APRICITAS [ENG] || Johan Liebert || Monster

Chapter 11 - White roses

"A vampire?"

"When the bell rings two in the morning, he and his butler drive out and roam the night. It looks just like horror stories."

"Probably he's going for a walk." At that moment, Emiko had to cover her mouth with her hand so as not to burst out laughing, because the boy's answer made her amused immensely.

"Soon I'll be able to confirm if it's just a walk or not." The two students started walking again.

"What do you mean "confirm"?"

"That's for my studies. "Psychology of Financiers in Bavaria at the turn of the Middle Ages and the present day". I think he'll be the perfect topic."

"That's why you're interviewing me, right?" The boy and the girl started to descend the stairs at the end of the corridor, and Emiko stayed behind by the balustrade so that they wouldn't notice her.

"I just looked at your name and field of study. Besides, don't be sad because Schuwald yelled at you. He also said terrible things to other students..."

"Yes... I'm used to someone's screaming and getting mad at me in the end..."

"You are used to it?"

"Y-yes..." The two stopped on the mezzanine, so Emiko hid behind the balustrade so that they wouldn't see her; at the same time she pricked her ear to hear everything they talked about. "I had to change my adoptive parents too often because there was so much going on." Young Tenma's heart skipped for one long second.

A young student who grew up in foster homes. Connections with some secret rich man... It all fit in with the image of her already so well known... She swallowed loudly, then looked around to see if anyone might be coming to nab her, and continued eavesdropping.

"What are we talking about... you didn't go to any of the local colleges, did you?"

"So you checked me up too."

"I see... You don't have parents..."

"To tell you the truth... I enrolled at the University of Munich hoping to meet my mother."

"Oh, is your mom in Munich? So you will be able to see her?"

"No, but it's okay..."

"Hm? Why? She's so close! You know her name, right?"

"Yeah..."

"What is it?"

"I said I don't care anymore."

"Oh, tell me! If this interests me, I'll find out in another way."

"Margot... Margot Langer."

'Langer...? So not Liebert after all...' thought the girl hidden behind the balustrade at the top of the stairs.

"If you know this much, she'll be easy to find! Go see her! I'm sure she'll be happy."

"I already told you, it's okay..." After these words, the two began to go in different directions, and Emiko quickly decided to follow the girl. From what she could notice, the girl was smart and hungry for knowledge, even on difficult topics. Certainly, she will be able to learn something interesting from her.

However, Emiko didn't approach her right away, but decided to observe at least for one day. The girl with glasses was in fact familiar with various topics and mentioned herself that she needed this information to work at the university. But, is it for sure? Emiko was aware that it could only be a cover, and after what she had experienced in Germany so far, she preferred not to risk stupidly.

All day she followed the girl with short hair at a safe distance, trying to find out how true her words were. She witnessed the other looking for information about Margot Langer in the library after the end of classes, and followed her to her place of residence. As soon as she found out where she lived, Emiko returned to her own motel room and decided to look for her again the next day.

****

However, fate after the charity of the previous day, this time again played her unpleasant trick. All day Emiko was looking for a brown-haired girl and a tall brunette, but despite her efforts, she was unable to locate them. She silently began to curse the size of the university, which was really huge because it had several buildings. Finding someone again was almost a miracle. Well, unless you knew the name and surname of this someone and the field of study...

"That's for my studies. "Psychology of Financiers in Bavaria at the turn of the Middle Ages and the present day"."

Emiko remembered the girl's words as she headed to the patio between the university buildings, that's why she stopped for a moment and looked in all directions. It was already late afternoon - most of the fields of study had finished today's classes and few students stayed at the university. She decided to look for a mysterious girl the next day.

Due to the fact that there wasn't much green scenery in the city, she decided to go to the patio as there were quite a lot of trees. And as we already know - all the greenery and plants have always had an extremely calming effect on her; besides, it was spring now - her favorite season of the year.

Emiko moved slowly through the building, then walked onto the path leading among the green grass. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, drawing in the nice and warm spring air. As she continued and passed the benches along the alleys, she began to feel the calmness slowly flooding into her, which made her stop again and looked up at the sky; its color signaled the approaching evening.

When she looked ahead again, she saw a fairly large bush in the distance, all in white bloom. Curious, she walked closer.

It was a bush of immaculate white roses. The girl bent over the blooming flowers and sniffed them; it had a distinct, overwhelmingly sweet smell, which in combination with the current time of day, seemed to her to be a perfect combination. She looked up and smiled slightly, then decided to go back to the motel to rest until the next day. As she turned to head to the main exit, she noticed that someone was sitting near her, on one of the benches by the other path.

There was a young, very handsome man with blonde hair, staring at her with a slight smile on his lips. Around him, however, could be felt some indescribable aura... Something extremely mysterious and unknown.

Emiko couldn't quite name what she actually felt at that moment... She quickly adjusted her backpack, and then surreptitiously glanced at him again. She hadn't imagined it before - he was really looking in her direction. Throughout this unexpected situation, unspeakable feelings began to flood her mind...