Caelus Online

90. Bursting Emotions (Part 2)

Anger was clear in Miriam’s eyes, along with a look of either disgust or hate directed at her. Aurora could only inwardly lament at the state of the woman in front of her. She was sad that her grandmother had fallen so far, and that such a bitter and spiteful woman remained alive while the kind and loving members of her family had passed. 

But that was one of the sad truths of the world, it was harsh and cruel to those with kind hearts while letting those who relish in cruelty and greed run wild and free. It was a fact she had learnt early on in life, and the fact that her grandmother was still able to freely walk around spewing her hateful words despite what she had done was the perfect proof.

But despite how angry Miriam’s actions had made her and contrary to her own words, she did not want to kill her own family. But that did not mean she would help either. Her grandmother had her chance to amend her attitude, but she had kicked it aside with the same scorn she held when looking at her granddaughter.  

Aurora straightened back up as she took a small step away and folded her arms, her expression returning to its cold demeanour.

“Either way, I wash my hands of you. But I will provide a single warning. Take the slightest step out of line, and I will make sure to pay you back the retribution owed for the past. I am not like my forgiving parents, and I will not let your mental issues destroy the lives of thousands. You have no power over the Branford family or its assets, nor are you entitled to any.”

Aurora narrowed her eyes again as she reached out with her mana, the process taking longer than she liked to invoke a simple teleport only a few metres away, but that was due to the lower density of mana and something she could do nothing about. 

With a slightly raised corner of her mouth on her cold expression, Aurora vanished from in front of Miriam leaving a few whisps of ethereal gold mana to momentary dissipate as she appeared behind her.

Aurora couldn’t help but let a slightly crazed smile appear on her lips as she leaned down to her grandmother’s ear from behind who was standing frozen in shock from the sudden vanishing act. 

Making her tone as chilling as possible, Aurora let her whispered words ring into her grandmother's ears.

“Now begone, I have far more important matters to deal with over entertaining your pathetic nonsense, and what little restraint I have is wearing very thin.”

Her grandmother visibly jumped as Aurora’s words were whispered in her ear and she instantly turned around faster than her age should have allowed with a look of horror adorned on her face. 

The impact Aurora’s actions had on her grandmother sent a subtle jolt of sadistic joy through her heart as she saw the older woman’s dilated pupils and the goosebumps appearing on her arms just from the fear created by a little of her magic.

She was not a naturally sadistic person, finding the prospect of sadism quite offputting. However, the same could not be said for when she was truly angry. When someone hurts her family and friends, or when someone betrays her, she will let her bottled-up dark emotions out. 

Aurora stared into Miriam’s frozen and horror-filled eyes for the short time that their gazes remained locked. As much as she may have wanted to relish in seeing her grandmother’s fear, the moment ended as her grandmother took a step backwards and bumped into her desk. The sudden physical contact shook the elderly woman from her daze as she hurriedly rushed out of the office, making sure to give Aurora a wide birth as she moved.  

The door closed with a thud which left Aurora in a silent room with the two people she had ignored until now. She glanced over to Harold who shook his head in disbelief before speaking. 

“The years have not treated your Grandmother kindly. I must say that should she ever finds herself in charge of the Branford Family, I would be wrestling between performing my duty to the family and getting as far away as possible.”

Aurora couldn't help but let a slight laugh fall from her lips at Harold's words. Her previous atmosphere had completely vanished replaced with a slightly relaxed demeanour, as if the previous version of herself from just before left the room with her grandmother's exit. 

“Worry not Harold, You will be stuck with me for a long time to come, so let us not entertain such horrifying ideas.”

Harold showed a slight smirk as he bowed, something incredibly rare for the serious man. The expression just went to show just how disliked her grandmother was if even she managed to gain his ire. 

“As you wish, Duchess Branford, I offer my sincerest apologies for momentarily considering traitorous thoughts.”

Aurora gave Harold an amused look as she moved her attention back to Sasha who was still standing with wide eyes as her eyes darted nervously between Aurora, Harold and the glass desk that was full of cracks. 

With a sudden thought, Aurora glanced outside through the slight gaps in the vertical blinds to where some of the office staff might have seen something. Thankfully from what she could see and sense, her little bursts of magic had not drawn any attention and her stunt to scare Miriam remained a secret to everyone outside of the room. 

With an internal sigh, Aurora properly turned to Sasha as she started to speak. 

“Apologies that you had to see all of the unpleasantness Sasha, It seems an explanation is required far sooner than I had planned. In short, Caelus Online is real and will give everyone magic just like what I showed a moment ago.”

Aurora looked over at Harold as she continued to speak. 

“Harold, please take Sahsha and explain to her what I told Gareth. I wish I had the time to explain myself, but with the time I have available to work already extremely limited, I feel it best that you cover the key information and I will answer any remaining questions afterwards.”

Harold gave a simple nod and a slight bow as he walked over to Sasha.

“Sasha, if you would please come with me, I will explain the…  insanity which my Lady has decided to burden us both with. Let us find a private space as this is not for everyone's ears.”

As her butler and secretary left the room, Aurora slumped down back into her comfortable office chair and looked at her now cracked glass desk. With a tentative tap of her finger, she tested the strength of the surface and let out a relieved breath when the desktop remained in one piece. 

She pressed down on it a little and found that despite the cracks, it would still support a decent amount of pressure thanks to the protective coverings that were supposed to prevent the glass from shattering from mundane impacts. Still, she would need to get it replaced, but for today it would last. 

With an exasperated sigh at the unwanted trouble, Aurora picked her pen back up and returned to the piles of paperwork that would take up the majority of her time throughout the day. 

****

Aurora spent the rest of the day working in her office. Sasha and Harold returned after a short period, her butler kept his stoic disposition while Sasha looked slightly shellshocked. That was not exactly surprising as many of the strange requests she had made over the last few weeks, along with the strange behaviour, would have finally made sense to her secretary. 

Not only that, but having the confirmation that her dead boss was actually alive and had been gender changed into a woman posing as his, now her own sister was no doubt creating a lot of reality-shattering revelations for the poor woman. 

After spending some time answering as many of Sasha’s questions as she could, Aurora and Harold returned to their work while Sasha returned to her desk distractedly and sat in a daze. 

Aurora’s time mostly consisted of reading through documents and signing them off, however thanks to Harold's presence, her workload was cut down significantly.

Due to the fact that this was her second time inheriting the Branford Group and all her assets since she returned, Aurora felt comfortable leaving Harold who had already been through it with her once before to scan through and confirm that all the documentation was set the same as when she had signed it a few weeks ago as Chester. 

The assistance massively cut down her workload and allowed her to focus on the important issues that were arriving at her desk. 

It also helped that the majority of the documentation that passed through her office over the last week was mainly reports from Gareth, and from everything she read, the man she selected to fill in her role was performing exceptionally.