After arriving close to the gate Aile, of course, sneaked in. He had the white robe on his ring, but he still did not want to be seen. After all, anyone seen entering could be suspected of going against the White Clan. 

But an unseen person was not a suspect. After entering the town, Aile noticed the tense atmosphere. Aile expected as much and headed to one of the hideouts he owned and the place Ellie and Violet were taken to.

He arrived at a small house that had a few rooms and a tiny clean garden with beautiful fragrant flowers. It had a loving cosy atmosphere that made one feel like they had arrived home. When he entered the house, aromatic scent of food wafted, with the sweet odour of a melon-like fruit happily as this atmosphere brought Aile joy and a sense of bliss. It led him towards the kitchen at the back of the house. 

This was the smell of Aile's favourite food, it was a combination of the sweet nectar of the melon-like fruit with the sour orange taste of the dish, creating complementary zest.

There he heard Ellie and Violet talking and questioning each other about the consistency and the fragrance. Aile already became giddy and ready to try such delicious delicacies. 

Once he entered, he saw Ellie and Violet being guided to cook by Three. He did not make much noise as he saw three measure the ingredients for them as they happily added and cooked the food.

This was when he thought, 'Damn it! Why are they ruining Three's cooking.' 

Three had a great skill in creating this one unique complex dish. It was so good that it became the celebratory meal after each successful mission. Aile had tried recreating it, but it was never the same, and now his hope and happiness died, seeing that it was not Three making the meal.

With a disappointed undertone, he greeted them, and Three explained how the girls wanted to cook for Aile to show their appreciation for saving them. Aile gave his best fake smile, and he was annoyed at Three, for not coming up with a different method for them to thank him. He clearly knew how much Aile like that dish, but he allowed the girls to make it. 

Soon the dish was made, and although tasty, it was not the same for Aile. Aile, One, Two and Three with difficulty ate while still maintaining their face disguise. After the meal was done, Three, Two and One left leaving Aile, Violet and Ellie in the room.

After randomly chatting for a bit, Violet said, "Thanks for bringing us here, now we will leave. If we ever meet again, we will repay you."

Aile saw Ellie's eyes tear up as she would soon not be able to see Violet. 

Aile noticed it and felt sorry, so he proposed, "You are free to leave, but it is for the best if you stay here until tomorrow. The news is that the people suffered a lot of injuries..." 

Violet knew where Aile was heading with the conversation and humphed, "My father is too strong to be injured there."

"Even, Marquis Andrew came with injuries. Not to mention your father will have people to protect."

Ellie looked down dejected. She grasped that he was referring to Marcus.

Aile then continued, trying to correct himself, "That Arnold can be a burden."

"That is even more of a reason for us to leave, they will be happy to see us safe, and we will make sure they are ok."

"That is a fair point, but if they are injured, then no one will be there to protect both of you. There is also a rumour that both sides started to fight in this mission. Both of you will become an easy target and a weakness for them. Why not wait till tomorrow and by then with more accurate news you can safely go."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Violet thought about it, and then after pondering said, "Ok... I will believe you one last time. But in the early morning, we will leave. Also, you should send the news to them that we are fine." Aile agreed and then gestured Ellie to continue her conversation with Violet.

Ellie nodded at Aile in appreciation. 

Aile then left them alone and was planning to go back to his mansion. But Three stopped him telling him that he will need to be here, as the girls only trusted him. Which they made abundantly clear after Aile was gone. He sighed and nodded.

Aile then went to one of the rooms and thought about the trip. He was recounting the events and how he could have handled it better and to evaluate his decisions.

After Ellie and Violet talked for a bit, Violet noticed that something was wrong with Ellie. Nonetheless, she did not say anything, she knew from time to time she would be melancholic.

Knock 

Knock 

After being allowed in, Three came and told them the location of Aile's room, in case, they needed to look for him. He also talked with them for a few minutes and ended it with saying that they should be wary at night and muttered that there might be wandering souls in the house.

Ellie and Violet heard it, but they did not pay much heed to it. 

Aile was tired and injured, so he quickly went to rest. He had already told One, Two and Three, to pay attention to their safety. Four had gone to inform the house that Aile was fine and would return tomorrow.

Soon there was a discussion in the room of One, Two and Three.

"We can not do that, what if we get caught."

"Imagine if we succeed... Boss, always says evaluate both sides before making a decision. We do not have much to lose, he will forgive us if he finds out."

"What about Zero?"

Hmnn "This is just an experiment, and if we tell her the result, she will know what to do or not to do."

"Three, are you sure?"

"I do not want to do this, but he has always told us to take every opportunity that involves less risk and high reward."

"So you guys are in for operation 'Wingman'?" said Three.

Like that, a plan brewed, between One, Two, and Three. 

Violet and Ellie were talking when they noticed the appearance and disappearance of light in their room. They snorted thinking it was a prank. With light element, people can do all sort of things. 

However, they noticed one major problem there was no fluctuation in the light element close to them. 

They paid attention and found no movement in the light element, again and again, this unsettled them. Ellie and Violet stopped talking and tried to figure out what was going on. Not long after from time to time, there were sounds around the room. 

Creek

Creek 

Creek

In the tense environment, they kept on hearing the voice and the appearance and disappearance of the light. The noise was coming from various areas sometimes at same times, other times different. 

With their heightened senses, it got them creeped out.

Ellie thought, "That cheap-bastard, why did he rent this haunted place."

Violet claimed, "It must be that bastard, let's go and find him."

With that, both of them sneakily left their room and arrived at Aile's. Getting ready to shout "Ah-ha, got you."

Ellie said, "Let's go inside to make sure that he is asleep."

They came and looked around and examined him, Aile was indeed asleep, healing himself. Noticing that he was really asleep and he was not responsible for the light, Ellie went to check the corridor. Soon enough, she saw a flittering light appear. Violet too checked and noticed it. The unknown bred fear and therefore, as nothing happened in Aile's room, they stayed there. 

After a while, as the room was mostly empty, Ellie sat on the only chair, and Violet sat on the edge of Aile's bed. Not long after Aile's hand found her waist and hugged it. Aile finally felt comfortable sleeping. Violet did not detect Aile being awake and did not hate the hug from him. So she just endured it, claiming that they were not going to be in a similar situation anyway again. It was unlikely that they will even meet in the future. 

After some time, Ellie asked her if she wanted to switch places, Violet shook her head. Ellie had seen Aile's hand around Violet and was not happy.

Gritting her teeth, she said, "I am a bit tired, I will rest." She moved to the other side of the small bed and lied down next to Aile. After some time, Violet did the same only very gently to not hurt his hand or remove it.

The next morning Aile woke up and noticed the room was chilly for some reason. But before finding the reason for that, he saw two beauties laying on his shoulders and holding him close due to the cold. As the bed was small, the two of them were very close, and he could notice their bodies attached to his.