Chapter 146: Jean being jealous?

On his way home, Kai drove with a solemn expression, his thoughts so occupied that he could barely recall what Daniel or Adam had told him after he left the office.

Adam might be talking about the celebration and Daniel was a little worried. But Kai just gave them a few nods and humms before leaving.

His conversation with the Chairman continued to replay in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more certain things began to fall into place.

His special eye didn’t work on Sages. He had discovered that when he first met the Chairman. Assuming the old man knew everything about these extraordinary individuals, Kai had naturally suspected that he was one of them as well..or at least connected to them.

The system had even explained why he couldn’t evaluate the man. Both his special skill and the Sages were built upon the same underlying force, making it impossible for his eye to distinguish between them.

The same thing had happened when he tried examining the engraving on Elara’s arm.

His eye had failed him once again.

That meant the Chairman had been telling the truth. Or, at the very least, he wasn’t lying about everything.

’If what he said is true, then Jean was never supposed to awaken her powers at this point. Her awakening was somehow connected to Elara. But now, because I used that pill, both of them have been marked.’

Even if he chose not to believe everything the Chairman had told him, he couldn’t dismiss the possibility that the engravings would put Jean and Elara in danger. There was a lingering sense of caution that he simply couldn’t shake.

’But I can’t tell Jean about this.’

If she ever discovered that her awakening might have placed their daughter in danger, she would be devastated. It had taken years for her to recover from her trauma, and she had finally found something that brought her happiness again. The ability to wield mana had given her a new sense of freedom, something she had once believed would remain beyond her reach.

He didn’t want to take that away from her.

’I’m sorry, Jean. But this burden is mine alone to bear.’

Kai drew a deep breath and finally pulled into the driveway.

He stepped out of the car and began walking towards the house, deliberately taking his time. With every step, he forced himself to put his thoughts aside and ease the tension from his expression.

He couldn’t let Jean notice that something was wrong. Her questions had a habit of getting more out of him than he initially intended to reveal.

But not today.

DING-DONG!

He pressed the doorbell and waited.

’Hmm?’

Half a minute passed, yet nobody came to open the door. He initially assumed Jean might be in the bathroom, but just as he was about to ring again...

CLICK.

The door finally opened, revealing the reason for the delay.

"Here, she has a lot to say."

Jean handed Elara over to him. Apparently, the little girl had been giving her mother quite a bit of trouble.

Kai first secured his daughter in his arms. Elara, who appeared rather wronged and sulky, immediately wrapped her little arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest.

The sight alone was enough to lift much of the weight he had been carrying.

Smiling, he gently rubbed her back.

"What happened, Elli? Did you get scolded again?"

Jean crossed her arms and gave him a questioning look.

"Do you think I’m a strict mother, Kai?"

Kai chuckled faintly. "Not at all. But I do believe Elara can be a little mischievous at times."

Jean’s expression softened, and she hesitated before admitting, "Um... I was trying to test my powers and ended up bending the coin Elara had given me."

Kai hummed in surprise.

Part of his reaction came from learning that Jean was already making progress with her abilities. But another part came from the realization that he hadn’t misread the situation.

His daughter really was sulking over the coin.

Kai reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of coins, and held them out to her.

"Here, take as many as you want."

Elara glanced at the coins in his palm. For a moment, Kai thought she might reach for them, but instead, she turned her head away and hugged him again.

Kai could only smile helplessly.

While gently caressing her little back, he remarked, "I guess she needs some time to decide."

"Or perhaps the fun of collecting coins is over now that her daddy is home."

Jean shook her head with an amused smile before approaching him. She was about to take the bag of fruit from his hand when she suddenly paused.

Blinking in surprise, she leaned a little closer and sniffed his shirt.

Kai hummed, looking down at her. "What happened? I might be a little sweaty."

Jean raised her eyes to meet his.

"Women’s perfume."

Kai stiffened.

His mind immediately went back to the moment he had pulled Hannah into his arms to protect her from the cyborg’s attack.

’Ah, shit.’

"But you said it would only be you, Adam, and the Vice-Chairman?"

Kai stiffened even further.

Right. He had completely forgotten to mention Hannah when he told her about the people he would be meeting.

Looking at Jean, he gently took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Come, I’ll explain everything."

The way he said it only made Jean a little more nervous, but she followed him nonetheless.

...

[Five minutes later]

"Oh... so she’s your admirer, huh?"

Jean nodded thoughtfully as Kai finished explaining what had happened.

Kai let out a quiet sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had managed to clear up the misunderstanding without much difficulty. Though, in hindsight, he probably should have mentioned that Hannah would be accompanying them as well. It wasn’t anything particularly significant, but he could have avoided this little misunderstanding altogether.

’I thought she would definitely get jealous and suspicious...’

Kai couldn’t quite decide whether he felt relieved or a little disappointed by how easily Jean had accepted his explanation.

Well, not everyone expressed their affection or possessiveness in the same way. He shouldn’t expect her to react like...

"Well, since the scent is rather strong, let me wash your shirt for you."

Kai hummed in surprise.

"Oh, okay. Let me finish help Elara first, then I’ll..."

Jean shook her head.

"Don’t worry about it."

Before Kai could finish his sentence, she reached out, caught the fabric of his shirt between her fingers, and gave it a sudden tug.

ZRRRRRP!

With her newly awakened strength, the shirt practically came apart in her hands.

"Oh, it’s torn anyway. I’ll just throw it away later."

Jean shrugged as though she hadn’t just ripped apart perfectly good clothing. She tossed the shirt aside, then wrapped both hands around Kai’s arm and leaned against him.

A contented smile finally appeared on her face.

"....."

Kai looked down at the woman clinging to his arm.

Ah...

So she was jealous after all.

°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. If you have been enjoying the read so far, please drop a comment or a review?