Arc 2 P4

"Gahahahaha!"

A crude, carefree guffaw rumbled on one of the soundproof rooms in the upper floor of the Lumasteria mansion. The burly man laughed like an idiot as he looked at the live footage of the cctv cameras in the party.

He reached out his hand and a girl standing nearby immediately handed him a freshly cut cigar. As soon as she lit it up, he puffed a huge cloud of smoke. His expression was now serious.

"Do you see now, Mister Lumasteria?" he said. "Wouldn't that be enough proof of the side you took? Amazing, right?"

The man sitting opposite him tried his best not to cough as the smoke in the room only got thicker. He wasn't a smoker, but in order to accommodate this particular guest, he disabled the smoke alarms in this room and installed a bunch of cctv cameras to closely monitor the goings-on with the party he threw. Yes, he's the one who threw it but he couldn't even dare show his face to them after what happened.

The huge man was unamused with his unresponsiveness. Crushing the cigar on the filled ashtray, he threw his back to the soft chair. "C'mon, doctor. You need to loosen up a little! You've joined the winning team so celebrate." He handed him a cigar.

The man accepted it with two hands and stared at it. His mind had long gone blank once he's forced to join this so-called 'winning team'. It's not rocket science. He sensed the convenience of it all. A few days ago, his house's privilege and medical licenses were stripped off of him and then, came in this man offering him salvation. For a meager price of his support whatever that might mean, he's offered a reissuance of his licenses and a partial return of his societal privileges in return—things he already enjoyed and more by simply doing his part.

If it wasn't the oldest trick in the book; the one where the powerful would create a scenario to throw the weak into his debt.

However, this was the time where honor and pride mattered little. He had a family, a legacy to protect. With this chance in hand, he could turn the situation around and see to it that those who mercilessly cut him off when things went south would be properly dealt with.

Use and be used. If Neue had uses for him, so was the other way around.

The man noticed how the nerves of the Lumasteria before him finally calmed down. Finally, he thought. Once the bitterness of the poison passed would they come to realize the sweetness of medicine. He's seen this scene too many times now that's why he's certain. A surgeon wouldn't be numb to signals, and with how blatant the ones he sent to them, someone like him would surely catch on.

The man grabbed a lighter and lit his cigar himself. The head of the household was not a wreck anymore.

As he puffed a cloud of smoke, Noel Lumasteria sat upright and faced Governor Neue, his eyes shining with newfound resolve.

***

Valerie went straight to the maze garden after resolving the commotion. Things already got stressful right when she arrived.

She sat on a bench and looked at the night skies. Not a single star could be seen as usual. With how bright the city shone due to the abundance of radiation energy, excessive lights polluted the skies as people never had to worry about power outages anymore.

What's the night sky like out there, she wondered. The outerfields was always portrayed as a dangerous ruins where the tainted roamed aimlessly, slaughtering anything their broken minds fancied. While there were times they banded together to attack the city, those convicts along with the border guards kept the city safe.

"The sky must be beautiful out there…" she said.

Her stomach rumbled, much to her embarrassment, but she couldn't eat anything after being sent home. All she did was sleep and hope tomorrow came sooner. It's already nighttime when she's woken up. Instead of a nice, warm meal, the tray the servant carried in his person informed Valerie of her task at the dinner party.

The Lumasterias. Nobody in this house could deliver such an insensitive request written in paper. The gesture was both a waste of resource and a clear display of power. Her father expected her to pick up this hint.

And she did.

Handling the situation was easy. All she needed to do was be herself. Her father was kind enough to ease her of the burden of acting—no. The Neues were not one to fake their personalities. They hid their intentions and that's it.

"There you are."

A man emerged from the maze and approached her.

Valerie smiled. "Good evening, professor Wilhelm."

Wilhelm sighed. "Val, can't you relax for a second? Nobody's around."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, of course. Your father doesn't cut corners in anything involving his only child. You can let your hair down. He allows it."

Allow. That word stung her. "Figured he knew about everything. Did you sell me out too… brother?"

Wilhelm winced. Thankfully, the shadows and Valerie's orientation made it impossible to see. "Val, please. Don't."

She threw her head back and mischievously smiled at him. "You said I can relax, right? Isn't calling you brother not relaxing to you?"

"…"

"Will you look at me like how you coveted her?"

"Look," Wilhelm said. He's too weak… too tired to argue. "I'm adopted… things are different now. You shouldn't regard me in any of… of… that narrative anymore."

"Because you're a stranger now, right? You've become a Rañez, a distant relative's adopted son."

She stood up closed in on Wilhelm. The man instinctively stepped back. "You know what, big brother? We still share the same blood. Even if you become a tainted or have your neck be bound by a Leash, you can't change that fact. Father surely can't, after all, he still kept you close despite disowning you… hah! If it wasn't a Neue classic; to make use of every piece, every situation in order to achieve his one, true goal."

Wilhelm's back felt the sharp and damp leaves of the well-maintained hedges. He had nowhere left to run.

Valerie brought her face closer, so close until their noses and lip almost touched.

"Can't you see, Wilhelm? You're the only exception to the rule."

She planted her heel back to the ground and turned around, spreading her arms. "I did everything I could to fill in those expectations, you know? Everything. I tried to be perfect yet approachable. I even did dad's dirty work but all for what? I'm too small for the hole you left, brother… I—"

A flash of light lit the sky followed by a clap. They lit another round of fireworks.

At the same time, Valerie lost balance and fell. Wilhelm caught her. She's way too light.

She tried in vain to escape his grasp. It's no use. The world started spinning. She couldn't put strength on her limbs anymore.

Valerie scoffed at her current powerlessness. "I'm tired, brother. So, tired… so, please…"

Wilhelm lovingly stroked his sister's face before carrying her back to the mansion to be tended to. From the looks of it, she's over fatigued from stress.

"Sorry, Val, but I can't… not after what they did to you."