Chapter 100: Hidden Feelings?

"Hey, Ethan kid, do you know your grandfather cares for you a lot? Although he didn’t say it, he was the one who called us all over and said two of us should follow you."

"I really don’t get it, why can’t that old man just be honest sometimes? Isn’t that right, Maya?"

Sprinting through the night air, Viktor kept stride with an easy, powerful rhythm.

With a short black ponytail and an extremely muscular frame, sixty-five-year-old Viktor Dragunov was one of the few veterans who still possessed a full head of dark hair.

Adding to the jagged knife scar slanting across his eye, his imposing six-foot-five stature gave off an intimidating aura that made people wonder if he had been a high-ranking gangster in his youth.

Beside him, Maya Sterling was the complete opposite.

Standing at a modest five-foot-four with a slight hunch in her back and wire-rimmed glasses, her weapon of choice was far from conventional.

Perhaps owing to her origins as a general’s maid, she favored paired daggers and a specially reinforced combat umbrella.

Even now, as they glided through the sky, lethal blades lay hidden across her person, tucked into her sleeves, concealed within her boots, and strapped along her waist.

Yet despite her unassuming appearance, if anyone were to ask the veterans who was scarier between her and Viktor, every single one of them would name Maya without hesitation.

As a maid who had served an army general through bloody campaigns, she had been at his side through non-stop warfare.

From a young age, she had witnessed people dying around her in every conceivable manner, losing limbs, being tortured, and falling in hail after hail of gunfire.

Because of that, her concept of death and killing was entirely detached from that of an ordinary person.

Hearing Viktor’s question, Maya didn’t break her stride, maintaining a completely blank expression.

"Indeed, Patriarch, what Viktor said is correct. Christian does care about you deeply," Maya stated, her tone as calm as a quiet pond.

"However, perhaps because of what happened with his wife, it remains difficult for him to open up to others."

"Otherwise, he and Miss Lauren would have started dating by now."

Saying something utterly outrageous with a completely deadpan face, Maya continued gliding through the air.

Ethan, however, nearly lost his footing on his Air Walk platform.

"W-W-What?! What is this about Grandpa and Granny Lauren?! Why haven’t I ever heard of this before?!"

Ethan asked in sheer shock, unable to believe his ears. But Maya was far from finished; she casually dropped even more jaw-dropping revelations into the conversation.

"Oh? Did you not know?" Maya mused softly.

"Ever since we were young, Lauren liked your grandfather, your grandfather liked your grandmother, and Kenjiro liked Miss Lauren."

"Back then, it was a massive entanglement. However, even with all that, your grandmother and Lauren remained very close friends."

"So much so that when your grandmother passed away, Lauren blamed your grandfather for being too proud to ask for help, letting her friend die. Love turned into resentment, and they stopped speaking for years."

"In fact, I was quite surprised when Christian called all of us together and she actually responded. Not only that, but from the way she acts around him now, her feelings clearly haven’t disappeared."

"It is still the same triangle, as Kenjiro still steals glances at her from time to time. The only difference now is that your grandfather seems to have developed feelings for Lauren as well, and your grandmother is no longer in the picture."

"Truly interesting, isn’t that right, Viktor?"

A cold bead of sweat trickled down Viktor’s forehead as he glanced sideways at Maya.

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you sure you’re supposed to be telling his grandson stuff like this?!" Viktor hissed nervously.

"If either Christian or Lauren finds out you told him, you’re a dead woman!"

Hearing his warning, Maya offered Viktor a rare, pleasant smile, the first one all night.

"But that isn’t going to happen, right? Since it’s just the two of us here with the Patriarch, nobody has any reason to find out."

She smiled sweetly at both of them, but the subtle, icy weight behind her gaze made both Viktor and Ethan feel as though a concealed dagger would instantly plant itself between their ribs if either of them dared to argue.

"H-Haha... of course not! No one is going to find out," Ethan replied quickly, clearing his throat while trying to process the shelter’s unexpected elderly soap opera.

"Still, that’s wild... Who knew my grandfather had such a messy love life?"

"I wonder if the other veterans have similar secrets..."

Ethan suspected Maya had a specific ulterior motive for sharing this history, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what she was orchestrating just yet.

"Of course they do," Maya replied casually, shooting another unblinking look toward Viktor.

"Even Viktor here, everyone knows he’s been hopelessly in love with Miss Helena for decades."

The moment those words left her mouth, Viktor’s face flushed a deep, furious crimson right up to the tips of his ears.

"Hey! Hey! That’s it! I’m going on ahead of both of you!" Viktor barked, his voice cracking slightly from pure embarrassment.

"When you’re done gossiping, catch up!"

Rushing forward with an embarrassed scowl, Viktor’s bulky figure surged ahead, vanishing into the night mist within seconds.

Staring at Maya, who looked ready to divulge even more scandalous details about his grandfather’s past Ethan decided it was best to pick up his own pace before he heard anything he couldn’t un-hear.

"Hey! Grandpa Viktor, wait up!" Ethan called out, accelerating after him.

Watching the two men speed off into the night sky, Maya slowed her pace slightly, a small, triumphant smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

’Heh~ The kid runs fast,’ she thought to herself quietly.

’However, what your grandfather never told you was that apart from The Maid of Orleans, my nickname among the intelligence divisions was Cupid’s Incarnate.’

’Now that the seeds are planted, let’s see if I can’t push that stubborn old man Christian and Miss Lauren together at last.’

’Hehe...’

Snicker lingering in her chest, Maya took her time strolling across the invisible air paths.

There was no need to rush; she had already accomplished her primary goal for the journey.

If her assessment of Ethan’s dutiful personality was correct, his desire to see his grandfather happy would drive him to secretly meddle and orchestrate situations to push Christian and Lauren together.

Ethan would do all the heavy lifting, while she only needed to provide the occasional strategic nudge from the shadows.

’However, as for Viktor... I’ll need to make him just a bit more embarrassed so his stubborn pride finally pushes him into making the first move on Helena,’

Maya mused, thoroughly pleased with her match-making calculations.

’Otherwise, that walking log of wood is going to leave poor Helena waiting forever.’

Satisfied with her master plan, Maya adjusted her glasses, her eyes gleaming with sharp amusement as she closed the distance behind her Patriarch and vanguard