Tales of the Immortal Star [Aria's Tales]

Arc 3: Chapter 4

Dmitri couldn't win against her resolute gaze. He sighed in defeat. "Okay, let's find an island where we can be alone. Just the two of us." Then, he started petting her head gently.

Tina beamed with joy. "Hehe~"

She was so happy that her eyes closed, and her lips formed the shape of "3" while she let her chin rest on Dmitri's chest.

Dmitri almost thought she was going to purr at that moment. His heart continued to beat loudly as each stroke he did on her head seemed to satisfy his soul. He was still skeptical about his own feelings, but he longer pushed them away.

It was quite an addictive feeling, like his addiction to nicotine.

This tranquil scene continued for another five minutes until the sound of multiple footsteps came from inside the mansion.

Four muscular men with various street hairstyles and outfits were carrying a sofa toward where Dmitri and Tina were seated. Behind them, a man in a disheveled formal suit with black hair and hazel eyes, accompanied by a woman with wavy light brown hair and matching light brown eyes, dressed in a schoolgirl uniform, followed the crowd.

It was Aileen and Anton with some of their goons.

Tina burst out laughing. "Aileen! Why are kidnapping our sofa??"

Aileen's eyes flash with understanding as she looked at her sister sitting on Dmitri's lap. "Since you two lovebirds are so cozy out here, we couldn't bring ourselves to interrupt. So, we're bringing the living room to you instead."

When the four people finished placing the couch, they immediately went back inside and took out the table as well. And some snacks. And some alcohol. When they were done setting up everything for their bosses, they set up tables and chairs for themselves as well and started chatting or playing poker as they waited.

Tina heartily laughed. Her family this time was quite straightforward, shame didn't seem to exist in their dictionary. So, she also naturally helped herself with some of the snacks, feeding the helpless Dmitri with some nuts.

"I hope you guys weren't just making out while we were doing all the work. Did you finish bugging?" Aileen teased as she sat down on the sofa with Anton.

"Before that, give me your phones so I can check for ants." Tina extended her hand and waited.

Aileen frowned at her words. She immediately took her phone and swiftly took out Anton's phone as well, that was in his breast pocket, and handed it all to Tina.

Tina quickly took out the same listening devices that were on her phone and threw them at Aileen, to which Aileen caught midair, and handed them their phones back.

Aileen was examining the discs with a heavy expression and the more she looked at them the scarier her face got. When she was done, she dropped them inside a glass of water. "This is Estella's work, isn't it?"

"Yup~ Here's more~" Tina handed them her laptop.

Earlier when they were watching Estella talking to her system, she had already started recording it. She was not afraid of destroying the common sense built by the people around her. After all, Estella was part of the narrative constructed by the world. If Estella's secrets were revealed, that was simply her problem, not Tina's.

Aileen and Anton watched in silence. Their serious atmosphere gradually turning into confusion.

"What's a system?" Aileen murmured.

"And what was that object?" Anton said as he pointed to the bamboo scroll on the screen.

"We also don't know what she meant by the system. As for the object, I recall that it's called a bamboo scroll." Tina nonchalantly said. "I've heard that in Chinese Fantasy novels some bamboo scrolls contain abilities like the lie detection skill she was talking about."

Dmitri's petting paused for a bit before continuing. "Since when did you have time to read Chinese Fantasy novels?"

Tina turned to him. "I didn't~ I just did a quick search earlier~ Didn't you see it?" Her eyes held a bit of laughter as she realized that Dmitri had been so focused on petting her that he hadn't registered anything in his surroundings.

Dmitri blinked, and then shrugged. Although he looked collected, his red tinted ears betrayed him.

Aileen coughed to try and get the lovebird's attention. "I didn't know you guys got together! Why wasn't I informed??" She pouted as she looked at Tina.

Dmitri was about to retort, but he suddenly found Tina staring at him with sparkling eyes, waiting for him to acknowledge it. His heart was beating faster and louder.

Was this really, okay? Was he really allowed to call her his own? He wasn't sure. But Tina's eyes were telling him "It's okay. Just say it."

"I-It just happened." He curtly said and swiftly turned his head away while covering half of his face with his hand as well.

Tina hugged him right away with a wide smile on her face. Her heart was filling with the sweetness of love. "What he said~"

Aileen squealed a bit. "You guys are so cute~"

Anton laughed a bit, slightly surprised that his stoic brother had the ability to show a shy expression. "Congrats. Now we have even more reason to stop Aleksandr. We wouldn't want to miss the wedding if there's any."

Dmitri didn't say anything but his face, down to his neck, had long turned beet red.

"That's right~ I also don't want to miss your wedding Aileen~" Tina said while still hugging Dmitri.

Aileen and Anton blinked at her words. Then they made eye contact and instantly started blushing.

"W-We should focus on the problem at hand." Anton said as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

"Yes yes, I agree." Aileen nodded as she continued to fiddle with Tina's laptop.

Tina laughed heartily and no longer teased them.

For the next three hours, the group discussed ways on how to take care of Aleksandr—specifically Estella—and was about to come to a conclusion that bringing 100 people with guns in the middle of the night while they were asleep was the right way to go.

Tina immediately stopped them. "Aileen don't forget grandmother's teachings. If the enemy needed to be taught a lesson, then bringing 100 men would definitely work. But if the enemy needs to die, we should kill them with the most efficient method."

Aileen looked startled. Then, she smiled. "I completely forgot. Grandmother taught us not to fear death."

Tina smiled at her words. "Exactly. So, all we really need is just the two of us. We go during the night and kill Estella."

"No!" "No."

The two men suddenly interrupted.

Dmitri's arm that had been resting on the armrest wrapped around Tina's waist protectively as he worriedly looked at her. "Let other people do it. Why does it have to be you?" He couldn't explain the fear that suddenly covered his heart.

"He's right babe, we have a lot of men. Why don't you pick one and teach them instead of going on your own, yeah?" Anton was also on top of Aileen. His words clearly filled with worry.

Aileen looked at Tina helplessly and Tina couldn't help but feel the same.

"Even if we luckily succeeded in finding the right person who could learn everything in a short amount of time, it won't be the same." Tina turned to Dmitri and her tone was serious. "This is our sister. It is our responsibility to take care of her just like how it will be your responsibility to take care of Aleksandr."

Dmitri's frown deepened. Even if he didn't like the idea, he understood what she meant.

"How about we simultaneously execute the plan?" Aileen began to say. "Get Aleksandr and his men away from Estella so we can take care of her safely?" She tried to pacify the men though internally, she knew that the fight with Estella won't be that simple.

Thankfully, it worked.

Anton sighed in relief as he nodded. "We'll need at least a week to gather the men and their guns. How long do you guys need to prepare?"

Aileen pondered then looked at Tina for an answer.

Unfortunately, Tina was currently laughing helplessly because Dmitri had long captured her entire body in his embrace. He looked very unwilling to continue the plan.

"A week is enough~" Tina said through her laughter.

Dmitri murmured 'Valentina' dangerously against her neck as his embrace slightly tightened. "Don't be reckless, there are other ways."

Tina struggled to push him away and held his head with both of her hands, staring into his eyes as the tips of their noses were about to touch. "I will be fine. Trust me." Her voice held a sort of confidence that Dmitri couldn't understand, but he did believe her.

Dmitri's brows were locked into a forever frown. "Three hours. I'm giving you three hours to take care of her on your own but if I don't see you then, I'm storming in."

"Of course~" She smiled brightly, not hiding the fact that she was taking his worries as pleasure.

"That settles it then." Aileen said. "I'll get us a thorough list of their schedule for the month, where they're going, who they're meeting, and find the right moment to strike."

Anton nodded. "I can gather two hundred people at most and if that doesn't seem to be enough, we have friends that owe us a debt or two. You can take care of the guns right brother?"

Dmitri gave a grunt in response. "Leave that to me."

"I'll keep an eye on Estella and the nightclub that Aleksandr had been hanging out with. I also want to tell grandmother about this." Tina started to speak playfully but her expression turned serious at the end. She still remembered how brutal Aleksandr had been to their grandmother.

The atmosphere turned cold at her words.

There was a moment of silence before Dmitri spoke. "I don't think grandmother is going to help. She knew this was inevitable."

"I know. I'm not going to ask her to help, instead I want her to leave the country for a while until everything dies down." Tina looked at everyone's faces before she continued. "Grandmother is potentially a victim here. Since she still has the authority to choose which one of the brothers is going to take the lead. Aleksandr... might just use that."

The sounds of chatting, drinking, and cards shuffling suddenly stopped as the atmosphere had gone freezing cold. At this moment, their bosses were wearing scary faces.

"Would Aleksandr really have the guts to do such a thing?" Aileen doubted it but her heart remained cold.

"There is a high chance." Anton said as he looked at Dmitri.

"Alek did rape Ivan's fiancé just because he wanted to." Dmitri said. His voice holding a sharp dagger.

Aileen and Tina looked at each other in surprise. Ivan was the second brother of the family. When they met him, he was very soft spoken, and his actions weren't exactly socially normal. So, was this the reason?

"If he really wants to take over the family, he'll do anything." Aileen murmured.