I Became the Tyrant’s Helper - Chapter 22

Of course, I wouldn’t forget. Wasn’t eating lunch together with him a part of their deal?

Ahel replied without breaking contact with the glistening eyes that bore into her, “…No, I perfectly remember.”

“Good. Then I’ll come to fetch you later.”

Smugly content, he breezed past her as his lingering scent arrested her.

“If you could please come this way, miss, so I can begin to orient you with your duties,” Sever’s attentive tone echoing from the room snapped Ahel back to earth. Realizing how strange she looked standing by the door, she walked towards the desk topped with towering documents.

Whew.

Sever observed as the woman took the seat to his right and took a deep breath. He still couldn’t shake off the shock of such a commoner being entrusted with the work of an assistant. To make up for the lack of experience he expected of her, he tasked himself to keep a watchful eye as she performed her tasks, starting with the basics. After some short instruction from him, however, he was surprised that Ahel worked well for a beginner.

Sever watched her work with a serious expression, tapping the pile of papers in front of him. He wondered if he was mistaken, or perhaps she was just a good actress.

“Miss Ahel,” his voice cut the silence like warm knife on butter. She turned to him and her amethyst eyes scanned his figure. He could only give a small smile at the careful look she gave him.

“You seem quite the natural handling the files; have you done similar work before?”

Sever maintained his polite composure while he studied her rosy face, alert to any quirk that might indicate that she was lying.

But all he got was a cool gaze and a calm response.

“As an orphan, I’ve done many jobs to provide for myself, and one of the easier ones is filing important papers.”

From a young age, she was raised to do many tasks at Pelanders that included treating injured assassins and classifying and processing documents, just like her duty for the morning.

Ahel was shaken; Sever’s intuition was right that she was no simple lady, but she held strong to the omitted truth.

Keeping a relaxed façade under pressure was one of the things she learned by observing the children her age train as assassins. She couldn’t tell if she was good at it since she only practiced alone, but she hoped that she was convincing enough to dissuade him.

It was a good thing Sever didn’t seem to notice.

“I see. My apologies, Miss Ahel. I didn’t mean to pry,” he said, his brows knitted together, regretting his question that he felt was too personal to casually bring up.

“Oh, no. It’s fine, it happened a long time ago,” Ahel responded with grace and relief. Despite her answer, she meant it when she said it didn’t offend her.

There was nothing shameful about being an orphan and she wasn’t one to cling to past memories. What mattered to her most was her present, and what the days ahead of her may bring.

The dignity she exuded puzzled and impressed Sever, “You seem like a strong person.”

It was her first time to hear someone praise her that way, “Me?”

Am I a strong person?

Struck by his compliment, Ahel looked at him as he slowly nodded his head, “A tough upbringing isn’t easy to move on from. I know a lot of people who still carry the weight of their past pains.”

Sever held back a bitter smile.

Ahel sensed his sympathy for her pitiful history, but all she saw was an uncaring girl that allowed her years to drift by rather than a strong lady empowered by her toils.

What did she overcome that warranted praise? Nothing. Because all her life she stuffed the hurt down the deepest parts of her heart to forget it all and never hear from them again. She ran away from those pains, so that she could move forward.

For now, all she wondered about was who the people she would be working with are; that is all that mattered to her with the documents between her fingers.

“And just like that, it’s lunchtime,” his announcement jolted her out of her thoughts.

“Oh,” she followed his eyes to the grandfather’s clock striking at 12.

The word ‘lunch’ reminded her of his voice.

You have forgotten that we made a promise to eat lunch together, right?

All right. Then I’ll come to fetch you later.

His deep voice rang in her head as Ahel cleared her area and organized the papers. Before she could assess how much left she had to segregate on the left pile, Ray’s elegant steps passed the open door without a single knock.

She stood from her chair in a hurry, as his emerald orbs watched her rise and tuck a stray hair under her ear.

“Enjoy your lunch, Miss Ahel.”

“Thank you. You too, Sever,” she answered with a quick bow before approaching Ray’s side.

“I hope you don’t mind if she will be late, Sever. We’re going to eat some dessert after lunch,” Ahel’s eyes widened at Ray’s unplanned declaration.

The other man laughed at how flustered she became, “Yes, take your time,” Sever turned to her with a softened gaze, “I was relieved you worked on the papers swiftly, miss, so there will be time to indulge in some dessert.”