My Genius Little Girl

London, England A beautiful girl with her long hair curled under a woolen hat was busy pulling her coat tighter, which was enough to drown her, even though she wasn't very tall. 'Ugh, why is it colder today than before? Am I going to catch a fever?' the girl whispered to herself. Winter had hit London, not just today, but for the past few days in the area where she happened to live. The girl leisurely walked, enjoying the cold weather that would soon lead to winter. Occasionally, the beautiful girl hummed a tune, not once glancing around. She focused solely on what was in front of her, occasionally looking down at her toes, trying to enjoy the short, forced vacation, even though the weather didn't seem to be conducive to her mood or her physical condition. Screech... A sudden, strong pull was felt. "Who...who are you? Why are you pulling me like this?" The beautiful girl's voice squeaked, her voice trembling slightly, unable to conceal her fear. She truly didn't recognize the young man who suddenly grabbed her. The young man who grabbed her didn't answer, but merely glanced at her for a moment and walked faster, his hands firmly pulling her. ‘Who is this man? Why is he grabbing me and taking me away? Does this man have any evil intentions?’ The girl's mind raced, with all the negative thoughts swirling around her. She was acutely aware that many "evil" people surrounded her, even her ex-boyfriend, whom she was reluctantly forced to label as "evil". Even the reason she forced herself to choose a self-advanced year-end vacation in London, unaccompanied by anyone, was not unaffected by her ex-boyfriend. Runaway? Perhaps! More precisely, she wanted to distract herself from the pain she felt with things that might make her happy. That was her wish! As if ignoring the girl's rebellious movements, the young man seemed focused on facing the road ahead, heading towards one of the large villas he had decided on as his destination. He glanced back several times, seemingly without any intention of slowing down. "Uncle...uncle." The girl swallowed hard, trying to make her voice clear while suppressing the fear that still gripped her. What was really happening? Had she missed something? And who was that man beside her? A puzzle suddenly crossed her mind, confused. She felt like screaming, trying to resist the man's movements, trying to follow his footsteps. However, her body's reaction didn't align with her own reasoning. For some reason, her heart seemed to whisper to her that the man pulling her wasn't a bad person. At least, that's what she tried to believe. "We're safe," the young man said suddenly, releasing his hand, which had been tightly gripping hers. "Huh?!" the girl shrieked in shock, realizing something was wrong. "Safe? Safe from what? Was I in da—" The girl trailed off, her sentence trailing off. She was increasingly lost in the current situation. The young man simply sighed heavily, his gaze focused on the beautiful girl, whose scarf partially obscured her face and her wool hat was still on her head. "Didn't you realize there were a lot of bad men targeting you, kid?" the young man asked casually. The girl's eyes were round and busy blinking several times like a robot being clicked repeatedly. "Huh?! Targeting me? What are they after? I don't have anything valuable they could target, Uncle," the girl asked a series of questions, frowning in confusion. The young man simply shrugged dismissively, to which the girl replied, asking him again to confirm. "I can't have seen it wrong. But... Why did they turn to a kid like this?" the young man muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the girl before him from top to bottom. With confidence, the young man arrogantly declared that the girl was lucky to have met him on vacation, allowing him to help her when she was being targeted by members of the group he suspected. Otherwise, her life could have been at stake. The girl's reflexes shuddered as she listened to the young man before her, who began to walk towards the villa's living room. "Uncle, where are you going? Don't leave me behind," the girl squeaked, tugging at the shirt of the young man who was already walking in front of her, as if to let her go. The young man chuckled softly and stopped in his tracks. "What's your name?" he finally asked the girl, whom he realized had a significant age gap. And reminded the young man that she had repeatedly called him 'Uncle'. "Cailey Anastasia. Just call me Key," Key said casually, extending his hand to the older man. The young man nodded slowly. Not long after, the young man asked Key again about his age, especially since the girl always called him 'Uncle'. Did he really look that old to her? Hearing the young man's question, Key quickly answered that she was currently seventeen. "Are you a student here?" A quick nod was immediately answered in response to the young man's question. "I'm a final year student at Oxford, Uncle," Key said honestly. 'Oh, a student, wait, 17 years old... a final year student? Oxford? Then why is she in London?' The young man's monologue rang in his mind. "If you're studying there? Why are you here now?" the young man asked, confused. Key took a deep breath before explaining why she ended up in London, where she finally met the young man she always called 'Uncle'. She explained that the reason Key ended up there was because she wanted to relieve her stress while waiting for her graduation, and at the same time she also mentioned that she would spend her holiday time at the end of this year. Of course, Key didn't explain the details of why she ended up stranded in London. The young man was still a stranger to her! At least Key's reasoning made sense, right? After all, Oxford and London weren't that far apart. Hearing Key's explanation, the young man could only nod his head, as if he understood every word the girl had said. "Come in, take a rest," the young man said to Key. It took Key a while to process what the young man had said. "B-but, uncle, who owns this place? Is it okay if I relax here?" "Hm, you can relax here, just think of it as your place. You're just not allowed to touch the things in there," the young man said casually, pointing to a large glass cabinet filled with ceramics and unique objects. Key enthusiastically agreed with the young man's words, not forgetting to be a good girl while she was there. Then, Key's small steps led her to the plush sofa in the center of the room. 'So comfortable...' Key whispered to herself. Key slowly began to recline on the sofa, relaxing herself by closing her increasingly tired eyes. Not far from where Key was, the young man glanced at Key for a moment, ensuring that the girl he had saved wouldn't disturb him or overhear their conversation, before he reached for his phone to call someone. "Hello." "Hello, Sir." "Can you find out about a girl named Cailey Anastasia?" He heard a quick reply confirming his order from the other end of the line, although at the end of the call, the person on the other end reconfirmed whether the young man was still on vacation or not, as he remembered the man who was currently instructing him was on a rare extended leave. "Yes, is there a problem if I ask you?" "No, Sir, I'll be looking for information immediately." The young man merely hummed softly and said he would wait for further information quickly. After he felt that the call was enough, the young man hung up the phone with a long sigh as if today was a tiring day for him. ———