Seeing the grand mansion in front of her eyes, Xin could only think of one person who would have such wealth to afford a luxury place right by the river.
Not only that, but after following another Zodiac member, it was clear as day where she was. As she stood out in the open in the garden, she quickly rushed forward.
She saw William enter the front door of the house, opening it without a lock, while she proceeded to hide in some shrubbery outside.
Carefully maintained hedges were placed in particular areas. There was even a specially carved deer out of hedging in the front.
‘No guards or anything in a place like this?’ Xin thought. ‘I guess when you have the Zodiacs and you’re as strong as Harvor, you don’t feel the need to have guards.’
Carefully, she looked around to see if there was anything else. The only camera she could see was on the front of the door.
‘It’s dangerous being here right now; there’s a good chance that Harvor is here, as well as the other Zodiac members,’ she thought, pivoting her foot back toward the gate.
Yet for some reason, her body refused to move, refused to leave.
‘I don’t know who is here—it could just be William alone, and Harvor might not be here either. Maybe a few of the Zodiacs are here, and if I can take them out one by one… this might be the perfect chance… I can’t just leave without knowing what’s ahead.’
Before, Xin was known as calm and collected, and anyone with a sound mind would also know it was too dangerous to do this.
However, pain, anger, and other emotions were taking over her rational thought, and having already succeeded in taking down one of the Zodiacs once, she believed she could do this because, in her head, she had to do this.
She quickly ran up to the mansion and knelt down. Her head was just under a window. She made sure she heard nothing, not even footsteps, before taking a peek inside the house.
She could see a large kitchen area with an island, sofa, and an incredibly large TV. The glass on one side allowed her to see straight through to the other side of the house, showing the back garden.
Although she could see people outside, she couldn’t make out who they were. Instead, she saw William, her target, coming towards her.
She quickly ducked her head down and listened to the sound of footsteps growing fainter. She took another peek and saw he was heading upstairs.
‘Why is he going upstairs if everyone else is outside? Could this be the chance I was looking for? I need to check it out first.’
Xin noticed an open window. Holding onto the ledge, she pulled herself up easily with the strength of one arm, carefully climbing up the side of the house with little trouble.
Pushing the window up, she climbed into what looked like an office. There was still no one present, so she peeked her head into the corridor.
Down one side, she saw it led to more rooms on her right. To her left, it led to the main area, where a large chandelier hung above a staircase that went up to both wings of the mansion.
The other wing of the mansion was so far away that she felt there was no problem for her if she was to do something.
She decided to check the left side rooms first to see if anyone was inside. Checking each room, she found nothing.
They were mostly empty rooms, with some used as storage, all cleared to one side and packed in boxes, almost as if someone was moving out.
She wondered if this was a result of the investigation going on with the White Rose.
Eventually, she heard a voice coming from one of the rooms, and she pressed herself against the wall near the open door.
“I got here at 3, just like they asked,” William mumbled to himself. “And yet, to everyone else, 3 means 3:15 or 3:30. Why am I always the one actually here at the stated time?” William sighed.
“I guess I’ll just get some rest and wait for the others to come.”
Xin was thankful that William was talking to himself out loud, allowing her to make some guesses. A meeting was likely going to take place with the other Zodiac members.
She imagined the White Rose were following the others, just like she saw with William, which explained their delay.
She hadn’t confirmed who was outside, but it didn’t matter much, because now there was one more person she could take out.
‘I can do this… I can do this,’ she thought in her head. Her Altered form started to emerge once more, feathers extending all over her body, including her legs.
She wore shorts to allow the feathers to protrude without obstruction. With her Altered form at this speed, she could finish it in at least two strikes.
‘Now!’ she called out in her head, turning toward the room’s door and bolting for William, who lay on the bed.
The feathers on her hand pointed out and twisted as if forming an electrified drill. She swung it aiming right for William’s face, planning to take him out in one hit. Just in case though she had readied her other hand doing the same. These after all were Altered and the Zodiacs she was dealing with.
Her arm was stopped. She looked and saw that William had grabbed it with his bare hand, his eyes wide open.
“What are you doing… Xin?” William asked.
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