The Ancient Genes

Max closed the system tab and decided to take a bit of rest and recover his energy. This unknown trial had made him quite exhausted.

An hour or so passed and Max finally regained enough strength to move around.

Max opened his eyes, planning to lift his head off of Elly's shoulder. But the next instant, he felt a weight on his head.

It didn't take him long to realise it was Elly.

Elly had fallen asleep as well. Max had taken her shoulder as a pillow while Elly had taken his head as her pillow.

She had her hand on Max's hand. They didn't have a separated arm rest for their seats. A common problem…

Well, it was probably an unconscious action in her sleep. She wasn't the type to initiate any type of physical contact after all.

Max gently held her head and got out of the awkward position before letting her head on his shoulder. 

"Umn…" 

Elly suddenly clenched the back of Max's hand which was on the armrest and a frown emerged on her face.

"Mom…" She muttered as tears trickled down the corner of her eyes.

Max looked at her and sighed. Everybody had their share of troubles. He had no idea what she had gone through. 

'I guess family problems are common in the Noble society…' Max made a sarcastic remark. But it was his heartfelt words. He really hated how the Noble Society worked.

"I…am not...a...monster…"

Max was surprised on hearing those words. He couldn't understand just what made her say those words.

He raised his hand and placed it on her cheek to wipe her tears. 

Elly's body trembled when Max touched her but the next instant, her expression eased.

"Only a blind person will call her a monster…" Max muttered as he shook his head.

A smile spread on Elly's face as Max turned his head toward the screen.

She had woken up the moment Max touched her cheek. It was only because of the situation that she didn't open her eyes.

'Thank you…' Elly muttered inwardly. Even though Max's words weren't able to ease her worries, she was still grateful for his heartfelt words.

Soon the movie was over….

Max looked at her. He had to wake her up.

"Miss...wake up…" Max said as he lightly tapped her cheek.

"Umn...Is it over…" Elly had fallen asleep once again. She gently raised her head and rubbed her eyes before looking at Max.

"Yes, it's over….shall we go?" Max asked.

Elly nodded before standing up.

"Miss, could you let go of my hand?" Max asked as he looked at her. She was still holding his hand.

"Oh.." Elly released his hand after realising.

Both of them joined the queue to get out the hall.

….

"Where are they?" Max muttered as he couldn't find any of those fellows around.

"They must be waiting to check if there is anything to see after credits…." Elly replied. She was well aware of their tendencies. It wasn't her first time being dragged around.

"Let's go...there is no point in standing here…" Elly said and they walked out of the place to enter a restaurant nearby.

Max on the other hand sent Lisa a message that they were waiting for them in the particular restaurant.

"Sir, what would you like to have? We have special items for couples today…." The waitress smiled as she looked at Max.

"We are not couples…we are..." Elly spoke but suddenly found it difficult to complete her sentence.

They were not a couple....

One wouldn't come to a place like this with a mere acquaintance....

She didn't wanna say that he was her servant....

She wanted to say that they were friends...but was afraid that it might be just her who was thinking that way….

The waitress looked at Max pitifully. She had seen too many couples, Elly seemed a tsundere to her refusing to admit it. She felt it was going to be hard for Max….

"We are friends…" Max had enough of Elly's hesitations and the waitress's pitiful stare.

After he placed something for order.

He then looked at Elly who was staring at him.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" He asked.

"No.." Elly shook her head.

Max had already heard her words earlier. If she needed help, he would try to help her. He understood the old spirit's way of thinking. Helping her might be the right thing to do. Not to mention, she was a kind-hearted person. Max knew it from the very beginning. 

Even when he had bumped into her and got beaten by Lisa in Arcane, she wasn't angered. The only time she was angry at him was when he interfered in her matter with Lisa's kidnapping. She was angry at him for someone else's sake rather than for her own.

.....

A few minutes later everyone else arrived...

"You two really got out early….you missed the last scene…" Janet said as she came and took the seat beside Max.

Beli took the other seat beside Max. 

Lisa sighed looking at the scene. She hadn't gone forward hoping for Aria to seat beside him but she had gone and taken the seat beside Elly.

Janet took the lead to excitedly discuss the movie while others chimed in from time to time.

Only Max and Elly were silent. Those two hadn't watched anything since they weren't interested to begin with. They had nothing to talk about and just kept nodding their heads.

Obviously, the detail didn't leave Lisa's eyes since she was staring at them from time to time.

"The scene where the bus crashed into a building almost gave me a heart attack…" Lisa said as she looked at those two suspiciously.

"Yeah, sure it did…" Elly replied indifferently.

Max nodded as well as he continued to eat his fill. Since he was dragged here, the bill wasn't his. He would be embarrassed if he didn't take advantage of the situation.

"Wait! Was there a scene like that?" Janet suddenly asked in confusion.

"I don't think there was…" Beli replied. Her voice sounded a bit unsure though.

"There wasn't any scene like that.." Aria said with confidence.

Max raised his head only to see Lisa with a smirk on her face.

"You two didn't watch the movie, don't tell me you sneaked out?" Lisa asked as she looked at Max. She would be angry if he did. Not only did her plan fail, he didn't even stay in place.

"Oh! What were you two doing?" Janet asked with interest. Even Aria turned her head to look at both of them.

"I fell asleep." 

Elly and Max simultaneously replied before raising their head to look at each other. They knew they weren't lying except for Max...but he still counted that as sleeping...

An awkward silence enveloped the table.

If one of them said it, it was a bit believable. But if both of them gave the same reason, there will be some doubt regarding it….

"I see…" Janet smiled meaningfully and didn't continue the topic.

'Don't tell me….' Lisa looked at Elly. But then shook her head. It was Elly, it wasn't possible.

If it turned out to be the truth, she wouldn't know who to support. But it wasn't possible for Elly. Lisa was confident…

Elly was like those saints who have gotten over stuff like attraction and love when it came to opposite sex….she had never seen Elly even glance at a guy with interest in her whole life…she had always remained indifferent to to people. Even their group wouldn't be her side if they hadn't met during childhood and penetrated through Elly's self defense mechanism in her early days when she wasn't like her current self...

Aria too didn't give it much of a thought.

A few minutes later, they walked out of the place…

"You want me to drop you back to your home?" Max asked as he looked at Beli. It had gotten dark. He hadn't confirmed any of his suspicions yet, so he would treat her like how he would normally do...

"No...I am fine. My mom is coming to pick me up…" Beli replied with a smile before bidding farewell to everyone.

"Aren't you a gentleman?" Lisa asked with a smile. But it sounded like she was mocking him.

"Of course, I.." Max was about to reply confidently when a few memories flashed past in his mind and he stopped. He really wasn't gentle at all...but he didn't have control over that…

"What?" Lisa asked as she looked at Max who became quite all of a sudden.

When she looked at him, staring at her so intently, her face turned a bit red and she immediately turned away. His face right now reminded her of something which she didn't want to remember.

"Young Miss, the Former Lord has called for you…"  A person walked towards them and respectfully bowed before speaking to Lisa.

"Right now?" Lisa recognised the person.

"Yes, he said it was urgent…" the servant replied.

"I will have to go now...I will return if I can.." Lisa replied reluctantly as she looked at everyone.

"Why do you need to return? Don't you have your own house?" Elly asked calmly.

"Y-You!! I will definitely come just you wait…." She angrily stomped her feet before leaving.

"Why do you keep teasing her?" Aria asked as she looked at Elly.

"She has a loving family and yet she doesn't want to spend time with them….I just can't understand her train of thoughts…" Elly replied as she shook her head.

….

Walker House, Capital.

The old man sat in his chamber looking at something on his table with a dark expression on his face.

"Grandpa, I am here…" Lisa's voice rang as she entered the place, clearly unaware of the tribulation she was about to face.