Angelina was once just an ordinary high school student in Siracusa.
Her mother was from Higashi, her father from Siracusa.
She had a happy family, and like any normal high school girl, Angelina loved to dress up and liked sparkly jewelry. Although her family's financial situation was average and they couldn't afford genuine items, even buying some glass bead jewelry from street stalls could make her happy for a long time.
She liked small trinkets, doing her nails, and putting on makeup to make herself pretty. She loved romance novels and, like other normal high school girls, she fantasized about a Prince Charming descending from the sky to save her from the mouth of an evil dragon.
However.
Due to an accident, Angelina contracted Oripathy and became one of the Infected.
The status of the Infected in Siracusa was no higher than in any other country. Moreover... the indifference of her compatriots was one thing, but contracting Oripathy meant death. It meant that Angelina's flower-like youth could come to an end at any moment, ending her young life in the humiliating way Oripathy dictated.
Desperate, Angelina dared not tell her parents she had contracted Oripathy, fearing they would worry. She also dared not tell her classmates, fearing her once-friendly classmates would turn their backs on her.
One day.
She silently disappeared from the city where she had lived her life.
She decided to spend the remainder of her life searching for a reason to live.
Although Oripathy could take her life at any moment, it also awakened her Originium Arts. And as time passed, even without deliberate practice, the strength of her Arts continued to grow.
Over the past year.
Angelina, using her not-so-proficiently controlled Originium Arts, shed her former good-girl image. She shuttled between tall buildings, thoroughly enjoying the madness...
Later.
By a stroke of luck, Angelina became a special courier.
In this country controlled by the Mafia, she delivered one secret after another. For the Angelina of the past, this seemed to be the meaning of her life now.
As for the fantasies she had as a normal high school girl a year ago, they had long been cast aside.
However...
Today~
When Angelina thought she was about to die, she found that she felt no fear. After all, for the Infected, death might be a release. Every Oripathy outbreak was, for Angelina, like countless sharp needles piercing every muscle, bone, and nerve in her body. This torture, worse than death, had made Angelina want to end her own life many times.
This way of dying...
Was at least better than the final stage of Oripathy, where one's whole body turns into ugly Originium ore and dies a miserable death...
It was a pity...
She never got to apologize to her parents. They must be very sad right now. She wondered if they had a second child...
Angelina originally thought that today was finally the day she would die.
However.
The fantasies she had long cast aside suddenly returned to her mind in an instant.
Handsome, powerful, mysterious, and especially that deep, ancient aura, like a treasure that had been silent for half a century, made Angelina's heart pound uncontrollably.
When Lucas Reeve came back to her.
Angelina quickly lowered her head, not wanting him to see her slightly nervous face.
It seemed that, in an instant, the pain in her body wasn't so bad, even the wound where she had been pierced didn't hurt as much....
Seeing that Miss Ange wasn't speaking, and not knowing if she was scared silly or something else, he simply picked her up and carried her towards the secret room. The medical supplies that Miss Ange had delivered earlier should still be there. He hadn't expected the supplies she delivered to be used on herself so soon.
————————
When little Lisa woke up from her sleep, it was already past nine in the morning.
Although she hadn't slept for long, she had recovered from yesterday's fatigue and her body's functions were barely restored.
However, as she got up, preparing to cook a bowl of porridge for her mother and then continue training according to Lucas Reeve's plan, she saw a strange older sister sitting on the bench opposite her.
The two Vulpo girls stared at each other for a few seconds of silence before.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
Lisa couldn't help but scream.
This was a normal reaction. Anyone who woke up to find a stranger in front of them would naturally be startled.
After just one scream.
Lisa immediately covered her mouth, afraid of waking her sleeping mother.
Lisa's mother, whose nerves had been stretched taut for a whole day, had finally relaxed a bit upon safely reaching the secret room. Coupled with significant blood loss and her wounds, the moment she relaxed, her entire body, like a spring stretched to its limit, completely fell asleep. It was estimated that she would not wake up for some time. This was probably the deepest she had slept since becoming an assassin.
"Who are you?!!"
Lisa quickly questioned in a low voice.
Fortunately, Angelina herself was sweet and lovely, dressed like a fashionable high school student from a magazine. If it had been any burly man, Lisa would have probably already been preparing to pull the trigger of the sniper rifle Lucas Reeve had given her...
Angelina saw this and asked quietly: "Are you Miss Vulpisfoglia's daughter?"
"You know my mom?"
"Yes, my name is Angelina. Miss Vulpisfoglia saved me once..."
Lisa suddenly remembered something.
"I heard my mom mention you before, Sister Angelina..."
Although...
When Lisa's mother had shared the story with her, it was about meeting a sister named Angelina who needed help on her way home from work, and she casually helped her.
Of course, at the time, Lisa didn't know that her mother's so-called company was actually the Mafia....
"Sister Angelina, why are you here? And... you seem to be injured?"
Seeing that it was an acquaintance, Lisa let down her guard and asked with concern.
Angelina, however, was a bit too embarrassed to speak. Just as she was hesitating, Lucas Reeve walked in from outside, holding a syringe of Oripathy-suppressing medication. There were also a few bottles of this medication in the drone, just in case they were needed.
"I went out for a walk in the early morning and happened to run into Miss Angelina. She seemed to be injured and was blocked by a group of gangsters who called themselves the 'Wolf Pack'. I brought her back for treatment and to stop the bleeding."
For some reason.
Angelina's gaze towards Lucas Reeve was a bit timid, even a little shy...
Whenever Angelina looked into Lucas Reeve's deep, casual eyes.
Her mind would recall the scene of him descending like a god to save her. Such a scene was exactly like the plot of the romance novels Angelina had read in high school. He was simply Prince Charming. Although there was no white horse, he was definitely a prince. Was this the 'hero saves the damsel' from TV shows?
Lucas Reeve didn't know what Angelina was thinking at the moment. He just tossed the medication on the table.
"Here, Miss Ange. You seem to have Oripathy. This medication is for suppressing it. It can delay the time and reduce the pain of your next acute outbreak."
"You can just call me Angelina..."
"Alright, Miss Ange..."
"?"
"My name is Angelina... that's my first name... Ajimu is my surname.... Um... thank you for saving me. I still don't know your name...."
Angelina was a little fidgety. Her usually carefree self was suddenly a bit nervous today.
"Lucas Reeve."
"Mr. Reeve... you're from Yan?!!"
Angelina was surprised, because the name was clearly from Yan. In an age where everyone was XX-sky, only Yan's names were unique and instantly recognizable.
"I'm not sure. Anyway, my name is Lucas Reeve."
"I see..."
Just as Angelina was pondering Lucas Reeve's name, suddenly! She seemed to remember something he had said earlier.
An Oripathy-suppressing medication?
Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with a hand painted with beautiful nail polish to prevent herself from screaming in excitement. She held the medication, her eyes wide as saucers.
"Suppressing Oripathy?!! Mr. Reeve, are you joking with me? I... I can't believe it..."
When Angelina first contracted Oripathy, she had also tried to ask if there was a way to suppress it, not hoping for a cure, but just to live a few more years. The answer was impossible. Even the best hospital in Siracusa couldn't do it. Oripathy was a terminal illness; one could only wait to die.
It was because of this.
Desperate, Angelina had willingly sunk into depravity, preparing to find the true meaning of her life...
Damn!!!
If she had known about this medicine earlier, she wouldn't have become what she is now.
Angelina's state of mind was currently in turmoil.
It was as if a person from a poor little country had contracted a 'terminal illness' and was about to give up on life, only to find out that there was a way to suppress it abroad...
"Mr. Reeve, this... is too precious... we've only just met...."
Angelina lowered her head and said in a small voice.
Even though Angelina was a layman, she definitely knew how precious this medication would be if it were real. And he was giving one to her unconditionally....
"Precious? I have a warehouse full of it at home."
Seeing that Angelina seemed reluctant, Lucas Reeve simply grabbed it himself, pulled up her sleeve, and stuck the syringe directly into her arm, injecting the contents.
"Have you heard of Raythean Industries? A few months ago, Raythean Industries opened a pharmaceutical company called Raythean Medica. This medication comes from Raythean Medica, and the chairman of Raythean Medica and I have a very close relationship. It's no problem for me to get a few doses."
Lucas Reeve was being modest.
It was more than just a close relationship; he could practically be considered her son-in-law.
Angelina didn't resist as Lucas Reeve injected her.
After a while.
She felt a warmth spreading through her body, as if a special warm current was flowing from her lower abdomen to her entire body.
At once.
Angelina immediately felt her body become much lighter. She didn't believe it at first, but now, Angelina believed it. So, there really was something in this world that could treat Oripathy, and it was given to her by this Mr. Reeve.
They had only met twice, but this Mr. Reeve had already helped her twice. One was saving her life, and the other was practically the same.
+5000
Huh?
This young lady named Angelina gave him 5000 Prayer Power so easily?
Generally speaking.
The amount of Prayer Power could indicate a person's level of gratitude.
The reason Lisa and her mother gave him 5000 was purely because of how important they were to each other, almost more important than their own lives.
Although he had saved Angelina, it shouldn't have been enough to get 5000 in one go.
It was a bit strange...
Lucas Reeve didn't understand how it was calculated either.
"By the way... Miss Vulpisfoglia is actually so badly injured..."
When Angelina had first followed Lucas Reeve back to the secret room, she was speechless when she first saw Lisa's mother. In her mind, Miss Vulpisfoglia was one of the most legendary assassins in Siracusa. Even if her ranking had dropped a bit, she was still a legendary assassin. She never expected her to be so seriously injured.
Lisa was a little dejected.
"It's all because of me that Mom..."
Angelina shook her head and patted Lisa's little head.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later. The [Famiglia Venezia] Mafia was already planning to get rid of Miss Vulpisfoglia. I found out by chance when I was delivering some information."
"And, there's another secret...."
"The candidate Miss Vulpisfoglia served, Mr. Christian... is not one person! But two! I only found this out recently too."
As one secret and scandal after another came out of Angelina's mouth.
Lucas Reeve, standing by the side, finally understood why some Mafia families wanted to eliminate these special couriers.
Holy crap.
Each one of them knew so many secrets and scandals, they were practically mobile information databases. If he were a Mafia boss, he would definitely want to get rid of them!!