章 71: Chapter 19.2
After receiving Alina's message, Jason decided to pick Alice up instead. Originally, he was intending to leave her in Silvia's care but thinking about how she would be alone while everyone else was gathered together made him reconsider. Arriving in front of the Graves Mansion's gate, he couldn't help but stop to appreciate it.
The Graves were a prominent family and the former predecessor of Silvia, her grandfather, was actually a founding member of the council and one of the lead developers of constructing Sanctuary. And this was mirrored in their house, a giant mansion with a large area around it that was made into a private resort.
The mansion was composed of four floors, each with an innumerable number of rooms, and this wasn't counting the two floors of a basement that was below the ground. It was designed like a European mansion, with gray stonework outside and beautiful wooden furnishings for the interior.
Behind the mansion was a garden and a private pool that also doubled as a hot spring, and further off in the hills was a golf course. Jason looked at all this before ringing the bell on the large gate that barred his path. While it looked like an old fashioned iron gate, Jason knew that just beyond it was an advanced security system, one that would engage anyone foolish enough to trespass.
Jason pulled his helmet off and swiped back the wet hair from his forehead. He was waiting to identify himself when the gate opened automatically, allowing him to pass without any issues. He smiled faintly, knowing that Silvia was actually expecting him as he drove into the pathway leading up to the mansion.
Stopping at the driveway next to the entrance of the mansion, Jason parked his bike and leapt off. He landed near a butler who bowed after handing him a towel.
"Welcome, Mr. Sage. Lady Silvia awaits you. If you would follow me," the butler said to Jason elegantly. Jason nodded and walked behind the butler, his eyes roaming around the mansion as they stepped through the entrance.
"Damn, this gives the Sages' a run for their money," Jason wolf-whistled when he saw the interior.
Some of the artwork loitering on the wall were from the eighteenth century while the heads of prestigious mutants were mounted in specific areas. Jason raised an eyebrow when he noticed a mutated Siberian Tiger stuffed into a head mount. This tiger was the size of an adult elephant and its fangs were growing out like a sabertooth tiger.
"Indeed," the butler answered. "While the Graves may not be as vocal as the continental families, it does not mean that they are any less ... significant than them."
Jason nodded and didn't say anything else and soon the two were engulfed in silence as the butler led him to the second floor. As soon as they reached the western side of the floor, the pitter-patter of small footsteps soon reached his ears. A moment later, Alice appeared running out of a room and into Jason's arms. Her blonde hair was wet and gave her the appearance of a drowned cat. Her body was damp as well and the bathrobe she was wearing slowly slipped from one of her shoulders.
"I mwissed you!" she cried as she hugged him.
Jason stopped when he heard Alice, his smile and arms that were poised around Alice were also stagnant as he tried pondering on what Alice just said.
"Uhh … what?" Jason muttered. He couldn't understand how Alice could feel so close to him when they've only known each other for a day, possibly less.
Alice looked up at Jason with puppy eyes, fearful of Jason being angry at her, but the latter roused himself and smiled at Alice, patting her head before lifting her up and hugging her gently with his large arms.
"Hey kid," he said to her. "You been a good girl?"
Alice nodded and giggled. When Jason kissed her cheek, she tried dodging the kiss because of his scruffy face. He found it amusing and the two began a sort of chase where Jason was trying to rub his cheeks on hers and she would try to evade.
"Well, it looks like you two are getting along quite well," a voice interrupted their games and they both turned to the speaker simultaneously.
Silvia stood at the doorway of the room from which Alice ran from. She was dressed in a velvet bathrobe that covered her modestly, her glistening neck and hands were the only signs of her just exiting the bath. Her vaguely damp hair was still in its normal bun style and standing there with her hands on her hips completed the strict look she always carried.
"Young lady, it's no excuse to run away from properly drying yourself," Silvia lectured Alice who shrunk even more into Jason's arms.
"Aw, that's enough Silvie," Jason said, cooing once he saw how Alice was. "She promises not to do it again, right, Alice?"
Alice nodded but made no motion to leave Jason's arm. Silvia turned and glared at Jason accusing him, with her eyes, of spoiling Alice excessively. Jason smiled wryly before walking into the room while Silvia made space for him to pass.
The room a changing and preparation room for the private bathroom that was located further in. Jason took Alice to the front of a dresser table and placed her in the chair. He took a hairdryer and gently dried Alice's hair while she closed her eyes, adorably squeezing them shut in fear of the dryer. After he was done, he picked an outfit from the wardrobe behind them.
It was a thick pair of jeans and a blue fleece sweater with a pink heart on it. Jason was about to dress her when he felt killing intent aimed at him and turned to see Silvia smiling sweetly at him. Slowly, he handed the outfit to her and walked to the door and Silvia smiled at Alice who was bemused.
"Now let's get you dressed, dear," Silvia said to her while swinging her arm at the door. Her SEC device activated and pushed the door, closing it telekinetically.
After a while, both of them exited the room and Jason smiled at seeing Alice. She hurried to Jason and raised her arms while jumping.
"Up! Up!" Alice said to Jason, who acquiesced easily and lifted her up.
"You're good with girls of all ages," Silvia said with a hint of a smile. Jason stuck his tongue at her in response and she shook her head at his antics. "Here's her rain boots and a raincoat."
Jason nodded as he took the items from Silvia while she watched them both closely with a sliver of envy in her heart.
"Must you leave early? Daria and I would be happy if you stayed longer," Silvia said to Jason, who hesitated, the corner of his lips twitched slightly.
Daria was Silvia's younger sister who was in her final year in high school. Jason met her when they were children, but she was too young to remember him and they barely had any contact in school because she had excellent fighting capabilities, just like her sister. However, he remembered encountering her at a meeting between the student council and the teachers where he realized that she, like most other girls, found him attractive and, since then, Jason had been actively avoiding her.
"Nah, Alle's waiting for me to cook something up, so, I'd better go," Jason shook his head and declined the invitation and Silvia, who looked crestfallen yet relieved for but a moment, nodded.
"Well, alright. Just remember you always have a place here," Silvia said before gesturing at the butler to lead Jason and Alice back to the entrance.
After watching Jason's back for a while, Silvia went back into the room and straight into the bathroom. Tossing the bathrobe aside, she dived back into the hot bathtub which was the size of a small swimming pool. She sighed as she closed her eyes, her mind wandering back to the result of Alice's DNA test.
His child, She thought with remorse and pain, a slight headache pummeled her while a stuffy feeling filled her chest. Figures he'd have a child by now, he was always such a lady-killer.
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