Christian, coming back to his senses and realizing that he needed to at least complete his investigation before figuring out exactly what he could do, was now back in his room. His sister, however, was sitting in his lap, not even letting him work comfortably.

    Despite Annabelle acting as a sort of tranquilizer, Christian still couldn''t fully calm down and decided to start with the background of Damian Slate.

    And apparently, the answer was already waiting for him.

    [He''s actually the illegitimate son of the president of Infinitel Company.]

    While the slight surprise came from how quickly the answer was ready, it was the name of the company that truly caught Christian''s attention. More ever, he couldn''t help but want to double-check. Hearing it felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, after all.

    "You mean ''that'' Infinitel company?"

    [Yes.]

    Upon hearing Iris''s confirmation, Christian froze. He didn''t know how to feel and found himself pausing, unable to imagine what it would mean to go up against the Infinitel Company.

    Any American citizen, no, any normal person in the world, unless they lived under a rock, would know that name, after all. Even someone like him, who had zero interest in these kinds of things, was familiar with it.

    It was one of the leading companies in technology and innovation worldwide, but beyond that, its influence seemed to permeate every corner of society.

    Christian didn''t have time to think about how he could tackle this problem, how to take on such a titan, because Annabelle, seated on his lap, suddenly turned her head toward him. With a serious expression and tone, she said.

    "Like I said before, let''s run away!"

    Explore new worlds at empire

    Christian tried not to let himself be overwhelmed by the problems piling up all at once, or by his sister''s persistent insistence from the side. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself further, as the scale of the situation just kept growing. So, first, he turned to his sister and said.

    "Sis, how about you calm down first?"

    As he tried to reassure her with his voice, Christian even used one of his hands, placing it gently on her stomach and massaging it.

    It was an action meant to calm her down first, and, admittedly, to also distract his own taut nerves with the softness of her body.

    Still, how was Eva connected to all of this?

    With that question lingering in his mind, Christian shifted his focus. This time, he decided to examine the situation from her side, feeling that perhaps he could uncover a clue that might help him piece everything together.

    He started by looking into connections with Vincent Quinn, Damian Slate, and her employees.

    And it didn''t take him long to confirm that his sister''s hypothesis, that Eva was actually from an ancient family, was true.

    But with even the Infinitel Company involved, Christian wasn''t all that surprised. Instead, his curiosity shifted to the nature of the connection.

    What kind of relationship did they share exactly?

    As one thing was clear, it wasn''t a good one, at least not from Eva''s side.

    After taking a break for dinner and returning to his room alone, Christian finally got his answer.

    Eva''s family, which, as it turned out, was Ashvale and not Carter, her maid''s family surname, had actually sold her.

    There was some kind of deal going on between the Ashvale family and Vincent Quinn. What exactly it entailed, he didn''t know, but when he also discovered that one of Vincent''s legitimate son, was married to a girl with the Ashvale surname, Christian concluded that this wasn''t just one deal.

    Liora Ashvale''s position was clearly not the same as Eva''s, after all.

    And if there was to be a marriage with an important family member like Liora, why was Eva involved in the first place?

    Christian concluded that there was likely more than one deal, with the second one being much bigger. The Infinitel Company and the Ashvale family will be even more intertwined, due to that.

    That was likely why Eva had been trying to distance herself from all of this. After all, it turned out that every employee in her mansion had been a spy for one party or another.

    Even with all the information he had gathered, Christian had to admit that getting details about the Ashvale family, who were in dark, was turning out to be much harder than getting information about the Infinitel Company and its president, who were more out in the open.

    As frustration started to build within him, feeling like the whole picture was still missing something, suddenly, Iris''s voice broke through his thoughts.

    [Master, it seems like Damian Slate is making another move.]