The Seven Sisters and Their Hidden King-Chapter 367: No, No

Then, the voices came—familiar, friendly, and utterly unexpected.

"How many times have I told you not to be so serious? Why do you greet me like this every time I return?" The voice was playful, almost mocking.

"Haha, it's a traditional virtue to honor teachers and esteem the truth!" Holbrook responded with a chuckle.

"Respecting the elderly and taking care of children are also traditional virtues. Should I bow to you to show my respect?"

"No, no, not at all!" Holbrook laughed, and his words faded as he walked closer to the door.

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The conversation, light-hearted and casual, reverberated in Mandel's ears, but it wasn't the exchange that captured his attention. No, it was the voice—rich and unmistakable—that sent a thrill down his spine.

It was Oracle King's voice. The voice of the man he had feared, the man he had hated, the man he thought was dead.

Without thinking, Mandel rushed to the door, his heart pounding in his chest. As he pushed it open, he saw the young man standing there, grinning casually.

"Master, I knew you must be alive!" Mandel exclaimed, bowing low in a gesture of respect—though there was a touch of desperation in his words.

John, who had been about to step inside, stopped short at the sight of Mandel. His grin widened, and he let out a soft chuckle. "It's you. I thought it was someone here to kill me!"

The casual remark came without any sign of surprise, as if he had known all along who stood before him. John's smile seemed effortless, almost playful.

In that moment, Mandel was struck by something he hadn't expected—something that unsettled him in a way he couldn't fully describe. John's demeanor was so different from what Mandel had imagined.

The Oracle King he had heard about was a figure of legend, a monster of ruthless precision and cold calculation. Yet here stood a man who appeared relaxed, approachable, even... warm?

Through Mandel's drop of blood, John had already sensed his arrival. John had known he was coming the moment Mandel stepped foot in New York.

Mandel, still taken aback, struggled to find his voice. For the first time, he saw the face beneath the dragon head mask of the Oracle King. It wasn't the terrifying mask that haunted his nightmares, but the face of a man who could express emotions—joy, anger, sadness.

Mandel found himself lost for words for a moment. When he recovered, a sheepish smile tugged at his lips. "Master, don't make fun of me. How could I possibly think of killing you?"

For the first time, Mandel truly felt the distance between the man standing before him and the cold, unfeeling legend he had been chasing. There was something unmistakably human in John's eyes, something that set him apart from the terrifying figure he had envisioned.

John chuckled, the sound warm and inviting. "Relax. I'm not going to bite."

Mandel took a step back, his heart still racing, but this time, he wasn't as filled with fear. For the first time since he had set foot in this clinic, the knot in his chest began to loosen.

John's presence was completely different from the Oracle King's ruthless reputation. In fact, he found himself feeling a strange sense of affinity for the man before him.