Lena stared at the TV screen in her office in bewilderment when the woman started discussing the damage done to a local club. She jolted forward, letting out a surprised yelp when her office door burst open. "Would it kill you to knock first," she scolded, looking over her shoulder.
"Sorry, I keep forgetting to do that," Daniel replied with a warm smile. He walked over and placed a stack of paperwork on her desk for her to review. "I just got excited after I finished placing a stamp on each document," he mentioned.
Daniel cocked his head to the right in confusion when Lena was completely absorbed in what was playing on the TV. He made a face after listening to what the newswoman was saying. "That sounds a lot like the mission that Cedric and Selena went on last night," he commented with a nervous chuckle.
Lena let out a sigh before turning off the TV. "That's because it is. The place is thrashed, and I'm not even going to speak about the people who were turned into mutated wolves," she stated while placing her face on the desk.
Lena lifted her face to glance up at him. "Hey, Daniel, do you have the mission report from last night?" she asked. Fear dug into her senses when she couldn't understand how a mission simple enough for a first-year to accomplish could've ended up in so much chaos.
"Oh, yeah, I do. It should be right over here," Daniel said. He wandered over to a couple of drawers and started digging through them. "Where are you?" he mumbled to himself, continuing to dig through stacks and stacks of papers.
Daniel's eyes sparkled with joy when he grabbed the paper he was looking for. "Here is it," he stated, placing it down on her desk.
Lena pulled the paper closer to herself and analyzed each piece of information it listed. "Damn it, I don't see anything weird about the details on this document," she roared, slamming her fist on the desk.
"So, what does that mean then?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow. He quickly reached over to stop a vase from falling over after Lena struck her desk. "Are you saying that the information in the document is false?" he asked, looking over at her.
Lena placed her hand against her face. "That's exactly what I'm saying. There aren't any details mentioning a highly dangerous demon being at that location. But, if someone were to lie from the main office, what would they gain from this?" she questioned, staring at the document intently.
Daniel leaned his back against her desk. A sigh escaped his lips. "It could be that someone is trying to prove you're unfit to be this organization's leader after you took over at the age of nineteen when your father was killed," he brought up.
Lena bit her lower lip at the thought. "Even if that was the case. Would someone really be crazy enough to try to drag two innocent people to their deaths just to get back at me?" she asked him with a tone filled with uncertainty. She rested her chin in her open palm as concern welled up in her eyes.
Daniel craned his head back and looked up at the ceiling. "It would be a shitty thing to do, but it could happen," he stated before his eyes widened when he noticed her sulking. "But, don't worry, Lady Lena, I think you're doing a fantastic job, and we'll just extra check over every mission document to make sure this doesn't happen again," he said while holding her hand with sparkling, determined eyes.
A low groan escaped Lena's throat at the nickname he refused to drop. "I told you a million times to drop that nickname. I'm not a princess or anything," she brought up with a frown.
"You're a princess to me," Daniel stated sweetly before leaning down to kiss the top of her hand, causing a warm smile to form on Lena's lips.
Lena perked up when she heard screaming from downstairs that traveled all the way up to her office. "Uh...am I missing something, or do we have a really unhappy guest this morning?" she asked with a sheepish smile, hoping that wasn't the case.
"Oh, yeah," Daniel stated while rubbing the back of his neck. "Before I headed up to your office, I saw Dante approaching this building with a look that could kill. Maybe it's him?" he suggested before he flinched when the yelling got louder.
Lena buried her face in her hands, letting out a loud sigh before she got up. "Wish me luck," she stated. She headed downstairs and glanced up when she heard Dante's voice become louder and louder.
"Do you have any idea what you did? This error was enough to send two people to their graves, and you're going to play stupid with what I'm talking about. Do you want me to help you remember?" Dante threatened darkly with a murderous look in his eyes.
Liam used all his strength to hold back Dante from attempting to attack the person at the front desk. "Dante, calm down; I really don't think they know anything about what happened with Selena and Cedric's mission," he whined as he struggled to hold onto Dante.
"If you kill the person at the front desk, you're only going to make me work harder to find a replacement," Lena teased to gain Dante's attention. A sweat droplet ran down her cheek when Dante looked over at her with daggers in his eyes. "Good morning, Dante and Liam. Thanks for stopping by," she stated sheepishly with a small wave.
"Sorry about Dante's outburst; it's just that he is a little upset this morning," Liam stated before panic washed over him when he lost his hold on Dante.
Dante sucked in a deep breath to calm down his nerves somewhat. "Do you have any idea what happened at the club mission?" Dante asked with a raised eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Lena softly shook her head from side to side. She stared down at the ground in defeat. "I'm afraid I don't know much at all. I only figured out after seeing the news report," she admitted.
"How about we finish the discussion in my office?" Lena suggested as she turned on her heels to walk away.
"Yeah, no thanks. I feel like your boyfriend would only end up distracting you," Dante blurted out, causing Lena's cheeks to turn a bright red.
"He isn't my boyfriend!" Lena quickly blurted out in embarrassment before she cleared her throat. "I guess we can talk out here," she stated.
'Do you have any idea of what could've gone wrong with that report?" Liam asked, waving his hand around.
Lena shook her head in defeat. "I don't have a clue. A problem like this hasn't occurred for a long time. It only happened once when my father was still around. My only thought is that someone is trying to get back at me to prove I shouldn't be the leader of this organization," she brought up, crossing her arms across her chest.
"That is concerning, but would someone really take their anger out on lower-ranked members just to get back at you?" Liam asked with furrowed brows since it seemed like a lot of work for someone to go through just to make Lena suffer somehow.
"I don't know. But I do plan on getting to the bottom of this. Once I do, I can finally figure out what that person's motive was for putting false information in that report," Lena stated, clenching her hand in determination.
"I have an offer before you go," Dante brought up, causing Lena to halt in her tracks and glance over her shoulder. "I want to spy for a couple of days on the people who are collecting the information for these missions. One of them has to slip up eventually, and when they do---" Dante roared before Liam interrupted him.
"No, you can't kill anyone. Even if you do manage to find the traitor, it's best to bring them back here," Liam brought up, causing Dante to grumble in irritation.
"I suppose that wouldn't be too bad of a plan, Dante. I appreciate your help, and I'll be looking forward to the results you're able to collect," Lena said with a warm smile. "That reminds me, today we'll be having a party, so everyone can relax their nerves," she declared, clasping her hands together.
Dante raised an eyebrow at her. "Isn't it a bit early to throw a party yet? I thought one wasn't supposed to happen until next week," he brought up, ignoring the happiness blooming in Liam's eyes from hearing the word party.
"You're right, Dante. But I figured after everything that occurred this week. I thought it would be a good idea to give everyone a little downtime. That way, the next time they get their missions, they'll all be recharged," Lena explained with a bright smile.
This party will do a good job of distracting my mind for a while, but I don't plan on dropping my guard. I will find the person responsible for this, Lena thought as she clenched her hands into fists.
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