(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
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Wizard King...
Meeting Chamber...
Inside the vast meeting chamber of the Wizard king's palace,
Several Magic Knight captains were already gathered,
Their conversations buzzing across the long oval table.
Charlotte kept her arms folded,
A thoughtful frown crossing her face.
"For Julius-sama to summon us without warning… it must be something serious."
Nozel leaned back in his chair, his posture stiff but his tone sharp.
"Perhaps the investigation into those undead magic user has borne fruit. If that devil still with him then it's no longer a small matter."
Yami exhaled smoke from the cigarette hanging at his lips,
Puff~
"____"
His chair tilted precariously back on two legs.
"Tch. Don't go jumpin' to conclusions, fancy boy. The geezer calls us in for all sorts of crap. Could be another one of his history lectures. Or magic experiment."
A soft chuckle escaped Fuegoleon as he glanced between them.
Chuckle~
"Whatever the reason, it clearly cannot wait. Julius-sama rarely moves without purpose."
Before speculation could spiral further,
The tall doors at the end of the chamber creaked open.
Creak~
A hush fell across the room.
"____"
"____"
"____"
Wizard King Julius Novachrono stepped inside,
His usual warm smile tempered by a gravity that immediately drew everyone's attention.
Behind him came Marx, his hands full of neatly stacked reports and scrolls,
His expression serious and unreadable.
The captains rose instinctively as Julius took his place at the head of the table.
His gaze swept across each of them,
Lingering just long enough to make the air tighten with anticipation.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice,"
Julius began, his tone calm yet edged with weight.
"There's something important we must discuss."
The atmosphere grew heavier by the second.
Even Yami leaned forward, his cigarette smoke curling lazily in the tense air.
Without a word, Julius placed a rolled parchment on the table and spread it open.
A starkly inked poster glared back at them—
An emblem of a sun split in shadow, and beneath it, faces marked with Wanted signs.
"Eye of the Midnight Sun,"
Julius said, his voice calm but edged with unease.
"A mysterious terrorist group. Their bounties…"
He tapped the parchment with a finger,
"…have been issued not by me, but directly by the Crown King, Ben."
Murmurs rippled among the captains.
Nozel's brows furrowed.
"The Crown King himself? That is… unusual. But we already knew about it."
Fuegoleon leaned in to examine the poster.
"I've never seen or heard of this organization before. For the king to act first, before even the Wizard King, suggests danger beyond ordinary rebellion."
Charlotte's lips pressed thin.
"____"
"They are complete unknowns… to all of us?"
Julius's eyes searched their faces again, as though expecting one of them to reveal hidden knowledge.
"So… none of you know anything? No encounters, no whispers from your informants, not even rumors?"
The silence that followed was absolute.
"____"
"____"
"____"
One by one, the captains shook their heads.
Yami broke it with a dry grunt.
"Tch. You're sayin' we're all seein' this bunch for the first time now, huh? Guess the Crown King wants to make sure we don't stay in the dark."
Julius leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable.
"Which means,"
He murmured, more to himself than to them,
"Ben knows more than we do."
The weight in the air deepened, the captains glancing at one another uneasily.
As Julius's words lingered in the air, his sharp eyes drifted across the line of captains.
Fuegoleon sat upright, dignified as always, his jaw set in quiet determination.
Charlotte remained rigid, her gaze fixed on the poster as though memorizing every word.
Nozel looked thoughtful, calculating already what this group could mean for Clover's noble order.
Yami slouched with a smirk, though the faint narrowing of his eyes betrayed his seriousness.
Finally, Julius's gaze brushed past his trusted aide Marx—
Only to land on William Vangeance.
The Golden Dawn captain stood still, arms folded across his chest, the faint mask concealing half his face.
On the surface, he appeared composed, expression calm.
But Julius had spent years recruiting, nurturing, and reading people.
He knew the ticks.
He saw the stiffness in William's shoulders, the brief tightening of his jaw before he smoothed it away.
A flicker of tension—
Quickly buried under that trademark serene front.
Julius's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
'Why is he nervous?'
Even Marx, who stood silently at Julius's side with the stack of papers, looked no different than usual.
But William—
William was a man Julius had chosen himself, a captain whose talents he believed in.
To see even the faintest crack unsettled him.
Julius's voice softened, though his eyes never left William.
"The Crown King doesn't place bounties lightly. Whoever these people are… they are dangerous enough that Ben deems it necessary to rattle the kingdom's order himself."
William inclined his head in a calm bow,
But Julius caught it again—
That barely-there pause, that hidden storm.
Inside, Julius felt a rare pang of unease.
'What is it, William? What are you hiding from me?'
Julius leaned back in his chair, his genial smile never faltering,
But inside he had already marked it down—
William would need watching.
He trusted his captains,
But experience had taught him that trust and vigilance must walk hand in hand.
"____"
Yami, for his part, had been silent the entire time.
A lazy drag of his cigarette filled the room with smoke,
But his sharp eyes had caught the same detail Julius had.
His brow furrowed as he exhaled slowly.
Frown~
William, feeling the twin gazes fixed on him, steadied himself.
His breathing evened out,
His stance grew firm, and when his eyes lifted again, calm had returned to them.
But in that fleeting moment—
Just before he regained control—
Julius and Yami both saw it.
His iris glimmered gold, just for a heartbeat, before sliding back into its usual purple hue.
Neither spoke of it.
"____"
"____"
The discussion carried on,
Captains weighing in with their theories on the Eye of the Midnight Sun,
Though nothing new came to light.
Finally, Julius rose with a gentle clap of his hands.
"That will be all. Stay sharp. Whoever this enemy is, the Crown King takes them seriously—and so should we."
One by one, the captains departed.
Their footsteps echoed down the hall until only silence remained.
Yami, however, hadn't moved.
He sat slouched in his chair, arms crossed, cigarette dangling from his lips, the faint ember glowing in the dim chamber.
His dark eyes stared at the empty doorway through which William had just exited.
Julius glanced at him with curiosity.
"Still here, Yami?"
Yami blew out a puff of smoke, his frown deepening.
"Tch… something's fishy about that guy."
Julius's smile faded into something more contemplative, his gaze lingering on the door as well.
"Yes,"
He murmured softly.
"I think you're right."
Yami tapped the ash off his cigarette into the tray, the room dim except for the faint glow.
He didn't bother softening his words.
"____"
"So, what d'you want me to do about him?"
His eyes narrowed toward the door William had left through.
"I could corner him, shake him up a little. Wouldn't take long to see what's under that calm mask of his."
Julius raised a hand lightly, halting him.
His tone was calm, almost casual, but his eyes were sharp.
"No, Yami. Don't confront him—not yet."
Yami arched a brow.
"Tch. You serious? If he's hiding something, the longer we wait, the worse it'll get."
Julius's smile flickered back, though it carried none of its usual warmth.
"Sometimes, the more someone tries to hide, the more they reveal. I want to see just how much William shows us on his own."
"Watch his movements. Notice how often he's absent from Golden Dawn headquarters. If he is truly their leader, then his disappearances should align with the Eye of the Midnight Sun's attacks."
The Wizard King leaned forward, his elbows resting on the polished table.
"Do you remember the old man and his grandchildren—the ones the Crown King saved? William wasn't anywhere near his squad base that day. It struck me as… unusual."
Yami's cigarette smoldered between his fingers, his frown deepening.
"So you're saying—keep him under the microscope, but don't spook him."
"Exactly,"
Julius confirmed with a nod.
Nod~
"If we make a move too soon, he'll bury his tracks deeper. For now, we wait. We observe."
Yami let out a grunt, leaning back again with a plume of smoke.
"Waiting ain't really my style, but fine. I'll keep my eyes open. If that guy sneezes wrong, I'll know."
Julius chuckled softly, though his gaze remained distant, thoughtful.
"Good. Because if my suspicions are correct… then William's secret might shake the Clover Kingdom to its core."
The chamber fell into silence, the heavy tension lingering long after.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N)Thanks for reading the chapter!
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