CHAPTER 145: CHAPTER 144. THE PRINCESS’S ARMY

After spending the whole day just lazing around at home like newlyweds, Sarah and Hajin finally left the apartment. She had a little catch-up session with her collaborators in Helios’s secret private room.

It was a room right below the garden rooftop that only Yonghwa—or the people he gave permission to —could enter. They had no clearance for the dome, but even using this room meant they were people acknowledged by the Big Boss, which was already an achievement.

It was also a room Little Bird could use without them having to clear out a whole building, so there was that. With its own pantry and dumbwaiter, there was no need for any staff, minimizing contact and maximizing secrecy.

The only person who didn’t like the setting was Hajin. Not because he had to be the one to prepare the drinks and snacks, but because others kept clinging to his princess.

Facing a big screen that showed the colosseum below, Sarah was flanked by Sua and the Little Bird, who hugged her arms like a pair of koalas the moment she stepped into the room. After ambushing her, they dragged her to the couch and had been inseparable since, giving orders to Hajin as if they were on a mission to prevent him from getting closer.

But what could he do when his princess gave him some orders for drinks and snacks too? What could he do when she laughed cheerfully with those... disruptive kids?

Haa...he’d just think of it as a small price to pay for being allowed to sleep in the same bed as his princess.

That was, until the conversation steered toward obstructing his honeymoon life.

"Since we’re celebrating you leaving that house, can we play at your place from now on, Eonni?" Sua wiggled Sarah’s arm. "You want to do that too, right, Birdie?"

"U-unn!" Little Bird nodded strongly until her hoodie almost covered her whole face. She couldn’t go anywhere with the smallest amount of crowd, but Sarah’s apartment was different.

Austin chimed in while battling Suoh in a tennis game in the corner. "Oh, won’t it be nice if we have sleepovers? What about pajama parties?"

"Pajama parties!" Sua and the Little Bird raised their arms in agreement.

And that was what made Hajin pause in his bartending work, eyes widened in horror at the thought of their new lair getting invaded by strangers. Not to mention...sleepover? Wouldn’t that mean their bedroom was to be invaded too?!

He only had that bedroom for two nights!

Sarah caught the bodyguard’s horrified expression and couldn’t help but chuckle. A thought of teasing him came for a second, but...

"Unfortunately, you can’t," Sarah stopped the thought right away; it was still too early to give up on her cursed bliss.

Hajin sighed in relief, returning to his drink-making while Sua was whining with her whole body.

"Why?!"

"Because someone might be watching our place," Sarah replied diplomatically. Surely she couldn’t say having people where she had sex the night before felt weird. "Besides, we don’t have any room for a sleepover."

"Aww..." Sua plopped her head onto Sarah’s lap, lips pursed sulkily. "I want to play games with you all night..."

"Staying up late is what makes you stop growing, Noona," Suoh snickered from the corner, and got a throwing cushion as a reward for his insight.

"This is genetic!"

"I have the same gene, though?"

"Graaaah!"

With a roar, all of the cushions around the couch flew into the air toward the corner where Suoh and Austin played their game. With his luck, most of them hit Austin instead of the male twin, and the finnacier raged because it cost him the game. Before they knew it, cushions were thrown across the room in return, and when Little Bird joined in the fun, it turned into a war.

"Why does it turn into a pajama party," Sol commented as he entered the room after making his round in both the upper and lower Helios, shaking his head.

"Better here than somewhere else," Hajin said curtly, placing all of the ordered drinks on top of the private bar’s counter. There was no way he would let his creations get smacked by cushions.

Sarah also retreated from the battlefield, taking refuge in the bar with Hajin and Sol. "Anything from Honey?"

"The mistress called her, as you expect," Sol replied while picking a bottle of beer from the shelf behind Hajin. "She never thought her role would expand to be your spy, though."

Sarah chuckled, raising the mocktail Hajin made for her. "Isn’t it exciting?"

Sol tapped his beer to her glass. "So she says."

"Tell her to have fun inside," Sarah smiled. "Anyway, I need someone to incite my CEO deeper into gambling."

"I have some people with that kind of skillset," the manager nodded. It seemed like he had people with all kinds of skillsets around him.

Sarah turned in her chair to face another person who had given up on the youngsters’ battle. "Once he loses his money, I’ll send him to you, Austin."

"Hmm?" Austin took a deep breath to manage his breath--who knew throwing pillows took so much energy. "You want me to play loan sharks?"

"Gotta have something so he’ll betray his boss and sell his shares to me," Sarah shrugged.

"Aah!"

"Is this what you meant by taking the company for yourself, Master?" Hajin arched his brow.

"Funnily enough, this company had better legal standing than our investment company," Sarah chuckled. "Might as well hijack it to be our base, don’t you think?"

"Not bad," Austin nodded before gulping down his cider.

"How about the construction project?"

"We’ve got the contract after waiting for a bit," Austin reported with a grin. "They said they’ll start in the fall, soon."

Initially, in the previous timeline, the construction only started in the winter, perhaps because they needed more time to gather investors. This time, with Sarah, Daniel, and the investment company’s money, they could afford to start early.

"That’s good, we don’t have to wait for long," Sarah nodded in satisfaction. "Prepare a strong legal team and a media contact. Sol, someone needs to watch the digging process all the time."

"I’ll station a few around the community," Sol replied easily. Sometimes, Sarah wondered how many people were under this unseeming manager.

"How about that bastard--I mean, the oldest son?" Sua asked while running toward the bar, throwing the pillow in her hands away. "You’re not letting him away just like that, aren’t you?"

Sarah swirled the drink in her hand, contemplating. "Well...he’s losing his assets and position as we speak."

Sua slammed the bar counter. "That’s not enough! I need to hit him at least once!"

"Don’t cut in line," Hajin narrowed his eyes. Among everyone who wanted to give Mason a lesson, no one could beat the wrath shimmering inside him.

Honestly, part of why Sarah decided to leave was also because she was afraid Hajin would secretly kill Mason one night.

Sua pursed her lips in protest. "But if I do it after you, there won’t be much left to hit!"

"Hmm...fair enough," Hajin nodded.

"Why are you talking as if you’re going to kidnap and beat him?" Sarah rolled her eyes, prompting the others to turn their gaze to her. "I’m not saying no. Just don’t do it before everything’s over--can’t have them pin it on me, you know?"

"Hmm...true that," Sua stroked her chin in contemplation. "Can’t we at least spread some rumor about him to destroy his reputation or something?"

"Won’t they think it comes from noona?" Suoh tilted his head.

"Not if we spread it through the circle--Eonni never goes to the circle anyway," Sua rubbed her lips and wiggled her brows. "If anything, we can make it seem like another child spread it."

"Like the third daughter?" Suoh snapped his fingers.

"Bingo!"

Look at these twins--only united in this kind of thing. Sarah shook her head in amusement. "Just about him no longer the heir, not the other thing. For the assault, it’s better to spread it through the staff members."

The twins flinched and Sua held Sarah’s arm again. "You’re going to let that spread, Eonni?"

Sarah patted the younger’s head. "Turning it into a weapon makes it feel better."

"Well...if you say so," Sua nodded reluctantly, kind of regretting her decision of starting the whole conversation about giving the bastard a lesson.

Sua wasn’t the only one who suddenly looked down. Sarah turned to her side, where the quiet Little Bird was clutching her sleeve timidly with bowed head. She leaned down and asked gently. "What’s wrong, Birdie?"

"I’m...I’m sorry..."

Sarah raised her brows in confusion. "Why? Why are you suddenly apologizing?"

"I...I still c-can’t f-find any...anything ab-about..." the small shoulder shook under the large hoodie. "I’m not...v-very h-helpful..."

"It’s okay, Birdie," Sarah turned her chair so she could hug the girl and stroked her hooded hair. "I know it’s harder for you to dig something from abroad. It’s somewhere not very integrated with the internet after all."

"Yes, Birdie. It also happened a long time ago, right?" Sua chimed in. "Looking for the archive must be hard!"

"You should tell Sol hyung to help you with the fieldwork or something," Suoh added.

"Me?" the sleep-deprived manager arched his brow. "Do I have no right to sleep or some--oh, fine, just tell me whatever."

Little Bird pressed her trembling lips and looked up with determination shining beneath her hood. "I..I’ll f-find it ssoon!"

"I’m sure you’ll do," Sarah nodded in agreement, secretly feeling guilty for whining about not having anything on Joseph the other day.

Yeah, she should be more patient. A lot of people had already been helping her like this after all, so one thing or another was bound to come up. If anything failed, she always had the option of going up to the old man himself and trying to bait something out of him.

That being said, Sarah never thought the snake old man would end up looking for her first.