__________ POV Narration__________
Momoze stood around in her room, to her, it felt a lot emptier than usual. An empty bed was placed in the corner of the room.
Even though it was Ashton's, she always ended up sleeping in it too. And it made her feel strange that it was empty now.
Sure, she wasn't pleased with the old scientist's actions. But, after thinking about it a bit more, she realised he meant well.
It was a bit too late though, the weakness she had shown made Ashton doubt his actions and his support of her.
He would keep protecting her, just like he said, but he would stay away from her in every other aspect.
That's why, even though Momoze's room was filled with luxury, it felt bleak.
She hoped he would come back, maybe his task was taking longer than expected? But she became more and more concerned after half of the night passed her by.
Had something happened to him? No, that was unlikely. Ashton was strong, she had seen that with her own eyes.
Eventually, she passed out, falling on her bed. The day had been tiring for her too. She drifted off in silence. Hoping to be woken up by the door every minute.
But that didn't happen. She woke up early in the morning, her sleep not as restful as before. There was no source of warmth anywhere near her.
Ashton was gone. And she didn't know what to do.
Later, the news of the king's death was broadcasted throughout the ship. Telling people the appearance of the killer and to be on the lookout.
That made Momoze realise that the plan had succeeded. Well, not entirely, she knew there was no guard of that appearance between the infected ones.
Which meant that Ashton needed to take care of things himself... Something that made Momoze extremely disappointed in herself.
She was quite confident in her plan, especially after the first parts went so smoothly. She forgot to take into account her father's Nen beast.
It was quite a critical mistake. If Ashton didn't kill the king he would've surely snuffed out the infected guards, and he would've been able to tell which of his offsprings tried to kill him.
Thankfully, now the attention was focused on another group entirely.
But that still made Momoze uneasy. She took Ashton's departure as him also being disappointed in her. And, all she could do was sit there and cry.
Her servants tried to console her, but there wasn't much they could do. She felt like she had ruined everything. Including the relationship, she had built with Ashton.
It was short-lived, but she could confidently say that she loved him.
She had no way of knowing that Ashton didn't blame her all that much for anything that was happening.
He was just distancing himself from others... Like he usually does.
__________ POV Ashton__________
The news of the king's death was sent out about as I expected. The hunters were quickly asked to take care of the Phantom Troupe.
But actually finding them will be difficult for the hunters to do.
This ship was large and the vast majority of it was unguarded. It would take months to find their hideout, and they don't have months.
They are not dull enough to believe that the Troupe will not depart this evening. Even if they do their best to stop them, cracks will still appear.
And Chrollo is well known for not being caught. I surprisingly received a phone call, it's what woke me up.
"Hello..." A timid voice, somewhat recognizable. Oh, it's the new chairman, Cheadle.
"Yes, good morning Cheadle. It's been a while." I said in my usual tone.
I heard a sigh of relief from the other end. I guess she wasn't sure I was still using this phone number? I mean, this is my backup, I gave it to her just so she had a way to contact me.
It would be a bit rude to just turn it off completely.
"It certainly feels like a long time... It's been quite stressful for me..." Gods, I hope she didn't call to talk about her life's hardships.
That's something Netero used to do. And he certainly took our calls like a free therapy session sometimes. Even though I might've needed a therapy session more than he did.
"I see... So, would you like to speak about this over a cup of coffee?" I said in a friendly tone.
"I-I would love to! But there's not much time left... I need your help..." Great, exactly what I expected.
Why else would anyone ever call me? It's not like I have any other friend than Netero...
"Sure. What do you need?" My tone didn't change, but its friendly nature is a bit more strained. I doubt she'd actually notice such a subtle change though.
"I'm sure you've heard of the Kings assassination..." She said in a frustrated tone.
"Of course I did. There's not much happening on this ship that can escape my ears." I said in a confident tone. I obviously realized something of this nature would happen.
It's actually part of my overall plan.
"W-wait! So you knew the king was going to be assassinated." Well, it's something I implied in my sentence. I'm glad I don't need to spell it out for her in a more obvious way.
It's something I need her to know. Otherwise, Chrollo will use his connection to me to manipulate them into believing I had more to do with the assassination.
That would make an innocent man like me look guilty.
"Of course I did. But the lard isn't really an important person to me. So I had no reason to help him..." I said with a cold tone.
"A-Ashton! Please be careful... Those words might get you in trouble!" Yep, this conversation is likely being tapped into. But here is where my political immunity comes into play.
The old fucks (Other members of the V6) already know of my capabilities. If I feigned ignorance about such a large act then I'd look suspicious.
Claiming to know about it and not doing anything about it might get some scrutiny thrown my way. But they can't do anything to me. Not over such accusations.
As long as they have no proof of my murder of the king then I'm golden. As for the throwing knife, the one I let the guard captain keep...
The model I used to kill the king is the only one I had. The rest I have aren't that curved, only being small throwing knives.
"Don't worry your pretty head over that... It doesn't matter all that much." I said in a friendlier tone. I don't know if this was for her own safety or not, but she showed some concern towards me.
I can appreciate something like that. It's been a while since I've had anyone be concerned about me... Momoze and Kurapika consider me too powerful to be worried over.
"I-I see... So, will you help us catch the culprits?" There it is. It's going exactly as I told Kurapika it would go.
"Sure. But I'd like to have a helper for catching them..." I said as a smile spread on my face.
Cheadle calling for my aid and me asking for Kurapika as a partner is what I had in mind. This is going quite smoothly.
All that's left for me to do now is to face my old student...
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