Chapter 222 Chapter 222- Isn’t This Your Home?

Arthur's position was rather bad. He was now far away from the place where he thought the Black Phantom was hiding. Not only that, but all the five aura were now moving around randomly.

What started as a lucky surprise turned into a confusing situation of cat and mouse. The target he followed had vanished and the other ones were also moving and would perhaps disappear if he approached them.

He tried to think of something to do but he was completely lost. So, eventually, Arthur sighed and gave up the idea of trying to find the Black Phantom currently.

'But, he already knows that I'm here. Was he taunting me? I thought I hid myself well.' Rubbing the back of his head. 'Maybe it was Eva Lavine that told him?' He thought to himself.

However, that idea was impossible as he already predicted it and was ready to intercept any call she would make. He also kept an eye on her and she didn't show any suspicious behavior at all. So, he was almost certain that even if she was in contact with him, she should've not been able to tell him anything.

"Tsk, fuck!" Smashing his fist against the wall, Arthur jumped down from the building and walked back to the hotel in a downcast mood. He was completely and utterly toyed with and humiliated like nothing before.

This never occurred to him at all. Arthur considered himself an extremely smart man who knew how to control people with simple words. Ever since he was young, he learned that his smile was easily able to sway people and make them do what he wanted them to do.

His handsome features and elegant, calm demeanor made him extremely liked by everyone around him. They praised his talent, his cleverness, and his success in everything he did and he loved that greatly. It made him feel that he was indeed special, that he was above these people. After all, they can't compare to him at all.

Years of continuous ego-boosting turned him into a very narcissistic individual. But, he was a very smart narcissist so he never showed that side of him. It worked perfectly till today when he found himself being the toy instead of the one to toy.

It was what made him truly feel horrible. This wasn't fun at all! How is he supposed to accept such disrespect? Impossible!

***

"He left," Kai murmured as he sighed and jumped down from the electrical wires on top of the highest skyscraper in the city. Exhaling a long breath of relief, he pulled out his phone and looked at the time.

The plan actually didn't take as long as he expected. In fact, it barely took 30 minutes.

'Using my clones was a good idea.' He thought to himself as he secretly praised Aria's plan.

She suggested that he simply clone himself and then spread these clones across the city. When Arthur followed one of them, he made it move far away before making it vanish completely without a trace. The plan was a little risky since Kai didn't know whether Arthur would buy it or not but it was still better than anything else he thought of.

Perhaps the main reason it was the best was that Kai's clone talent was very unique. These clones, apart from being stronger than normal clones from other talents, also could preserve some of the aura of their master. That was why Arthur didn't know what happened or at least that was Kai's assumption.

After making sure Arthur was completely out of it, Kai went back home. There, Aria was anxiously waiting for him. She decided to stay inside the house in case Arthur arrived so that she could perhaps mislead him.

After all, if he went there and found a girl instead of the Black Phantom, he would be confused as to how or why or even assume that he was mistaken. But, luckily, it didn't have to resort to that as Aria felt the door open as Kai walked inside.

"What happened?" She asked. Her tense tone didn't vanish completely.

"He gave up… For now." He said.

"Oh, that's good." Aria exhaled a sigh of relief.

Kai walked to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of water before he chugged it down. His eyes seemed lost for a moment as he looked at the empty glass cup before he opened his mouth and spoke.

"Your plan… was good."

Aria heard what he said and it made her freeze completely. Never did she expect to hear Kai… Praise her? Did he praise her? Or was it simply an acknowledgment of her idea? She didn't know the answer and that made her mind panic.

It has been 11 years since she last heard Kai praise her for something. She had completely lost any hope of ever hearing anything apart from insults and harsh words directed at her by Kai and she believed it was well deserved.

However, again, for god knows what time, fate ironically changed.

"Thank you." She finally spoke after a while with a hesitant voice.

After that, silence loomed over the apartement for a long time. At that time, Kai took a shower, cooked lunch, and then sat down to eat with Aria. Then, he spent the rest of the day in his room researching while Aria was fiddling with the chess board.

The night eventually arrived and Kai finally came out of his room and picked up his phone before he dialed Kaya's number to check on her. He did try to call her during the afternoon but she didn't reply which could've been simply because she was busy.

Luckily, the second time, she answered. Kaya was extremely delighted to hear his voice after a long, tiring day. She was so busy that she couldn't even send him a message. Divinity was surprisingly accelerating the process of her becoming a Virtue for some reason.

When Divinity staff and individuals heard about the news, Kaya was drowned in emails and messages, all of which varied from business offers to blatant favor-carrying. They were all a greedy bunch that wanted to be the first to befriend Kaya.

Luckily, all of that pain would vanish the moment she heard Kai's voice. It always soothes her heart and washes away her pain and suffering.

"Where are you now?"

"Just returned home, my love. How are you?" She asked.

"Fine. Have you felt anything suspicious yesterday or today?" He asked.

"Something suspicious? Like what?"

"Like feeling someone following you?" He asked.

"Hmm, no, not really. I've been spending most of my time going from one meeting to another across the country. I've basically been surrounded by people the whole day."

'Tsk, that is annoying. I won't be able to know if someone is watching her or not.'

"Keep an eye around you. There might be some suspicious movements. I will explain when you come back." He said.

"Oh, another problem? Geez, what's up with problems these days? Are we cursed or something? Sigh…" Kaya touched her forehead as she sighed. She was truly tired of all of this. Every day was a new problem and they had to deal with it.

It truly became really annoying.

Kai understood that but he didn't try to speak more about this topic. Instead, he asked a more important question.

"When are you coming back home?"

"Oh~ Did I hear you right? You just said 'Home' didn't you? Fufufu! That makes me really happy, my darling!" A beautiful smile appeared on Kaya's face. She never expected Kai to say 'Come back home' to her. It truly filled her heart with immense warmth that she couldn't explain.

If this proved something, then it proved that Kai truly started to like her. Kaya had already been aware of this for a while. She noticed how gentle Kai became when talking to her in contrast to his previously cold demeanor. Now, his voice was calm and not cold, gentle and warm even if people would think it wasn't like that. Kaya believed that Kai was truly showing great signs of deep affection that couldn't be hidden.

A few seconds of silence passed which made Kaya's smile turn a little rigid. She thought that she had gone a little bit too far.

"Hey, hey! I'm joking. Teasing you is too much fu-" As she was about to start making excuses, Kai cut her off.

"Isn't this your home?" He asked.

That question made Kaya's whole body freeze as her eyes widened. She looked like a dumbfounded robot at the moment.

"H-Huh? I didn't quite hear you, my love. Can you repeat?"

"Am I wrong for thinking that this is your home?" He asked in a calm tone again.

"..." Kayaa's heartrate increased as she felt her cheeks blush a little. Sitting on her hotel bed, she laid down as she closed her eyes. "What the hell kind of question of that, stupid? Are you trying to tease me back?"

"Hm?" Kai was confused.

"Of course, it's my home. You're my home. I want to go back home now and hug you." She said.

"When you finish work, come back." He said. Kai was a little weirded out by what he said. She will obviously return home when she finishes work. What the hell was he on about?

However, he found himself wanting to say those words to her. It came from his heart and not mind.

"Mmm, I will come back as soon as possible." She nodded her head with a meek tone. "I love you, Kai."

"I know," Kai said. "Good night." He said.

"Good night." Kaya hung up as she lay there on the bed, looking at the ceiling with a flushed face.

"You charming devil… My charming devil." She murmured as she closed her eyes again.