To everyone’s surprise, Michael was absent for the last lunch of 2013.
i had prepared six dishes, one for each person. But with both Michael and Mobius gone, the once-crowded dining table suddenly felt incredibly spacious. Kiana could stretch her arms out lazily without worrying about bumping into anyone.
It was strange, really. For soone his size, Michael didn’t have a strong presence. Perhaps it was because he spent most of his ti either locked away in his room or running off sowhere on his own.
Even on the rare occasions he appeared, it was usually just for a fleeting mont. At first, he would sotis pull i or Seele aside for a private chat, but as ti went on, even those "private chats" had beco a distant mory.
Because of this, i had once thought that if Michael were to suddenly disappear one day, it would take everyone a long ti to realize sothing was wrong.
But she was wrong. At the table, aside from the ever-carefree Kiana who was stuffing her face, both Bronya and Seele were unusually silent. Perhaps they had sensed sothing...
Ah, or maybe it was because Michael’s disappearance wasn’t sudden. He had been around, yet he had inexplicably skipped the last lunch of the year without a word, simply retreating to his room. Anyone who wasn’t a total idiot would sense that sothing was off.
"Miss i, what’s wrong with Michael? Does he not have an appetite today?"
Seele had lifted her chopsticks three tis, only to slowly put them down again. She finally couldn’t hold back her question.
"He’s... um, his stomach is a little upset today, and he woke up late, so he’s not very hungry. But don’t you worry. He’s a grown man, not a fool. I saw him grab a sandwich earlier."
"Oh..."
Seele nodded, tentatively accepting the explanation, but she wasn’t reassured.
"Then... Bronya, after we finish eating, let’s go check on Michael!"
"Er... is that really necessary?"
Bronya had just wanted to eat her al in peace, without getting involved in anything related to Michael.
After all, among the four girls present, she was the only one who had seen Michael truly "use force." In her eyes, Michael had long beco synonymous with danger.
Even after living with him for nearly a month and a half, she couldn’t help but tense up every ti she was near him.
If it weren’t for Seele being here, along with certain other unavoidable circumstances, she would never have wanted anything to do with such a dangerous person.
But looking at Seele’s determined gaze, she could only swallow the refusal on her lips and try a different approach.
"Ahem! Seele, i is right. He’s an adult. He’s not like a certain idiot who either sleeps through als or eats so much she can’t sleep."
"Huh? Who are you talking about!"
Kiana, sitting to her right, had just finished devouring a fried chicken leg. Hearing this, she turned her head, looking annoyed.
Though she was often called an idiot, she’d gotten used to it—or rather, she’d gotten experienced.
Of course, this experience didn’t an she was immune to the taunts, but that she was so familiar with them that she could instantly tell when they were directed at her... which was, admittedly, pretty idiotic.
Bronya shrugged, grabbed her own fried chicken leg from the plate, and unceremoniously stuffed it into Kiana’s mouth.
"Mmmph~"
Kiana’s eyes instantly narrowed into blissful slits. A mont later, as if realizing she’d surrendered too easily, she shot Bronya a fierce glare.
But Bronya couldn’t be bothered with her right now.
"So, Seele, you don’t need to worry too much about that guy."
Seeing the unconcealable worry on Seele’s face, Bronya was speechless, though not surprised.
Speechless, for obvious reasons. She really wanted to remind Seele that, technically speaking, Michael had kidnapped them both. One side was the kidnapper, the other the hostages. What kind of logic was it for the hostages to worry about their captor?
Well... there was no such logic, but as Bronya thought back, it wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence. Stockholm Syndro aside, Bronya had actually seen it happen a few tis in Siberia.
Siberia was a region where order had all but collapsed.
The military and police who were still trying to maintain so semblance of peace were few and far between, making it impossible to handle kidnapping cases with the standard hostage-rescue protocol.
But if they just let the kidnappers go, the criminals would only beco more brazen, further accelerating the collapse of order.
Thus, in those specific circumstances, the only option left for the Siberian forces was to make killing the kidnappers the primary objective, not rescuing the hostages.
In such a situation, distinguishing between kidnapper and hostage beca a pointless exercise. For the hostages to survive, their only path was to pick up a gun and fight alongside their captors to repel the military’s assault.
If she recalled correctly, two of the n in Uncle Maxim’s rcenary group had originally been hostages...
Bronya smiled to herself, but when she saw the lingering worry on Seele’s face, she couldn’t help but sigh.
This isn’t Siberia, she thought. And there’s no reason for a hostage to have to fight with her captor to survive...
But it wasn’t surprising. Seele was just that kind of gentle person.
Bronya smiled, deciding not to dwell on it.
Lunchti passed in this muddled way. As the one who ate the most, Kiana was deservedly dragged into the kitchen by i to wash the dishes. i herself grabbed a mop, wet it, and started mopping the floor that Seele had already swept before the al.
Seele stood at the bottom of the stairs, her gaze flickering between the clattering chaos of the kitchen and the silent stillness of the second floor. She hesitated, torn between helping the unreliable Kiana with the dishes or going to check on Michael first.
Bronya, on the other hand, had no such hesitation. Humming a little tune no one else could understand, she completely ignored her untouched holiday howork, her mind filled only with the new edition of "Homu Wars" she had bought yesterday.
But everything ca to a halt the mont the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong—
"Eh? That must be Mobius."
i smiled, not at all nervous. If Michael hadn’t told her, she would never have known that their villa’s garden and walls hid a complete smart security system.
If anyone tried to climb the wall without permission, they would be instantly zapped unconscious by an electric current.
The only safe way in was through the main gate, which required either system authorization or for Michael to open it directly from the control panel. In other words, the fact that soone could ring the villa’s doorbell already ant they were safe.
Though there was the possibility that the visitor was strong enough to bypass the entire defense system, if that were the case, Michael wouldn’t be sitting upstairs doing nothing.
And that liar Mobius had promised she’d be back in ti for the last lunch of the year when she left this morning, but she ended up bailing. Factoring in so delays, she should be arriving around now, right?
"Good thing I saved so food for her."
i praised herself and hurried to the entrance, swinging the door open.
"Welco back, Mobius... Eh! You’re..."
It wasn’t i’s fault. Mobius was so short that i’s gaze naturally passed over her head and landed on the other woman standing behind her.
SLAM!
Bronya and Seele had just turned toward the door, catching only a glimpse of military green, when i violently slamd the door shut before they could even react.
"Did... Did I see that wrong?"
She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, took three deep breaths, then turned around and slowly opened the door again.
The truth did not change just because she refused to believe it. Standing behind Mobius, clearly brought here by her, was a woman who looked exactly like Cocolia, the new president of Corp she had seen on the news.
Alright, she was getting carried away by wishful thinking again. Rather than saying she looked like her, she should just be bold and admit it—without a doubt, that was Cocolia.
But she still pointed at Cocolia in denial and asked:
"Mobius, she is..."
Mobius shrugged and tilted her head, a classic gesture that scread, You know who.
i wanted to say sothing, but the muscles in her throat tightened with anxiety, and no sound ca out.
But just because she couldn’t speak didn’t an others couldn’t.
"Mother... Cocolia."
Seele had quietly approached i’s side, so silent that her footsteps and breathing were inaudible. Only the echo of that na, "Cocolia," lingered in the air.
Following her, Bronya also walked to the doorway and called out with a complicated expression, "Mother Cocolia."
Cocolia gave a slight nod, then lowered her head a little. Her gaze once again skimd over Mobius’s head and landed on the girl who shared the sa hair color as Raiden Ryoma, but whose features were much softer and prettier.
"It’s a pleasure to et you, Raiden i."
i’s jaw clenched, her teeth clearly grinding together.
She tried to calm herself down using her old thod: deep breaths...
Inhale, exhale, inhale again...
Once, twice, three tis...
Damn it! I can’t take this!
i grabbed the door with both hands and shoved it forward with all her might—
Thud!
The door didn’t slam shut as she’d hoped. Mobius had spread her slender arms and casually pressed a few fingers against the door, and the two heavy panels simply rolled back limply along their original path.
"Mobius, what is going on?!"
Mobius’s intervention cooled i down slightly, but only just. She continued to block the entrance with her body, obstructing the only way into the villa.
"Don’t be so tense, i."
Mobius flashed a aningless smile—a smile devoid of relief, embarrassnt, or anger. It was a smile so pure it was completely devoid of aning.
"i, sotis, a pointless standoff yields no results. If you can’t figure this out and can’t accept it, why not try a more direct approach? Go ask for the answer from the one who can give it to you."
i kept her head down. She knew exactly who Mobius’s "one who can give answers" was, but...
In just a mont of distraction, Mobius squeezed past her, creating a path.
i watched, helpless, as Cocolia stepped into the villa. She watched as the gap between the two door panels grew smaller and smaller, until the last sliver of light was completely swallowed.
"Damn it!"
Aside from the day the calamity struck, her emotions had never been in such turmoil.
She was confused, bewildered, unable to understand why Michael and Mobius would allow Cocolia to co here.
And because of that, she felt an imnse rage.
She spun around, ignoring the varied expressions of the others in the living room, and charged straight up to the second floor and into Michael’s bedroom.
"Ah... finally done with all the washing..."
Whether by coincidence or design, Kiana chose that exact mont to erge from the kitchen, stretching lazily. But she didn’t see the familiar figure she was expecting in the living room.
Instead, there was a person she had never seen before. She nodded to herself as if she understood sothing, then bounced over to Cocolia, praising her with an innocent expression:
"Wow! i! I was only washing the dishes for a minute and you’ve already changed into a new outfit... ooh, and put on makeup and a wig..."
"Hopeless idiot," Bronya comnted from the side.
Even Seele subconsciously nodded in agreent.
"...So, Cocolia’s situation is complicated. Before we understand the full picture, we can’t rush to label her as the enemy."
When Mobius pushed open Michael’s bedroom door, she heard him feeding i a very serious-sounding line.
"Uh... Michael, maybe it’s just , but I still don’t quite understand..."
"Then let’s ignore the details and get straight to the conclusion."
The two of them tacitly ignored Mobius’s presence and continued their conversation.
"For the past month, I’ve been investigating your father’s case. Cocolia is indeed the biggest beneficiary on the surface, but that doesn’t necessarily make her the mastermind. You can ask Bronya. Cocolia’s involvent was a necessary part of what happened, but the whole incident is full of suspicious points. For example, the charges against your father and the docunts proving his cris were leaked by another, unknown entity. Cocolia was just acting on what was presented to her."
"How could that be... Besides Cocolia, who else would have a reason to target my father?"
"Plenty of people," Michael rolled his eyes. "I believe I gave you a simple breakdown of the relationship between Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and Corp, right? For Anti-Entropy’s main branch, since Corp is a major source of inco, it’s best to have it completely under their control. As for Schicksal... I can’t say what that nefarious Overseer Otto is thinking. In short, Cocolia is just a minor pawn in all this. Even if we’re going to settle scores, she’s last on the list. Before that, we need to let her shine a little brighter for us. Understand?"
i pursed her lips and nodded. She glanced at Mobius, who had been standing by and listening for a while, then silently left Michael’s bedroom.
"Tch! You really don’t feel any guilt feeding her that line?"
"Of course I do. But it’s necessary." Michael shook his head slowly, the movent as stiff as a slow-moving robot’s.
"Heh. Alright, let’s not beat around the bush. Cocolia ca here today with another question for you, but I’ll relay it on her behalf."
"What is it?"
"When will you activate the Gem of Conquest? And, since Project X-10 has been scrapped, what’s the plan for the Gem of Serenity?"
"It won’t be long now. Once I..."
Knock, knock, knock—
A knock on the door interrupted Michael. The handle turned gently, and i, who had just left, peeked her head in, a hesitant look on her face.
"What’s wrong?"
"Michael, what you said before... about going to see my father. Is that offer still valid?"
"Hmm? Of course."
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