Obsessed to Hate Him-Chapter 38: New Case

Chapter 38: New Case
KIAN
Guess, the meeting wasn’t as useless as I thought it was. There have been new shits acting up. People are going missing all over the Kingdom and every one of them was children. The age range is five to twelve years.
The children were mysteriously abducted without any trail left behind. It is almost like they vanished into the thin air. The children were never found after that. There have been a total of twenty cases of this incident and none of the children returned to their house. Not even their dead bodies.
While investigating this case, our intelligence department found out about a cult, located at the north-west border of Oblivara. There are fleeting rumors that the cult takes in children as their devotees.
The two things are seemingly linked but there is no concrete evidence to prove the theory. I have spent a good time looking through the information and the intel the intelligence department has collected.
They have been working on this case for a week now and there is too little they gathered on this case. It is pretty disappointing since I have hand-picked the men in the intelligence department. They are all qualified and have very vast potential. It was certainly unexpected of them.
A deep frown creases my eyebrows and creates wrinkles on my forehead as I stare down at the scroll before me.
The Crimson Pact.
Three words, fourteen letters, and two spaces between them. Written in bold and elegant strokes.
Even the name feels off. I wrinkle my nose and scrub my face with my palms as I lean against the backrest of my comfortable armchair in my office.
I could shove the work to any other officials but, hell, I didn’t. Something about the disappearance of the children didn’t feel right to me, and I knew that no other official would supervise the matter as seriously as I required them to. I could also hand over the matter to Jennifer but it seems like she will tell me to do it anyway. So it is useless to tell her since I will be the one handling it.
"Found something fishy?" Jennifer sets down the mug of coffee on the table before me. It is still very hot and the soft fragrance is wafting off of it. It soothes me a little.
"Not really." I drop the scroll on the table before looking up at her. She looks as young as ever with a hint of mischief and seriousness under the surface. She is leaning against my large desk and looking at me. "You needed something?"
"Nope. I thought you would tell me to do it." She pulls out a chair with a screeching noise and takes a seat across from me.
"Why do you think so?" I pick up the mug, looking down at the documents scattered all over my large desk where a person can nap.
"You have been distracted lately." She casually picks up a scroll from the desk and starts to scan it, though I know she is focusing on me. "And a little busy with your new little play toy." There is a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips which gets under my skin.
Though she isn’t wrong. In fact, she is just pointing out the facts. "I am not compromising on my work, aunt," I say grudgingly, not looking up at her now full-smiling face. It will only irritate me more. "I didn’t tell you to do it because I know you will end up shoving the work back into my hand."
"Well..." She drawls, "You are not wrong. But I just had a thought."
This time, I look at her, but I don’t lift my head from the scroll, "And may I know, what is this sudden ’thought’ of yours, aunt?" I have a bad feeling about it and I am not oh-so-happy about it.
"I will be joining the mission with you." She grins widely.
And I roll my eyes, not pleased at all.
Jennifer is as much of a perfectionist as I am. She will be a great help but two swords can’t live in one sheath. I don’t tell her that.
"No. You are not." I lift my head and stare at her fully this time. "I have taken over; you don’t need to be concerned about this anymore." The words fall out of my mouth without any emotions. My face is blank as well. I set down my coffee mug and push it aside. I have taken just one sip of it, and I already know I won’t be relishing the bitter taste on the tip of my tongue anymore.
"Yes, I am, dear nephew." She smiles widely, "You know how interesting things can get when a cult is involved, don’t you? And I think my life recently lacks drama. Well, Lain and you are pretty entertaining but I need a little blood in it. So, I am joining."
I assess her for a bit before saying, "Suit yourself." My voice is a little irritated and exasperated as I push up from my chair and slide out behind the table. "I am going to check on Cherry."
Jennifer waves after me, "See if he ran away again!" She laughs as I grumble under my breath and stride out of my office.
I haven’t seen Lain since the morning. And it is almost evening. Something isn’t just clicking because, knowing Lain, he would be all over the place by now when he saw that he had my men tailing him everywhere he went. But no, there is nothing.
I haven’t even heard from him since the morning and it is making me even more restless. I am killing him for sure this time if he runs away this time. And I am executing all my guards if they let him run away.
I ignore all the salutes as I approach my room with long purposeful strides, my jaw ticking and my fists clenched to my sides.
I push open the door and just as I thought. Lain is gone.
———
Author’s Note~
Hello, dear readers; I hope you are enjoying this book so far. I appreciate every single one of you. I am sorry for the delayed updates. But from tomorrow on, I will upload twice a day. And if we manage to hit 100 PS every week then there will be a bonus Chapter at the end of the week. 100 PS=1 Chapter. And 50 GT=1 Chapter at the end of every month. And once we hit the WinWin, I will do a mass release of 10 Chapters. I will also release the requested amount of Chapters of a fan when they give a super gift.
I hope you all will support me through the journey of this book and let me know your opinion through the comments. I will try to reply to every one of you. 😊
Thank you so much.