Third Pov

Anthony's second home was a two storey house in the suburbs of London. Cozy with a modern design,it resembled the home of a rich businessman.It had three bedrooms,one for Anthony and two guest bedrooms,a living room that occupied most of the first floor,a kitchen that was relatively small considering the size of the house and two bathrooms.

The main reason the living room was the largest room in the house was because Anthony had a big plasma tv and a state of the art sound system. He also had two plus sized couches in green colour that matches perfectly with the light blue carpet. The only thing that seemed out of place was the classical paintings on the walls which were not painted nor had a tapestry.

Eve concluded that Raphael probably decorated Anthony's house and he later added the technology. She stood a moment to admire a painting of Lorrain but before she had a chance to look at the details of the painting,she heard something breaking with force.

She quickly ran upstairs to Anthony's room only to see Angelica looking at him with a furious look and a broken tea cup.Ever since Anna decided to stay at the palace to complete her training as a Priestess,there was no one to control Angelica anymore. Eve had only been there four days and she was starting to feel tired. Even third-class bonds don't have that kind of temper.

"What happened?",Eve asked concerned

"He is an insensitive bastard. No wonder he hasn't got a girlfriend.",Angelica answered angrily

"I dont have one,because you don't leave me alone and when we go out,you boss me around so frequently that people think we are married.",Anthony responded sarcastically

"So before I came along you had a girlfriend",Angelica continued

"Ok,enough. I didn't ask why you don't get along,I dont think anyone can solve that mystery,not even my sister Irini. I wanted to know why you threw the tea cup at him."

Silence dominated the room.

"Well?"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Do I need a reason?I just didn't want to see him at the moment."Angelica said indifferently

"You could have hurt him."

"I am very careful. I don't want to give him a valid reason to nag all day."

"Alright,that's it. Angelica come with me,I need to talk to you. Anthony if you are ok,please pick up the pieces."

Anthony obeyed silently but he was not pleased at all. After all,he hadn't done anything wrong. He just mentioned Raphael's new friend who he met at the book conference he is attending and she just exploded.And now he had to clean up her mess. Why does he tolerate her? He had abandoned people for much less.

In the meantime,in one of the quest rooms,Eve had literally dragged Angelica and made her sit on the bed. Angelica understood she was about to be lectured. The angry look on Eve's face made it quite obvious. The thought of being scolded by the Light Queen was both exciting and terrifying at the same time

"Okay,Angelica. This has to stop. I have been here four days and you have thrown more tantrums than a third class who caught her source cheating. I don't understand why you despise Anthony so much. He is a great friend,he is patient and he agreed to protect you even though he knows you are keeping secrets from him. You should feel grateful,not miserable."

"I don't care if he respects me. All I want is his respect for the real me."

Silence filled the room for a few minutes. Then Eve opened the door to make sure Anthony wasn't eavesdropping,closed it again and sat in the bed beside Angelica.

"What makes you think he doesn't care about his relationship with Raphael?",Eve asked calmly

"About a month ago,Raphael decided to go to a book conference in France. Nothing peculiar about that. But a few days after that,he randomly met a man in a library. He was muscular,somewhere in his thirties,with black hair and eyes. And coincidentally,he wanted to attend the same book conference as Raphael. At first,when he mentioned it,he was so happy about it that I was too.But as the day of their departure grew closer and Raphael talked more and more about this new guy,I noticed some strange things.They didn't seem to disagree on anything. They shared the same opinions about everything.Sports,books,even politics. I admit I started feeling jealous and threatened. But I didn't act immediately. I suspected Anthony would do something but he remained indifferent. He didn't seem to see or care that Raphael was spending less and less time with him after he met this man. Even I tried to make him feel jealous but his answer was "I won't live his life.". If he doesn't do something,he won't be part of Raphael's life for long.``Angelica explained, practically yelling the last sentence.

Eve sat there lost in thought.

"Why did you throw a cup at him? The truth this time."

"Raphael texted him,explaining that his new friend invited him to stay for a few days in America. And Anthony replied that it wasn't his business to know."

"Anthony gave that kind of answer? What is this man's name?"

"I don't know. Raphael never told me. And Anthony became a bit aggressive when I tried to pressure Raphael. At least he has some protective instincts."

"A lot of things dont make sense. Do you have a picture of him?"

"Sure. Raphael posted on Facebook a picture of them together outside of the Louvre.",Angelica said and showed Eve her phone.

"Alright.Send her to me,if you please. And go take a walk. You seem to need fresh air.",Eve suggested and soon Angelica exited the room.

When Eve got the picture,she cropped it and sent it to Paimon with the text:"Do you recognise him?".

A few minutes later,a new message appeared on her screen.

"Where the hell did you find that traitor,Eric? Where is he Eve? I can recognise a cropped picture when I see one. You removed the surroundings so I won't figure out where he is hiding.But I will. And I'm going to remind him why I'm the Shadow of Pain."

She didn't bother responding. After all,she has gotten all the information she needed. She left to find Angelica and Anthony and tell them to pack their things.

They were going to France.