eva, now the center of attention in the room, took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly, as if organizing her thoughts. then, after a moment of careful consideration, she finally said, "i can''t say for certain..."

    "but didn''t you say they asked for the autonomy of the academy they''ll open? so, would they really interfere and search for us because of their request?" she questioned, her tone thoughtful yet skeptical.

    "actually, in the first place, the deal of these people isn''t with the infinitel company but rather with the government according to you, right?" she continued. "so, how much could vincent quinn even be involved?"

    "and even if it''s possible," she added with a slight scoff, "do you really think there''s anything free in this world? because even if we assume they''re capable, and such abilities or techniques really do exist, they would be incredibly rare. so, they''re bound to ask for an astronomical price to use them, right?"

    experience new stories with empire

    smirking, she concluded, "so, would he really pay that? for his useless son?"

    hearing the explanation, annabelle felt herself on a rollercoaster of emotions, moments of worry quickly replaced by brief relief. meanwhile, christian finally felt like he might be overthinking things. and more than that, even if tracking through something like magic did exist, without any leads, it shouldn''t be easy to pull off.

    so, sighing in relief, he said, "well, then, i''m confident that we''ll be safe."

    retaining his confidence, he even added, "more importantly, i don''t think it''ll take me much time before the day comes when i can crush the infinitel company entirely, anyway."

    smiling at what felt like more than just confidence, but more like arrogance. eva, now fully aware that things had truly come to this point, felt a sense of inevitability settle over her. as it wouldn''t be long until she could finally say she was truly free, even if she could still arguably be said to be bound by a certain someone.

    a little more relaxed, her thoughts began to wander, settling on her daughter. olivia''s future seemed the most uncertain now after all, and eva couldn''t help but worry about what would happen if her daughter chose not to leave with them.

    even though annabelle had always wanted her lazy younger brother to grow, to shed that lazy attitude and work harder, when he finally started doing just that, it felt... wrong. it was a scene she had never witnessed before, nor had she ever expected to, after all. so, hearing his current statement about stepping back and only assisting when necessary, her only though was, ''it''s finally happening.''

    honestly, it was already admirable that he had kept it up for all this time.

    noticing the beautiful smile now adorning annabelle''s face, christian, though unaware of its exact reason, felt happy. as at least, it seemed his statement hadn''t caused any negative effect, so he continued speaking in his usual tone.

    "currently, iris has access to most of the information you''ll probably need. and even if she doesn''t, she can likely get it. she''s also eavesdropping on a lot of people on my watch list and handling other tasks."

    "so, you can consult her about everything."

    "then, regarding the assassination attempts, it''s probably going to stop, for real this time, as from what i''ve gathered through my eavesdropping, that trash seemed to intend for yesterday''s attempt to be the last one."

    "well, we can confirm that easily, anyway."

    "then, for the execution timing of the plan, it needs to align with the academy''s opening. it''s best to set it a few days before or, at the latest, right around the same time."

    "as for after? it''s preferable that we don''t wait or delay until that time. as i really don''t like it when time is running out, staying until the last minute, and then barely making our leave. that''s the last thing i want."

    "most importantly, i think there''s a possibility that once the academy''s situation is stabilized and their hands are freed, they will probably turn their attention to us, whether we like it or not."

    "so, we need to leave before that."