novelraw Chapter 365: Is the One Looking for Relatives Her Biological Father or Mother?
Chapter 365: Is the One Looking for Relatives Her Biological Father or Mother?
The young man from the Walker Family froze momentarily, while Ignatius Leclair had already obtained the answer he sought.
The man’s lips curved into a faint arc. This Old Town was riddled with narrow alleys—locating this place had cost them a great deal of effort.
"Who are you people?" Gregory Walker asked anxiously. These two individuals clearly weren’t ordinary—how could Delphine have attracted this kind of company?
His impression of the granddaughter living across from his grandmother’s house had remained stuck in childhood—a girl with an unknown father and an absent mother. Back then, he remembered how Delphine had been an adorable, delicate child, and he himself had once taken the lead in bullying her.
Instantly, Gregory Walker became wary of Ignatius Leclair and his companion.
Maximilian, relieved that they had finally found a lead, stepped forward with a smile and said, "Sir, we’re friends of Miss Delphine. We’ve come to escort her home."
"Do you have anything to prove your identity?" The young man from the Walker Family bristled, sweat standing on edge. The silent man’s mere presence exuded a weighty, mountain-like authority. If Delphine truly knew someone of this caliber, then all the thoughts Gregory had entertained just seconds ago would vanish like water through a sieve—leaving him flooded with a tidal wave of crisis.
Ignatius Leclair’s phoenix-shaped eyes narrowed, dark as ink. He glanced at the alley from which Gregory had emerged, roughly deducing the location of the old house where Delphine had lived in her youth, before turning his gaze to Maximilian.
Maximilian scratched his head helplessly. In this remote mountain area—a place even the high-speed rail didn’t reach—life was simple, but the downside of this simplicity was the locals’ reluctance to trust strangers. Even if Richard Shaw were to arrive from the Imperial City, these townsfolk likely wouldn’t pay him any heed. Besides, it wasn’t as though he could expose Ignatius Leclair’s identity.
"Here’s my ID. If you’re still uneasy, you can come along with us to meet Miss Delphine," Maximilian said, producing his credentials.
Gregory took the ID and glanced at it briefly, but the silent man’s identity remained shrouded in mystery.
"Gregory, is Miss Zhang’s granddaughter really back? Why do people keep coming to claim a connection? Is this group related to the ones who showed up before?" a nosy neighbor called out from the mouth of the alley.
"Sixth Aunt, you can’t go around saying things like that!" Gregory quickly interrupted her.
Ignatius Leclair’s gaze deepened as he observed these plain-faced, leisurely, gossiping neighbors of the small town. Very politely, he asked, "Excuse me, were there others who came claiming relations before?"
Sixth Aunt, who had never seen a man so striking and imposing, yet so well-mannered, immediately began rattling off everything she knew like a rapid-fire gun.
"Years ago, they stayed several days, combed through the town from end to end. We all guessed they were Beatrice Carter’s old flame, coming to claim a child," she said.
Ignatius listened silently for a while, his handsome brows furrowing. Delphine was clearly adopted by Beatrice Carter, so it was unclear whether the people seeking ties were from her biological mother’s side or her father’s.
Seeing that the neighbors couldn’t provide any more valuable information, Ignatius thanked them and proceeded into the alley.
Gregory panicked at the sight, wanting to stop him, but the man’s frigid, piercing eyes sent a shiver down his spine. Unable to muster a single word, he froze in place.
Without sparing even a glance at the dazed young man before him, Ignatius walked along the cobblestone path into the alley. The alley was deep and silent, its end marked by two homes—one on the left, the other on the right.
The man stopped at the half-open door on the left. Inside lay a courtyard squarely framed by the sky overhead—beyond it, a few rooms stood. Several sparrows were hopping through the yard, chirping away as they foraged for food. The tranquility of the scene was palpable.
Ignatius noticed her stacking freshly cut wild grass into a haystack. Her pale, clean face was marred with dirt smudges from who-knows-where, making her appear messy and disheveled. Yet her jet-black eyes glimmered with an unprecedented sparkle.
Standing before the dilapidated and weathered courtyard gate, the man’s heart suddenly grew calm, as though stilled by something unseen.