The Reborn Magus and His Prince

Chapter 11: The Chase for Minnie

Just as Yulian had requested, they dropped him off at the street he mentioned. Alex reminded him to be careful on his way and he needed to return at the dormitory before dinner. He nodded to all that before saying his goodbyes. He didn't know the prince could be a nag.

He waited for the vehicle to disappear fully from his sight before reclaiming the path back to the pub. He stashed away the heavy bag of coins given by Luke. It might attract unnecessary trouble.

The walk did not take long with his fast paced steps, he reached the pub again in no time.

"We're close at the moment, comeback at seven in the evening." The owner had an impatient voice as this the second time someone had barged in. He had still not finished cleaning his glasses.

Two silver coins was dropped off at the counter in front of him.

"I want to hear about Leo's time here."

Yulian plopped on one of the stool and faced the owner with a solemn expression.

"You're from the boy earlier. What, your friend got too wasted and he can't tell you?"

Despited that he took the shiny coins with a greedy hand. Its not his business to care what motive this person has, as long as there's money involve.

"That foolish boy came here last night, it was midnight," he started. "He was with a girl he calls Minnie."

The owner took a glass and filled it with water while remembering the bizarre scene last night and gave it to the boy.

Yulian accepted the offered drink. He realized how parched he was until the cold liquid entered his throat. He asked after one gulp, "What does this Minnie look like."

"She's one of the madame's granddaughter, you know, the old woman that lives in that flashy house.They all look the same but very pretty. Pale skin and freckles in all."

"What happened with them? Why did she left my friend?"

"Why else? It's all along she had other man beside your friend. That girl really was bold, on that night, your friend and her were all getting cozy and like a sticky rice that cant't be separated. But when the boy approach her and given her flowers and then... poof! She left with that man!"

Yulian raised his brow. He felt he heard this story before, one that he always in a conversation between a the neighborhood wives.

"A stranger but she left with him?"

"Hmm... from what I saw, it seemed she knew the stranger. She seemed surprised in seeing him holding flowers for her but at the same time delighted, you know. And then they left just like that."

Ooh, a Leo really got cuckold.

He casually watched the entirety of the pub nad felt the headache coming. He can't possibly track down those who had a contact with Leo, judging how many people was here. The only one closest to Leo was Minnie and the owner.But Ignis cleared the owner while he was remunerating the story. So the next was the girl.

"But the strange thing was..." the pensive tone of the owner got his attention again.

"What is it?"

"The flowers she received, she left them."

He scrunched his eyes at him, trying to see his logic. What's so strange about the flowers being left?

The owner saw and understood his expression. "It had withered. I put the flowers on display but this morning, they were completely wilted and black."

Yulian stood up, the same time Ignis muttered. 'Dark matter.'

"Where's the flowers?"

He seemed to be taken aback at his sudden movement but still answered."I had them thrown away. Don't know where wildness they came from but it might bring some strange bacteria."

"And where did you thrown them away?"

"Out back, that's where we leave the trash." The owner gesture with his hand the direction.

"Alright, thanks, Mr.!"

Yulian bolted right away almost as if those flowers would run away. From the entrance, he strode to an alley leading to the back of the pub.

Bunches of junk piled together occupied one corner, there was also a door which he suspected was the backdoor of the pub.

He ignored the strong odor filling up his nose and scanned for the flowers.

"Ignis,s have you sense anything?"

'Umm.. give me a second.'

The fallen god concentrated all his senses at the the mountain pile but not a second after his face was all crunched up. And even lost his strength as he drifted on his sided. 'My good disciple, I'll have to leave this in your hands.'

"Excuse me?!"

But Ignis had already receded in his body. 'Don't worry I'm still here, I'll supervise you.'

Yulian throw his hands in the air in exasperation. Fine! He'll do all the manual labor.

He rolled up his sleeves and held his breath while digging into the trash. There were all sorts of things in there that looking for wilted flowers proved to be a long task.

He took a black plastic bag away that's been blocking the other things. Then there it was, just behind it was the flowers he's been looking for. Just like the owner had describe, the flower no longer look anything like it once was. Its buds, down to the stems were in the color of black. Some of the petals had began to fall. It would make a person think of death when seeing the flower.

'It is truly a dark energy and much stronger than the one's on the boy earlier.' Ignis confirmed after seeing the flower. 'Quickly, capture it'.

Yulian took the wilted flowers from the piles and set it on the clear ground. And like how he did with Leo, a dark like mist began to seep from the object. They rose up towards his hands. But unlike earlier, the process took a lot longer as the dark energy was more concentrated and dense than with Leo.

He held the collected mass of energy in hi hands. How did this end up here? Was the girl had a contact with Calis?

No, that's not right. The flowers were only given to her. The real person he needed to find was the man she got away with.

Yulian got up, the dark energy already stashed away inside his body. Without a second thought he stepped to the backdoor of the pub. He manipulated the mechanism of key hole and with a clink the door opened. He entered and lines of different liquor on one shelf, several barrels and some supplies for the pub greeted him. He went straight up to the inside.

"Mr. Did you remember the face of the man who Minnie left with?"

The owner who's arranging his display of drinks almost slip a bottle from his hand in surprise at hearing him.

"You! Did you just came from the storage?!"

"The door was unlocked."

"That's impossible! I always made sure to lock it. Did you steal something?"

He rolled his eyes at him and throw another coins at the table. "I want to know about the man's face."

The owner gulped the words he was about to say and grabbed again the coins. "Can't say I know the man, I didn't even saw his face. He's hooded up and all. Now go and there's no return for the coins you've paid."

Yulian made no further comment and exited the pub. He intends to go back to the madame' house and ask a few question. From what he knew, the madame had not realize that her granddaughter had went with another man and had yet to come home. But may be, they will have a clue on who the man was.

Yulian knocked faced again the brightly colored door after the coach dropped him off. He knocked. Ann, one of the girls who had a short curled hair was the one who opened the door for him.

"Oh! It's you again!"

He donned on his special weapon when dealing with women. They always went nuts when seeing that.

"You're really so cute!" And as expected, she raised a hand and pinched his cheeks. "Did you forget something here?"

"That's not it, Luke told me to come here again to check if Minnie had come back."

The girl frowned. "He still had not found them? I'm pretty sure those two would be just be around here."

"Actually, we already found Leo but he told us Minnie had left him."

"Say that again?"

"Minnie left him with another man."

Ann adoring gaze was replaced with unbelieving eyes. "Are you certain? Or Leo was just tricking you all? That guy is a known playboy here."

"Ann who's at the door?" The voice of madame drifted from the inside.

"It's the boy from who came with Luke." She answered while not taking her eyes off of him.

"Oh? That darling boy! What bad manners you have! Why don't you invite him in?"

The girl wordlessly opened the door for him, giving a sign for him to enter.

"What brought you here, darlin'"?

A fully dressed and face completely covered with rouge madame greeted him once he's inside the house.

"He said Minnie left with a man other than the Duke's son." Ann answered for him.

After hearing that, the elder lady seemed to have lost her strength, the folded umbrella in her hands clattered unto to the floor. "With that man again?" She asked softly.

"Grandma... we can't know for sure yet." Ann went to her grandmother's side and guided her to a nearby chair.

Something's definitely strange with Minnie and her man the way the both of them had reacted.

"Is the madame alright?" He asked in concern.

No one paid attention to him. Ann went to get water for her grandmother. And the elderly lady seemed to be in a state of shock.

Yulian stood on the side and waited waited everything to calm down. Ann came back with the water, and this time May had also came.

She kneeled in front of the elder and made her drink the water. "Here, grandma. You have to calm down."

"I can't believe Minnie would come back to that guy again."

"May, we can't know for sure if it's the same man." Ann told her sister.

"Umm... may I ask who is this man?"