[i]Hmm, this place is certainly quite fancy…[/i]

Alicia had to admit, begrudgingly, that the place might be just a little nicer than her own. It looked to be recently renovated, as opposed to her mansion which was clearly old and weathered. Sure, she could spend a Crown or two to make it look nicer, but truthfully, she didn’t really care. She’d rather save the money, or give it to the orphanage she was funding. She wanted the orphanage to be as nice as possible after all, not like those other sorry, pathetic excuses of orphanages that she had visited, where they would only feed the children grue and give them thin dresses while having a constantly leaking and windy roofs.

[i]Keep them humble, they say? Hah! While they themselves wore gaudy jewelry on their necks and fingers[/i], she thought angrily to herself, thinking of the proprietors and benefactors of said places. That was one of the reasons why she wanted to make an orphanage of her own, just so for once, England could have one decent orphanage around.

She gave a short and respectful nod to the butlers who opened the door. She always tried to be polite to the servants whenever they performed a service for her. She did the same to the maid that poured her tea for her.

"I see…" she replied to Amarantha, who seemed to be reluctant to share more with the group. [i]Understandable, [/i]she thought. They were strangers after all. She too felt the same.

She didn't know what Ms. Crewe meant when she might have seen her in the papers. Well, she certainly could not remember such a recollection.

The detective-looking girl then introduced herself as a detective. Well, big surprise there. She almost huffed, only stopping herself out of politeness.

"Since five? Wow, that's really young!" Aether covered her little mouth in surprise, responding to Marilyn. "So you must be really good at it then!" She brightfully smiled at her.

When Jacqueline spoke, Alicia couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows. [i]So young. Is a girl that young suitable to be a witch? Or maybe she just looks young? Hmm…[/i]

[i]Didn't look much like a fighter either. Maybe her magic is more about supporting other witches.[/i]

[i]That would be a bother. That means her strength would be limited if she were to hunt alone.[/i]

As she pondered about the young lady, the door behind them suddenly opened, to a group of young children from 4 to 8, followed by whom she immediately assumed to be the hostess of the place, the one that had called them here.

She told them to go to their beds, which they seemed to readily reply, though they were accompanied by some butlers in the process. It was clear to Alicia that the younglings were fond of her, calling her Sister or Mother.

[i]Well, she certainly has the looks and temperaments for that, [/i]she commented.

She then proceeded to greet everyone present, including her, noting her owning an orphanage of her own.

"Well, I certainly don't keep them in my own mansion," she replied in a somewhat dismissive tone. "Too noisy. I'm already tired enough from my monthly visits to them."

Aether giggled. "They love her so much everytime she comes they would be all over her like cute little bees. In fact, once, they were all over her so much they accidentally pulled down the front of her dress! You can just imagine how embarrassed Ali—"

[i]SNAP![/i]

"—Oww, what was that for?" The fairy rubbed her head once more, little tears coming out from her eyes.

"Don't say anything unnecessary," Alicia replied, her cheeks burning red.

With a cough, she looked back to the hostess. "I am grateful for your invitation tonight." She bowed on her seat as well.

She then introduced herself as Sophia Marjorie Wright, and told the group to ask any questions they might have in their mind.

"Alright then," Alicia quickly answered with a stern look on her face. "I'll ask the first question. Why are we here? Why do you need so many witches in one group like this? We can hunt the Hydes individually just fine."

She wanted an honest and straight answer. She was not interested in joining an aimless, purposeless group after all.

"And then, second question. Are we expected to tell everything about our power immediately?"