Chapter 84: An Angel in My Home

The elevator doors closed as the lemon soda I had bought from the store’s cooler chilled my palm. I pressed the button for the seventh floor and leaned against the wall.

Ever since leaving the mansion, I had been thinking about the same conversation. No matter how hard I tried to focus on something else, Isolde’s voice kept returning to my mind.

Consider the family’s reputation.

“Fucking reputation…”

I switched the bottle to my other hand and leaned my head back.

They had kicked me out and shown no interest in how I was living. Now they were telling me not to make them look bad in front of other people.

“You and your family…”

Before finishing the sentence, I raised my foot and kicked the elevator door. The dull metallic sound echoed through the small space.

After glaring at the door for several seconds, I let out a long breath.

Because of them, I was picking a fight with an elevator for no reason.

When the floor indicator reached seven, I straightened up. As soon as the doors opened, I stepped out and headed toward my apartment. I would go inside, have something to drink, turn on my computer, and stop thinking about my family for at least a few hours.

My steps stopped as I reached into my pocket.

My apartment door was ajar.

Light from the hallway slipped through the narrow gap between the door and its frame.

For a moment, I thought I was standing in front of the wrong door. I looked up at the number, then lowered my eyes to the gap again.

No. This was my apartment.

And I was certain I had locked the door before leaving.

Were those lunatics already trying to kill me?!

My anger quickly gave way to unease. My throat went dry as I remembered my conversation with Isolde.

They couldn’t have sent someone to my apartment just because I had defied her… right?

If we were talking about a normal family, I would have laughed at the thought myself. But when it came to the Evernights, an assassin waiting behind my door didn’t seem like a possibility I could ignore.

I focused on my left wrist.

Umbrella’s black surface silently dissolved and spread beneath my clothes. As a thin layer settled against my skin and covered my torso, I left a small piece in my palm. I could use it the moment I needed it.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly pushed the door open.

No sound came from inside.

After stepping through the doorway, I placed the soda bottle on the shoe cabinet by the entrance. I listened for a while without taking my eyes off the hallway.

The apartment looked exactly as I had left it.

Everything in the living room was in place. There was no one in the kitchen, and when I pushed the bathroom door open, that room was empty too.

None of this reassured me.

As I approached my bedroom, I held the black piece in my palm a little tighter. The door was halfway open. I stopped beside it and leaned forward just enough to see inside.

That was when I noticed the person on my bed.

Blonde hair was spread across my pillow.

The girl wore a pink, short-sleeved collared shirt, a black skirt, and socks. Her legs were drawn up slightly as she slept on her side. One hand rested beside her face, while the other lay on the pillow she was hugging.

The black piece in my palm lost its shape.

“Angel…?”

My voice barely came out as a whisper.

I stood frozen in the doorway for several seconds. Then I rubbed my eyes with my free hand and looked again.

She was still there.

Here? Why?

After slowly drawing Umbrella back around my wrist, I pinched my arm.

It hurt.

So I wasn’t dreaming. My angel really was sleeping in my bed.

Unsure what to do with that information, I remained where I was for a little longer. Then I approached the bed with cautious steps.

A strand of blonde hair had fallen across her cheek. Her lips moved faintly with each breath, and the peaceful expression on her face made her look gentler than usual.

It was unfair for her to look this cute.

Just moments ago, I had been preparing to face an assassin. Now I was struggling to look away from her face.

I shook my head.

Focus on the main issue first, Noctis.

What was my angel doing in my apartment? I hadn’t given her my address. I hadn’t even been able to contact her for a while.

Had she started looking for me because she hadn’t heard from me?

Standing beside the bed, I watched her a little longer. I didn’t know when she had arrived, but she was sleeping deeply. I reached out to touch her shoulder, then stopped with my fingers in the air.

I needed to wake her.

Still, seeing that peaceful face, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

While I was trying to decide, the phone beside her pillow suddenly began ringing.

The girl frowned slightly. Mumbling something I couldn’t understand, she felt around the pillow until she found her phone and silenced the alarm.

Then she sleepily sat up.

She rubbed one eye as she looked around the room. When her gaze reached me, she stopped moving.

She blinked several times.

The next moment, I found myself in her arms.

My breath caught in my throat.

She had been sitting on the bed just a moment ago. Now she stood in front of me with both arms wrapped around me.

I hadn’t even seen her get up.

A slight shiver ran down my back as her blonde hair filled my vision. I had thought I was fast when I used Storm Heart that morning, but I hadn’t even been able to follow her movement.

“A-Angel…”

“Why weren’t you answering my messages?!”

Her arms tightened around me.

Before I could answer, the pressure against my chest increased. I opened my mouth, but only a short breath came out instead of the words I wanted to say.

I hadn’t expected being hugged by an angel to feel like this.

Apparently, neither had my ribs.

The girl suddenly raised her head. Her eyes widened when she looked at my face, and she quickly pulled her hands away.

“I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?”

I placed a hand on my chest and took a deep breath. Seeing her worried expression, I tried to smile.

“Now I know firsthand what it means to be smothered with affection.”

“Did I really hurt you?”

“I’m fine. I just need a little air.”

After studying my face, she slowly relaxed her shoulders. She still looked worried, but at least she had stopped thinking she had accidentally killed me.

Encouraged by her calmer expression, I returned to the main question.

“Words can’t describe how happy I am to have an angel in my home, but…” I looked directly into her eyes. “How did you find me?”

The girl answered with a perfectly calm expression.

“I had the security footage around the park checked.”

My smile froze.

“…The security footage?”

“Yes. I found footage of you leaving the park on one of the previous days. Then I checked the cameras along the streets you passed through and eventually made it here.”

I stared at her for several seconds, trying to make sense of what she had said.

My angel had someone check security footage, street by street, just to find my address?

“Did you open the door too?”

After a brief hesitation, she nodded.

“I rang the bell, but you didn’t answer. I thought something might have happened to you.”

My gaze briefly shifted toward the bedroom door. I was about to ask how she had opened it, but she continued speaking.

“Actually, before checking the cameras, I asked a seer for help too.”

I turned back to her.

“A seer?”

“I thought they might be able to find you. But they said they couldn’t see anything.”

I frowned.

“And then?”

“They wanted to try again. After keeping their eyes closed for a while, their face went completely pale.” A hint of unease appeared on her face. “I saw their hands shaking. They tried to say something, but they fainted before they could speak.”

I fell silent for a moment.

“They fainted?”

She nodded.

“They seemed frightened. After regaining consciousness, they refused to look into you again.”

I stared at her, unsure what to say.

A seer searching for me, seeing nothing, and then fainting from fear didn’t sound normal at all. I wondered whether it had something to do with the System, but that wasn’t something I could explain to the girl in front of me.

“Are they okay, at least?”

“Yes. They recovered after a while.” She looked up at my face. “But I still hadn’t found you. So I had the cameras checked.”

The way she said it made it sound like the most ordinary thing in the world.

Yet she had visited a seer and then followed security footage all the way to the home of someone she had only known for a few days.

Would I have gone that far?

I wasn’t sure of the answer.

Part of me found all of this strange. The other part hadn’t been able to think properly since hearing how hard she had tried to find me.

Only a short while ago, I had sat across from Isolde, wondering why she had never asked how I was doing, not even once.

Now a girl stood in front of me who had searched for me street by street because I hadn’t answered her messages.

This time, I felt a different kind of tightness in my throat.

God, thank you for bringing a girl like this into my life.

The girl stepped closer. This time, her touch was extremely gentle as she placed a hand on my arm.

“But you’re okay, right? Nothing happened to you?”

Seeing the concern on her face, I immediately nodded.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Nothing happened to me.”

When she kept looking at me, I continued.

“Besides, that Overlap happened far from my apartment. I was sleeping at home when it happened.”

The girl stared silently at my face for several seconds.

Her fingers, which had relaxed a moment ago, went still on my arm. As the relief slowly faded from her expression, her blue eyes flashed.

When she spoke, her voice was cold and frightening.

“Then why were you ignoring my messages?!”