’’Then, one day, the bird died. Even though he never expressed it, Little Ian blamed himself for the dove’s untimely death. A part of Little Ian changed forever...’’ Old Madam closed her eyes, "After that incident, I never saw him near small animals until today. Others thought that he disdained them for being weak and vulnerable but they don’t know..."
’’My grandson saw himself as a beast. He thought of himself as incapable of treating those small and vulnerable animals with care. He was afraid of harming them, so, he distanced himself.’’
More tears ran down the butler’s cheeks, "The Second Master... has always taken things all upon him..."
Old Madam turned to the butler, "I see the whole world in my grandson’s eyes when he looks at her."
’’And if I try to separate them, I am afraid this time, it would not end with him falling sick for weeks..."
In another city in Country V.
’’Second Master, I have made the hotel arrangements. It will take us hours to return to the mansion. You have been out for the meeting the entire evening so you should take a little rest first.’’
Adrian was sitting on the backseat of the car, with his eyes closed.
Getting no response from him, Ji Yan was relieved. It meant that he had agreed to it.
At this moment, Adrian’s phone buzzed.
"Second Master, it’s a call from Dr. Knight."
When Adrian remained silent, Ji Yan quickly answered the call and put it on speaker.
"Ace, when are you coming? Both Third Young Master and I miss you to death..."
Adrian calmly uttered one word, "Disconnect."
Ji Yan coughed and reached out towards the phone.
"Hey, hey, wait, I didn’t just call you for this. It’s about your wife!"
Adrian’s eyes opened.
Ji Yan immediately went into alert mode. Ella had changed her ways recently but as the things stood, he couldn’t fully trust her. Did she find an opportunity to escape from the main mansion while the second master wasn’t around?
"Cough... Did you guys have a fight or something?" Ronan cleared his throat, "It seems like she is in a terrible mood."
Adrian remained silent.
"We even provoked her a little but she did not respond as she usually would..."
Adrian’s eyes darkened and the air around him turned colder.
Ji Yan flinched and immediately made his move by hanging up on Ronan.
"Second Master, we..."
"Back to the Main Mansion."
Ella laid in bed, unable to fall asleep. Beside her, Riri and Lala were nestled together, sleeping comfortably on one side of the bed.
She tossed and turned for a few hours before she approached the window.
After midnight, all the lights in the grand estate were out. Even the mansions of the branch families were enshrouded in darkness.
The moon had hidden behind the clouds and the only source of light was the bedside lamp that dimly lit the room.
After sitting on the windowsill for a few minutes, Ella stood up to go back to the bed.
But from the corner of her eyes, she spotted a small glow.
Ella halted in her tracks. A golden twinkle caught in her as a firefly fluttered towards her.
As she reached towards it, the firefly sat on the tip of her finger.
Soon, in front of her eyes, countless little fireflies twinkled in the huge garden like stars on the ground.
As they emerged from there, the entire place was caught in golden hues.
The gloom of the place was replaced with the lights of the fireflies who fluttered in front of her eyes.
In both her lives, Ella had never seen something . Something so beautiful and captivating that it took her breath away.
When she looked down, she spotted Adrian standing in the garden.
Ella’s eyes widened slightly.
As the fireflies emerged from around him, the glow caught onto his face, illuminating his perfect features. And the pair of striking eyes that never looked away from her.
The firefly sitting on her finger flew away, leaving her with the realization that maybe she had seen something as beautiful. She just hadn’t realized.
Unexplainable emotions curled in her chest and she retreated from the spot where she stood.
Behind the bushes of the main mansion garden.
’’Ah... Faster... Faster..." Ji Yan cried, "Third young master, you had to aim the fireflies towards Miss Yu’s balcony ahhh! They are all flying away."
"Do I look like a firefly flyer to you?" Kade shot him a scathing gaze as he shook the glass jars in his hand.
"Yanyan, ah, these are fireflies, not baseballs. How do you expect him to aim them specifically at her balcony?" Ronan also chided, shaking the huge
At this moment, a cold wave suddenly flickered in the garden, freezing the three people.
Their heads whipped in Adrian’s direction.
Adrian stood in the darkness, dressed in black, with his back facing towards them. But the man seemed to have been covered in frost, the aura of a grim reaper emanated from him.
"W-What just happened?" Kade shivered, "Wasn’t brother fine just now?"
Ji Yan pointed his chin upwards, "Over there."
Ronan and Kade slowly looked up and when they did, they realized that Ella had disappeared from the window.
Ronan sighed, "I told you she was acting weird."
Kade nodded, "Otherwise, she is such a white lotus. Even if she didn’t like it, she would act like brother broke a piece of the moon for her."
Ji Yan looked at them, drowning in his dry tears, "I told you to do it properly ah... Maybe Miss Yu did not like it."
’’It’s fine. We can try it again tomorrow," Kade threw the empty jar aside, massaging his sore arms.
"Where would we get so many fireflies again?"
Kade quirked a brow, "We will get it from where you got it today. Or don’t tell me you caught these one by one?" His laughter came to an abrupt halt when Ji Yan remained silent.
Ji Yan smiled bitterly and opened his mouth.
"After the Second Master received your call, we passed by a creek forest on our way back to Vermilion City. Second Master stopped there and caught these fireflies one by one, all by himself. He did not even let me catch a single one..."
’’Yet, you released them in one go despite my warning and displeased Miss Yu...’
The sound of a branch cracking made three heads turn in the opposite direction.