Shadow Slave

Soon enough, Mordret was leaving the manor in one of his luxurious cars. It used to be that two escort vehicles were assigned to his security detail, but because of the recent incident, there were four of them now — one driving ahead, one guarding the rear, and two flanking his car from both sides.

The new chauffeur had not been vetted yet, so Mordret’s assistant was behind the wheel for now.

”Where to, sir?”

Fastening his seat belt, Mordret contemplated for a few moments, then said in a somewhat tense tone:

”The… the hospital where Morgan was being kept. Let’s get there as soon as possible.”

The assistant nodded, accelerating slightly.

They drove along the lake shore for a while. The sun rose higher and higher, but the grey twilight enveloping Mirage City seemed to only grow dimmer —

the stormy clouds fused into an impenetrable veil, discharging heavy torrents of rain ceaselessly. Still, Mordret could see the vague silhouette of the great castle towering above the water in the distance.

’I should check how the preparations for the grand opening of Mirage Museum are going.’

The opening was not going to happen for quite some time, though. For now, he had more pressing matters to worry about.

As if reading Mordret’s thoughts, the assistant spoke from the driver’s seat:

”Sir, I forwarded the flood prevention initiative report to your personal inbox, as requested. Things seem to be going well.”

Mordret looked away from the window and stared ahead in confusion for a couple of moments. Then, he smiled faintly.

”Oh. Thank you.”

Picking up a tablet from the mahogany desk built into the interior of the car, he accessed the report and immersed himself in reading. It was fortunate that he had a little work to do on the way… that way, at least, there was something to distract him from his worries.

’I wonder how long it will take to reach the hospital.’

Some of the roads were flooded, while others were congested. It was hard to say for sure.

After a while, Mordret sighed.

”This can’t be right. Who checked these numbers?”

The assistant looked at him through the rearview mirror.

”Oh… I was surprised, too. However, Valor Construction had already been mobilizing its forces in preparation for the reconstruction contracts that would follow after the floods. And they seem to still have some surplus materials left after finishing up the dam restoration project — that was a big commission, as you know. They’ve been waiting for a new flagship project since then.” ℞ά𐌽ȏ฿Ęʂ

Mordret nodded.

”I see.”

Then, he shook his head.

”Still, there must be a mistake in the report. Get me the original copy, on paper… oh, and let’s order a minor audit of Valor Construction while we’re

at it. We are going to be working closely with the city hall in the next few months, so it’s better to prepare in advance and have all the numbers at hand.”

The assistant nodded.

”I will arrange it, sir.”

Mordret sighed and looked out the window once again.

So many things were happening. Nothing had been happening for a long while, and now, everything seemed to be happening at once.

The other was here. He actually came back.

Morgan was… behaving strangely.

And then, there were the detectives.

Actually, their presence…

’No, don’t think about it. Don’t.’

The assistant looked at him strangely.

”Did you say something, sir?”

Mordret offered him a pleasant smile.

”No. Let’s hurry.”

Soon enough, they arrived at the hospital. The water was rising in this part of town, close to the northern dam, but the barricade of sandbags surrounding the building seemed to be holding for now. Workers in yellow raincoats were still scurrying to reinforce it, some wading through the water to drag

the new sandbags from a truck that had broken down on the flooded parking lot.

It was a lively scene. There was even a street musician playing a simple melody under a makeshift awning that the workers had raised.

”Please wait a few moments, sir. I’ll find a dry place to park the car.”

The escort vehicles stopped first, letting out a small crowd of bodyguards. The assistant opened the door and held up an umbrella. Climbing out of the

car, Mordret looked around and headed toward the hospital with confident steps.

”Oh. Go give that musician some change, and order hot meals and coffee to be delivered to the workers.”

The assistant disappeared with a bow.

Entering the lobby, Mordret stumbled a little, and looked ahead with a stunned expression.

There were two people waiting for him. The director of the hospital, he knew. Next to him, however…

Mordret was more or less the most powerful and wealthy man in Mirage City. Due to the nature of his position, he had met and interacted with most of the local prominent figures — politicians, titans of industry, spiritual leaders… and the brightest stars of the art world, as well: actors and actresses, runway models,incandescent idols of the musical stage…

But he had never once seen anyone as stunning as the woman standing silently next to the hospital director.

Mordret had really considered himself immune to being stunned by someone’s beauty, but at the moment, he found it hard to hide his shock.

’W—wow.’

Still, his bafflement only lasted a second.

A heartbeat later, he regained his composed expression. That composure was only outward, though — inwardly, his emotions were still in turmoil.

’Who… can she be?’

The director bowed slightly, looking at him with a familiar sycophantic smile.

”Mr. Mordret, welcome. I wish that there was a more auspicious reason for your visit, but sadly… well, it is what it is. Oh, and this is Dr. Saint — she was in charge of Miss Morgan’s treatment, so she would know best about your sister’s mental state.”

Mordret blinked a few times.

”Your name is Saint? How fitting.”

He smiled.

The stunning psychiatrist simply looked at him without saying anything. The absolute indifference of her gaze made him feel a little… a little…

Actually, Mordret did not even know how to describe how it made him feel.

All he knew was that he vastly preferred her aloof disregard to the director’s obvious desire to please.

’No one has ever treated me that way before...’