Theresa was a thinker first before being a fighter. She was the brains whereas her sister was the brawn. She was the one who made sure to read all the clauses of the contract to avoid having her sister sell herself out without knowing how she even did that. Her sister was a natural klutz when it came to these things so she thought of it as her job to take care of them in her stead.
This didn't really mean that Cecilia was a stupid woman. No dumb person could reach the heights she had reached in her life. Theresa's sister was not stupid or dumb, she just did not like thinking as she could resolve most if not all solutions with her fists and muscles alone.
Theresa though, while extremely talented in her own right, was just your average genius. Unlike her sister and Mei who were monsters.
This was why she had prided herself in one thing and one thing alone. Keeping calm even in the direst of moments and not losing herself to her emotions. She was a clinical being of the highest degree and she was not someone who would let her temper dictate her speech and persona.
Even when Asmodeus nearly descended on this earth, she was able to keep her calm and observe the scenario, trying her best to find the best solution to this problem.
But for the first time in a while, she felt her blood pressure rise past the boiling point and let her restrained emotions run loose.
"Hey, you fucking bitch…"
Theresa grabbed her sister by the collar and hurled her toward her face, nailing Cecilia down with her wrathful gaze, "Do you even hear yourself, right now?"
Her voice was measured and even but the anger underlaid in that even tone could be seen by even the dumbest being alive.
"You vanish for over twenty years like a ghost. I find you raising the son of Lady Mei and your answer is just an "I can't tell you"? What the hell is that shit? You think you are the second coming of Jesus Christ or something?"
"Release me."
The two sisters glared at each other in silence. Each of them had intense emotions boiling inside of their eyes but in the end, the first one to look away was the sinner, Cecilia, herself.
"Look. I am sorry for everything…"
"Of course, you should be damn sorry, you raving madwoman. I am not stupid, you know?"
She took another cigarette out of the packet and placed it between her lips again.
"You don't want to lie to me so you are saying you can't tell me anything, right?"
Cecilia didn't speak, but her silence was an answer on its own. This caused the light in Theresa's eyes to dim slightly as coldness began to gather in her eyes.
"You are hiding a secret and you aren't telling me, right? You do not believe in me."
"This is not—"
"If that isn't the reason then tell me, dear sister of mine, just… Why?"
She released the smoke through her nostrils, her eyes getting colder and colder, "I am a Director now. I may be weaker than you in your prime but I am still very powerful and have more influence than you. This means that you aren't hiding a secret to actually protect me. You simply judged that I would not take your side on whatever you are trying to hide. You can't fool me, sis."
Cecilia's eyes twitched slightly at that remark. This was it, she had hit the bullseye. One of the reasons she hadn't wanted to meet and discuss this with her sister was because she didn't think that Theresa would agree with her decisions.
"Whatever it is. Lady Mei's situation is bad. Either dead, crippled, or vanished. Otherwise, there is no way she wouldn't raise her son."
"Hey…"
"There is also no logical reason to hide Adam from the family. Even if it was a child out of marriage. The old man, Musashi, would not care for such triviality to raise his only grandson. You know this as much as me so don't try to say otherwise. Now… We come to the burning question… Why raise Adam by yourself?"
She mused quietly at the silence of her sister before nodding her head, coming to a conclusion on her own, "Is it the father? Is he some super criminal or something of the sort? Is he someone dangerous or simply someone from an enemy family? Either way, it must be someone big enough to convince you that his identity would put Adam in danger."
Theresa grinned in amusement but her eyes told another story altogether, "Tell me, dear sister of mine. How far am I from the truth?"
She chuckled and waved her hand, "Rather… Don't. I will find the truth by myself sooner or later and I will smack you with that in the face in due time. Watch me…"
"You… You are as petty as always, huh?"
"I know. Being petty always suited me the best, after all."
She exhaled quietly, and her face became obscured by the smoke as she thought deeply about this matter.
Adam's father was someone special. In the first place, only someone special would have been able to seduce the lady that had absolutely no interest in love and only cared about her sword and her path to absolution.
'Adam has a slightly foreign look. So at least the father is not an Asian or an African. Is he European? American? Or perhaps is it a supernatural creature?'
She shook her head. It was dangerous to jump to conclusions too fast. She would think about it later. For now, though, there was only one thing she wanted to say. Despite all her anger, sadness, and disappointment at this so-called secret, she still had to say it…
"Welcome back, sis. I am happy to see that you are well."
She was partially sure her sister had died or was drifting in the Astral Realm, forever lost. So, she was happy about the good news of her existence.
She put down her cigarette and approached her sister to hug her tightly.
Cecilia was also feeling complicated about it all. But she did not hesitate to hug Theresa back. Like this, the two sisters stayed in silence in each other's arms.
It was in this position that Adam, followed by Makoto saw their sisterly bond.
———
A few hours later, Theresa was quietly watching the recording of the fight between her protege and Adam.
On the side, there was Adam's file and in her hand, she was holding a small vial filled with a red liquid.
Since Adam was wounded and needed rest, the discussion between them had been cut short but Theresa had obtained enough information to become suspicious of some matters.
In the first place, who even was The World? This being that had contacted her nephew.
This seemed like an epithet of the Celestial being. This was something pretty common for the Celestials.
'Is it Gaia? Or perhaps, another entity related to Earth?'
If that were so, it would be more logical. After all, Adam did manipulate Gravity and Electromagnetism. If his god was related to the planet itself, she wouldn't be surprised if he somehow managed to use the other force of nature as well.
'So many questions. So many things to understand. So little to go on with.'
She was truly happy to see her sister. But this was causing her a massive headache.
"And… There is this as well."
She looked at the vial. She had made sure to clean up and erase all traces of blood, hair, or any other source of Adam's DNA.
Since the identity of his father was a secret, she didn't wish to let someone find it by mistake.
This careful consideration of her allowed her to find a few drops of blood that were not completely contaminated.
If she wished, she could conduct a test with it and determine Adam's ancestry.
Crack~
Ice covered the vial before it broke down and changed into floating ice crystals…
Now, there were no traces left of him at all.
Theresa groaned as she leaned back on her chair and continued to watch the fight in the darkness of her office.
It would be a lie to say that she was not interested.
But she knew Cecilia. The instincts of her sisters were off the charts. If her sister judged that telling Adam's true identity would make them enemies, chances were extremely high that she was right.
As such, what she had to do was pretty simple.
She had to become close enough to him to not mind whatever his true identity was once it was discovered in the future. For this, it was necessary to start with no knowledge whatsoever.
Looking at the end of the footage where Makoto lost her composure as she shared a handshake with Adam, Cecilia smiled.
It seemed like she had found just the right solution.
(AN: I tried to make an intelligent character without simply saying she is a genius and then not showing it. I hope I was able to show it properly in the past chapters and even more so with this one. Anyway, the small hunter arc finally ended. This is the first of many as Adam builds up his achievements and enters deeper into the hunter world. Now it's time to go back to the actual stars of this volume, Shuri and Yui. Haha the discussion between Yui and Adam will be interesting.)
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