Magic of Arteria Volume 1. Eden Arc

Chapter Thirteen

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The three of us continued eating for some time before a ring came from my phone as the two of them looked at me, nodding as I smiled. “I’ll take this phone call, real quick!” before taking the phone as I walked out of the store, accepting the call as Myu’s voice came out from the speakers.

                                                                                                                                                                                               

“Chairman, the CEO of Luxens would like to talk with you about your bid. He is waiting at the store, right now and can wait a few more hours if he has to.”

 

“Ask him what he wants to talk about, I don’t have much time; I desperately need the rings this week, I can’t let go of the bid. If needed, take out a few more hundred million from my bank,” I frowned my eyebrows as a man’s voice replied.

 

“Dear me, it seems like the revered chairman, and founder of the Angelina Group really wants the rings as much as I do.”

 

“Of course, I need it for some special matters. How much do you want to back out, a few hundred million, or half a billion?” I asked while looking at Alina and Hikari from the window, the two of them were talking to one another while eating lasagna.

 

“It’d be nice if I could take that much money, but I’m no greedy man, and I am no reckless person, I wouldn’t spend more than my current bid for some rings. You know what the Luxens company deals with, what I want instead is the reason for your abrupt bid for the rings.”

 

“The reason, there isn’t much. As one of the largest news agencies in the country, you should be notified about the news in a few hours from now and will be invited. An official announcement from my family will also be sent to all news agencies in the country,” I replied while leaning on the brick wall.

 

News Agencies are the most troublesome companies to deal with, they are stubborn in many ways; what they want is to be faster than their competitors in news, even if the news isn’t a hundred percent accurate, as long as it is something controversial, they will go ahead and publish it.

 

And the company with the most speed and the lowest accuracy in news is the Luxens; a corrupt company led by this man on the phone, and also the most-hated among the higher-ups for the many fakeries it had published.

 

“I won’t reveal any more detail other than that, if you want news, then wait for the official announcement, rather than try to fight against me. I am not a person to be trifled with, if you don’t want your puny crap going down, then don’t try,” I said before ending the call as I walked back to the store.

 

The Luxens is the company I will never reveal any news to, their reputation is at the very bottom, and most CEOs I have talked to are also on my side with not revealing any news to them. It would hurt your reputation having a deal with them, after all.

 

Giving them news ahead of time would make the public think the Angelina Group, etc. are with them which would impact my reputation with the Government overseas, there are no benefits, only disadvantages.

 

“What was the call about?” Alina asked as I sat on my seat while slicing a piece of the lasagna in front of me. “It was nothing much, only insignificant people who think they can grab some news about me. Don’t worry too much, we’ll have to go shopping later, after all.”

 

She frowned her eyebrows for a second before nodding as she smiled wryly. “I know you can overcome any obstacles, elder… dear. But I am still worried, after all, you aren’t invincible. If anything is troubling you, then please tell me… as your little sister.”

 

“It’s only insignificant matters, don’t worry… I can deal with it, myself. Rather, we should eat fast since we are fifteen minutes behind my original schedule right now,” I said before she sighed as the three of us continued eating the dishes on our table.

 

After another twenty minutes, the three of us were now out of the store with satisfied stomachs; we were already half an hour behind the schedule I had set for myself, but that was still fine.

 

“Do you two want to go shopping for clothes first, or grocery?” I looked at Alina who was carrying Hikari on her arms and inquired as we rode the escalator downwards. The grocery was on the first floor, while the clothes were on the second which is the floor we are heading to.

 

“Let’s finish grocery first since it is the one which takes up more time,” Alina responded as we reached the second floor, and started walking towards the next escalator down.

 

After some more time in the escalator, and some more time walking, the three of us were now inside the grocery store with Hikari sitting on the cart as I pushed it. It was the traditional way, but still the best way of shopping.

 

The department we are in, right now is the bakery part of the store. Filled with types of flours, and other stuff for baking, I understood nothing of it. I wasn’t the type of person who loves cooking, after all, only Alina knows how to bake in the house.

 

“Do you two want cakes later, or pancakes?” she asked while looking at both Hikari and me with her hand pointing towards two different flours which looked the same to me, there were no difference to my eyes other than the packaging.

 

“Cakes!” Hikari responded as she continued playing on her phone, spending like a massive whale as she monopolized the ranking with our hard-earned money.

 

“I’ll go with whatever the two of you want, anything you make will always be amazing anyways,” I replied before she smiled happily, taking both flours and placing them on the cart as I followed her towards the sauces area where she took the strawberry sauce and placed it on the cart.

 

After the bakery department, the three of us went to the fruit and vegetable area; it was one of the most populated areas of the grocery store, with over a thousand or so people at the same time, picking out different kinds of fruits.

 

“Do you two have any preference for fruit shake or juice?” Alina asked as I looked at Hikari who shook her head, she was still focused on her game. She was now fighting against a boss with Leah, these youngies are having too much fun right now, wait until I bring the two of you to school!

 

“I’ll have your favorite one,” I replied before she smiled wryly with her eyes frowned, taking several kinds of fruits and inspecting them one by one, each inspection of hers took about three minutes. And after twenty minutes of picking, she had, in total, placed eighteen different fruits onto the cart.

 

The three of us went through many parts of the grocery, from school accessories, learning books for children to doughs, and meat within four hours which was far longer from my expected one and a half-hour of grocery shopping.

 

Not only that but lining in the counter took us an extra thirty minutes, leading me to change my schedule for the eighteenth time. I had truly underestimated grocery shopping since it was Alina who always bought most of our groceries.

 

“Let’s leave it on the package counter for now, since we have to buy some clothes for the two of you,” I said while carrying a heavy bag of groceries as the two of them nodded, walking towards one of the several package counters on the mall, and leaving the bag there as we retrieved our number before walking out of the grocery store.

 

After we had walked out of the grocery store, the three of us went up towards the Angelina Group’s branch here. The branch had a simple, minimalistic look all around it, unlike the one from the other mall, this one wasn’t too packed.

 

The three of us managed to enter without catching too much attention, looking around the store as I looked at the two of them and asked, “Do you two have anything you like?”.

 

Around us were all kinds of dresses and clothes; there were leggings, dresses, skirts, blouses, etc. There was also men’s wear, but we do not need those, other than those, there were many bags, wallets, hats, and hoodies/jackets.

 

Most of the items here were of gentle, or softer colors, light blue, sky blue, maroon, etc. The designs of each one were also simple, some had the double A logo with two lilies on it, while some had a more manly design with the logo being smaller.

 

The combination I liked the most so far was the royal blue skirt, paired with a cream-white blouse and a straw. It was the combination that looked more summer-like to me, and was good for casual walks, or runs at the beach.

 

“I feel like this would fit Hikari the most,” Alina said while taking a white floral one-piece dress with a black belt, placing it in front of her as she looked at Hikari at many angles before nodding as she looked at me. “What do you think, doesn’t it fit her?”

 

I walked towards her side and was surprised; Hikari’s black hair which despite being in contrast with the dress emphasized her beauty, not to mention, the natural beauty of Hikari was outstanding, enough to bring out the potential this dress had.

 

“It does look well on her, especially if you give her a tiny leather bag,” I said before Alina knelt in front of Hikari who wasn’t paying much attention, and took her phone away as she asked. “Enough playing for now, what do you think about this dress.”

 

Hikari was surprised, looking around in confusion before looking at the dress Alina was showing in front of her and replying. “It looks fine, anyway, I want to play more!”, heaving a sigh, Alina handed back the phone and looked at me with a tired look.

 

Game Addiction, especially to mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing games is definitely not healthy for children… I wonder if I should really prohibit her from playing for an entire month…

 

“Let’s keep looking, shall we?” I asked before the two of them nodded as we walked around the store, picked several dozens of clothes, accessories, etc. placed them on a cart as my phone rang once more, “I’ll take this call once more, be back in a few minutes!”

 

“Mhm, we’ll be waiting here in line,” Alina replied as I rushed out of the mall before answering the phone call as Myu’s voice once again came out from the phone speakers, “Chairman, congratulations! You have won the rings; would you like me to bring them to you right now?”

 

“No, keep them on a secure place for now, preferably the safehouse within the Angelina Group’s main headquarters; in the meantime, can you lead a team of eighteen to design two wedding dresses, and several dozens for bridesmaid and etc.… I will need them within a week from now, if needed, take a team of fifty people with you.”

 

“I want Lisa and Ophelia to handle the main designs; the others will handle the dressmaking and other aspects, and for the next project of the company, tell Julie to meet me in three days from now. I will hand her all the details for the next project, the proposed budgets, etc.”

 

“This project will require the collaboration of Avantgarden and Lithium Hemisphere, relay this message to Ilya and Haley. It will be the largest project for this year, make sure not a single leak of this message happens,” I said before ending the call as I walked back inside the store.

 

“Are you done with your phone call… eld…ear?” Alina asked while smiling as she held several paper bags filled with the clothes and other stuff we bought. “Mhm, do you two want to go by the park or head home to eat?”

 

“A walk on the park sounds nice, but it is about to be night time soon; it’s better we head home, for now, we can always walk around the park back home if the three of us wants to,” Alina replied as she handed me half of the paper bags she carried.

 

Taking the paper bags, I smiled at the two of them while saying, “Let’s go pick up our groceries then,” the two smiled back, nodding as the three of us went down to the first floor towards the package counter and picked up our groceries from there, before heading to the parking lot at the highest floor.

 

Upon arriving at the highest floor, we were greeted by a scene of the night; above us was the moon which shone beautifully, while around us was the glamorous, artistic fields with the flowers glowing brightly as fireflies flew around them.

 

The stars were as clear as day, several families walked around the fields with smiles; a scene of warmth and beauty, it was like a scene out of a movie; besides me was Alina who had an angelic smile on her face, holding her hand was Hikari who was sleepy.

 

“It’s a beautiful scene, right… dear?” Alina asked as I nodded, “It truly is one magnificent sight to withhold, paired with two little prodigious beauties by my side, it’s not shocking.”

 

“Do you want to lay down on one of the fields, for now, look at the skies, and talk a little bit?” Alina inquired as I looked at Hikari whose drowsiness reached its peak; her eyes were closed and each step she took resembled a drunkard. “I don’t mind, though I think it would be better if we head to the beach for half an hour.”

 

“Let’s go with your suggestion then,” she said before handing me the groceries as she picked Hikari on her arms before the two of us walked towards our car, placing all our packages on the front trunk before driving out of the mall as we went south.

 

Thirty minutes of driving later, we soon arrived at a beach packed with pairs of couples who were walking by the waters; the moon was large, reflected by the calm waters, it looked surreal.

 

“Should we leave Hikari here to sleep, for now, the air-conditioning and other comfort features of the car should be on its most comfortable state right now,” I asked before Alina combed Hikari’s hair for a few seconds, placing her on the backseat as she slept soundly.

 

“I think it’s better to let her sleep here, the more sleep she gets, the more she will grow,” she smiled before the two of us walked out of the car, heading towards a peaceful, quiet place on the beach; we sat down on the sand, and looked at the waters.

 

The air around us was cold, the breeze, the only sounds you could hear were the sounds of the water splashing, the waves walking towards you, and a few chirps of the birds; on the far distance was the moon shining brighter than the stars around it.

 

As the two of us watched the beach, out of the blue, Alina asked a sudden question. Her voice was serious, and sounded insecure, “Elder sister… do you mind if we talk a bit?”

 

Turning to her side, I saw her beautiful white hair fluttering in the air; her eyes were shining, reflecting the elegant night skies, her dress bloomed as she looked at me with serious eyes, hesitatingly, I opened my mouth and inquired, “What do you want to talk about?”

 

Laying on the sand, she looked at me straight into the eyes before replying, “Are you really okay with marrying me…? Do you have someone else inside your heart…? I feel insecure, I feel guilty, forcing you to do so…”

 

Laying beside her, I looked up at the night sky, reached my hand out towards it as I looked at her and smiled wryly, “I would never imagine in the past, nor would have thought in the past about marrying you, to be honest…”

 

“Is that a no…?” she asked; her voice turned hoarse as I shook my head, combing her hair as I looked into her eyes filled with dozens of emotions entangled with one another, the sadness she was emitting, the disappointment inside her heart, I could feel them.

 

“In the past, only one girl was inside my heart; only one person was able to make me wish to marry her, you should know who she was…” I said before she replied, “Kayla, am I correct?”.

 

“Mhm… it was her who I loved the most, despite being abandoned by her… I longed for her a lot, and wanted to see her the most; I indulged in my delusion after separating, dreaming constantly of her, waiting for her to come back to me with a ring…”

 

“But… that wasn’t what happened, I was mistaken all the time; yesterday woke me up from my delusion, she was a different person, not the Kayla I knew anymore… yesterday, I wanted to die… you know?” I looked at her and said, “I was treated in the worst way, my soul was treated badly, I felt broken at that time.”

 

“I wanted to give up yesterday, end my life, and suffering… surrender to my fate,” I took a deep breath before smiling at her, kissing her hair as I added, “But, one person gave me hope, the power to move forward… that person is the same person in front of me, my adorable little sister.”

 

As I finished speaking, tears dripped off her eyes as the two of us stared at each other for some time, holding off my tears, I pulled her towards me and hugged her as I felt her tears drip onto my chest.

 

“That’s why… I won’t regret marrying you, my knight and shining armor; one who woke me up from the depths of hell pulled me to heaven. There is no one else inside my heart anymore, but you… that’s why be more confident… smile, for me and Hikari,” I said before she looked at me with teary eyes, smiling.

 

“Mhm… I… will,” she responded as the two of us stared at each other for a few moments, indulged in our world as our faces moved closer and closer before both of our lips touched under the bright moon, the bright and beautiful moon that looked at us with a smile.