A man in a tailcoat, holding his tophat in front of his chest while smiling politely at Valery who stood before him. The girl still stood stiffly staring awkwardly at the stranger in front of her.
"Who... are you?" she said confused as the clothes worn by this person were uncommon in this era.
"I am Mr. Keenan's servant assigned to come pick you up."
"Take it and look at it, these are the adoption papers that were previously signed by your parents." The man in the hat said as he handed an envelope containing a formal piece of paper to Valery.
The girl accepted it hesitantly, still not believing the authenticity of the news brought by this stranger in strange clothes.
Valery tore open the end of the sealed envelope, taking out a piece of paper that contained an agreement to hand over the adoption rights to the party in case Valery's parents passed away. There were three signatures, right there. Her father's signature, Leonardo Thomas; her mother's signature, Bianca Thomas; and finally, a signature with a foreign name she had never heard before. Matthew Keenan Frederick. The name was listed as the guardian who would later adopt Valery if both her parents passed away.
"I've been asked to tell you; you should prepare to pack your things tonight, as tomorrow I'll be back to fetch you to my Mr. Keenan's mansion." the man said still maintaining his smile. He said goodbye, bending his neck and shoulders slightly with his waist straight, keeping his hat on his chest while his hands behind his back, with his legs straight and his gaze slightly lowered as a sign of respect. As the man finished and was about to stand up, he took the time to look straight up in the direction of the girl's eyeballs until they locked eyes. With a mysterious smirk, he got back up quickly and put on his hat. Taking out a stick with a curved tip that came out of nowhere, like a magician he disappeared as soon as the girl blinked her eyes.
Under the chilly night breeze, Valery instantly hugged her body feeling goosebumps. "What just happened? Was it a dream?"
...
''Good morning. Valery" in the living room with the green sofa and the half-open window curtains, letting in the morning light. Valery sat firmly on the sofa as her eyes glanced confusedly at her father's lawyer, who was currently sitting across from her, smiling and putting his hands together in a triangle.
"Did you see him?" the man asked, ending the silence.
"Who?" asked Valery.
"That man, the servant of the person who will adopt you. I got a message this morning, asking me to come see you and immediately take care of the adoption rights transfer procedure. Today, you can move into your new guardian's house." said Mr. Lawyer.
"So... that wasn't a dream last night? It was a strange person who came in the middle of the night with a strange appearance, suddenly handed me an envelope, and disappeared quickly." Valery explained what happened, and the lawyer's response was to chuckle at Valery's story.
"His name is Tim. He likes to look flashy at night, but if you meet him in the morning, he'll look perfectly normal." the lawyer said, allaying Valery's fears.
As the car horn outside sounded, the lawyer checked his watch knowing that it was time. ''You've already packed your things, right? The people sent to pick you up are already outside. Go out and meet them!" the lawyer said.
Valery nodded, although it was strange, last night she still organized her clothes and some things to put in the suitcase. Her parents never talked about who Keenan was; who knows what kind of person he was, and Valery could only find out after meeting him.
''Do these two suitcases contain all your belongings?" asked Mr. Lawyer, helping to carry Valery's suitcases downstairs.
"I only brought half my clothes, the rest are books and school supplies, as well as my clothes and swimming gear," Valery replied.
They arrived at the front yard of the house, finding that the yard that was littered with old fall leaves was no longer empty and was filled with three luxurious black cars and several mysterious people wearing bowler hats that partially covered their faces. There were probably eight of them, plus two standing in front of them as if they were the leaders.
Valery saw a familiar face, but something different made her surprised this time. Mr. Tim? So it was true that his appearance was only strange at night and would be normal in the morning! The man was currently wearing a white shirt suit with a black waistcoat. He still remained with his mysterious smile, greeting Valery on this sunny morning.
"Good morning, Miss Valery; nice to see you again." he greeted kindly. Next to him was a young man whose appearance was more relaxed with the times. He wore a cream-colored sweater and paired it with a long brown trench coat. It matched perfectly with his Comma Hair haircut.
Valery walked forward, approaching the young man while looking at him curiously. "Are you Matthew Keenan Frederick?" Valery asked.
"I'm not."
Valery was surprised and backed up a little. Even now, the people she met were still not the Keenan mentioned. Then, what kind of Keenan was he?
"Why didn't Mr. Keenan come directly to pick me up? Isn't he going to be my guardian?" asked Valery.
"He only adopted you, that doesn't mean he has to come to you. You're so clueless!" the young man sarcastically turned into the car and left the girl looking at him.
"So fierce!" Valery grumbled in annoyance.
"Hahaha... sorry. Maybe he's a bit jealous. He was the only youngster in the mansion, before. if you guys get to know each other, he won't be so fierce with you." Mr. Tim said to calm the girl down.
It was time to leave; they couldn't waste any more time. Valery said goodbye to Mr. Lawyer as soon as all her belongings had been put into the trunk. She then entered the car, along with Mr. Tim and the young man, the three of them left in the car driven by the young man.
Inside the car, no conversation was taking place. The young man was still staring at Valery sarcastically through the center rearview mirror that led to the rear passenger seat. Seeing the awkwardness that occurred, Mr. Tim hurriedly laughed while starting a conversation.
"Why are you guys attacking each other's eyes like that? Shane... loosen your gaze! Valery is your little sister from now on, and in the future, it might even be more than that. You remember, right!" Shane, who was driving the car, could only obey. He stopped glaring at Valery and focused on driving.
"Forgive this boy, girl. His name is Shane Coward, you didn't know before, did you?" Mr. Tim introduced the young man. Valery only replied with a nod. Now his mind was full of other things than thinking about the cold attitude of the young man.
Mr. Tim said, Shane was the youngest in the house. So, how old was the so-called Mr. Keenan? Is he as old as his father? Or even more than that? They all seemed to respect him a lot. It could be that he was a fat man who liked to wear pajamas while squandering his money on the most expensive bottle of wine? Or it could be that he was a fierce bald man, so everyone seemed to be very afraid of him?
Valery shook her head to get rid of all the bad images. Just the thought of having to live with that kind of person gave her the creeps.
"Mr. Tim, can I ask you something?" Asked the girl.
"Yes, of course! You can ask anything."
"Approximately, how old is Mr. Keenan?" asked Valery. Mr. Tim immediately turned his body to look back.
"Why are you curious?" Mr. Tim asked back.
"I'm just curious."
Hearing that Mr. Tim touched his chin, it took him two minutes to finally answer Valery's question. "I don't remember because we met when I was a child. He never brought it up, so I can't give you a definite answer." Mr. Tim replied while remembering. Then after answering, he turned back to face the front.
Hearing that Valery could only guess. He must be an old man! Should the girl call him grandfather?
On a quiet street surrounded by trees all around. Their car drove quietly through the paved road. This was the grounds of Mr. Keenan's mansion. It took them about twenty minutes to enter the gate before they finally reached the main mansion. The mansion was so big that Valery could not imagine how rich Mr. Keenan was.
"Welcome to your new home, Miss Valery. Come on in! There will be someone to bring your things to you later. You don't need to worry!" The girl walked in obediently. Following the directions of Mr. Tim and Shane. She arrived at the living room with the fireplace being lit. The room was large and warm, even the expensive fluffy carpet was placed on the floor as if it was worthless.
The girl looked around, and instantly, her eyes fell on a white-haired young man who was sleeping from exhaustion while reading a book on the sofa. The book he was reading covered half his face. He was wearing a soft blue sweater, one hand supporting his sleeping face and the other firmly holding the book. Is he really asleep?
"Master!" A call from Mr. Tim woke the man up. As his eyelids opened, soft blue pupils were immediately visible now staring straight at Mr. Tim. Slowly lowering the book he was holding, he began to see his perfect face line by line. A perfect nose, thick eyebrows, and healthy red lips. The man looked absolutely perfect! Moreover, the middle part haircut suits him perfectly. He's so handsome! Is he also one of Mr. Keenan's foster children? Valery wondered.
"Mr. Keenan, the girl you adopted has arrived!"