The Devilish Assassin Meets The Angelic Detective

"That person is Raymond Lee. Erick's father."

The Shock and Confusion clouded Elle's eyes the moment she heard that statement from Phantom.

"R-Raymond Lee?" A deep frown appeared on her face as she continued, "Why does Erick's Father is searching for me? What is his connection in my past?"

Elle couldn't help but feel anxious about this. She was having wild imaginations in her mind right now.

'Does Erick's father have something to do with the attack that day? Is he also responsible for my family's tragedy?'

These were the questions running in her mind. As if Phantom could read her worry by just seeing her expression, he decided to correct her wrong thoughts.

After letting out a soft chuckle, he said to her. "Relax. Don't misunderstand nor overthink. You don't need to feel nervous and anxious about the things I am about to say."

Elle just looked at him confusedly as she remained silent. She was waiting for Phantom to further explain to her what he had discovered.

Phantom held her shoulders before he continued talking to her.

"Erick's father was one of the investigators assigned to your family's massacre case sixteen years ago. They didn't find any clue regarding the motive nor the mastermind."

Phantom paused as he was assessing Elle's reaction. She just nodded at him as she signaled him to continue.

"As we all know, the case remained unresolved and the authorities just stopped looking further into this case. They even declared that you were already dead."

"Yes, Master. I saw that in the case report you handed over to me before. But I didn't know that Erick's father was one of those investigators."

Phantom rubbed his chin as he mulled over it. "Oh, I forgot to include the list of officers who were involved in the investigation. I focused on gathering the result of their investigation including the victims' medical and autopsy reports."

Elle just looked at her Master helplessly.

"Anyway, that's not the main point. What I want you to know is that Erick's father never stops investigating this case and he continued searching for you. He believes that you are still alive. And just a few months ago he confirmed it after talking to some witnesses who had seen you before."

Elle was rendered speechless. She had mixed emotions regarding this. What's a great coincidence? Erick's father was one of those officers who worked for her family's case.

"How do you feel about this?" Phantom asked her expectantly.

Elle gazed up only to see Phantom smiling at her.

"Honestly Master. I am not sure if I am happy or not. You know me. After all these years I lost my confidence and trust with the authorities. I even blamed them before for their incapability of not being able to solve this case nor catch the culprits." she replied truthfully.

"That's one of the reasons why I didn't rely on the police authorities and I decided to put justice in my hands by hunting those bastards one after another in order to seek revenge. I end up being an assassin because of those heartless bastards. I always thought that people like them don't deserve to live."

Phantom fell silent. He could understand her feelings, besides he also experienced it before. And they had the same thought about this. However, he didn't regret choosing this path for the sake of avenging his family's death.

His only regret was killing those people without knowing the real reason why his wife and his son had to die in their hands. He didn't get the answer that he needed.

Until now, he was still wondering why his wife and innocent child died tragically. His only consolation was he already bestowed the punishments that they deserved for those culprits who committed the crime.

"But Master, I can't understand why Erick's father is doing this. He is already a retired policeman. What is the purpose of searching for me?"

Elle's voice pulled him back from those thoughts. Then Phantom looked at her with a faint smile on his face.

"Maybe because he truly cares about your family and he is also concerned about you. Elle… he is a very close friend of your father."

Elle didn't expect to hear that. She was utterly shocked and surprised as of this moment.

"My father's close friend??" Elle blurted out absentmindedly. Disbelief was written all over her face.

"Yes, dear. He is your father's best friend. I asked Antoine to investigate him. I want to make sure if he is a foe or not. And this is what he found out." Phantom explained to her.

Suddenly, memories in the past crossed her mind.

"Uncle Ray! He is Uncle Ray!"

The complicated feelings that she had a while ago were all gone now. It was replaced by nostalgia and euphoria as she reminisced a portion of her memory in the past. Her father always mentioned Raymond as well as his son to her and her mother.

Then realization crossed her features and along with it was a flash of happiness. Erick's handsome face suddenly popped up in her mind. But this time it was not his appearance as an a.d.u.l.t but it was his younger version.

It did not take long when a sudden burst of feminine laughter reverberated inside the room. Phantom just looked puzzled as he watched the girl before him, started laughing.

"Care to share with me the funny things so that I can join you?" Phantom softly said to her with amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes.

Elle tried her best to suppress her laugh. She cleared her throat before responding to Phantom.

"Sorry about that Master. I just remembered something. It was about Erick. I can't believe that this is actually happening."

"What about him?" He asked her confusedly.

Elle bit her lower lip. She was debating to herself whether she would tell him or not. It was quite embarrassing on her part.

On the other hand, Phantom was waiting for her to speak. He could see the gleam of joy and humor in her eyes. His interest was piqued further because of her reactions.

After contemplating for a moment, Elle decided to share it with Phantom.

"Just promise me that you won't laugh at me, Master," Elle demanded from him.

He just bobbed his head as agreement to her request.

Elle took a deep breath before she told him the funny thing she remembered.

"Master, when I was just ten years old I already saw Erick."

"Really? You already met each other?"

Elle shook her head. "No, Master. I only saw him in a picture which was sent to my father by Uncle Raymond."

"Oh… that's how you meet him."

"Hmm. So… why is it you suddenly laughed a while ago. What is the funny thing about that?"

Elle paused again for a moment. Then she started to talk spontaneously while defending herself.

"Eh… Master… you know I was just a kid at that time and had not matured yet. I thought of random things and I also believed in handsome prince charming and fairytale stories."

Phantom was just nodding his head while actively listening to her, indicating that he understood what she meant.

"The moment I first saw his picture, I was mesmerized by his beauty. So with my innocent mind, I told my Dad that I would marry that boy in the picture."

Phantom was dumbstruck upon hearing that. Elle couldn't help but blush from embarrassment. She looked down as she couldn't look straight into his eyes.

After a moment of silence, it was Phantom's turn to burst into a peal of laughter. He was not just laughing because of her statement but he found it very funny seeing how fl.u.s.tered and embarrassed Elle was.

This was the first time he saw her blushing like a teenager. Now, he understood why she was reluctant at first to tell him.

When he looked back at her, he saw her pouting and frowning.

"Master! You've promised me that you won't laugh at me!" Elle complained to him with her accusing tone.

Phantom immediately stopped laughing and feigned innocence as he cleared his throat.

"Ahem? Who's laughing?" He turned to his left and right side. 

"See... No one is laughing." Phantom said nonchalantly as if he didn't laugh just a while ago.

Elle just shook her head in disbelief and heaved a sigh helplessly.

'Master Phantom is also shameless!'

"Ahem… congratulations! You fulfilled what you had said sixteen years ago! You successfully married that boy in the picture!" Phantom said as he teased her.

With that statement, Elle's cheeks became redder as she felt a little bit embarrassed by his teasing.