“A-ah.” Rose realized she had been staring at him with a stunned expression on her face. Averting her gaze, she took his hand. She couldn’t believe she was staring at him so intently. While she couldn’t help it and Arthur most likely wouldn’t mind, it was still rude, improper, and embarrassing.

She followed him outside while still averting her gaze. Embarrassed by herself, she couldn’t bear to look at his face, even though not looking was an absolute waste. “Sorry, Rose,” Arthur said once outside. She did not understand why he apologized, but it came after that. “Is my aura too much for you?”

“Well, ah, no, it’s ...” Arthur dazzling aura faded, not so much until it was gone, but it no longer drove her crazy. Her heart calmed and her face cooled down. “ ... yeah.” It wasn’t his fault though. It was her incompetence for letting her guards down. If it wasn’t Arthur but an enemy, she might lose her life.

Arthur chuckled. “Sorry ... It’s Rein Constantine isn’t it?” He suddenly asked. “His aura is more potent than I thought.”

His statement puzzled rose but then realized that Arthur noticed Rein was around. Rein aura was, as had been stated many times before, reek of death and dangerous to people around him. Arthur had to overpower Rein’s aura within a crowd of so many people. That was why his aura felt so much more powerful than last time.

“He’s following us.” Rose eyes went wide open and turned to look over her shoulder, but grabbing her cheek, Arthur stopped her. She knew she wasn’t supposed to do that. She knew she should have realized he was tailing them, but Arthur was taking too much of her attention …

God, she thought. Blaming someone else for her own mistake. Arthur had nothing to do with this. Her discipline was lacking.

“He doesn’t know we realize, don’t alert him.” He took his hand off her cheek and continued to walk. Rose calmed herself and followed beside him. “The last report said he knows nothing supernatural outside what he experiences himself, did something change in the last six months?”

“Not as far as I know. Though the rotten smell coming out of him … god, I can’t stand it.”

”Any idea why he‘s following us?” he asked.

”Not a clue. Though he may have sensed something from us and come seeking for aid.”

He stopped. “We’ve arrived.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into their destination, a famous 5-star restaurant reserved for them.

“Is ... is this really, all right?” Rose asked as she sat down on the table. Despite being a famous internationally, she had only visited this place once when she was still a kid with her parents. The place wasn’t like what she remembered. It had changed so much and for the better.

With table decorated by the finest cutlery, with the pianist playing Chopin in the background, and candles being the only thing illuminating the interior. As much as Rose hated to admit it, she was wrong. Pris prediction came true.

“It’s fine. This place used to be one your father’s, So it is technically yours. It’s still listed under my family’s asset, but I can transfer it to you if you’re ready.” After her parents passed away, the Pendragon family managed most of her family businesses. When Arthur became the head, the management fell into his hand. Despite being only two years older, Arthur was unquestionably much more mature and capable than her. All her assets flourished under him, even though he also had to manage his own assets and a mountain of other responsibilities.

“Sure.” To say she was ready would be a lie. She excelled at magic and studying, but lacking in many aspects. Business and management were some examples. It wasn’t wise to let her handle the business, but it was her family’s and her responsibility. It wouldn’t do to let Arthur shoulder it any longer than necessary. And with Pris’ help, she should manage somehow.

”You’re serious about that degree huh?” Suddenly Arthur asked.

”Well, mom and dad always wanted me to be … normal, I guess.” Right now she was attending uni to get a business degree. She was just starting out, and with her other responsibilities it would be tough, but It was a path she chose.

”They never taught you any magic at all despite them being the best of the best. So, yeah, I guess they wanted you to be normal.”

”That’s why. Since being normal isn’t possible anymore, at least I like to honor their wishes by getting a degree.”

”Well, someone with a business degree controlling an entire city from the background makes much more sense than someone who doesn’t.” Arthur chuckled. His gaze wandered before snapping back to her. “Want me to teach you? I’m not much into theory but a little insight wouldn’t hurt, right?”

“Is that all right with you? I mean, no, I’m ….” Arthur had helped her a whole lot ever since they were children. Hiding the glass she broke, taking the blame for her pranks, doing homework, and so on and so on. Even more after her parent‘s death. She didn’t want to give him more burden. “I-I mean, you ...” Her voice trailed off. Her brain couldn’t find a good enough reason, and Arthur wouldn’t accept reason like she didn’t want to burden him. He was like that since they first met.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Since I’m already your supervisor, might as well use this chance to help and teach you in other things than fight and magic.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” She hung her head low. She always wanted to stand as Arthur’s equal, to look at him in the eyes with pride and dignity, and maybe, just maybe, she would confess her long-held love for him one day. But not now, not yet, not with her troubling him again and again.

Food came after that, cutting their conversation much to her relief. An excellent dinner made by a world-class chef, but she didn’t enjoy as much as she wanted to due to her turbulent heart.

“Rose, are you all right?” Arthur asked after he was done. “You look down.”

“Down? No way.” How the hell did he notice, that question went through her mind multiple times. She was confident in her poker face except for when Arthur exerted his aura. He shouldn’t be able to discern what she was thinking.

“You think I won‘t notice, don’t you?” His voice calm and comforting, yet Rose felt cornered. Not by him, but by her own guilty conscience. Yeah, this was Arthur she was facing against, there’s no way she could hide anything. He grabbed her hands. “Rose, you can tell me anything. Anything at all.”

When he said that, she wondered why he was so nice. Naturally, having someone so perfect like Arthur worrying about you was every woman, no, everyone’s dream. She was overjoyed but also didn’t want to burden him even more than already is. So she kept her silence, but it was Arthur she was facing.

“You don’t want to burden me, do you?” He saw through everything. “How many times must I tell you,” His grip on her hand tightened. “for you, I’ll do anything. Don‘t worry about it.”

She was happy, but also furious and mad, at herself. What had she done to deserve this? Nothing. And the way he said it, if it was anyone else but Arthur, she would have taken it as a confession. But it was Arthur. He had said it to her many times ever since they first met, under many conditions and different contexts. He saw her as his little sister when they were still kids. She wondered whether he still felt the same way, or had his feeling change. If it changed, was it for the better or worse? Did he ever saw her as a woman? What went through under that flawless face that could induce madness, she hadn’t the slightest clue.

“Can we just ... continue with what we’re doing here, please?” There was nothing at the end of this conversation.

Arthur looked at her for a time. With a sigh, let out a weak, defeated smile. Which made her guilt even stronger. “Okay, then let’s get to … business.” He snapped his finger, prompting the staffs to leave them alone. ”I will try to be tough on you.”

”Thank you.”

”Okay, first, I want to ask you a few questions.” Finally, she got some semblance of relief from Arthur’s serious voice. With this, she felt like she actually did something of note and carried her own responsibility. ”I’ve read the news recently, that bust on Chinese human trafficking ring, why?”

”Kids. I already made it crystal clear with them from the start that I won’t tolerate any involvement of kids.”

”Well, that’s good, compromise. Then what about the fighting rings?”

”The Russian, the place was off the books. They never reported it, never paid taxes for it, and I have no qualm about raiding it.”

”The shooting and gang violence? I know it’s related to drug trade.”

”The Koreans, uh … Black Axe gang was expanding rather aggressively and didn’t really follow my rules and regulation, so I offered the Indian whether they want to have their hand on some heroin distribution or not.”

Arthur smiled. ”That’s very nice. You have to be strict on them or they won’t respect you. Guess you’re getting used to this job, huh?”

”It’s very easy to be strict on them, Arthur, the problem is how to not get too strict. Please don’t praise me, I don’t like it.”

Arthur smile was unfazed. ”I know you don’t like any of this, and I know if you can help it you would rather hunt them down one by one. But as the head of Arcturus and owner of this land, I’m sure you understand. Criminals are like pests, they ARE pest. But like pests, it’s impossible to eradicate them completely. It’s better to have them monitored and under control, leashed rather than cornering them and making them more aggressive and desperate.”

”I know, that’s why I do this.”

”Now about the assignment I gave you last time.”

Rose pulled the document from inside her bags and put it on the table. It was a document detailing people with special ‘gift’, anomalies some might say. Inside contained a library of pictures and personal data. Some could be accessed by anyone just by looking, some shouldn’t be known by anyone except the person themselves.

“Here, the last 50. I’ve monitored everyone that came in or out of this city, this should be all.” Arthur skimmed around, checking the names and all the important parts. His eyes had returned to its usual state, that focused gaze that put her heart at ease.

His eyes stopped on a page, and a smile crept on his face. “This.” Arthur put down the paper and pointed on the picture of a particular third-year high school student. Albert. “Put him under special supervision.”

“Okay.” Rose saw nothing special about Albert when compared to a few others on that list. Sure, he had an interesting past, connection, family, and his father was someone high-profile in the magical world, but otherwise, he was nothing special. Of course, the report was limited and not one hundred percent accurate, but Arthur was looking at the exact same report as her. “Any particular reason?”

“There is, but I rather not disclose it to you yet. It’s mostly a hunch, no proof.” The smile on his face differed from usual. Almost like a childish glee, excited.

“Okay, I’ll tell the staff.” She pulled her phone, but before she could do anything, an incoming call vibrated it. The name shown on screen caused her to frown. “Arcturus here-“ Cut off mid-sentence, she could not hide her shocked face. “Friede and Ir- Damn it! What are those people doing?!” She clenched her fist, almost crushing the phone in her palm.

“Something wrong?” Arthur leaned forward.

Rose stood up, impatience oozing from the way she moved. “Sorry Arthur, it’s urgent.”