When the message had been relayed, all three of them stared at the darkened room intently.
Even as the seconds ticked by, there was still no response.
Anthony and Benjamin looked at each other, disappointment showing in their eyes.
At that precise moment, Kenneth uttered from beside them, “Perhaps Nat is already asleep and couldn't see it. Or maybe she isn't in those three rooms at all. All that is possible.”
Anthony looked up at the man. “Then what should we do now?”
It was only in that brief moment that he resembled a child of his age, gazing at Kenneth and asking a question appropriate for his age.
Sweeping his gave over Anthony's and Benjamin's young and expectant faces, Kenneth reminded, “Don't forget our purpose in coming here today. We're only here to survey the terrain and observe the situation. All this is just incidental. If we find her, it'll be a pleasant surprise. But if not, that's to be expected.”
“But—”
“Anthony, Benjamin, are you two going to Darknetz for training in the future?” Kenneth inquired all of a sudden.
Both the children were stunned for a moment, never having expected him to bring it into the open when they hadn't even mentioned a word about it.
Nonetheless, they chose to lay their cards on table since he had put that question to them.
“Yeah. Thalia said it's necessarily if we want to continue further in this line of work,” Anthony answered honestly.
No surprise showed in Kenneth's eyes. Instead, it was as though he had expected all that. He turned and looked at them, his ebony eyes flickering dimly. “Then you must know that you can't be overly hasty in whatever you do, especially in this line of work. Remember, never rush headlong into things. Otherwise, you'll only sabotage yourself.”
The duo nodded as they listened, cognizant that he was educating them. “Got it!”
“In this line of work, waiting is very common. If you can't remain patient, failure will be your only constant. This isn't only true for this line of work, but for every other field out there. Remember, you must consider the worst outcome before doing anything. Then, when the worst happens, you'll be able to accept it. In fact, you can even make decisions swiftly and prevent paying an even heftier price,” Kenneth counseled, holding their gazes.
That was the first time the man had spoken to them in a didactic tone.
While Anthony and Benjamin listened, a hint of elation crept into them.
“Got it, Daddy!” they replied in unison.
Kenneth's eyes remained pinned on them. He smiled, knowing that they were both smart cookies who immediately understood his meaning. “All right, let's go over there and have a look at things.”
When Anthony saw the man getting up and leaving, he followed behind. “Have you ever failed then, Daddy?”
“Of course!” Kenneth bobbed his head.
“How many times?”
“Once was enough.”
They walked ahead, chatting about something or other.
Benjamin, on the other hand, trailed behind them. Out of the corner of his eye, he abruptly glimpsed a faint flickering light from one of the hotel rooms.
His steps promptly screeched to a halt, and he stared in that direction intently. Having ascertained that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, he instantly cried out, “Daddy, Tony, look!”
Kenneth and Anthony stopped short. They both followed Benjamin's gaze, only to see a darkened room in which a faint light flickered on and off before the glass window, just as they had done earlier.
At once, Kenneth held the binoculars up and looked through them.
Because of the refraction of light, he couldn't make out the person in the room at all. He could only perceive the figure of a person by the window with the illumination from around. But the person's countenance was entirely shrouded in darkness.
Putting down the binoculars, he glanced at Anthony and Benjamin. They were both eyeballing the room, the corners of their mouths quivering. A heartbeat later, they exclaimed excitedly, “It's Nat! It's Nat!”
They turned to Kenneth beside them. “It's Nat, Daddy!” Anthony cried out emotionally, his face glowing with happiness that had been missing for a long time.
Just then, there was a sudden movement at the hotel entrance. Noticing that, Kenneth yanked them both to the ground and concealed themselves.
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