Aiden shook his head. "Sleeping a little less doesn't matter."
Then he looked straight at Helena again, eyes filled with a teasing smile. "Helena, you're not just inviting me to breakfast, are you? Otherwise, there'd be no need to skip class."
Hearing that, Helena immediately got embarrassed again, but still said softly, "I wanted to invite you to go out and walk around with me."
"Sure." Aiden agreed without hesitation. At this point, pretending to be shy or reserved would just seem a bit insincere.
Honestly, Helena hadn't expected Aiden to agree so straightforwardly. She froze for a moment, then quickly pulled out her phone to call her driver.
"I'll go call for the car. We'll leave right away."
———
"Miss, Mr. Aiden and Helena are going out together. Should we send someone to follow them?"
Watching Aiden and Helena standing at the entrance waiting for the car, Shinichiro, squatting in the corner, spoke into his phone.
"You can, but don't make it too obvious." After a moment, Kagura Maki's slightly tired voice came from the phone.
"Yes, Miss."
———
"Aiden, how about we go see Notre-Dame first?"
In the car, Helena had taken on the role of tour guide.
"Sure."
Aiden nodded. Since they were already in Paris, it would indeed be a pity not to visit Notre-Dame. Not to mention, in the real world, Notre-Dame had been destroyed in a fire. Although it was rebuilt, it would still be hard to see the original, authentic version again.
But, in fact, he had already visited Notre-Dame in a certain game.
Seeing him agree, Helena immediately said, "Driver, to Notre-Dame."
"Alright, Miss."
However, just as their luxury car turned a corner, Aiden suddenly turned his head to glance behind them.
Before he could even speak, the driver said, "Miss, it seems there's a car following us."
But Helena only shrugged casually. "Ignore them. They're probably people my father sent."
After going home yesterday, she had already told her parents about everything. She figured her father and mother must've sent people to protect her out of concern for her safety.
However, Aiden didn't think the same. He had noticed that there were two cars following them, and they clearly weren't from the same group, otherwise, why would anyone send two separate tails? That'd just make it too obvious.
But if one of those cars was sent by Helena's father, then who was the other one?
People from the anti-Douglas organization?
Just as confusion crossed his mind, a loud bang suddenly came from behind. Aiden and Helena turned back almost at the same time, just in time to see two cars crash into each other.
"Don't tell me they really are people from the anti-Douglas organization?" Aiden muttered, stunned. Could it be that the Dead or Alive storyline was starting early?
Helena, on the other hand, didn't think that deeply. She just asked whether they should call the hospital.
But the driver didn't give her that chance, he immediately stepped on the gas and sped away.
At the crash site, people climbed out from both vehicles. They watched each other warily while also pulling out their phones to make calls.
"Miss, we were in a car accident and lost them."
"Sir, we were in a car accident and lost them."
Then both sides froze, staring hard at each other, before almost simultaneously saying, "We're with the Kagura family. Who are you?"
"We're with DOATEC. Who are you?"
"..."
"Hahaha, misunderstanding, misunderstanding…"
The car crash didn't affect the rest of the trip, because just as Helena was thinking about going back, her father called.
No one knew exactly what he said to her, but when she hung up, Helena's expression wasn't quite right, there was a trace of displeasure in her eyes.
Still, the girl quickly switched moods again, enthusiastically dragging Aiden all around town, visiting several tourist spots in one morning.
By noon, after lunch, the two parted ways. Helena had already skipped her morning classes, but she couldn't skip the afternoon ones, she had to go back.
This time, they exchanged phone numbers, it was Helena who took the initiative.
Before leaving, Helena reminded Aiden not to forget what he promised her last night.
What he promised last night…
Of course, it was to go drinking again.
At least, that's what Helena thought. But Aiden was still focused on finding someone first, and then checking whether King was really the woman who had stayed behind.
After all, that woman was one of the most powerful female fighters in The King of Fighters.
And of course, by "powerful," he was referring to her figure.
———
When Aiden returned to the hotel, he ran into Shinichiro, whose arm was wrapped in bandages. Seeing Aiden, Shinichiro's face looked awkward.
Faced with Aiden's odd smile, Shinichiro awkwardly explained, "I accidentally tripped and fell this morning."
"Is that so? Good, I thought you were in a car crash."
"Uh…" Shinichiro's face went pale.
Smiling, Aiden patted him on the shoulder. "Get some rest. You don't need to arrange anything for me these next few days. Anyway, I'll be heading back soon."
Hearing that, Shinichiro actually felt relieved, but still politely said, "You could stay a few more days, if you'd like."
"Really? Then I won't refuse. There are still a lot of places in Paris I haven't been to." Aiden said cheerfully.
Then, he noticed Shinichiro's expression suddenly turn panicked again after hearing that sentence.
"No, I mean, Mr. Aiden, uh…"
But before he could figure out how to explain, Aiden waved his hand and entered the elevator.
'It's over. I'm going to get reassigned to Antarctica for sure.'
As the elevator doors closed, Shinichiro collapsed weakly to the floor. If Aiden really stayed a few extra days, how would he ever explain that to the young lady?
After thinking for a while, Shinichiro steeled himself, determination on his face as he pulled out his phone.
"Miss, please allow me to volunteer for reassignment to Antarctica, to continue shining and contributing to the Kagura family in the coldest place on earth…"
———
That afternoon, Aiden took a short nap to make up for the sleep he missed last night. When he got up, he watched some TV for a bit, and before long, it was dinner time.
What surprised him was that he didn't get any calls from the Kagura sisters all day. Instead, shortly after dinner, both Mai Shiranui and Helena called him one after another.
Mai's call was mostly to tell him to stay safe and take care of himself. But right before hanging up, she casually mentioned something about finding a person.
When Helena called, her voice was very low, as if she was afraid of being overheard. She told him to go to the bar first and not wait for her, she'd find a way to sneak out.
Well, it seemed today's car crash had gotten her grounded.
'But why does this scene feel just like something out of a drama?'
'A rich family's young lady and a poor scholar?'
Chuckling at the thought, Aiden pocketed his phone, walked out of the hotel, and waved at a nearby taxi.
———
The taxi stopped at the entrance of KING Bar. Aiden pulled out a bill, tossed it to the driver, and said not to bother with change before getting out.
But he didn't enter immediately. Instead, he stood outside the bar, glanced back at the taxi, and thought, "Even if the daughter was born of a mistress, what father wouldn't care about his own child? Understandable."
Shaking his head with a smile, Aiden turned and entered the bar.
As he walked through the narrow corridor, a sweet singing voice drifted into his ears.
Pausing at the exit, his eyes turned toward the woman sitting on a small stage, guitar in hand. Because of the dim lighting and the long bangs covering her eyes, he couldn't see her face clearly, but the exaggeratedly large chest that could even make Mai Shiranui jealous was enough to identify her.
One of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Wild Lightning of Rice Ears… Shermie.
At this point, Shermie hadn't awakened yet. Though she had fragments of her past-life memories, her personality wasn't cold or emotionless, in fact, she was rather frivolous, with no real concern for her mission. Or more accurately, she didn't care at all.
Right now, she was just a normal eighteen-year-old girl struggling to make a living. Otherwise, she wouldn't be working as a live singer in a bar, and not even a big one at that. The owner of this small bar was a woman named King.
'King… truly broke.'
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