Whilst heading towards the Mansion, there was only one thought running through Adrianās head....
āHow can I convince Margaret to allow them to stay?ā
That part of his plan was pretty unclear as he hadnāt gotten enough time to think it through just yet.
Maybe he could try sneaking them in?
No, that wouldnāt work in the long run, after all, Adrian very much preferred them being able to freely within the mansion.
"Are you sure weāre going the right way?" The boy behind him suddenly interrupted his thoughts, "a-after all, thatās the direction of the Ardent Mansion."
"Thatās where weāre headed," Adrian simply said as they continued walking forward.
"R-right, weāre headed the wrong ā" He paused as he finally registered what Adrian said, "what?"
He stopped in his tracks as he watched Adrian continue forward without even turning back.
"Y-you know that we could be executed for trespassing right?" He said seeing that Adrian had no intention of stopping.
"We wonāt," Adrian answered without looking back at him.
Having no other choice, the boy kept walking, adjusting his grip on the girl in his hand who was still sleeping.
"What should I call you two?" Adrian suddenly asked as they continued forward without looking back.
The boy seemed to think to think about it for a while before replying, "Iām Conan."
He then looked down at the girl in his hand and said, "and sheās Isla."
"I see," Adrian nodded before suddenly stopping as they had finally reached the gates.
The guards opened the gates the moment they spotted him approached causing Conan to freeze for a second.
Yes, he saw that Adrian had on some sort of expensive clothing signaling that he was probably from a noble family, but he never expected that the family would be one that was on the class of a Grand Duke.
One of the only four Grand Dukes at that.
"Are they with you?" One of the guards asked as they spotted the two, obviously stray kids walking behind the Ladyās butler.
"Hmm," Adrian nodded, and no other questions were asked as the three walked into the mansionās premise.
Conan had his eyes wide open as he stepped through the gates, still not believing that they were in a nobleās compound.
Was this one of those weird dreams that he always got?
Nah, this felt too real to be a dream.
He stopped looking around and faced forward when he heard Adrian let out a sigh.
Just ahead of them were doors that led into the mansion and before those doors stood an old lady in a maid uniform and a frown on her face.
She seemed to be the reason why Adrian had just let out a sigh.
"I believe you were supposed to be in bed," Margaret said the moment Adrian was close enough.
"I had to run a quick errand," Adrian replied, hoping that was enough to get him off scrutiny.
But it wasnāt, as Margaret suddenly started a lecture on why he should stay in bed whilst sick.
Conan watched the exchange with a surprised look on his face, so far all he had seen of their savior was a terrifying killer, but now?
He seemed like a kid being disciplined by their parent.
"And who are these kids?" Margaret paused her lecture, finally turning to the two kids behind Adrian.
Conan immediately stood up straight under her gaze.
Adrian had thought about what to tell Margaret whilst on the way here and he came to a single conclusion, telling her the truth.
He explained that they were kids living in the street and he encountered them in trouble from people who intended to sell them as slaves and he couldnāt just sit still.
Of course he left out the part where he murdered four men without batting an eye, or even the fact that he had been actively searching for the kids.
Margaret was silent for a while, before sighing.
Given that Adrian was also from the streets, it was understandable why he would want to help others in a situation similar to his previous self.
But, as much as Sebastian or the patriarch favored him, they still needed the young mistressās permission to allow two strangers to stay here.
"They can stay until the young mistress wakes up," She finally said, "whether or not they can permanently stay would be decided then."
"Understood," Adrian said as Margaret allowing them inside.
"By the way Adrian," Margaret called out to him, "Iām still not done lecturing you,but Iāll let you off the hook for now."
"Thank you," Adrian said with a small smile on his lips before he led the kids to his room, where theyāll temporarily stay until Renelle woke up.
***
"Itās bigger than I expected," Conan commented as they walked into Adrianās room.
"Put her on the bed and go get yourself cleaned," Adrian said, ignoring his comment as he pointed towards the bathroom, "Iāll go get you something to eat."
"Right," Conan nodded as he gently placed Isla on the bed and watched Adrian step out before he got undressed.
His body, beneath the rags that he called clothes, was riddled with even more scars, but he was used to seeing them at this point.
He turned to Isla with a smile on his face as he muttered, "weāre safe now, Isla, hurry and wake up."
With that, he turned towards the bathroom door and walked in, cleaning himself for the first time in a long while.
***
Adrian, meanwhile, walked through the mansion only to freeze when he felt a certain familiar aura.
"Adrian," a voice called out and he didnāt even need to turn to recognize who the voice belonged to.
But he wanted to.
Turning around, he came to face with Renelle who was just calmly standing there looking as beautiful as ever.
The thing was though, she was in white causal clothes, making her look even alluring to him.
Renelle noticed how her Butlerās eyes seemed to light up at the sight of her, but she didnāt draw attention to it.
Instead, she just said.
"Iād like to have a word."