Free Web NovelChapter 93: Wait, you read mangas too?
"Do they not trust you?"
Evelyn questioned directly. Lucian looked at her, somewhat surprised.
Weren’t all these celebrities PR trained or something? He thought they weren’t supposed to ask direct questions like this.
Though of course, he very much preferred this to those roundabout conversations.
"They don’t."
He shook his head.
"Why?"
Evelyn followed with another question.
"Well..."
Lucian looked around.
At Alaric speaking into his earpiece, Clara checking the route again, Elise who had already stepped out, Sarah who was watching the security feed on a tablet, and Lila who was reading Evelyn’s medical reports.
Not one of them looked at him, it didn’t even look like they were listening to their conversation.
"I did not follow orders in my last mission."
He answered with a shrug and Evelyn’s expression changed.
"Because of me...?"
She asked with a half-guilty look on her face.
Lucian looked at her and—
"Don’t talk about it."
He shook his head.
"Why?"
"I didn’t do it for some noble reason, Miss Starling."
"Then why did you do it?"
"I just wanted to be difficult."
"Difficult?"
"Can’t have them think I will follow every order they throw at me, now can I? I have a reputation to maintain."
Lucian grinned.
Evelyn, however, only looked at him, she could already tell Lucian was lying and she wanted the real answer, the answer hidden inside those layers of jokes.
Lucian understood that gaze and he...
He sighed.
"The team leader wanted one thing, I wanted something else. I did what I wanted."
He shrugged.
"What you did was save my life, your team leader wanted to abandon me."
Evelyn spoke directly and the instant she did—
Clara, Lila and Sarah who were listening to their conversation while pretending not to reacted, especially Sarah.
Lucian noticed their reactions, but his focus remained on Evelyn.
"He did not wish to abandon you, he would have helped yo—"
"Don’t bother."
Evelyn suddenly raised her voice.
"I do not know what he planned to do, I admit, I wasn’t able to hear the conversation properly back then.
But I knew what state I was in."
She spoke, looking at Lucian.
"I may not know what exactly was happening to me, but I do know that if whatever it was had succeeded, I would have lost myself in the worst possible way."
Her eyes looked at Lucian with an intense shine and—
"What you did saved my life.
And now these people, who are supposedly here to protect me, do not trust *you*?
Exactly who here is more trustworthy than you?
Who should I trust and rely on more than the person who saved me the first time even though it risked his career?"
And the instant those words were said, the entire room, which was busy with people moving around and orders being given one after another, suddenly turned deadly silent.
The ordinary people, the staff, the bodyguards, they looked at Evelyn, then Lucian, then at the Voss Security Solutions Team who were giving them orders, especially at Alaric.
And Alaric—
After ignoring Lucian and everything he had been doing all this while, he finally turned around and looked at Evelyn.
"Miss Starling."
He called out.
"What?"
Evelyn looked back.
For a moment, Alaric and Evelyn stared at each other as the tension in the room built up, but then—
"You are right."
Alaric admitted, surprising everyone.
"You should trust and rely on him, this is the entire reason he is part of our team in the first place."
He nodded with an assuring look on his face. Evelyn blinked, a little taken aback by that but before she could think of what to say, Alaric continued—
"Then we should move. It isn’t right to be behind schedule from the start."
"Yes."
Evelyn nodded, unable to say anything else.
And Lucian...
He stared at Alaric, noticing how quickly he handled the situation without overreacting.
’An Ashcroft huh...’
He could see how different this man was compared to his little brother he met back then.
Alaric nodded back as he walked out at the front, the rest moved according to the instructions they were given—
Clara moved beside Alaric, already speaking quietly into her earpiece, Sarah followed near the rear, Lila and Elise took their positions.
Lucian stayed with Evelyn with his usual smile as the group finally left, even now, his attention remained on her heartbeat, how it was at ease now that she was standing near him. Again, he did not comment on it, he just kept making silent observations as they moved.
From the suite, the group entered the private hallway that was sealed from public access. Clara moved ahead to check the first turn while Sarah watched the far end of the corridor.
Lucian watched as Evelyn’s entire posture changed the moment she stepped out, her shoulders relaxed, her face became calmer, her entire aura felt... noble or divine even.
The image of a perfect woman.
The group reached the elevator, Alaric checked something with Clara, then nodded, the elevator doors opened, the team entered in a specific order. freewebnovёl.ƈom
Alaric first, Clara beside the control panel, Evelyn remained in the center, Lucian at her left and Sarah near the back, ordinary bodyguards outside would take a different elevator.
The elevator doors closed, no one said anything, the team still ignored Lucian and he—
"Such good vibes~
Makes me feel energetic."
He just grinned.
And this time, his words weren’t met with silence.
"Does it?"
Evelyn chuckled at them.
She could tell everyone here was trying to shun him, to make him feel small and she wasn’t going to let that happen, not when the reason he was in such a situation was because he chose to save her instead of doing things in whatever messed up way they did.
"I am standing with *the* Evelyn Starling *and* with the rest of my great team, how can I not feel good?"
Lucian grinned.
Evelyn chuckled at those words.
"Would it be okay if I asked for an autograph?"
Lucian questioned. Evelyn looked at him and smiled.
"Why would you ask for an autograph in this day and age?"
"Whaaat? Autographs aren’t a thing anymore?"
Lucian was surprised.
"Well, they are, but not so much."
"What’s more common now?"
"Hmm, selfies? I think? Yes, selfies are quite common. Makes sense too, selfies can be posted on social media, there’s no point in posting autographs, not many find it interesting. Autographs are more like keepsakes these days."
"Selfies, huh? Times really have changed."
Lucian nodded.
"You talk like an old man."
Evelyn laughed.
"How do you not know all this?"
She asked, Lucian then placed his hand on his chest and made a dramatic gesture—
"I had secluded myself from the rest of the world to delve into the world of novels and mangas, I only came out yesterday."
"Wait, you read mangas too?"
Suddenly, Evelyn’s eyes changed.
"You too?"
Lucian blinked.
He did not think he would find a fellow comrade, especially not in the form of the Evelyn Starling.
"Yes! Novels, Manhwas, Manhuas, Mangas! I read everything!"
"Woahh..."
Lucian couldn’t help but be amazed.
"What’s your favori—"
He tried to ask but—
"That is enough."
Alaric spoke in a cold tone as he looked at Lucian with a side-eye. Just then, the elevator doors opened and—
"Let’s move."
He ordered as he stepped out.
"Lwets mwove."
Lucian mouthed what he said silently, Evelyn laughed at that as the two walked out, stepping into an underground garage.
And on the other side of the door—
Lucian’s sensitive ears could already hear the sound of the crowd and cameras, and that made him realise it—
He was going to step into Evelyn Starling’s world.
