"Why isn't Cid back yet? Does it really take this long to use the bathroom? Did he fall into the toilet or something?"
Sprawled across a luxurious bed far too extravagant for a low-ranking noble like Kanade, she lay spread-eagled in a complete lack of ladylike decorum, lazily moving her limbs as she maliciously speculated about Cid, whom she hadn't seen for quite some time. He was, after all, the culprit responsible for making her embarrass herself so thoroughly today.
"Hmm... Don't curse him like that. Are you still holding a grudge against Cid, Kanade?"
Christina had only just lain down beside Kanade and turned onto her side with her back to her. Hearing Kanade's voice, she sat up and spoke with a mixture of exasperation and fondness.
Kanade had already told Christina everything about how she and Cid had gotten along today, including Kanade's attempted defection that morning. So from the complaints alone, Christina could tell that Kanade still hadn't gotten over the numerous times Cid had stabbed her in the back today.
"I wouldn't say I'm holding a grudge, but that scheming sadist Cid really went too far. I trusted him so much... And I'm not saying I did nothing wrong. I know what I did was terribly unfair to you, Christina-sama. I repent."
"But Cid really went too far! Ever since we met, he's been using the fact that he's just a tiny bit stronger than me to bully and exploit me. He even keeps a recorder running on him all the time so he can blackmail me! What did I ever do to deserve being treated like this?"
"Everything that went wrong for me today is that bastard Cid's fault! One of these days, once I have power a hundred times greater than his..."
"Sigh..."
Hearing Kanade complain like this, Christina realized she was still dwelling on it and sighed. It wasn't as though there was any truly deep hatred between them. Watching the two mess around with each other was rather entertaining anyway. Besides...
Without making it obvious, Christina glanced sideways at Kanade, who had just sat up, gulped down a huge mouthful of water, let out a low groan, then flopped limply back onto the bed. Christina's lips twitched.
Whether it was Cid or Kanade, the sheer extent of their carefree attitudes continued to redefine Christina's understanding of the word. They could be sulking at each other one moment and make up only a few minutes later. No matter how she looked at them, they simply didn't seem capable of developing some deep, lasting grudge. If everything they had already put each other through hadn't made them fall out, it was difficult to imagine what could possibly bother either of them for long.
"You naturally sadistic, scheming bastard. The day I make it big, I'm sending you straight to the gallows. Then I'll arrange a whole group of gay men to fuck your ass..."
All right, forget what she had just thought. If Cid heard that, even with his good temper, he would probably chop Kanade's head off.
"Enough cursing. When Cid comes back, I'll talk to him for you. He'll probably go easier on you."
Watching Kanade continue to hurl vicious curses at the still-absent Cid, Christina stepped in before her language could escalate any further.
"Really? Thank you so much, Christina-sama! With an order from you, there's no way that guy Cid will dare bully me again... Wait. Something about that sounds wrong. What exactly do you mean by 'go easier on me'?"
Kanade first stared at her in innocent confusion, then seemed to realize something, and her expression turned fearful. Christina merely smiled without saying a word.
The meaning was perfectly clear. She was on Cid's side.
An arrogant turncoat like Kanade still needed someone like Cid to keep her in line from time to time.
"Gah! Why are even you siding with that sadistic schemer, Christina-sama?! Aren't I the vulnerable one here?!"
Kanade cried out in despair. She had never expected even her last lifeline to side with Cid. Once again realizing that she occupied the absolute bottom rung of the hierarchy in this mansion, Kanade nearly broke down in tears.
As for why there were no servants, guards, or bodyguards around, Christina's father had withdrawn all of them for some reason, as though he wasn't remotely worried that anything might happen to the girls.
"Hmm. Still, you do have a point, Kanade. It is a little strange that Cid hasn't come back after all this time. Just in case something happened, I'll go check on him."
It was slightly embarrassing, but half an hour had already passed without any sign of Cid. Unable to completely put her mind at ease, Christina got off the bed and decided to go take a look.
"Ah... Isn't that a little unnecessary? Someone as careless as Cid, the kind of guy who can somehow buy counterfeit goods when he goes shopping, could easily eat something bad by mistake and spend a few hours stuck in the bathroom. I can totally see that happening."
Seeing Christina get up just because of her complaints, Kanade was surprised and quickly tried to talk her out of it.
"Cid bought counterfeit goods?"
"Yeah. Those."
Seeing that Christina's attention had apparently been caught by that remark, Kanade nodded and pointed toward the clock and fountain pen Cid had left on the bedside table.
"Hmm... They really do seem fake. Damn counterfeiters. Anyone who sells shoddy fakes to ordinary citizens is another parasite feeding on the Kingdom."
Christina's gaze moved between the clock, whose hands were completely motionless, and the golden fountain pen that seemed to have shifted slightly. For some reason, she examined them for several extra moments before looking away and cursing through narrowed eyes.
"Forget it. Just thinking about those parasites who do nothing but suck the Kingdom dry makes me angry. I'm going to look for Cid. You get some sleep, Kanade."
"Huh...? You're still going? Can't you just leave him alone? Cid's a grown man. What is there to worry about?"
"Don't be difficult. What you said just now made sense. He's been gone for far too long. Something really might have happened."
Christina took a deep breath to suppress her anger and deliberately avoided looking back at the face of that turncoat Kanade. She was afraid one glance would only add fuel to the fire and make her vent her frustration on her instead.
Giving a perfunctory response, Christina casually picked up the sword beside the bed and disappeared from Kanade's sight, leaving her alone in the room.
"Uh... Does Cid have some incubus blood in him or something?"
Kanade glanced around. With no one else in the silent room and unable to endure the oppressive quiet, she started grumbling to herself.
"He's only known Christina-sama for a few days, and they're already this close. If I weren't here, what else would you two be planning to do? And more importantly... Christina-sama, I knew you first! I was here first! Show some concern for me too! I'm the one who got hurt by that bastard! Waaaaah!!!"
The mansion had excellent soundproofing, so Christina, already walking down the corridor, heard none of Kanade's wailing or jealous complaints.
As she walked slowly through the hallway, Christina unconsciously let out a breath. Dealing with someone whose thought process jumped around as wildly as Kanade's was genuinely difficult for her. She hadn't noticed it while Cid was around, but the moment he left, the pressure suddenly became obvious. No one had ever taught Christina how to deal with someone as shameless as Kanade.
Watching Cid and Kanade mess around had always been entertaining. Their banter naturally lent itself to jokes and retorts, and simply watching from the side was enough to feel their energy.
But Christina had no desire to join in herself. Trying to match Kanade's train of thought on equal footing was exhausting.
She should hurry and bring Cid back. He was much better at talking to Kanade.
As for Christina herself... she would stay on the sidelines and watch. That suited her much better.
Over the past few days, while those parasites infesting the Kingdom had constantly sickened and infuriated her, Christina's only real way to relieve her stress had been watching Cid and Kanade fool around together at night. Simply seeing the peaceful everyday life the two of them shared made Christina feel that all the risks she was taking were worthwhile.
That was precisely why she had been so hurt when she discovered that Kanade had considered betraying her and had even acted on it.
Everything Christina was doing was meant to protect the peaceful lives of ordinary people and make the already decaying Kingdom of Midgar great again. With almost no allies and enemies everywhere, finding out that one of the few trusted confidants she had was a traitor had nearly driven her to do exactly what Kanade had feared. At first, Christina had truly been tempted to send Kanade to the gallows and make an example of her.
Only after she calmed down did she give Kanade a chance to explain herself, and even then, it was largely for Cid's sake.
Thinking about all of this, Christina continued down the corridor at a pace somewhat faster than an ordinary walk.
In the end, all of this was because she was too weak. Because she lacked power.
If Christina had possessed enough strength to oppose the Night Swords Society, or at the very least enough to protect her companions, why would Kanade ever have chosen to run?
It was her fault. She was merely an Earl's daughter who had overestimated herself, failed to recognize the difference in strength, and refused to surrender along with the others.
But...
All she had wanted was to uphold justice, find the people who had disappeared, and keep families who had lost their loved ones from having to weep in grief.
What exactly had she done wrong?
Without realizing it, Christina slowed down.
Dragged down by her gloomy thoughts, she continued forward without making a sound.
"Tap, tap, tap!"
Hmm? Cid?
No!
The moment she heard footsteps, Christina's first thought was Cid, but she immediately rejected it.
Not only were the footsteps clearly coming from several people, with their sounds overlapping chaotically, but they were also mixed with several faint noises of doors opening, as though someone was searching through the mansion to figure out its layout.
Christina stopped abruptly.
Her hand settled on the sword at her waist as she silently crouched down, pressing her back tightly against the wall. Looking toward the floor, she used the shadows cast by the lights to clearly make out several figures moving along the wall as they searched the rooms.
Thieves?
Impossible. They didn't have the nerve.
Which meant...
Christina thought of the former Alliance members who had withdrawn and then died over the past two nights.
The answer immediately came to her.
She turned and sprinted toward the mansion's guest room.
Fortunately, Christina normally didn't attend school in the Royal Capital, so this mansion was merely an unused property belonging to the House of Hope. And since Christina's father had called away all the guards and servants to pressure her into returning home, these strangers had yet to begin slaughtering anyone and had no servants to interrogate about which room Christina was sleeping in.
"Click!"
Christina rushed back into the room. Ignoring Kanade's confused reaction to her returning so quickly, she immediately turned around and locked the door.
Then she hurried to the window, crouched down, and peered through a narrow gap to inspect the surroundings.
"Tch. Damn it. They've already surrounded the place."
After scanning the area several times and spotting multiple black-clad figures moving through the corners outside the mansion, Christina cursed under her breath. The entire estate had already been sealed off.
"Christina-sama, what happened? Why did you come back alone?"
Kanade still didn't understand what was happening, but seeing Christina return alone and immediately lock the doors and windows made it obvious something was wrong. She lowered her voice as she asked.
"..."
Christina turned to look at Kanade, narrowing her eyes at the face of this former traitor. Several seconds later, she let out a heavy sigh.
"The Thirteen Nightblades sent people to kill us. They're still searching for our location, but it won't be long before they find us. We need to find a way out of this ourselves."
"Eh... Mmph!"
Kanade instinctively cried out, only for Christina, who had anticipated exactly that reaction, to cover her mouth.
She didn't let go until Kanade had calmed down.
"Kanade, listen carefully. Right now, there are only the two of us in this house..."
Christina suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Now that she had recovered from the initial shock of encountering the assassins, she remembered why she had left the room in the first place.
"Wait, Christina-sama! They started searching from downstairs. Cid went to the bathroom and still hasn't come back. They probably already killed him."
Kanade clung tightly to Christina's leg as she started to rise and rush downstairs to save him. Despite the crisis, Kanade's mind was working with surprising clarity.
"If Cid hasn't been found yet, then wouldn't rushing out now just expose wherever he's hiding and get him killed? We should be drawing their attention toward us. That's the only way Cid might have a chance to survive."
"..."
She was right.
Christina hadn't smelled any blood when she had gone downstairs earlier.
But now...
Seeing that her argument seemed to be working, Kanade hurriedly continued.
"If Cid is already dead, then the fact that he didn't expose our location before dying means he definitely wouldn't want us to die either. We're all disposable pawns who got sent here because our Houses don't care about us, so we absolutely have to survive! That way, someone will still be around to remember how great Cid was and make a few extra offerings in his memory."
"And besides, charging out when we don't even know what's happening is basically just throwing our lives away, isn't it?" Kanade added in a whisper.
"You're right, Kanade. But Cid may already have been killed."
Christina's voice was subdued.
It wasn't Kanade's attempt to stop her that had made her hesitate.
She could already smell it.
A faint scent of blood was seeping in from beyond the door.
Aside from the three of them, the only people inside this mansion were the black-clad assassins. Since both Christina and Kanade were unharmed, there was only one likely source for that bloody smell.
More importantly, it meant the assassins had already reached this part of the mansion.
"What do we do?"
"We can't wait for them to break down the door. If we do, we're dead. We have to strike first. I'm their main target. Once I draw them away, Kanade, you hide somewhere and slip out."
"Ah, but..."
Christina gave Kanade no time to respond.
Knowing they had no time to waste, she walked to the door, gripped the handle, drew her sword, and burst outside.
"Ugh..."
There were no blades waiting to greet her.
Instead of the encirclement Christina had expected, she was met by nothing but a nauseatingly thick stench of blood.
"Christina-sama?"
Kanade saw Christina stop immediately after stepping outside. Confused, she poked her head through the doorway.
Then she froze too.
Corpses.
The bodies of black-clad men littered the floor.
Christina turned toward the far end of the corridor.
The final man in black collapsed to the ground, revealing the gaunt figure behind him.
A Vampire mask covered the figure's face.
Sensing the two girls' gazes, the figure raised one hand and lifted the Vampire mask, revealing what lay underneath...
A black half-mask?
"Shh..."
The figure raised a finger in front of the mask in a gesture for silence, then tossed the sword taken from one of the black-clad men toward Kanade.
"Shadow?! Kanade!!!"