*Chapter 20: The Diary

Lunely's PoV

My hands froze upon reading those lines. Sweats started to flow down to my neck and I can feel my heart beating even faster. I can't even move my eyes from that folder... Why, is Liana in there?!

"The heck is that!" I suddenly folded the folder in a forceful manner when Mark Kian was surprised that he almost spilled the coffee he was drinking. I tried to catch my breath- wait, did I see it right? Liana?

No ... No way. My eyes can't lie. That's her... I can still remember her face in the portrait inside Leiro's mansion.

"Oh, just relax Lou. It looks like you saw a ghost there. Is there something in your mind? Do you know that girl?" Mark Kian asked me, but I chose to disapprove since I don't want him to know about Liana...

"Nah, j-just don't mind me Mark. I was just a little surprised by the contents of this folder. I never thought she was a member of the M.L. Institution. I never saw her there before I became assistant commander." I said as I tried to change the topic. Wait a sec, does Leiro know about this? He always said that Liana is his real little sister yet he said here that his parents adopted him. Hmm... This is bad. I can sense bad luck.

"I see. Well, this girl is already been died so there is no reason for you not investigate something about her. Someone told me the she faked her death, some said it is due to a unknown mystery but I don't have a slightest clue about it."

Mark slowly pulled the folder from me and scanned something from it. Well, I still can't believe it. Well, I better should talk to Manang Fae if I have the chance- telling this to Leiro nor to his parents will cause me trouble.

"Well then, will you take care of this task? This is gonna be a hard mission so I'm not forcing you to do it. It's okay if you won't accept it either. I'll just gonna do it myself-" He said to me as I suddenly spoke.

"N-No Mark, let me handle this." I stopped him from talking as I gently fixed those documents back to the folders. "Even though I still don't believe what you said earlier but let me try this one. I wanted to find this all out myself."

"Good to know." Mark Kian smiled as he finished drinking his coffee and stood up. "Call me if you found evidences, okay? Here's my phone number." Suddenly he said to me as he handed me a paper with his number on it. I just picked up that paper and tucked it inside the back case of my phone.

"Got it. And please, if you want to talk to me, don't get to the point of kidnapping me okay? Curse you, my heart was going to explode earlier!" I shouted at him, but he chose to smile and apologized right away.

"Oh hey, I think Professor Silvia needs me. Keep those folders away from Professor Seth's eyes and from other people, okay? We'll meet once again as soon as we gather those evidences we need." He smiled at me as he started sprinting.

"And yes, nice meeting you again Lou." He smiled at me as he went on his way now.

"O-Okay Mark... And likewise."

Mark Kian quickly put his mask on and quickly rushed outside from the coffee shop. I was left with a coffee shop, with a painful head and those folders on my table. I looked at the sun shining outside the glass window and scratched my head.

In the first place, I wanted to believe that Mark Kian is lying, not only about Liana but also about that dark side of Professor Seth, but he would never ever tell a lie. He also has evidences given to me that's why I'm really confused by now ...

Myghad, please help me!! May head hurts!

...

But yeah, we should empty our mind for now. I need to know if this is true or not. While I was busy arranging the folders Mark had given me, something suddenly entered my mind. I looked at my phone and it's still thirty minutes after one o 'clock. Nice... I still have a lot of time.

I rushed outside the coffee shop and tried to call Briella. I won't be going in first this afternoon since I need to find what I'm looking for. If that's the only way to know the truth then I shall grab it.

"Hello? Lou? Is that you?"

Hayy ... Good thing Brel answered. "Yes Briella, it's me. Is there a lot of work there? I would have planned to be absent this afternoon because I just have something important to go to." I said as I looked sideways and walked past the pedestrian lane.

"Well, we can pretty much handle the tasks here Lou even without you. Why, is there a problem?" Briella asked me. I tried to be calm while I waited for the taxi car.

"Just an important business Brel. I'll tell Professor Seth that I'm absent today. Please, if you have some problems there, just call me, okay?" I said as I called a taxi.

"Roger that Lou."

"Good. Thank you Brel."

I quickly turned off my phone once I got into the taxi. The taxi driver asked me where I would get off, and I just told him the way. When the taxi driver started to drive, nervousness ate up my heart again.

I hope that Liana's thing is still there. When I first met that, I had a hunch that it was really a mystery. Hopefully I could make it in time...

And I'm talking about Liana's diary.

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"Oh, Lou, my child... You came early today... Is there anything happened?" Manang Fae asked me as she took my bag like she always does to me when I always come home from work.

"I'll be absent for now Manang Fae. I have something important to do here inside the house." I smiled at her when she was suddenly startled.

"Eh? Here at home? Why, is there anything to be done here ma'am Lou? Can I help you? Just don't hesistate to tell me and I'll see what I can do." Manang Fae smiled at me as she placed down the tray with chocolate cookies and pineapple juice as a snack. I ate a few pieces first just to calm myself down. Manang Fae smiled at me as I removed my sandals while going up to Leiro's room.

When I entered the room I suddenly opened Leiro's closet to find Liana's diary. As far as I know, that diary is just here in the closet. If only I had some flashlight-

"It looks like it's dark there, son. Here, use this." Manang Fae smiled and handed me a black flashlight. Nice, seems like Manang Fae reads my mind.

"Thank you Manang Fae." Ngiting sabi ko as I lit it up inside the closet and and I finally saw it.

"Manang Fae, I wanna ask... Is Liana really adopted?" Suddenly I told her as she suddenly became silent. Hmm ... It seems like she knows about it too.

"W-Wait, how did you-"

"So it's true Manang Fae? Liana was really adopted? Why doesn't brother Lei know about this?" I asked her, as I slowly placed Liana's diary from Leiro's desk as I looked at her.

"Ma'am Lou, calm down first okay? And don't tell this to others as well as Sir Leiro. Yes, Ma'am Liana was just adopted. Sir and Ma'am adopted her for Sir Leiro. We lied to Sir Leiro that Ma'am Liana was his missing sister when he was young. But the truth is that his real sister, Ma'am Leira, already died because a severe heart disease. "

Those words really made me surprised. So it is really true. Liana was just adopted. With this fact, I can say that what Mark is saying about Liana is true. But I'm not so sure about Prof. Seth's dark past. I still need some evidence for that.

"Manang Fae, can I read this? Don't worry, I will never spread its contents. I just want to know the truth." I asked as I gently wiped the diary's cover from dust, as Manang Fae just nodded.

I slowly opened the diary, and out come the first page. It happened on the way when Liana was adopted without letting Leiro know about it.

"January 26, 2020... This is the day that I started my first mission- I was so nervous, yet I am determined to do my task. With my things unpacked inside Leiro's room, I will sure that I will going to kill Leiro just like what I planned."

Well, that's scary.

"February 2, 2020... It's been a week since I got here, and good thing I started to get Leiro's feelings as well as his trust. Just a little more closer, and I'll be able to increase his disease on level two and make it worse."

"February 7, 2020... Truly, this guy is one strong patient. He is really unlike those patients I killed years ago. Leiro has a lot of patience flowing into his mind. He usually won't affected by my tsundereness, but instead he chose to smile and pet me... My, this is harder than I thought..."

"March 28, 2020... I... I don't know if I can still take this mission. Leiro created thousands of good memories with me that I wouldn't forget, and all this time I still couldn't level his ESCD up. Is it really worth it to kill him?"

"April 20, 2020... I tried to increase his ESCD for the last time, but I ended up with a fractured leg due to an accident. That day, my feelings towards Leiro changed. He always took care of me and never leave my side, and he always loved me like his little sister although I'm not really his'. My, it seems like I ended up hiding this grudge towards him.

"May 13, 2020... I decided to hide everything- my true identity, my purpose, and my dark past. I chose to resign from M.L. Institution and my the rest of my life to Leiro. This day, I am officially his little sister, although it's really funny that Leiro treated me like his real little sister in the first place."

"June 20, 2020... I was trapped. Professor Seth suddenly looked after me and wanted to take me back. I wanted to run away but I'm afraid about Leiro's fate. I'm sure Professor Seth will forced me to kill him or else he'll kill me... This day, I made a plan, not just for myself, but for Leiro's safety."

"June 26, 2020... This day lies Leiro's protection. If I wouldn't do this, then what's the point of living now?"

"I hired one truck driver and a doctor to aid my mission. I will gonna ask Leiro to go on a road trip with me. This will be tricky- but if succeeded, then it will benefit both me and Leiro."

"If I lived, then I will run away from Leiro and never to see him again. But If I don't, then that will be fine with me..."

Tears continued to fall down as I wiped them gently. So this diary said it all- Liana faked her death for Leiro's sake, although she ended up risking her own life.

So Mark's right. There's something about Prof. Seth that I wanted to know. Seems like in my whole life I just found out that Prof. has something strange to hide.

I gently pulled my phone from my pocket and walked towards the veranda to calm myself. I pulled the paper Mark gave to me, typed his number, and called him.

"Hello, Lou?"

"Yes, it is me. Mark, we need to talk."

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