Hitman with a Badass System

"How?" Gaya almost immediately asked Ashton Kane.

"Before I answer that, I need to know how you regained your ability to cultivate again. When I went to Nagaland, they said Xanali broke your meridians,"

"Ghost cured me," answered Gaya.

"So he knows the real you?"

Gaya nodded.

"Don't only be a couple. Be best friends. That's what makes your life worth living," said Ashton. Gaya noticed a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

"Is that what you and my mother are? Best friends?"

Ashton Kane sighed.

"We grew up together. Can you believe it?" Ashton Kane let out a miserable chuckle. Gaya's eyes went wide in shock. Her mother was not only a Naga but also a royal. She wondered how a human-like Ashton Kane ended up growing up together with her mother. According to her memories, her mother always talked down on humans to the point Gaya thought she hated them.

"I was a commoner, and your mother was the princess. But she was not like the other Nagas you know. She was different. Granted, she was as cruel and ruthless as they come, but to me, she was kind, playful, and my best friend," Ashton began to recall his childhood with Adelia. Gaya listened to him in complete shock. Her mother was not any one of those things. Yet, she couldn't see any signs of Ashton lying either.

"Every night, she sneaks out from the castle to hang out with me. I still remember the answer she gave me when I asked why she picked me as her friend."

"She just shrugged and told me it feels right," Ashton smiled, reliving his memories with Adelia. His hazel eyes welled up. There was not a single day he didn't miss her dearly.

"My mother sneaks out of the castle. Are you kidding me?"

Ashton shook his head, laughing.

"She was not always the Adelia you know. She and I used to prank the kids. She turns into her naga form, a black cobra with golden stripes,"

Gaya was once again surprised by Ashton. Adelia's Naga form was one of the NAgaland secrets, yet Ashton described it perfectly. This meant he really did see Adelia in her naga form. If her mother let Ashton see her real form, that meant she really trusted him.

"We scare the kids and laugh at them running to their mothers. It never got tiring. After we grew up, we pretended to be adventurers and fought the beasts in the nearby forests. But one day, everything changed. Your grandma died trying to reach the Half Immortal stage,"

"I heard about that. But why did you say everything changed?" asked Gaya.

"After your grandma died, your mother changed. It was like a great burden was put on her shoulder. She was never the same again,"

Gaya immediately recalled what Elidyr told her when they first met him in the Akilan Realm. Gaya's bloodline served the Order. Their real last name was Wraiths. According to Eldiry, wherever a Wraith dies, the knowledge and their duty to the Order and the Dark Lord would be passed to the next of kin. It made sense that Adelia felt burned after her mother died.

"No matter how many times I asked her? She wouldn't tell me. After some time, she used her contacts in Elon and changed my name from Patrick to Ashton. I became Ashton and joined the Kane family. Because of what Adelia gave me, I was able to break through faster than the others. As a result, i became the Elder Kane,"

"Tell me you met my mother after,"

"Not quite,"

Ashton sighed.

"She met me…With you in her arms,"

Gaya creased her brows.

"What about my father?"

When Gaya asked this question, Ashton became silent. His eerie silence churned a bad feeling in Gaya's gut.

"This was two months before your mother was married to Castien," Gaya's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"That day, you and your mother were covered in blood. That stubborn bastard didn't tell me what happened. But something bad happened, that was for sure. Your mother hid you, and in two months, she married Castien. After ten months, they announced you were born. Your mother must have put a spell on you to keep you from growing up,"

"Did I born to my mother and Castien?" With a heavy heart, Gaya asked the question. Her voice trembled.

"I fear not," Ashton's answer shattered Gaya's entire world. She felt the world around her spinning. Her whole life, she had believed Castien was her father. But if Castien wasn't her father, then who was? The question wreaked havoc in her mind.

"Who is my father?"

"Only your mother can give you the answer," Ashton Kane sighed.

"Tell me, how do I find my mother?"

Ashton opened his mouth and was about to answer Gaya when someone knocked on the door.

"My lord, it's important," a gentle voice appeared from the other side of the door.

Ashton furrowed his brows.

"It can wait a little bit longer," Ashton's tone oozed with anger.

"Please, my lord. You have to hear me out," Ashton banged the chair's hand. Gaya sensed a Body Refining stage cultivator outside. She just thought it was a maid. However, Gaya wanted to get the answer to her question first. Unfortunately, Ashton Kane was already at the door.

The door slowly creaked open.

"What?" Ashton growled. But his growl turned into a gasp. He clenched his throat as he stumbled back. Gaya was stunned. Everything happened so quickly. To her shock, there was no one outside the door. She dashed at Ashton Kane, who collapsed to the ground, holding his throat. Blood spurted out of Ashton's throat. His body twitched.

Gaya immediately poured the healing potion down his throat, but the wound that should have been closed didn't. She took Ashton's head on her lap as he touched her face with his blood-soaked hand. Tears rolled out of his eyes. A pained smile appeared on his face.

"The Dark Lord has to reveal himself…" He could barely utter these words through his slashed throat.

"In public…his real identity…then….your mother….will….find you…"

The light of life slowly faded away from his eyes. Gaya frantically looked around to find the one who was responsible for this.

"Tell Adelia…i never…stopped…searching for her…" Ashton Kane's hand dropped to the ground as his breathing finally stopped. Gaya's mind went completely blank. She couldn't think straight. But she could hear several footsteps rushing toward her. She had only a few seconds to react. If the elders of the Kane family saw her like this, they would definitely think she killed Elder Ashton KAne. That would turn them against Ghost and her. Whoever killed Ashton wanted that to happen, and Gaya had a few seconds to prevent that.

She quickly retrieved a dagger from her space ring and stabbed herself in the chest. Blood sprayed out of her chest, turning her white dress red. She threw the healing potion on the ground as the glass vial shattered into pieces. The blood loss made her vision blurry. Before falling down beside Ashton Kane, she put the dagger into the interlinked space ring to send the bloody dagger to Michael.

"What happened?!"

"ELDER KANE!"

"HEALERS!"

"CALL THE HEALERS!"

"Oh my god!"

Several people shouted. Gaya couldn't see their faces but heard them clearly. They rushed at them.

"Elder Kane,"

"He is dead,"

"Miss Aelia!"

"Quick, she is alive!"

Gaya's vision finally turned completely black. The Kane family soldiers quickly carried her to the healers themselves. If Gaya were holding Elder Kane on her lap, they would have mistaken her for the killer. Her quick thinking changed that. She plunged the dagger right through the left side of her chest, barely missing the heart. Therefore, the healers or the Kane Family members wouldn't even imagine Gaya stabbing herself.

***************************************

A few hours later, Gaya slowly opened her eyes. When her vision cleared, she saw Michael sitting beside her on the bed. She slowly rose up.

"Easy there," Michael wrapped his hand around her shoulder, helping her up. Gaya noticed several Kane family elders, all new faces staring at her.

"Elder Kane," Gaya mumbled.

"He's not with us anymore," Michael softly said.

"Master Ghost," An ashen-haired man in his middle age stepped forward. He had the demeanor of a warrior and a leader. Judging by the fancy robes he was wearing, anyone could tell he was of a higher status than the rest.

"Please, we need to know who killed Elder Kane," The man growled. He was the House head, Lennerd Kane.

"An assassin," said Gaya.

Several elders gasped in shock. They couldn't believe an assassin had made his way into the castle, killed Elder Kane, and escaped the castle undetected. Seeing Lennerd frowning, Michael raised his brow.

"What were the guards doing?" Michael's cold voice sent shivers down their spines.

"Can you tell us what you and Elder Kane were talking about?" Lennerd asked Gaya. It was obvious Lennerd had some doubts about Gaya. Michael could see it in his eyes. The only reason they were having a conversation instead of a battle was Michael's Half Immortal cultivation stage.

Gaya looked around as though she couldn't speak in front of all these people. Deep down, she quickly fabricated a believable story.

"You can trust them," said Lennerd.

"Elder Kane was asking me to find the traitor among your family,"

She dropped a shock bomb on them. Not a single one who heard her remained calm.

"He believed the Kane family was infiltrated. He said he had a list of suspects he wanted me and Ghost to check on. He couldn't trust anyone here,"

To Michael's surprise, Lennerd seemed to have completely believed her made-up story. He watched what happened through the Spyder on Gaya's necklace. But judging by Lennerd's look, the Kane family might really have a spy among them.

"Did he tell you where this list is?"

"He was about to when someone knocked on the door. He went to check. Everything happened so quickly. The assassin was too fast,"

"Until she got hurt, a mole among you wasn't my business. But now it is, Lord Lennerd, did you know about this?" asked Michael.

"Everyone, clear the room," Lennered ordered the elders. The elders seemed a bit reluctant but ultimately, they left the room.