Chapter 35: My name’s Idris Thomas… I hope we get along well

"Kaelen..."

Kaelen heard Stephanie mumble his name. Recognition and something deeper flashed through her eyes. But he simply ignored her, brushing past her shoulder as he left the mall.

As soon as he arrived outside, Kaelen spotted a group of ladies taking pictures in front of the Koenigsegg, and simply pressed the remote, making the car roar to life, startling the women as he arrived before the car.

He didn’t offer them any words as he jumped into the driver’s seat and opened the trunk for the sales reps to offload the shopping bags. And when there was no more space, he made them fit into the floor of the passenger seat.

"Thank you, ladies," he said and pulled out a stack of cash he’d withdrawn from the mall earlier, waving it at them through the window. "Go get yourselves something nice to eat."

"Thank you, sir."

"Come back next time."

The sales reps bowed respectfully as they accepted the stack of cash in unconcealable excitement.

Kaelen was just about to pull out when one of the ladies who’d been taking pictures by his car and had been watching the entire ordeal with the sales reps from the side made up her mind to walk up to him, lightly tapping on his window.

Kaelen lowered the window to look at her, and she beamed a teasing smile at him as she held her phone up towards him with both hands.

"Hi~ My name’s Mira. Can I get your number?"

Kaelen was impressed by the lady’s boldness. He never knew ladies could hit on guys this way as well.

"How about I get yours instead?" Kaelen thought for a moment, then suggested.

Giving out his number wasn’t really the smartest thing to do at this period. He could always turn the lady down, but decided to play it nice in case he ever needed her company.

He gave her his cracked phone to input her number before stepping on the gas and leaving the mall in a heartbeat.

He drove for a minute, and before long, he’d arrived at the 5-Star Lunar Restaurant, where the situation looked rougher compared to what was shown on live TV.

His car immediately began drawing unwanted attention, but Kaelen didn’t mind and simply found a spot to park nearby before dialing Cindra’s contact.

The line connected almost immediately.

"I’m sorry, but the situation is tougher than I anticipated," Cindra spoke immediately.

"I can see that."

"We might have to cancel and reschedule for next time... wait, what did you say?"

"I’m outside right now. Is there no other way to make it happen today?"

"Do you have a car? Did you come with one?" Cindra quickly asked.

"Yes, I did," Kaelen replied.

"That’s great news. I think I have a plan."

"Let’s hear it."

The plan was pretty much simple. The restaurant had a hidden back door that was out of service, but was willing to let Black Rose use it as an escape route to his car. While Cindra would distract them long enough to get into her own car, which was already surrounded. Then they’d both meet up at the estate agency.

An idea worthy of the Captain of the White Vanguard Guild.

Except there was a problem... Kaelen mentioned what car he was driving, but Cindra never bothered, or simply forgot, to ask. Probably expecting it to be something less classy than her burgundy Porsche.

The plan was set in motion when Cindra stormed out through the front door of the restaurant and began cutting through the crowd that threatened to swallow her as she made her way to her car. But because she wasn’t their main target, they were only asking where Black Rose was and if they could have five minutes of her time.

Cindra completely ignored them as she protected her face with her delicate hands from the flashlights of the press.

On the other end, Black Rose safely made it out the side exit when she suddenly realized she didn’t even know what car Kaelen was driving, and there were simply too many cars in the driveway.

Kaelen witnessed all this and sighed wearily. He didn’t have the girl’s number to call her and give her the directions, so instead of watching her stand there helplessly, he stepped out of the car and waved at her.

It took the cyan-haired girl a moment to realize that was the same guy from the elevator, standing next to the Koenigsegg. Talk about drawing attention.

She began waving back at him to stop waving at her, when the reporters and random passersby who had been secretly taking shots of the Koenigsegg saw the owner step out and begin waving at someone across the street. And when they followed his gaze, lo and behold, it was the White Vanguard Guild Leader waving back excitedly.

"Isn’t that Black Rose?"

"She’s over here, everyone!"

"Don’t let her get away this time!"

The noise immediately attracted the attention of the beehive around Cindra, and the moment they spotted it was actually Black Rose, they deserted the captain and ran after their main target.

Before Black Rose could rush back into the restaurant, she realized she’d been cornered from all directions, and came the heavenly flashes that made her world turn bright.

At that moment, she froze on the spot as flashbacks and painful childhood memories began resurfacing in her mind.

Kaelen watched all of this and immediately noticed something was off with the guild leader. He turned to look for Cindra, only to realize she’d been lost in the crowd.

He sighed wearily and considered leaving to handle the estate company himself. Maybe he could even drop by the bank and make President Hunter make a few calls on his behalf. But after realizing he was basically the cause of the entire situation, he clicked his tongue and deliberately stepped forward.

As soon as he arrived at the thick crowd, he simply began shoving the reporters aside as easily as an adult could separate kids in a fight. He never realized he was this strong up until that moment, and barely realized when he made it through to the center of the crowd where the stunned Black Rose was being bombarded with questions and flashlights.

Her body had gone completely rigid.

So Kaelen made the quick decision to take off his blazer, using it to cover her face from the flashlights, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her away from the crowd.

Kaelen barely realized when he arrived before his car, as the way the crowd followed him would make any other person lose their sense of direction. But not Kaelen.

Even without activating his [Sharp Senses].

He pulled Black Rose into the passenger seat, and casually walked around the car, ignoring the absurd questions being thrown at him as he entered the driver’s seat.

As soon as he shut the door, the noise immediately died down, leaving an unsettling silence inside the car.

Kaelen turned to see the cyan-haired girl staring at him with a cold expression, but he only smiled and reached out for a handshake.

"It’s nice to meet you again. My name’s... Idris."

"Idris Thomas."

"I hope we get along well."