Chapter 155 - Background Research

Scarlet Wilde… Edward was intrigued. To think that the daughter of such a prestigious family would be doing so many things behind the scenes made him curious. What exactly was her source of motivation?

Scarlet was very different from Alex. According to Elfie, the girl was actually a writer when she was younger. The Scarlet Elfie knew from his younger days was a very quiet and sensible child. The adoption into the Wilde family screamed suspicious for Edward but he wasn't the type of person to pry into other people's business. There had to be some kind of reason for the Wilde's to make that kind of decision out of the blue. Not even Elfie understood the full story of Scarlet's adoption. Scarlet also never spoke much about her biological parents.

The lecturer was a foggy old man who talked like an old dialog modem. Half the class didn't bother to attend his lecture and the remaining half that did attend were nodding off. Edward didn't bother pretending to pay attention as he tapped noisily on his laptop at the very back of the class. Besides, going to university was only for show. Edward was smart enough to graduate with his master's degree if he really wanted to. He had better things to do at the moment.

Unlike most other students in the university, Edward had a second identity and a job of a lifetime. Ever since he was a kid, his father knew that he was different. You cannot be the son of the Interpol's general secretariat without inheriting some of that gifted genes. His mother was a spy who died on a mission when he was only two so Edward didn't know his mother. With both parents being highly successful individuals in their line of work, it was only natural that Edward too joined as a trained child spy.

Edward and Elfie met on a job. Unlike other spies, Edward wasn't allowed to go on field missions much unless a child was required for a cover on a job. Hence, the undercover agent worked as an information broker alongside Elfie when he wasn't needed on the ground.  Background research was one of his strong suits and finding information regarding Scarlet shouldn't be that difficult.

The lecture lasted two long hours and in that time frame, Edward had to admit defeat. Scarlet's history was harder to find than he thought it would be. Hardly anything about Scarlet's existence was mentioned in any media sources before she turned fourteen. In fact, Edward couldn't even find the official adoption papers for Scarlet. He didn't know her old name and that made the spy frustrated.

He thought of asking Elfie for help but then he remembered that Elfie warned him about not lending him a hand if it concerns anything more about Scarlet. Edward was doing it solo. The teen sighed. He knew about his habit to obsess over anything that caught his interest. Right now, he understood how creepy he was being. Scarlet might just come to hate him if she knew what kind of background checks he was doing on her. Still, he couldn't help it. He was highly curious and Scarlet was a fairly interesting individual from how she had a very contrasting personality to the one she had for the public as well as her unique view of the world.

Saved in Edward's external hard drive were countless photos of Liu Xiu Wen from her debut till the latest social media post. There were also recordings of Britannia's live concerts from the earliest days and all of the rare class photos that Edward stole from Elfie's personal stash that included Scarlet in it. Edward knew that he was behaving like a stalker but he couldn't help it. There was simply too little information about the girl. Also, something bothered him greatly. Why couldn't he find any traces of the girl's writings if she was a writer?

[Frost is online.]

Edward looked at the notification and smiled. Scarlet truly was one of a kind. Although her schedule was hectic and unpredictable, there were still some things that he could continue to look forward to. Scarlet hasn't shown up in a few days but that was normal. Jedd77 didn't log in daily either. In fact, if it wasn't for Scarlet, Edward probably wouldn't have bothered with the chat room.

[Frost has created a room – Moon Fairies.]

Again, this was one more thing about Scarlet that intrigued Edward. She had quite the naming sense and every room Scarlet created, she always chose a unique theme. Edward first met her in a room called "Spy Stories" with the topic description set as "A time when you discovered a secret that saved the day". Upon seeing such a topic, there were many others who joined Scarlet's hosted room. Jedd77 was just one of the twenty-odd people in that room.

For some reason, Frost had a magnetic personality that kept the chat alive. They had such a fantastic personality that Edward didn't have the pleasure of meeting in a while with his boring life. Instantly, he was drawn towards Frost but he didn't think that he would be seeing that unique personality again.

To his utter joy, the person with the username Frost appeared two days after that unique room. This time, they hosted a room called "Cat Life" and the room's topic description was "For cat people only, must own ears, tail and a feline personality… just kitten!". That bad pun made Edward laugh aloud for the first time in years. Previously, Frost was a rather welcoming host who could host intellectual conversations with well-timed roasts delivered in good humour. It was hard to believe that the same person was in charge of such a bad one-liner joke but Edward had no problems believing it was the same person.

After the second conversation, Frost and Jedd77 became regulars in the chat room and always found one another somehow. Edward didn't know that Scarlet was a moderator alongside the twenty-odd other friends that Elfie had. Scarlet's username also changed quite frequently now that he had admin logs and special privileges. However, he did notice a pattern. Scarlet would always change her name to Frost at a certain timing of the day if she logged in. That room will be hosted as usual and Edward felt a fuzzy warmth spreading from his chest to the tip of his toes.

It might be presumptuous of him to assume that she was doing it to meet him and create that opportunity but Edward didn't care. He wanted to selfishly believe that there was still something special connecting them even without Elfie's help. Initially, he wanted to get to know about the troublesome girl that Elfie was trying so hard to help. Elfie was very much like Edward when it came to human relationsh.i.p.s. They didn't trust people easily and it was a common thing for people in their line of work. Scarlet must be really special for Elfie to go more than the extra mile for her and Edward didn't like how Elfie was insistent on bringing down a top kingpin of the underworld just to prevent the girl from getting herself too involved. Edward was worried about Elfie when he saw how far the hacker was sticking his neck out for a rich and spoiled daughter of the Wilde family. Initially, the spy wanted to test Scarlet and scare her into staying away from Elfie but now, he had second opinions about her.

Jedd77: You're early today. What's the occasion?

Frost: You wouldn't believe it even if I told you.

Edward smiled at the reply. At this point, that line made him smile. He felt like a fool but he couldn't wipe that grin off his face.

Jedd77: Try me.

After knowing that Frost was Scarlet, Edward wanted to try and lure her into loosening her lips a little more to give him more hints about what she was like as a person behind the screen. No, it wasn't because his background research wasn't going well. Edward shook his head. That definitely wasn't a reason for doing this. He was simply interested in her and if she wanted to share, who was he to deny her? As a friend, it would only be right to be a listening ear for someone in need.

Frost: They asked me out again.

Edward froze. It took a while for his brain to remember who 'they' were. The teen swallowed. Elfie didn't say anything about who Scarlet met and Edward made a mental note to check out Scarlet's schedule. If he had a clue as to who 'they' were, he might have a better direction to start stal- searching for information about Scarlet's history.

Yes, this was purely professional, it wasn't personal at all. Edward assured himself that he wasn't wrong and composed his reply the way his NEET personality would.

Jedd77: Are you going to meet them? Why do they want to see you again? Is it business or… *inserts Lenny face*

Frost: -_- It's not what you think it is. They merely asked me to accompany them as their plus one to a social gathering event that could be good for us. We're looking at meeting their clients and my company's potential working business partners. The deal isn't finalised yet so this is simply to give a good first impression before we negotiate conditions.

Jedd77: Sounds like she's making up an excuse to show you off to her friends. You lucky dawg! You got a hot lady right in the palm of your hands if she's willing to go this far for you…

This time, Scarlet's reply took longer and Edward wondered what was going through her mind.

Frost: I don't have a good feeling about meeting these 'friends' of hers tbh… the way they look at me feels off but I don't know what it is.

Jedd77: Well, I would suggest you send someone else to replace you then. Safety first, you're the precious successor to your parents' company after all. Besides, what's a college student doing attending such a fancy event? You should be getting smashed in clubs at your age!

Frost: Hahaha! You have a point. Thanks, I'll think about it carefully. Will crash now, I had an exhausting day. Catch you again…

Jedd77: Oh alright… it's a little fast but I guess you need your beauty sleep more. I'll be here again whenever you feel like dropping by… I have nothing to do anyway. I bet you're envying the eventful life of a NEET right now.

Frost: You wish… I don't wanna sound like a nag but maybe you should consider getting a part-time job or something. Staying home all day to play games just doesn't sound healthy to me.

Jedd77: Neither does overworking… alright, it's rare for you to sleep early so I shan't stand in the way between you and sleep. Good night!

Frost: Good night ^^

Scarlet logged off but Edward continued to stare at his phone. Today's chat might have been short but Edward did notice something. Scarlet didn't open the room for everyone else. She closed the joining capacity almost immediately once it was filled by him using her moderator rights. It was almost as if she wanted to talk to him in private and the thought made his face heat up.

"It can't be… right?"