3 A Rebellious Teenager?

"You're Miss Jessica Brown, correct?"

Mr Graham suddenly asked.

"I didn't know I was so famous."

Jessica was rather surprised that he knew who she was and slightly raised her vigilance. Mr Graham seemed to detect that and explained,

"You're a crime fighter and I've seen you on the TV a couple of times. That combined with the fact that you and the young master are in the same university is why I know you."

His explanation only made Jessica even more wary of him.

"Are him and I in the same department?"

"No, but your departments are rather close. Miss Jessica, today was young master Lucas's first day going to university and this happened. I hope you'll take care of him in the future."

Jessica eyed the man suspiciously. Why did this guy even know what department she was in?

'Is he a stalker? Or is it because he's overly concerned about his young master's safety?'

Either way, she'd find it out soon.

Mr Graham wiped the smile off his face and said with all seriousness,

"I'm not asking for much. Just that you will help the young master if he faces a similar situation in the future."

'So it was for his young master's protection...'

"I'll try my best, but if I see that my life is in danger, I will step back."

Jessica said in a serious tone.

Her aunt was a police officer and worked hard to protect the general public. Jessica was following in her aunt's footsteps to become someone that protects people. She had already helped her aunt in a lot of her missions, so she had some experience in fighting criminals. Even if Mr Graham hadn't asked her, she would've helped the boy out if he was in danger. However, she wouldn't do something that would put her life at risk. Back at the site of the accident, she had saved the boy because she was confident that she would be able to escape even if things went awry.

"Thank you."

Mr Graham said in a sincere tone and bowed.

"...Ah. It's only right to help someone in mortal danger, so don't worry about it."

This wasn't the first time someone had bowed to her. In fact, during the years she had been working as a crime fighter, a lot of people would bow to thank her when she saved them or the ones they hold dear. Despite that, she still got a bit embarrassed every time it happened.

"Since we owe you a favor, Miss Jessica, I will tell you this. You get distracted a bit too easily. Someone could easily use that against you."

Jessica knew about this. She nodded at Mr Graham and thanked him, while still being vigilant. She did think of lowering her vigilance a bit, but it was better to be cautious. Until the 'young master' woke up and confirmed that Mr Graham really was his bodyguard, she would not leave.

Mr Graham left to talk to the doctor about his young master's condition while Jessica stayed in the ward. She stared at the boy's face and had a hard time believing that he was her age. He looked like he was a freshman at highschool.

His facial features were perfect. He looked...

'A bit too feminine. If his hair was a bit longer, he would look like a beautiful little girl. Ah, speaking of which, his hair… It doesn't look like it was dyed.'

His hair was silver, which wasn't a natural hair color. His eyebrows and eyelashes had the same silver color, so it didn't seem like the boy had dyed his hair. It didn't look bad. In fact, it rather looked good on the boy.

His face looked so delicate and his body fragile that it made people want to protect him.

Despite having beautiful features, the boy looked pitiful. He had an abnormally pale complexion and dark circles under his eyes. One could tell at a glance that he was ill.

After a few hours, the young master woke up. His emerald green eyes were unfocused.

"Young master?"

Jessica flinched when she heard Mr Graham. She hadn't noticed when he had returned.

It took a moment for the boy's eyes to regain focus after which he looked at Mr Graham. Mr Graham went up to the boy and asked in a kind and gentle tone,

"Young master, is there anything you need?"

The boy shook his head and wordlessly turned to look out of the only window in the room.

Jessica wanted to ask the boy about Mr Graham but she chose to wait a bit.

'I should be generous and give the boy some time to settle his emotions.'

After all, nobody would feel perfectly calm after experiencing an attempted kidnapping. They would need some time to recover from the shock. Many of the people Jessica had saved from kidnappers had been in a state of shock. They had needed psychological support to get back to normal.

It was infuriating just to think that some people wanted to profit by making others suffer.

'Those damned psychos.'

She had beaten the hell out of most of the kidnappers she had caught before they could be sent to jail. After all, in her eyes, letting them enter the prisons without any suffering was letting them off too easy. There was no guarantee that they would truly repent for their deeds when they were in prison.

There had been an incident where the kidnapped victim had been violated by the time Jessica had arrived. She had been so infuriated that she didn't stop at beating the offender black and blue, she also stripped him naked and tied him to a lamp post. It was only when the police insisted on taking the offender back to the police station that she had to reluctantly let them take him away.

She cursed all the offenders she had come across and just like that, some time passed. When Jessica thought that the boy might've calmed down a bit, she went up to the boy and bluntly asked,

"Who is Mr Graham to you?"

The boy looked at her and then at Mr Graham a few steps behind her. Mr Graham understood the meaning behind the boy's gaze and said,

"She is Miss Jessica, from the same university as you. She saved you."

His tone was very different from the sharp tone he had been using when talking to Jessica before.

The boy looked at Jessica again, but with no emotions in his eyes. He said weakly,

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Jessica replied with a bright smile. Then she asked her question in a different manner,

"Is Mr Graham your bodyguard?"

The boy nodded.

"Do you absolutely trust him?"

The boy nodded again, but looked a bit confused. He didn't know why she was asking such a question.

'So, he's in good hands.'

Since Mr Graham really was the boy's bodyguard, it was no wonder that he had a gun and was skilled at using it. He really had come to save the boy.

"Hmm, that's good. Since we go to the same university, if you need my help, just ask."

The boy just stared at her emotionlessly and then turned his back to her.

"Hmm."

He said in a barely audible voice.

"Then I'm leaving."

Jessica said and went to the door. Before she put her hand on the doorknob, Mr Graham said to her,

"I will talk about your reward for saving the young master with his father."

Jessica replied,

"No need."

She was a crime fighter, so she had only done what she was supposed to do. The police rewarded her for her help and she wasn't short on money anyway. There was no need for her to accept a reward for saving someone.

Mr Graham didn't insist and just saw her off.

Jessica looked at her phone as she left the hospital. She couldn't help but exclaim.

"Damn, it's 9:30 already!"

Her university started at 8:00 and she was already an hour and a half late.

'No, I'm not just an hour and a half late. It will still take me about half an hour to reach the university from here.'

She ran to the nearest subway station and luckily, the train she needed to board hadn't left yet. It was just about to leave. She hurried and was able to get in.

"Phew, I got lucky."

It seemed that her good luck didn't seem to stop there because she found an empty seat.

But just before she could sit, another person slid from who knows where and took the seat.

This was the second time just this day that someone had 'stolen' a seat from Jessica. Jessica just clicked her tongue and kept standing.

"Tut-tut, so tired and can't even find a seat to sit. I'm so pitiful."

She wallowed in self-pity.

Some of the passengers that heard her gave her the side-eye. One person even tsked and said,

"Youngsters these days… sigh."

Jessica heard that and sighed to herself. The reason why she was tired was because she had waited for the boy to wake up. The other things that she had done didn't tire her at all. Waiting for something idly was the most tiring thing for her.

'Who asked me to be such a good person? Going out of my way to help others.'

After indulging in narcissism for a bit, she cheered up and looked forward to attending class.

'It feels so unreal. The best university in the empire…'

Just thinking about the fact that she had enrolled in the best university of the empire made her feel excited.

She was in a good mood and started to hum. But then.

The train actually stopped before reaching a station. It had broken down because of a problem with its engine.

'Are you kidding me? Does God not want me to attend any class today?!'

She felt helpless. It was supposed to be her first day at the university. Being late on the first day would definitely leave a bad impression on her professors. Thinking about the things she had heard about strict professors, she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

'No. What am I nervous about? I have a legitimate reason for being late. Once I tell them the whole story, they'd be complimenting me.'

She nodded to herself.

It took about half an hour to get the train running again. When they reached the train station, she ran off at her fastest speed and soon reached her university. When she reached the place where she had to swipe her card, she found that she didn't have her card on her. She searched for it in her pockets and then in her bag, but she still couldn't find it.

"Hey, if you didn't bring your card with you, please step aside. Don't waste other people's time."

The person behind her said curtly.

Jessica found the person annoyingly rude, so she muttered,

"Yes, your majesty."

Then she left and sat on a nearby bench to thoroughly search her bag and her pockets.

"Where is it?"

She kept searching but she couldn't find it anywhere.

"Are you looking for this?"

The voice sounded somewhat familiar.

"Mr Graham?"

She looked up and was surprised to see the other person. She took the card Mr Graham was holding out to her.

"Thank you. And you… Why are you here?"

She asked the boy.

"Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?"

The boy didn't answer. In fact, he didn't even look at Jessica and stared at the campus gates.

Mr Graham smiled and answered,

"The doctor said that he could attend class."

"...I see."

Jessica was surprised. Most of the people that experienced being kidnapped would be in shock, but the boy seemed to be fine.

'Guess he's strong mentally.'

She smiled as she thought that and took the card that Mr Graham was holding out to her.

"Thank you. I was looking everywhere for it."

"It's no big deal. Young master Lucas wanted to attend class so we were going to come here anyway."

"I see. Where did you find it?"

"At the site of the accident."

Jessica thought for a bit and asked,

"...So that's why you knew who I was and what department I was in?"

Mr Graham smiled slightly. He seemed to be amused.

'So this wily old man was just messing with me. How annoying!'

She didn't want to look at Mr Graham's face for even a second longer and turned to see Lucas. To her surprise, Lucas wasn't there.

She looked at the campus gate and saw his back. He had already entered the campus and was walking towards the main building.

'He could've said hi... '

She thought sullenly. Then she suddenly asked,

"Wouldn't his being here put the students at risk?"

The people who were targeting Lucas were bold enough to cause a train derailment. Them coming to cause a commotion was within the realm of possibility. It made Jessica worry, although she did feel bad for asking such a thing bluntly

"No."

Mr Graham answered. He seemed quite confident.

"How can you be so sure?"

"You do know what university this is, don't you?"

"Ah."

This was the Imperial University. It was backed by the imperial family. Even if the crazy bastards were bold enough to cause a train derailment, they would still have to think twice before trying to cause a commotion in this university.

'Speaking of the train derailment…'

"Oh right! Why did those people target the train?"

Jessica asked. If those criminals wanted to kidnap Lucas, it would've been less troublesome to do it without causing a commotion.

Mr Graham's smile disappeared and his aura changed. The surroundings seemed to get a few degrees colder.

"Because I was careless and left the young master alone for a bit."

Jessica doubted it. Why would they be afraid of just one person when they were attacking a train filled with so many passengers?

"…I see."

She didn't voice her doubts and went into the campus after verifying her identity at the gate. She was a bit nervous about how she'd explain why she was late to the professor when she barges into the class.

Other than that, something else seemed to be bugging her as well.

'Right… Why would a rich second generation use public transport? Did he have a fight with his parents or something?'

Imagining the boy acting like a rebellious teenager made her chuckle.