Chapter 56: 41|Playing the duty of Astrid's personal Sherlock Holmes-2

I nodded like a lost puppy and supressed the urge to kiss Ms Walker for handing me the golden card. Thank god I knew better than kissing her. Gross. Quickly rounding a corner I looked at the phone. It pinged immediately and I was glad that Ms Walker didn't give up her habit of literally snatching the phone out as it was still unlocked and a chat was open. Lange- they fucking failed Hunter, what were you even thinking? Neal- what was I thinking? I am fucking done playing the good guy here when all I want to do is strangle her, every time she is in my arms! Lange- don't forget that she and her twin are the only way to treasure! If cross comes to know that you're betraying him by not informing him that swan's alive, then he will behead us both! I am not even a part of any clan, yet this is costing me my life! Neal- firstly, stop texting! Mail me. What if she sees my texts?! I panicked. What the hell is this?! My eyes fell on the clock icon in corner and they widened. Only 5 minutes left. Taking a brave decision, I quickly sent the whole chat to my fake mail and deleted every trace of privacy breach. I gave a quick once over to his gallery and on finding it completely filled with Astrid's photos, I was confirmed of my suspicions. The bell above my head blared loudly, signalling the end of Journalism class. I quickly cleared gallery from recent apps and opened the chat as I ran down the hallway for Ms Walker's cabin. I made it just in time for her to enter along with Neal. Thankfully, I was able to place his phone on a corner as I pretended to text from mine. Shit just got real. ~~~~~ All I wanted to do was bang the laptop on the wall when I failed to hack Neal's mail for nth time. I may be a pro with investigation but I am not exactly the brightest crayon when it comes to this kind of hacking. Reading the texts between this Lange and Neal over and over, one thing was for sure to me, Neal and this kid were after Astrid. I was still confused about the terms 'Treasure' 'Clan'. Why was the guy referring Neal as Hunter? And were they referring Astrid as 'swan'? I was so confused by the end that all I wanted to do was to kill someone. My window slid open and I panicked for a moment before my eyes landed on Astrid. I smiled even though I knew that she could see the strain behind it. I immediately closed my laptop as she pulled the chair next to my bed. "Anything?" she bit her lip and eyed me hopefully. "No." I shook my head. "Oh." The guilt clawed my inside when I saw the disappointed look on her face. She pasted a smile and looked at me again. "It's alright. Lay down, now." I averted my eyes and nodded as I laid down. "I love swans, you know. They are the members of-" "Wait." She furrowed her eyebrows and stopped. "Why do you like swans?" She shrugged. "I think mom used to call me baby swan, that's why." I nodded and she studied me sceptically. "Really? Is there any name for baby swans?" "Of course, duh. Just like cubs are to tiger, Cygnet is to baby swan." I nodded subconsciously. I had a feeling that I was not noticing something here. "Why are you suddenly so interested in swans?! I am not talking about them now. Ugh, give me something to talk." "I am trying to learn French, you know." I changed the topic and her eyes lit up. "You learnt something yet?" "Yup." I popped the 'p' like nothing is wrong. "I learnt that Bonjour means hello. Je t'aime means I love you and L'ange means angel in French." She laughed and my heart broke at the idea of betrayal she is unaware of. "I don't know about rest but trust me, the Lange I know, is not an angel." I acted as if I didn't set this up. "Who is Lange?" "Oh. His full name is Ryder Lange. He is a waiter at Bentley's kitchen. The funny part is, I used to have a crush on him." She chuckled and shook her head. "And he turned out to be Neal's bestfriend." I clenched my jaw at her obliviousness of falling for assholes every time. "Hm." I hummed and then tried to ask her the dreaded question nicely. "Let's play rapid fire okay?" She gave me a funny look but nodded. "I will say a word and you'll answer with first thing that comes to your mind. Okay?" She nodded again. "Rain?" "Petrichor." "Blue eyes?" "Me, duh." "Love?" "Family." For the first time, I was glad that she didn't say Neal. "Friend?" "You." I smiled at that. I may or may not have asked this to gain some confidence for next question. "Clan?" She frowned and thought for a second but when she spoke, everything cleared up in my mind. "Kingdom of Kovorelle."