Days later...
Chacha and Second happily skipped their steps, heading to Efraim’s ward. Efraim was fine, but Lola insisted on keeping the kid in the hospital to be sure. So, the twins decided to visit him again so that he wouldn’t feel sad or bored.
Haji followed the duo, eyeing their little backs.
I should’ve just stayed with Izu, he told himself. But then again, it was the twins who recomnded, or rather, requested Haji to stay with them.
The territory was already safe, but at the sa ti, Lola never lowered her guard. Hence, soone had to stay with the children.
His thoughts halted when Chacha suddenly stopped.
"Chacha?" Second tilted his head to the side, studying the shocked look on her face. When he turned and followed her gaze, the confusion on his face deepened.
As for Haji, he furrowed his brows and lifted his gaze. There, he saw Roth walking at the end of the hallway with Allen.
"That silver-eyed trash," he muttered, as that was the na Lola kept saying, and thus, everyone in the Order and even from the other forces called Roth, Silver-Eyed Trash.
It didn’t sound proper, considering Roth saved the leaders. But no one knew his na, and Lola kept calling him that, so it sohow just beca natural for everyone. His attention snapped to the door beside the twins as it slightly opened, revealing Efraim, Henrik’s son.
Efraim blinked as he quietly stared at the twins, and then frowned for so reason. He just stared at Chacha, following where her eyes were twinkling. The little boy’s frown deepened even more when he turned and saw Roth.
"That’s him, Second!" Chacha intoned, her mouth forming an o-shape. She turned to Second, beaming. "Second, that’s him."
"Chacha, what do you an?"
Her grin widened. "Knight in shining armor."
"Huh?" Not just Second, but Haji was also confused.
"Knight in shining armor?" Haji mumbled, only to see Chacha lean to Second and whisper in his ear. "Hey. Why are you whispering now, eh? What does that an?"
But Chacha ignored the nosy Haji as she said to Second’s ear, "When I prayed, I told you Papa God told not to worry. Because he sent his soldiers to help our Mommy and Daddy."
"Oh..." Second nodded in understanding, his mouth into an o-shape. Then, he turned to where Roth was standing, and his eyes twinkled even more. "So... so cool!"
Efraim blinked more because now, Chacha wasn’t the only one with twinkling eyes. The twins were sparkling; it was almost blinding!
anwhile, Roth, who was busy discussing so things with Allen, felt his ears twitch. Turning his head toward the hallway, he saw the twins’ eyes sparkling, as if they had just target-locked on sothing.
"Heh..." Haji let out a weak laugh, studying the twins and then the guy they were staring at. "Good luck to him."
*****
At the sa ti...
Tension hung in the air as the leaders of the founding families: Marceline, Draken, Atlas, Henrik, Mother Reverend, as the temporary representative of the church, along with the two elders, looked at each other.
Those with them could not help but gulp, feeling this enormous pressure emanating from them.
"So..." Marceline finally broke the silence, tapping the table. Her expression looked displeased, as if soone had gotten on her wrong side. "... we’re having our first eting in this... cafeteria?"
"Hahaha!" Draken laughed out loud, seated in a wheelchair just like the two elders and Atlas. Although Atlas didn’t need that, Lola insisted, so he recovered very fast.
"We can’t help it! Lola says, no special treatnt! And I’m really hungry!" he added happily, only to frown in a snap of a finger as he turned to his soldier nearly. "Hey! Where’s my food!? I said I’m hungry since two minutes ago."
"Actually, it’s just one minute ago," Henrik sighed heavily, shaking his head as he stared at his lunch buddies for today. "If I were you, wait patiently. Otherwise, this jerk’s psycho wife will ask you to fast again."
He pointed at Atlas, who had no idea what Lola had been putting through these leaders. However, he could already imagine since Lola was the boss for now while they were all in here.
Draken’s face twisted as he touched his stomach, thinking of Lola’s sweet smile the last ti he threw a huge fit at his n. He narrowed his eyes and shifted his attention to Atlas.
"Don’t bla ," said Atlas flatly. "You’re the one who authorized her to use your n as much as she liked... until you are a patient, Patient Number 4."
"Haha..." Henrik laughed, only to stop when Draken scoffed,
"Why are you laughing, Patient Number 7?" Draken mocked. "I don’t think Number 7 should be laughing at when you’re rank lower than I am."
Henrik’s face twitched. "I told you stop ranking us based on that nonsense number."
"Goodness. Here they go again," Marceline brushed her hair behind her shoulder, brow arched proudly as she looked at them. "Two low ranks barking at each other."
After all, she was Patient number 3.
Atlas nodded, only to get yelled at by Henrik.
"Why are you nodding when you’re patient number 10?!" Henrik gasped as he realized he had fallen for this ridiculous ranking that was based on nothing.
The patient number 2 and 1, on the other hand, were the elders.
The chairpeople of the secret society chuckled as they watched Henrik bark at Atlas, and the latter maintained a dead expression. Then, he would shift his anger toward Draken, who would happily leave a snide remark.
Marceline egged on this banter as she flaunted her ranking by ntioning it so they wouldn’t forget.
"Haha... for all the years we’ve diated in the council..." the elder woman muttered with a smile, watching this unfold. "It was the first ti I’ve seen the leaders get along."
The elder man chuckled. "It might be selfish, but I’m glad what happened happened."
Their eyes softened because what was playing before them was not just simple banter. But rather, it was a glimpse of the future of the secret society.
The elders had t the previous leaders of the founding families, and just like before, the leaders truly never got along. But they might be able to witness a change in the secret society and deeply understand why it was ford in the first place.
After all, the secret society was established for many reasons. One of them was the camaraderie, loyalty, and trust between their predecessors to build a better balance of power in the world.
Mother Reverend, who was also present, smiled subtly as she also felt the sa.
"I’m sorry, everyone!"
Suddenly, Lola’s voice stopped the banter at their table as she approached them. Standing near the elders, she looked at them with a smile. Her eyes scanned the people around the table and said,
"Should we start our eting about the reform we’ll be having in the secret society?"
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