The next day, Emilia did not go to the dojo for her training, nor did she head for Crystal's place for her tuitions.
Dixie thought her grandfather would surely be angry, but the old man was very nonchalant to the whole thing when she informed him of the news.
Truly, the masters treated their favored children differently. But Dixie could only complain in her heart and continue her own training with a pout.
Princess even told her not to come by today, ahh! Now she even had to go to that Crystal Miller and suffer through those long, grueling hours of lessons all alone.
But of course, she could not skip, as she had to convey what was taught to her princess later. Or else that Miller girl will surely take this excuse to give Emilia a private lesson, which obviously cannot be allowed.
Whether the Miller girl realized it herself or not, Dixie was sure that her intentions for her princess were impure! Truly, no one else could be trusted.
On the other hand, the heroine glanced at the neat little text message informing her of Emilia's absence in today's session, along with a sincere note of apology.
Had it been before, she would have scoffed, thinking that it was only expected of someone like her to slack off. But now, she could no longer entertain such thoughts about Emilia. She could only sigh and hope whatever was keeping her busy went well.
When the sun reached its peak that day, the two police officers finally arrived at the White family mansion. Although it was a Sunday, it was not a day off for them.
Mark had initially wanted to put the questioning off for Monday, but Morgan insisted that the case was on a top priority basis, and they weren't getting paid to care for Mr. White's convenience.
After thinking about it, Mark could only agree, considering that it might actually be better to not disturb the man at work.
Their cruiser was allowed entry on sight. Even when they alighted, none of the security personnel nor servants came up to them to inquire about their purpose.
The staff did not even seem surprised by their appearance, as if knowing the officers would come. The whole situation made the both of them uncomfortable, as if heading into a criminal lair for an undercover mission, but feeling like everyone could already see through their bluff.
An old man in a black and white tuxedo suit greeted them with a bow, and turned around to lead them as the two officers followed after him in a complicated mood.
They were eventually led to a large, marbled hall where two young girls seemed to be leisurely waiting for them on a sofa.
Samantha's face was already familiar to many who cared to know, as she often appeared in press meetings related to the White Deer corporation. Her younger sister was less well known, but her picture was also included in the case folder, so the two officers knew at a glance who they were dealing with.
The two of them calmly took a seat on the opposite side of the coffee table before Mark nodded towards Samantha.
"Hello, Miss Samantha, Miss Emilia. I'm officer Mark, and this is officer Morgan. We're here to talk with Mr. White. It would be great if you could please let him know we're here, so we can arrange a meeting."
Samantha did not even turn her eyes to glance at them, treating them as empty space. It was not that the girl was naturally rude, she was simply acting according to their plan.
Emilia smiled. "And what would the two officers need to ask Daddy?"
Before Mark could open his mouth, Morgan snorted. She had already been dissatisfied with their behaviour until now, and Samantha's blatant disregard only made her impression worse.
"Stop wasting our time and tell him to come out, or we'll treat it as obstruction of justice."
Emilia blinked. "Daddy is a very busy person, you know. If anyone's time will be wasted by meeting you, it would be his. So could you not ask those questions to us? After all, it's our day off today, we have plenty of time for entertaining clowns."
Samantha's lips twitched, but she managed to reign her smile in as she watched the female officer's face turn purple from anger. As for the man, she couldn't tell what he was thinking at all.
Mark knew that Morgan was about to blow her top, so he coughed and interceded first in an effort to calm the situation down. Although the displeasure in his voice could not be completely hidden. Who liked being called a clown?
"I'm afraid we do have to meet him in person, it is not something avoidable. But now that you mention it, I do have a few questions for you as well, miss Emilia. Would you like to answer them first?"
Thankfully, the female officer had more than enough self-control to not immediately fly into a rage, and allowed Mark to question the 'suspects'.
The young girl tilted her head, as if confused. "Oh? That's strange. I'll have you know, I'm a very law abiding girl. What could you have to ask from me?"
The dark-skinned officer cleared his throat. "Are you familiar with the names Don and Braxy?"
Emilia nodded, not even hesitating. The two officers could not see any hint of nervousness or avoidance from her.
Either the young girl did not know what happened to them, or she simply saw their existence as no different from insects. Mark thought it was the former, but Morgan felt it must be the latter.
"Of course, those were the bullies wreaking havoc in our school before I set them in line."
"Set them in line?"
Emilia nodded. "Mhm. I gave them some of their own medicine, a little scolding, and warned them so they never bully people again."
"Miss, we'll have you know, using violence against fellow citizens is a crime, no matter how noble your motivations may be."
"Oh, is that so? But when did I say I was being violent? I just taught them a lesson. Don't teachers teach students all the time?"
The two officers looked at each other, perplexed. This girl may look innocent, but her wording was quite clever.
On the surface, she admitted to beating the bullies up. But if her statement was put in words, there were plenty of openings to argue otherwise. It wouldn't stand a chance in court as long as she had a clever lawyer who knew how to make his point.
Emilia huffed. "What's with that face? Don't believe me? Then you shouldn't be asking me questions anyway."
Mark could only clear his throat again, reminding himself that this was just a young teenage girl, after all. He had to be a little delicate.
"It's not that, miss, it's just that we were shocked to hear about exemplary students from the Imperial Academy being involved in such things."
Morgan wasn't quite as polite, and snorted derisively at Emilia. "Little girl, don't try to make them look bad to justify your actions. According to the records, both Don and Braxy had excellent academics, with zero character or delinquency strikes so far. How could such excellent children be bullies? If anything, you would fit the category far better. Rich, homeschooled, no previous records."
Emilia did not throw a fit, contrary to their expectations.
Instead, she simply blinked in surprise. "Is that what miss officer thinks?"
Not to mention Morgan, even Mark was beginning to lose his patience. Although he may respect Mr. White, he felt nothing for these rich, spoiled daughters of the man. Not to mention their behavior so far did not do them any favors, either.
"Anyway, we're here to investigate their disappearance. Please cooperate, or we'll treat it as obstruction of justice."
The dark-skinned man's voice this time was firm, making his partner nod in satisfaction.
And as if completely disregarding their authority, Emilia just smiled. Although it was still better than Samantha, who completely ignored their entire existence in favor of whatever she was doing on her smartphone.
"Wait, you two, before you proceed, I have a few questions of my own."
Morgan's smile was derisive as she took out her badge and slammed it down on the coffee table. Mark's heart almost leaped to his mouth, but thankfully, the precious glass did not crack. Their salaries were probably not enough to cover the cost if it came down to it, after all.
"I'm afraid our time is precious, and we're here only to ask questions, not answer them. Mr. White has two minutes to appear in front of us, or we shall call for backup. I'm sure the media will have a field day recording your mansion being swarmed by the force."
Emilia still did not seem to take them seriously, but Mark knew his partner very well. Within a hundred and twenty seconds, she was definitely going to have this place thoroughly stormed.
He almost felt some pity for Mr. White. However, considering the behavior of his two daughters, he thought perhaps a little respect for the law still had to be instilled in them.
At this moment, a lady in a maid dress walked in carrying drinks, and the officers unconsciously perked up. They were feeling a little thirsty, after all, and the crystal clear glasses full of orange juice looked very tempting right now, especially with cold dewdrops dripping from the surface.
At least the servants had some decency.
But just as they were thinking so, the lady went straight to the young girls and placed the glasses directly in front of them before leaving. It was as if she could not see that there were two more people here.
Samantha downed hers in one go before setting it back down with a gasp, completely lacking any grace or elegance that should be expected from her.
On the other hand, Emilia took only a short sip before putting the glass back on the table.
"Well, I just wanted to know, when did those two bullies go missing?"
At this point, the officers would have to be complete idiots to not realize they were intentionally goading them.
Even Mark's anger was ignited, not to mention Morgan.
'Alright, since that is so, let's see how you handle the fallout later.'
