The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 132: Punishment

Opening his eyes, Victor looked at Lily who was looking back at him with her haggard eyes. It took her a moment to realize the fact that her young master was awake.

“Young master….. Wahhhhh.” She said as she hugged him hard and began to sob on his chest, he smiled as he hugged her back and kissed her head. He could tell how much she cared about him.

After a while, seeing that she calmed down, Victor cleared his throat.

“Why?” He asked while raising his eyebrow.

“Young master, you were in a coma…. And….. Wahhhh.” She cried more. The last two weeks were very hard on her.

“I know about that. I am asking you why I am naked?” He asked, making her freeze. She just realized that she was burying her face in his muscular naked chest…….. He smelled good.

She slowly backed away with a blushing face.

“Did you want to take advantage of this young master while he was asleep…… ?” He asked while looking at Lily with a smirk.

“I….. We…… It was Margaretʼs Idea. She said you might get better if we removed your clothes as you may wake up if you felt cold down there.” She said embarrassingly as she lowered her head.

“And you agreed, didnʼt you? Who agreed to this brilliant plan too?” He asked.

“Ahhh… Everyone.” She said after some hesitation.

“Including Alex?” He asked.

“Margret made him take off your underwear by himself, as we were too embarrassed to do it,” Lily answered in a mosquito voice as she kept her blushing face down.

“Oh…I didn’t know that I was raising a pack of dirty girls. I will punish you later. How long have I been unconscious?” He asked.

“Two weeks.” She answered while wondering whether she should be happy or afraid about her young master’s punishment.

“That long? What time is it now?” He asked with a frown, Many things must have happened.

“It is 7.15 P.M” She answered,

“Good. I will go take a shower. And after that, you will report what happened to me.” He said as he pulled out the medical tubes and needles connected to his arm and then stood up while using the bed sheet to cover his body below the waist.

At this moment, the door was opened by Mana who was carrying a food tray. Probably, Lily’s dinner.

“Miss Lily. This is …. Ah… Young master, you are awake.” She said as she threw the tray onto a side table and ran to hug Victor.

“What’s wrong with you girls, havenʼt you seen a handsome guy before?” He said smugly as he patted Mana’s head, which was stuck to his chest too.

“Ah….” Mana quickly backed off embarrassingly, then looked at Victor. Did he get more handsome?

“I will go get a shower. Prepare my clothes and tell the others to meet me in the dining room. Ah… and prepare some dinner for me too. This young master is starving.” He said as he entered the bathroom.

…

After getting dressed, he went downstairs, where all the girls except Margaret and Aria were waiting. They hugged him one by one. Especially Theta, who cried a lot as she clung to him, making Alpha frown a little.

Alex, who was still in a maid dress. Didn’t want the hug, and neither did Alpha but was forced by Victor who opened his arms wide for them.

Sitting down, Alpha was the first one to ask.

“Young master…. What happened that day?” She asked.

“Nothing, I was just stunned by Theta’s beauty. Now tell me what happened while I was in a coma.” He said, making Theta blush and Lily realize that he didn’t want to talk about it, so she didn’t ask any further.

It’s not that Victor didn’t want to tell them, but the girls, including Lily, were not ready to hear what he knew. They would not be able to return to their daily lives if they knew that their world was on the verge of being invaded.

He would tell them eventually, but they must be stronger first.

Seeing her young master’s worried eyes, Lily frowned a little and then began to speak “Well, After we found the young master collapsed…..”

Lily first told him what they did after he lost consciousness. Which made him frown. He wanted to scold them for being too careless but decided not to because the girls were still amateurs and it was his fault for not leaving an emergency protocol for them.

“Kai was right, and you must have kept my coma a secret.” He said, making the girls lower their heads., “I am not scolding you, so don’t worry. Where is Margaret?” He asked.

“She went to a school friendʼs gathering,” Mina answered, hesitantly. She was afraid that the young master would scold Margaret for being inconsiderate.

“And why arenʼt you there? Weren’t you attending the same school?” He asked, surprising The twins.

“We thought it was inappropriate to go to a party while the young master was in a coma,” Mana answered as she placed a dish in front of her young master.

“Well… You were mistaken. Margret did the right thing. You should go and act normally, as you must never let the people watching this place discover any abnormalities.” Victor said, making the girls nod while lowering their heads. They should learn how to act better after this.

“And where is Aria?” He asked after taking a few bites from his dish.

“She is at the company,” Lily said, making Victor nod. That girl was a workaholic.

“ I see, Did you investigate the painting?” He asked Lily.

“Yes, I sent Alex with Theta to that annoying merchant shop. They were told that the last painting was sent to be auctioned by him. So we decided to go buy it.” She said, “We also managed to get the footage of the security cameras from the surrounding warehouses and were able to identify the unknown artist and the buyer of the first painting, thanks to Camellia recognizing them.” She answered.

“Do you know who they were?” He asked again while stuffing his mouth. He was really hungry.

“Yes, I met the girl in the Mall before, she is the daughter of an influential politician. We didn’t approach her yet as she was on a vacation out of town.” She said, “The artist took some work to find, but we managed to locate him after two days. Unfortunately, he was dead in his rented flat. He seemed to have suffered from a heart attack. But we managed to retrieve two paintings from his shop. They are now locked in the basement with everything we found with him.” She explained.

“Did you investigate the artist’s background?” He asked.

“Yes. He was an unafflicted semi-player who awakened in a dungeon three years ago. We couldn’t find anything else suspicious, He used to be a normal high school teacher, but quit after becoming awakened.” She said,

“Oh. Anything else?” Victor asked as he signaled Mana to fill his dish again.

“After that Margret went with Aria to the auction, it was the same one the young master was invited to. Unfortunately, we couldnʼt get it as it was not put for sale, and after asking around we discovered that the auction warehouse was raided the night prior. So we have no idea about the location of the last painting. That’s all concerning the paintings.” Lily explained.

“I understand. We will talk about it later.” Victor said, after noticing Theta wanting to ask him something. Probably about the status screen.

“Young master, The family seemed to have encountered some problem, as there was a lot of activity recently, and you were summoned to the island a few times, but thanks to George, we were able to delay it,” Lily said, making Victor remember about the orb that was probably destroyed. He could bet also, that all hell had broken loose in his family. This might be a good thing for them anyway, as a lot of spies would be discovered when the family launches a thorough investigation to attempt to pinpoint who broke the Orb.

But he had no other choice. As he figured that that invading soul would resort to some desperate measures when it knew that it was not the hunter but the prey. So Victor had to use the only other ID he knew as a substitute, The Awakening Orb’s system ID.

He used it just in case something wrong happened. He wouldnʼt be able to control the system while fighting that soul, as it would also be able to access it.

Something bad really did happen after all. That demoness was smarter than he expected.

Well... It seems like, he would need to get the family a new awakening artifact. He had already set his eyes on one but didn’t expect that he would need to get it this fast.

“Your esteemed father had requested that you must go visit him if you wake up,” Lily added.

“Oh. Call him and inform him that I had woken up, then ask where we should meet. Is there a car ready in the garage?” He asked.

“Yes young master, Margret took Aria shopping last week and they bought some cars. As they needed one to go to the auction. And… Margaret might have gone a little crazy shopping. ” Lily answered as she took out her phone to text George.

“It’s ok. You did the same before. so donʼt criticize others.” Victor said while standing up, making Lily a little embarrassed,

“Fine then, I will go visit father after a light discussion with Alpha.” He said as he gestured to Alpha to follow him as he headed to the Study.

“Can I come too, young master?” Lily, who was feeling a little jealous, and a little curious, asked.

“No, you are punished. Go do the dishes with Alex then prepare yourself. You will be heading out with me, as I am too sleepy to drive.” He said, making both Lily and Alex show aggravated faces.

“Why am I being punished too?” Alex asked herself absentmindedly.

“Oh, and Theta, go get me the two paintings you retrieved from the artist’s shop. Make sure that no one but you touches them.” He added as he left the room.