CHAPTER 86: THE SIGN BOARD

Aisha and I walked towards the airport exit, the London wind immediately greeting us with a cool embrace.

As we stepped out into the open, my eyes landed on a figure standing patiently among the arriving crowd. My breath hitched.

"Why Is he Here?" I muttered upon seeing the face of someone very familiar to me.

It was Victor.

He held a large white board, his posture stiff.

But it wasn’t the fact that Victor was here that shocked me; it was the name emblazoned in bold, black letters on the board:

’NOSFERATU.’

Victor’s eyes met mine across the bustling tarmac, and his face instantly registered a mixture of confusion and panic.

A bead of sweat traced a path down his temple. My mind raced. Was this a coincidence? Or did he know?

I strode towards him, Aisha a step behind me, her hand still linked with mine. "Victor, why are you here?" I asked, my voice low and firm.

He visibly flinched, adjusting his grip on the sign.

"Huh! Wha—what are you talking about? I don’t know who this ’Victor’ is. You’re probably mistaking me for someone else," he blurted out, trying to sound nonchalant.

But in his mind something else was going on.

’Crap crap crap why the fuck is this bastard here of all time, Damnit it Valerian couldn’t pick a better place to come for your Honeymoon’ Victor cursed in his head as he assumed that his friend was here on a honeymoon.

After all what else was he supposed to think when his dear old friend who is now supposedly married now brought a extremely beautiful woman to London.

But I was obviously not aware of his thoughts as my gaze intensified, pinning him in place. His forced bravado crumbled under my stare. He sighed, his shoulders slumping.

’Guess I can’t help it I’ll explain it in a way he won’t find out about my new mage lifestyle’. He internally made a plan and began speaking.

"Alright, alright. I already told you, I moved to England. My grandfather asked me to pick up an important guest." He paused, his eyes carefully avoiding the board. "But more importantly, why are you here, Valerian?"

I simply pointed a finger at the board he clutched. "What’s that for?"

He glanced down at the sign, then back at me, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing his features.

"Oh, this? It’s for the guest I’m picking up. The one my grandfather sent me for. He’s very important."

He swallowed hard, still not looking directly at me, his reasoning being ’If I look at him in the face he’ll probably know I am lying’.

This concern of his wasn’t without reason as Victor knows how effective his friend’s lie detecting ability was.

But unfortunately for Victor.

’I can already hear his abnormal heartbeat so he’s most likely hiding something from me and I know what that is’ I thought as a solemn frown graced my face.

’Victor is already involved with the mages’ It was a suspicion at first but now its confirmed.

Aisha, sensing the tension, squeezed my hand. "It seems like there’s a misunderstanding," she murmured softly, her eyes flickering between Victor and the board.

"Indeed," I said, my focus remaining on Victor. "A very strange misunderstanding.".

Aisha gave a subtle nudge to my arm, a silent but clear message passing between us. Her eyes flickered towards Victor, then back to me, an expectant arch in her brow.

"Victor, this is Aisha," I stated, the introduction feeling slightly surreal given the strange circumstances. "Aisha, this is Victor."

Victor’s eyes snapped to Aisha, his earlier flustered expression momentarily replaced by a look of bewildered admiration.

’Damn How the heck Did this woman hater friend of mine scored a marriage with this Heavenly beauty’ His mind ran countless thoughts of admiration and disbelief as his mouth opened slightly, then closed without a sound.

He managed a short, awkward bow, juggling the board ungracefully in his other hand.

Aisha offered him a polite, if somewhat reserved, smile. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Victor," she said, her voice smooth and composed. Her gaze, however, lingered on the board in his hand, a hint of curiosity sparkling within her white eyes.

Victor gulped, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the board tighter. "Pleasure’s all mine, Lady Aisha," he stammered, avoiding both our eyes. He seemed more interested in the patterns on the airport floor.

’Hmm... When did my perverted friend become so meek I totally believed he would ogle a little longer at Aisha...actually it’s better he saved his life by not doing that’ I thought with a satisfied smile.

Yeah he didn’t break the bro code so all is well.

But unknown to me Victor had other circumstances to be behaving like this.

...

...

Back to when Victor was summoned to Braham Faust’s Study room.

Victor stood before Archmage Braham Faust, the most powerful mage in England, feeling like a schoolboy about to be punished.

Braham looked up from his desk, his expression grave. "Victor," he said without preamble, "I have a task for you."

Behind him hung an ornate portrait of a woman with flowing red hair and piercing purple eyes—a woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Maria. Victor swallowed hard.

"I need you to escort an important guest from the airport," Braham continued, rising from his chair with deliberate slowness. "This individual is... delicate in nature. And extremely valuable to all factions of the supernatural world."

Victor nodded, trying not to show how this information made him nervous.

"That’s why I’m assigning you personally," Braham said, moving closer until Victor could smell the old man’s cologne mixed with something darker—power. "You see, my dear grandson-in-law..."

"You are currently the face of this household also the next head so this duty obviously goes to you my grandson in law"

The word ’grandson-in-law’ dripped with sarcasm as Braham circled him like prey.

"But still I don’t trust you very much." He then summoned a butterflylike familiar from thin air and it fluttered towards Victors body attaching itself on his shoulder.

"You think I haven’t noticed your wandering eye? Your weakness for pretty faces?"

Victor felt cold sweat trickle down his spine.

"And I especially don’t trust you to let out from the mansion who know where you might escape to." The old man leaned in close enough that Victor could see every wrinkle on his face

"So here’s what’s going to happen: This little familiar will make sure you stay on the right path."

He summoned a little butterfly making it hover over Victor’s head.

"If I so much as sense one impure thought about another woman while on this assignment—especially if it involves staring at another man’s wife—I will know."

He then added:

"Remember boy: One look is all it takes for me to end your life."

Victor had almost died right there just by looking at Aisha for even a second more during their meeting at the airport; he was certain of it.

....

.....

"So, Victor," Aisha continued, her voice light, though I detected a subtle edge to it, "you mentioned you’re here to pick up a very important guest for your grandfather?" She tilted her head, observing him with unwavering attention.

He twitched, beads of sweat reappearing on his forehead. "Yes, an extremely important person, indeed," he confirmed, his voice a notch higher than usual. "My grandfather is very particular about his guests." He then looked at the board for a split second, then quickly away, as if it might spontaneously combust.

"And this important guest," Aisha pressed gently, her gaze still fixed on the name ’NOSFERATU’ written on the board, "would he happen to be named... Nosferatu?"

Victor’s eyes darted frantically between us, his face a canvas of panicked denial. "Nosferatu? Who, uh, who knows what outlandish names people go by these days? Could be anyone, really," he blurted out, a forced, highpitched laugh escaping him. He tried to subtly turn the board away from Aisha’s view, a move that only drew more attention to it.

Aisha’s lips curled into a slight smile, a glimmer of knowing mischief in her gaze. "It just seemed like quite a coincidence, that’s all," she stated, her voice losing none of its sweet composure. "With the name being so prominently displayed, of course."

A wicked smirk slowly spread across my face as I watched Victor’s increasingly flustered performance. The pieces of the puzzle clicked together in my mind with satisfying finality.

Victor didn’t know that his ’important guest’ was standing right in front of him. He believed I was a human, completely oblivious to the supernatural world that had been right under his nose for years. And worse, he seemed to think he could lie to me without consequence.

I leaned closer to Aisha, my voice dropping low enough for only her to hear. "It seems our dear Victor has no idea who Nosferatu really is."

Her eyes sparkled with amusement and mischief. "And he thinks you’re just a normal human," she whispered back, clearly enjoying this unexpected turn of events.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," I murmured with dark delight.