"Did you get everything right?" Scarlet asked for the hundredth time since they stepped foot in the room.
"I already told you that everything is fine!" Julian whisper-yelled as he got the butler blazer off, changing into the dark navy jumpsuit that the others were already wearing. Even West and the others outside must be in that same outfit.
Except for Scarlet. She was still in her light blue chiffon dress; her part hadn't yet ended as a count's daughter. She had to go down there again and do the thing that she hated the most—socialize with nobles' spoiled brats that were supposed to be her age.
Maybe it was because she spent her early childhood in the slums that she was more mature than the others her age. She was only 17 and turning 18 soon. But still, there must be something better they could do other than gossip about each other.
Their ignorance never failed to get on her nerves.
"Scarlet, are you ready?" West spoke through the in-ear.
She nodded even though she knew he wouldn't see. "Yes, I'm moving out right now," she said. "It's going to take me 30 minutes to finish everything down there. Let's hope that these nobles won't linger on me for long."
"Don't worry about that. We have already planned everything out so that your absence wouldn't affect us by any means," West confirmed. "You do your best to not grab unwanted attention."
She was silent, and West knew that she had nothing to argue since this was already decided over a week ago—the day that West decided they had to do this job out of nowhere.
Though the decision that her presence wasn't going to be added to the plan wasn't an easy one for her to come to peace with.
"You are a noble too, Scarlet," West said that night. "You are going to be down there, and the amount of variables that can go wrong is too much of a risk. I can't base my plan on moveable variables like this."
He said those words and left her there in a daze with nothing else said. But she was now over that; there was no place for these feelings here. One wrong move would get them all done.
"Are you sure that they are going to agree to what we demand?" Scarlet asked out loud.
Her voice resonated through everyone's ears, making them halt their movements and look at her. The room was dimly lit from the inside by the lamplight coming from the lantern on the sidewall; the curtains were drawn shut to hide the equipment that was smuggled inside, hidden in the boxes that were supposed to be for charity.
"Now is no time to ask this," West simply said.
He was hiding something. They all knew but decided to let it slide—they would come to know when the time was right, and she knew that.
"Move out," said West.
She took a deep breath and turned to look at the other four. "I'll take the key with me, and you will be able to leave once," she said, gesturing at the door that could be opened with the keycard or from the inside. "Under no circumstances should you return here."
They looked at each other and nodded. No traces should be left behind; they all made sure to have gloves on as they handled everything.
"I will signal when it's time," said Scarlet before she walked to the door.
"When tyranny becomes law," Scarlet uttered.
"Rebellion becomes duty," they replied in unison.
Even West, on the other side of the building, replied. The quote that he first told all of them—something that he had gotten from a history book, he said. Something from centuries ago, way before all of this happened.
And she was gone, locking the door behind her to keep the others inside as she got her part done. "All you have to do is press the button when you are down there," she repeated to herself.
The journey down to the lounge was shorter than she would have liked it to be. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by nobles.
"I can't believe my eyes."
Scarlet turned around to see a familiar face. She simply smiled. "It's been a while now, Naomi," said Scarlet.
"It's been ages since I've seen you at school," Naomi exclaimed. "I have heard that it's because of your health. Are you okay now?" She took Scarlet's hands in hers.
Scarlet saw how genuine she was. She couldn't say that all the nobles were at fault for what's happening to the world, and she was certain that Naomi wasn't one of them. She held her head up to stare at those warm, honey-colored eyes.
Scarlet pulled her hands away, clasping them back together in front of her, hoping that Naomi didn't feel the rough skin on her palms from all the training she had had—the calluses from the firm grip on her rifle. The complete opposite of what this girl had been doing in her daily routine.
"Please forgive me," she thought as she looked at that innocent face. She prayed to all the gods out there that she wouldn't get hurt, that no one would. West reassured them that no shots would be made, no triggers would be pulled. But even she knew that when things go south, there is no plan other than the instinct of survival—and that is kill or get killed.
"My health is fine," Scarlet finally spoke as she smiled genuinely. "It felt stifling in the house, so I offered to go out for a while."
"That was a good decision, I assure you!" Naomi smiled joyfully. "Come on! Most of the class is here, and they would be so pleased to see you again!"
The way that Naomi took hold of her arm and dragged her left her no choice but to comply. After all, this was what she had been sent here to do—to socialize for 20 minutes and excuse herself later.