WHACK!
"Ouch!!"
"What the fuck were you thinking?! Were you trying to wreck this house?!" Charlotte scolds Albert immediately after hitting him on the head. It happened just as we were teleported back to the living room of the North Wing Tower.
"You!!!"
"Cut it out, Black!" Sara intervenes before another drama unfolds between Charlotte and Albert. If I hadn't "frozen" Albert, I believe he would have retaliated, potentially hurting Charlotte by accident.
"Please, you two... can you calm yourselves down and set aside your problems, at least for now?" Sara asks, though it sounds more like an order to the couple.
"Okay," Albert snorts while Charlotte reluctantly nods.
"Thank you. Now, please, all of you, sit down," Sara instructs again.
"Would you set me free, man?" Albert asks me. I glance at Sara. Once she nods her approval, I jab my index finger into the same spot where I froze him, releasing him.
After we all sit down, Sara exhales heavily and starts the meeting. "Okay... has anyone realized how long we've been together?"
"Fourteen years," we answer, almost in unison—except for Fred.
"Right. To be exact, this year marks our fifteenth year as Royal Knights," Sara says, exhaling again. "And do you remember what Madam said in her speech when we were 'crowned' Royal Knights?"
We exchange glances before shaking our heads.
"She said: Every fifteen years, the organization selects a group of prodigies to serve as Royal Knights. Well, it wasn't exactly like that, but that was the gist of it."
"And...?" Lily prompts.
"I've done some research, and it turns out we're actually the first group to be called Royal Knights. However, this tradition has been ongoing for centuries, though the groups had different names. It went on hiatus thirty years ago after the betrayal of the Seven Slayers."
"Okay, so...?" I ask, still unable to connect the dots.
"Well, I couldn't find any information about what happened to the chosen prodigies after they were replaced by new ones," Fred chimes in.
"We know what happened to the Seven Slayers," Sara continues.
"We can't draw conclusions based on that alone. The Seven Slayers betrayed the organization," Charlotte voices our shared thoughts.
"Besides, there weren't computers, let alone the internet, back in the day," I add, giving another reason to dismiss Sara's analysis. "So it's normal if you couldn't find anything." I glance at Fred for confirmation. "Right?"
"It wouldn't be, considering I found records of other historical chapters dating back centuries. I even uncovered information about our predecessors while they were still active," Fred counters.
"Where did you find it?"
Fred grins widely. "I happened to locate the organization's archive server. Surprisingly, its security isn't that strong."
"You just admitted to hacking the organization," I say, impressed.
Fred grins proudly.
"Anyway..." Sara redirects the conversation. "As a rebuttal to your opinion, Black, the betrayal of the Seven Slayers was limited to resigning from the organization. They left due to internal disputes. The remaining members all became ordinary civilians afterward."
Fred adds, "The organization also keeps records of every predecessor's missions, their successes, failures, and mistakes..."
"Wow... do you think they have records about us?" Albert asks.
"What do you think?" Sara replies with a rhetorical question.
"If the organization considers mistakes as betrayals..." I trail off ominously, leaving my sentence unfinished.
"Well, I'm doomed," Lily declares, throwing herself against the couch. "Not only did I make mistakes, but I outright disobeyed Madam's rules," she says, chuckling in despair.
"And I helped you," Charlotte says with a wry grin.
"I covered for both of you," Bruno adds, ending with a chuckle.
I laugh. "How about me? I literally tried to kill Madam."
Everyone bursts into laughter at my comment.
"After what I did to the forest today, my name is definitely on the list," Albert says with a loud sigh.
"And when they find out who hacked their servers, I'll be on it too," Fred quips.
"Yeah, we've all betrayed the organization," I conclude before turning to Sara. "Except you."
Sara shrugs. "I let you all do it," she replies nonchalantly. "Whether intentionally or not, I allowed every mistake you made."
She looks directly at me. "I let you go to Madam's house that day. I knew what you were going to do. I didn't expect you to try to kill her, but I knew you wanted to confront her."
She shifts her gaze to Fred. "I asked you to gather information." Then to Bruno and Lily. "Though I didn't plan for what you did, I did ask Bruno to cover for you."
Sara exhales deeply. "Let's not panic just yet. This is still an assumption. The probability is 50-50."
"So... how do we confirm it?" I ask, certain she already has a plan.
"We read her mind," Sara answers with a sly grin.
All eyes reflexively turn to Charlotte.
"Can you read Madam's mind?" Lily asks.
"Not easily. I can only enter her mind if she's persuading," Charlotte clarifies.
"There's a New Year celebration the day after tomorrow," Sara begins. "As always, we're invited. At the party, I'll engage Madam in conversation while Black stays close enough to observe without being noticed. I'll create a situation where Madam persuades me, and that's when Charlotte can read her mind."
"What situation?" Bruno asks.
"I'll ask about our retirement. I expect she'll try to persuade me against it," Sara explains.
"Will that give Charlotte enough time to dig into her mind?" I ask.
"It depends on how deep I need to go," Charlotte replies.
"I don't think this plan will give her enough time," I say. "And Madam is always suspicious of you, Sara. If you approach her and suddenly talk about retirement, she might get defensive and guard her mind."
"You have a point," Sara murmurs. "Any ideas?"
Silence lingers for a few minutes.
"I'll do it," I say finally, drawing everyone's attention.
"Are you sure?" Lily asks. "Haven't you been avoiding her for years?"
"Exactly. She'll be intrigued by my presence, which might lower her guard," I explain, then turn to Sara. "What do you think?"
"It's possible," she murmurs. "But how will you get her to persuade you?"
"I'm thinking of bringing up my family. I'll make the conversation emotional enough to cause a commotion, forcing her to persuade me to calm down."
Albert raises an eyebrow. "You... emotional? Really?"
"Death always gets emotional about his loved ones," Lily answers with a chuckle. "Don't you remember when he confronted Madam for Mila's sake? Or why he didn't want to hoin bakc the Royal Knights?"
I nod. "It's true. I need help crafting the conversation, though, King."
"Remember, I can't undo her persuasion," Charlotte warns. "If she persuades you to do something dangerous, like turning against us, it could ruin everything."
"It's risky, but it has the highest chance of success," Sara says.
"It's still dangerous," Charlotte insists.
After another long silence, Sara speaks. "I'll accompany Death. If Madam's persuasion becomes too dangerous, I'll intervene and shift the conversation."
"That sounds better," Bruno agrees, with Albert nodding in agreement.
"Still risky," Charlotte says, and Lily nods.
"Be careful, Death," Lily says with genuine concern.
"Don't worry. I know my mother well," I reply, hoping to ease their worries.