The door opened, and a young lady with equally long, curly brown hair walked in. She was tall, wearing a white women's blouse beneath a formal black uniform jacket, with a pen clipped to her pocket. Below, she wore an unadorned black pencil skirt and black leather high heels.
She looked about twenty-four or twenty-five and wore gold-rimmed glasses. Her meticulously groomed hair fell down her back. Though she appeared quite young, she carried herself with a distinctly mature air.
"You usually address me directly by my surname, so you can just call her Hailey."
Miss Aurora said, gesturing for her niece to come over:
"Hailey, over here. You've met Sylvia and Benanice four or five times before, so I won't introduce them. This is Miss Hillis Lathers, the vice leader of Golden Dawn under the Council."
"Hello."
The young lady bowed in greeting, and Miss Lathers hurriedly rose to say that there was no need to be so polite.
"This is Miss Luvia Annette, a good friend of ours."
"Hello."
She bowed to Luvia as well. Luvia nodded back, quite curious about her too.
"And as for this handsome young gentleman."
Miss Aurora emphasized the word "gentleman," making the ladies on the sofa smile.
"He is someone very important to us. Yes, he's the one I've mentioned to you again and again."
Thus, the young Miss Hailey Aurora tried to bow to Shade as well. Since he was close to her, Shade reached out to steady her.
"There's no need to be so polite."
Miss Hailey Aurora straightened up, but Shade noticed that her ears had turned completely red. She looked so serious and mature, yet her blushing appearance was unexpectedly amusing.
"Shade, don't be fooled by how serious she seems. She used to have a mild case of