Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 21.

Illuki waltzed further into the entryway and glimpsed around, the front doors shutting themselves behind her and creating a harsh thud. Her blue eyes land on the family's head butler who stands in the middle of the room, waiting for an order from the eldest child. "You can go Gotoh. I'm just visiting," she said with a soft smile. The older man bowed, silently bidding the woman goodbye before walking off to attend to someone, most likely her mother, else.

Humming softly, the dichromatic-haired female began climbing the stairs, wanting to check on her bedroom when she heard someone call out her name. Turning to the direction of the voice, she finds her grandfather striding over towards her with his hands behind his back, a habit she had picked up when she was smaller. "Illuki, you're home. What brings you back this time?" he asked.

"I didn't plan on visiting originally...But after some events, I decided to pay a visit and check on things," she said softly, brows furrowing at the thought of her white-haired brother. "Are you returning from a job Grandpa?" she asked, realising he wasn't in his bedroom where he usually stayed.

Nodding his head, he gestures for his granddaughter to follow him up to his room. "I see. I suppose your visit won't be long," he states, entering the room with the female trailing behind him. The two of them sat down on the velvet couch, another one of their family butlers pouring them both a cup of coffee and tea respectively.

"Mm..I'll be seeing the others before I leave," the female added, softly thanking the butler and taking a lady-like sip from the china. Her grandfather takes a sip of his coffee, puts the cup down on the side table beside the couch, and turns his attention to her.

"You've grown into a fine young woman Illuki. I'm proud to have trained you," Zeno praises the woman who smiles at his compliments. "But If it came to it, you must know that we will not seek mercy if we were to cross paths. Even if you are family," he bluntly continued, turning and sipping on his coffee while sternly gazing at his granddaughter.

The dichromatic woman's lips curled into a tiny smirk, bringing her cup of tea closer to her mouth as she spoke. "I expected nothing less. Where would the fun be in that?" she said with a soft chuckle, finishing her tea before standing up from the couch and dusting off her dress from imaginary dust. "Well...Excuse my grandpa, I shall be visiting my dearest siblings now," Illuki bowed her head, exiting the room.

"Of course. It's not always that you come and visit them," Zeno nodded at the woman, watching his grandchild prance out of his room with her hands linked behind her as he usually did, a soft hum escaping from him at the sight of the familiar habit.

Absentmindedly wandering the long hallways of her home with humming tunes to herself, the eldest child found herself stopping in front of her first little brother Milluki's bedroom. She was never one to knock and respect her siblings' privacy, even when she still lived with them, so instead she pushed the wooden door open and waltzed into the large room with emotionless eyes. Her brother sat in front of a setup with multiple monitors, typing furiously on his keyboard with many websites spread across each screen. Beside his desk was a large shelve with figurines and empty packets of chips scattered on the floor, crumbles of the snack visible on the carpet.

"Are you buying another figure? Or are you looking for that sold-out game?" her delicate voice catches him off-guard, his figure jolting in surprise as he swiftly pivots on his chair to face her.

"Nee-chan! You're home!" he yelps, turning back to the screens and closing every unnecessary tab he was previously browsing and pulling out a new tab; he laughs nervously at his older sister. "What can I do for you?" he cleared his throat, giving her an anxious and uncharacteristic smile.

Illuki stared down at her brother, raising an eyebrow at his attitude and approached where he sat at his desk. She shifts her weight to her left leg, crossing her arms under her chest and leaning over slightly to be levelled with Milluki's height. "Are you bidding on limited edition figurines again?" she notices the way he gulps down the lump in his throat and the sweat dripping from his forehead. "Mother would certainly scold you for wasting money on such a thing...I would hate to inform her about this..," she trailed off with fake sympathy.

Sighing in defeat, Milluki glares at his sister and slumps into his desk chair. "What do you want?" he questions, pivoting back to the computer screens and preparing himself to search for whatever his older sister wanted or needed.

The dichromatic-haired troupe member giggles, leaning her arms on the back of his chair and peering over his head at the screens. "Is it possible for you to get a list of what's being auctioned off at this year's underground auction?" she hummed the question, ignoring the curiously raised eyebrow the younger boy gave her.

"Sure," he shrugs, typing and clicking away on the computer. "I heard there are some copies of Greed Island being auctioned off," the second child of the Zoldyck family grumbled, finding the list of auctioned goods and printing them out; his printing machine producing a few sheets of paper that he handed to Illuki. "Here. I doubt you'll find something worthy of your liking," he muttered, turning his back to her and reopening his previous tabs.

Taking the papers and scanning them for a moment, Illuki turns and thanks her brother before leaving his room, humming as she shuffles through the papers. 'Hm this year's items are pretty decent' she thought, folding the papers and pocketing them, making her way to visit her youngest sibling Kalluto, who had been with their mother and father.