Divinity: Against the Godly System

Ryder and Shu got back to the Maxwell Estate with Alice. The three of them got out of the helicopter with the guards as they stepped inside the mansion.

After entering the Mansion, Shu greeted the servants, who expressed how much they missed him. Even though these were servants, they were a lot like family in terms of the respect and care they gave Shu.

The Dinner was prepared, which was nothing less than a feast to celebrate the return of Shu Maxwell. While the dinner was going on inside the Maxwell Estate, outside the estate, a man was walking towards the entrance. 

It was a young-looking man who had beautiful dark hair that wasn't very long. His eyes seemed slightly red. He was wearing a professional black coat as if he was a businessman. Both his hands had dark gloves that appeared to have diamonds in the knuckles. 

He stopped at the entrance of the Estate. 

The guards that protected the Estate recognized the man as the man who had arrived here about a week ago. 

"You are, Luke, right?" One of the guards asked as he remembered the name of the man. 

"Yeah. Is Miss Alice back? I've been waiting and delaying my other work. It's been a week. As you said that she'll be back by now, I decided to check out," Luke told the security personnel. 

The guards were somewhat surprised at his precise timing. She had just returned, and the man was here? That too at night. Was it a coincidence or something more?

It wasn't under their authority to decide for Alice, though. Now that she was back, they needed to inform her.

"Yeah. She is back. Wait a minute. I'll inform her of your arrival," the guard told Luke before he started walking back towards the Estate.

The others kept an eye on the man without opening the gates for him to enter. Luke seemed to be in no hurry. He could easily barge inside; however, he didn't have the authority from Adrian. He had to make a good and civil first impression. 

If he screwed this up, he was going to be in trouble. 

"Excuse me, Mam."

The guard entered the estate. He could see that Alice was having dinner. Even though he didn't want to disturb her, this seemed important. 

"Yes?" Alice asked the guard. Ryder and Shu also looked at the man.

"A man is outside to meet you. He claims that he's from Russia from a university where you applied to. He says that he needs to talk to you regarding that," the guard informed Alice. 

"You applied in Russia? Why? Didn't you say you weren't going to study outside?" Ryder asked Alice.

In the original timeline, he only knew that Alice had applied to study in China. That's where she had gone to study as well. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that in the previous timeline as well, Alice had applied to more countries. 

In that timeline as well, Alice had applied in Russia. However, things were different. In that timeline, Adrian hadn't seen her application form. That was the thing that was different in this timeline for some reason. 

"I applied long ago. After talking to you, I canceled all plans to go to other countries," Alice answered as she shook her head innocently.

"Strange. Did you not tell the Russian University about the change in plan? They sent a guy so far for you?" Shu chimed in, finding this situation strange. 

"Their chancellor called me and insisted that I join his University. But I refused him. I don't know why he should still send people here. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. I'll clear it with them," Alice let out as she stood up.

"Don't go now. Finish dinner first. It's not good to leave in the middle. He can wait for a few minutes," Ryder told Alice as he placed his hand on her back. 

Alice listened to him and sat back down as she resumed eating.

"Tell the man that we'll be out in a few minutes," Ryder told the Guard, who left swiftly.

It took the three of them ten more minutes to finish the dinner. They all washed their hands in a bowl before they got up.

"I'll come with you," Ryder told Alice, who walked towards the door. 

"I'll join too. Let's see what this is about," Shu also chimed in. 

Ryder and Alice got out of the mansion, with Shu following them closely behind. 

They soon reached the entrance of the Estate, where Luke was waiting patiently. Luke's eyes lit up as he saw Alice. He had seen her portrait, so he recognized her instantly. Finally, he found himself closer to his goal. 

"Yes? I am Alice. I heard you're here for me. How may I help you?" Alice asked Luke. 

Ryder stopped right beside her. His gaze observed Luke. He didn't know why but he wasn't feeling anything good about this man. There was an intrinsic feeling about the man that was making him feel like the man was dangerous. 

His forearm was also itching at the moment where he had a strange, mysterious tattoo. He couldn't help but rub the tattoo gently, wondering if he was having an infection from this strange tattoo.

"Hello, Miss Alice. I am Luke. This is my card," Luke introduced himself as he gave Alice his card. 

Alice took the card and read it. The card had the university name, which was precisely the one that she had applied to. It confirmed to her that he was from the University. 

"You applied to our university. I'm here about that," Like said softly. 

"Yeah, I did. But I changed the plan. I think I already informed the university that I no longer plan to join," Alice informed Luke as she shook her head lightly. 

"I know about that. But you don't know our chancellor. He really appreciates talented students. Your application and your answers really impressed him. He really wishes to have more students like you in the university to Grace us and to help with our diversity," Luke told Alice. 

"Even though you refused to join, he still didn't give up. He sent me here to try to convince you so that we don't lose a good student. More importantly, he is ready to give you a full scholarship and many more benefits on the campus. If only you are interested, I can tell you more," he continued respectfully. 

There was a calm and respectful look on his face which made it seem like there was anything wrong. He seemed perfectly professional. 

A complete scholarship did seem interesting to Alice. It wasn't as if the university was bad. It was one of the best universities in the world according to the international rankings. It was one of the top five universities at the moment. 

It was as expensive as it was prestigious. And to get a full scholarship and the grace of the chancellor, that wasn't a small thing. Alice was having second thoughts about joining the university.

She looked towards Ryder to take his opinion about what to do. 

"I'm sorry, but we don't need a scholarship. As you may already see, we are fully capable of paying the fees. And we don't need a scholarship. Moreover, I don't wish for her to go far from me. She will join one of the universities here. Thank you for considering her, but we would have to kindly refuse," Ryder answered as he took over the conversation. 

Luke's face finally twitched as he heard Ryder. He controlled his anger in his heart and didn't let his calm smile disappear. 

In his mind, he was cursing Ryder. 'Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me?!'

He wanted to slap Ryder to oblivion for being so inconsiderate. He was here for Adrian's mission, and the only one who could talk to him was Alice. No one in his eyes had enough worth to talk to him as equal here.

"I understand that, Sir. But please reconsider. At Least hear the things we are offering first," Luke replied with respect. 

"I know you don't want to see someone close to you go far, but it's only a two-year course. It would be a worthy sacrifice for her future. Let me tell you what we are offering," he continued.

"Why do you sound like a salesman and not someone from a university?" Ryder asked curiously. 

The man seemed awfully interested in getting her to agree to come to Russia. Something seemed strange. It seemed suspicious.

"As I said, we aren't interested. You may leave," he told Luke before he caught the hand of Alice and started walking back with her. Shu also walked back. 

"You did well. There was something wrong with the man. He was insisting a little too much," Shu finally opened his mouth as he entered the estate with Ryder. 

"Yeah. This wasn't normal. Or maybe he's just a person who gets too passionate about his work. In any case, Alice isn't going there," Ryder told Shu.