Twisting the knob of the door, Jedidiah nervously walked into what appeared to be a majestic looking resting chamber; several thoughts simultaneously racing through his mind.
The other party referred to him as her grandson - How in the hell was that possible?
As soon as Jedidiah walked into the resting chambers, the first thing he noticed was the king sized bed. However the bed was currently being occupied by someone.
Cushioning her back against the headrest of the king-sized bed, Jedidiah sized up the other party. Contrary to what he was expecting, Jedidiah realized that this Lady CeCe individual appeared quite younger than he had visualized. Apart from the few strained wrinkles across some part of her face, Lady Cece appeared like she was just in her late fifties.
- But of course Jedidiah heard rumors while growing up that the metabolism of Elites were very different from that of regular humans. For example, there existed some powerful Elites who could slightly slow down their rate of aging.
However in Jedidiah's perspective, the most eye-catching trait about Lady CeCe was the color of her hair and brows - They were a sharp silver in color.
- Jedidiah couldn't help but fall into deep thoughts. Could it actually be?
"Hm?" while Jedidiah was sizing her up, Lady CeCe was naturally doing the same to him. With her eyes landing on his ink black hair, a displeased frown tugged across her lips.
"Why did you dye your hair black? are you looking down on your heritage?"
"What do you mean?" Jedidiah pretended to play dumb. However inwardly, his heart was thumping loudly.
During his early years as a child, Jedidiah was often bullied due to the color of his hair. And just like Lady CeCe before him, it was a sharp silver in color.
However in an effort to stop the bullying, his parents decided to treat his hair to some unknown solution, dying it black. Except this Lady CeCe before him questioned people from his early past, there's no way she should've deduced this fact on their first meeting.
- Except..
"Don't try playing tricks on me. I was there when you were born and you definitely didn't possess that repulsive hair color."
"Uhm. Earlier you mentioned I was your grandson? I don't remember ever seeing your picture in any of my family album.."
Lady CeCe sighed in what seemed to be a regretful tone as she replied.
"It was to keep you safe.."
"Keep me safe?" now Jedidiah's interest was piqued.
"I reckon you must've received the package your parents left you?" as Lady CeCe was saying this, her eyes roamed towards the seemingly ordinary pendant around Jedidiah's neck.
"H--How do you know that?" under her sharp hawk-like gaze, Jedidiah nervously adjusted his glasses.
"That's because I had one of my subordinates deliver it to you. I reckon you address her as Old Lady Lara?"
Noticing the expression of shock on Jedidiah's face, Lady CeCe continued speaking.
"Your parents left that package to me before they were taken. Their instructions was to only give it to you once you turned sixteen."
"Taken?" Jedidiah instantly caught the hidden exposition in Lady CeCe's statement, causing his heart to grow doubtful.
"My Parents were Sentries who died battling Kaiju Beasts.."
"Dead? and who told you that?" a look of distaste appeared across Lady CeCe's face.
"E-Envoys from the Association." Jedidiah unconsciously began to recall memories of the worst day of his life.
He had just woken up from an afternoon nap after his Babysitter had done her utmost to put him to sleep. It was a cold evening and a downpour had just recently subsided. Although a long time has passed since then, Jedidiah could still accurately remember the manner in which the bell rang as those two men in expensive Armani Suits relayed the message about how his parents were National heroes.
But of course, the ignorant five years old him at the time had not truly known the severity of what that title meant. It was only after he waited an entire night for his parents return did he finally realize that something wasn't right.
..
"I don't know about that worthless father of yours but I know my daughter well. There's no way she'd die at the maws of a Kaiju Beast."
"Then if my parents are not dead.. who took them?"
Nodding her head as if in agreement, Lady CeCe pulled down the covers wrapped around her, revealing the lower part of her body.
"This.." an unpleased smell gushed into Jedidiah's nostril as the sight before his eyes nearly caused him to pass out.
"This is called the Belkshire Curse. Basically it grows by feeding off my vitality. I doubt I'll have much long left to live. As for your earlier question, the ones responsible for your parent's disappearance also did this to me."
"T--That's horrible.." Jedidiah had the urge to close his eyes as he attempted to erase the image of the disgusting state Lady CeCe's lower body was in.
"I tried fishing out for clues about this Hidden enemy in an attempt to rescue my daughter . For a whole decade I pooled a lot of my resources into this endeavor and just when it felt like I was just a small step away from the truth, this happened."
Listening to her explaintion, Jedidiah didn't hesitate to ask.
"This Hidden Enemy.. Do they have a name?"
"And why would you ask that?" Lady Cece shot him a sharp look. As if reading his mind, her eyes narrowed.
"You better not develop any thought of vengeance. That is what landed me in my current state. Your mother is currently unaccounted for and my days of living are all but numbered. If you die a fool's death, our entire legacy would be lost forever..annexed by our enemies!"
"Are you the adult here or am I? These people took my mother and father away from me.. your own daughter might I add. And you are just going to cower away in defeat?" veins danced across Jedidiah's forehead as he became extremely worked up.
Unfortunately, Lady Cece merely shook her head.
"The situation is far more complicated than what it appears to be on the surface.."
"But --" Jedidiah attempted to retort however a sharp glare from Lady CeCe caused the remaining words to remain stuck in his throat.
"Enough. You would speak no more about this matters in my presence. Now, I believe it's time we get to the main reason why I had you brought here." snapping her fingers, the door opened up, revealing Chuck as he made his way in.
However this time, he was currently holding a thick brown file. Dropping the file on the mattress, he soundlessly stood besides Lady CeCe.
"As my grandson and the sole heir of the Kreese Family who is currently accounted for, it's only right that I give these to you.."
Noticing the puzzled expression on Jedidiah's face, Lady CeCe shot Chuck a look. Understanding the meaning in her gaze, Chuck cleared his throat as he began speaking.
"Those files contains half of your inheritance. They are liquid ready treasury bills and financial instruments worth over nine hundred billion dollars.."
"N-Nine Billion?" Jedidiah repeated in a stupified manner.
"No. The exact amount is nine hundred billion.." after correcting Jedidiah, Chuck proceeded to fish out a card from the pile of documents within the file.
"This is the highest degree of a banking card and there are only Twenty of such cards in the entire world. Not even the President of the Country is entitled to one.."
"This Black Card was manufactured to work in any kinds of financial hardware and it's linked to a Trust created with your name on the day you were born. Just a week ago, the Trust was valued at an estimated One Trillion Dollars. However due to Lady CeCe liquidating almost all of her assets and having them transferred over to the Trust, it's currently valued at precisely two hundred trillion dollars of very liquid cash.."