Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

Chapter 416: An Unexpected Visitor [Bonus Chapter]

Evelyn completely froze.

She stared at the crystal cup.

’Huh?’

She stared at the specific, marbled swirl of mint-chocolate and dark cocoa and then she looked up at Kara’s face, her dark eyes wide with shock.

’Mint chocolate chip... with dark cocoa honey...’ Evelyn thought, her mind completely short-circuiting. ’That’s... that’s my exact comfort order. I haven’t ordered that since before the Lord War.’

A sudden warm prickle hit the back of her eyes.

It was deeply unnerving and touching too... Silas had noticed she was feeling depressed, but the specificity of the ice cream made her brow furrow in sudden suspicion.

"How... how the hell do you know this is my favorite?" Evelyn asked, her voice dropping to a low whisper.

Kara chuckled, leaning back comfortably. "Elm told me."

"I am going to murder that woman," Evelyn cursed immediately, though the ferocious scowl on her face lacked any real venom.

She looked at the ice cream, her fingers tightening slightly against her cargo pants as she looked back up at him.

"Wait... you actually knew I was feeling off? I thought I was acting completely normal today."

"Evelyn, you were acting like a walking storm cloud," Kara laughed softly, shaking her head. "You looked twice as exhausted as usual, you were dropping cigarette ash directly onto my Keep’s clean floorboards, and you spent the entire time calling me ’Graves’ and Silas while speaking with that rigid formal tone. I just assumed..."

Evelyn looked down at her lap, her messy dark bangs falling forward to hide her face. An embarrassed flush dusted her pale cheeks.

"I... I’m sorry," Evelyn muttered quietly, her voice uncharacteristically small. "I didn’t mean to be an asshole about the disguise. I was just... stressed."

"Don’t apologize," Kara replied warmly, nudging the crystal cup closer until Evelyn finally reached out and took it. "Seriously, Ev. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. The ID, the Black-Pass registration, the accounts, the cover story... none of this would have been possible without your help."

Kara paused, tapping her chin with a playful smirk.

"Well... technically, I probably could have hired an expensive corporate fixer to forge a mediocre identity eventually, but—"

CLINK!

Evelyn aggressively scooped a massive chunk of mint gelato with the silver spoon, jammed it into her mouth, and glared daggers at Kara while chewing furiously.

"You’re a dumbass, Silas," Evelyn muffled through the mouthful of ice cream, her dark eyes blazing with that familiar combative spark.

Kara threw her head back and let out a ringing laugh that echoed through the luxury suite.

Evelyn swallowed the cold sweet dessert, feeling the rich sugar and mint immediately soothe the tight, exhausting knot that had been sitting in her chest.

She took another slow deliberate bite with her shoulders finally dropping their rigid tension.

"Don’t say anything stupid," Evelyn warned quietly, "and I promise I won’t light another cigarette in here."

Without waiting for permission, Evelyn shifted her weight on the sofa.

She leaned sideways, letting her entire body slump comfortably against Kara’s side.

’Hm? Strange...’ Silas thought.

She rested her head heavily against Kara’s silk-clad shoulder, curling her legs up onto the plush leather cushions as she continued to eat her ice cream in slow bites.

Inside the disguise, Silas didn’t move.

’Ah very weird... but it’s good enough for me.’

For several minutes, the only sound in the penthouse was the soft hum of the city below and the gentle scrape of the silver spoon against the crystal cup.

"I cut off my brother’s university stipend yesterday," Evelyn spoke suddenly, her voice muffled against Kara’s shoulder as she stared at the empty base of the cup. "The whole thing. Canceled the trust transfer, locked the secondary credit cards, and blocked his number from my personal line."

Kara kept her eyes on the distant horizon, listening quietly.

"He called me screaming," Evelyn continued, her voice trembling with a mixture of raw grief and bitter anger. "Told me I was a selfish, ungrateful person."

She swallowed hard, scraping the last bit of melted cocoa from the rim.

"Was... was that a bad choice?" Evelyn asked, the question sounding agonizingly fragile. "Did I just act like a piece of shit sister?"

Kara didn’t hesitate for a single second.

"Well coming for me, I think it’s okay... You’ve done a lot to keep your brother afloat, Evelyn," Kara said firmly, her voice leaving zero room for doubt. "You spent years in a freezing mobile fortress, fighting bloody sieges, breathing toxic miasma, and watching your closest friends bleed out in the dirt just so he could sit in an air-conditioned lecture hall and live like a prince and the moment the gravy train slows down, he treats you like an ATM instead of a human being."

Kara gently bumped her shoulder against Evelyn’s head.

"He doesn’t respect the blood you spilled to get here. Cutting him off wasn’t selfish... it was the healthiest choice you’ve made all year. It was your choice to make, and you were completely right. I would have done the same thing too but my Lia isn’t like that."

Evelyn sat motionless against her side. She let out a long shuddering exhale, feeling a suffocating weight lift off her ribs.

"Yeah..." Evelyn whispered softly, a genuinely relieved smile finally touching her lips. "Yeah. You’re right."

She set the empty crystal cup onto the table, pulling her knees tightly against her chest as she nestled deeper into Kara’s silk-clad side.

"Hey, Silas?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it okay if we just... stay like this for a little bit?" Evelyn asked, her eyelids suddenly growing impossibly heavy as the overwhelming exhaustion of the past month finally caught up to her. "I just want to rest my eyes for five minutes... Just five minutes..."

"Take your time, Ev," Kara replied softly. "I’m not going anywhere."

Within less than thirty seconds, the rhythmic rise and fall of Evelyn’s breathing deepened.

Her body went completely slack, her face resting peacefully against Kara’s shoulder as she went fast asleep.

Silas sat perfectly still, looking down at the messy dark bun resting against his arm.

’Haah...’ Silas sighed warmly to himself with a soft smile playing on his lips. ’Even though she’s technically older than me, she really can be pretty damn cute when she isn’t screaming or blowing smoke in my face.’

He let her rest, keeping his posture steady so as not to disturb her sleep.

With his free right hand, Kara picked up the pastel-pink smartphone from the table, intending to check the local time.

The moment the screen illuminated, however, the device violently vibrated in his grip.

BZZZZ-BZZZZ-BZZZZ-BZZZZ!

A continuous blinding cascade of bright neon-blue push notifications began flooding the display at a rate so rapid the screen’s refresh rate was visibly struggling to keep up.

[Lordgram Alert: @LordSky_Official commented on your post!]

[Lordgram Alert: Your profile is currently trending #1 in the World!]

[Lordgram Alert: You have gained 500,000 new followers!]

[Lordgram Alert: You have gained 1,200,000 new followers!]

[Lordgram Alert: Your post has reached Global Explore!]

Kara’s purple eyes widened in absolute shock.

’What the fuck?!’ Silas thought, nearly dropping the pink phone.

She frantically tapped the application icon, bringing up the main profile interface.

In the span of less than twenty minutes... the exact amount of time he had spent eating ice cream and talking with Evelyn, the profile had completely exploded.

[Profile: @LordVespera_Official]

[Followers: 2,418,902]

[Following: 1]

[Total Post Likes: 6,850,000+]

The three photos Evelyn had taken were sitting at the very top of the global trending page.

Because Lord Sky... a legendary Lord had actively followed and commented on the account, the entire internet had descended upon the profile like a swarm of ravenous locusts especially since they had been looking for it.

Kara rubbed her temples with her single hand, letting out a stunned disbelieving breath.

"It can’t be this easy, can it?" Kara muttered under her breath. "Two million followers in twenty minutes just from three pictures and a comment?"

Curious, she tapped on the comment section of the third photo... the one where she was tilting the wide-brimmed sunhat with a smirk.

The comments were flying past at hundreds of messages per second. Kara scrolled through the top-ranked replies.

[@Aegis_Guild_Official: Lord Vespera! Welcome to Lordgram and thank you for blessing us with your divine beauty]

[❤️ 142,500 Likes]

[@Nightfall_Sniper: That missing arm isn’t a disability, look at the shoulder balance... Lord Vespera is truly beautiful.]

[❤️ 98,200 Likes]

[@LordSky_FanClub_Alpha: SKY FOLLOWED LORD VESPERA?! SKY COMMENTED ON A POST?! LORD VESPERA, YOU LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL!]

[❤️ 315,000 Likes]

[@Valoria_HighSociety_Daily: Lord Vespera, welcome to Lordgram! If you would like to appear on our Interview, please answer your DMs! We’re waiting!

[❤️ 84,100 Likes]

[@SimpLord_99: Step on me, my Queen. I will literally surrender my starter territory to you right now.]

[❤️ 210,400 Likes]

Kara stared at the screen with a satisfied smirk spreading across her face as she locked the phone.

’Well...’ Silas thought cheerfully. ’Social media really isn’t that bad after all. The clout is magnificent.’

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

A firm sophisticated three-stroke knock echoed loudly against the heavy reinforced oak door of the Suite.

Kara’s smirk faded instantly into sharp awareness.

She looked down at Evelyn, who was still fast asleep, completely dead to the world against her side.

Moving with agonizing care and precision, Kara gently slid her arm out from under Evelyn’s head.

She reached for one of the plush velvet sofa cushions, carefully sliding it beneath Evelyn’s cheek before lifting the sleeping girl’s legs onto the sofa and draping a warm cashmere throw blanket over her shoulders.

She picked up the empty crystal ice cream cup and set it neatly on the low bar counter.

’Room service already?’ Kara thought, walking silently across the thick rug toward the foyer. ’I didn’t order anything yet, but Evelyn might have requested complimentary champagne when she checked in. Good timing, honestly. I could go for a snack...’

Kara reached the heavy double doors.

She smoothed the front of her black silk dress with her single right hand, cleared her throat to ensure her vocal frequency remained in the cool, feminine register, and pulled the heavy brass handle inward.

"Room service, I—"

The words died instantly in her throat.

Kara’s breath completely caught, her purple eyes locking into a dead paralyzed stare.

Standing in the brightly lit, carpeted hallway directly outside the suite wasn’t a hotel waiter carrying a silver tray.

Standing there, perfectly framed by the gilded archway, was Elora Verinda.

The former Campus Belle of Valoria Academy and the daughter of the City Lord looked utterly breathtaking.

Her cascading, pale-blonde hair fell in pristine shimmering waves over a tailored, royal-blue mana-silk blazer that bore the silver crest of the Verinda High Council.

Her sharp aristocratic features were completely composed, and her piercing, icy-blue eyes met Kara’s gaze with unyielding focus.

Elora blinked once, her gaze sweeping smoothly over Kara’s wide-brimmed sunhat, the pinned-up left sleeve, and the striking, ethereal beauty of the woman standing in front of her.

A small, flawless, highly aristocratic smile bloomed across Elora’s lips.

"Lord Vespera..." Elora spoke, her voice smooth and chillingly confident as she offered a slight formal nod of her head. "...or should I say, Miss Kara White. It is a profound honor to finally meet you in person."

Silas felt every single muscle in his body rigidly lock up.

’How the hell did she find this room so fast?!’

Elora’s icy blue eyes sparkled with deep, calculated ambition as she gestured gracefully toward the private express elevators behind her.

"My father’s security network flagged your registration the moment your Black-Pass cleared the lobby terminal," Elora continued smoothly, her smile widening by a fraction of a millimeter. "I took the liberty of clearing the penthouse restaurant on the top floor. Would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner downstairs, Miss White? We have a great deal of business to discuss regarding your future in Valoria City."

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