little one asked. Aditya took a deep breath. He felt that this girl was very rude.
"Why can't I have more than 4 wives?" "It's just so rare." Most people usually settle with two or three wives if their first wife allows them to marry other women in Stardawn. "Anyways, do you know anything about the people that your dad used to work for?" Aditya asked in a hopeful tone. If she didn't know anything, then Aditya would have to use extreme means, which involved slaughtering a ton of people. "I don't know anything." The girl honestly shook her head. Her sentence made him feel very disappointed. "But I do know that there is someone whom Dad meets every week. He comes to take research-related supplies from Dad. And today happens to be that day."