The next morning Lea and Dwyl flew to the capital with a private jet. The flight took less than an hour, and she just couldn't understand why they didn't take a car. It would only take a little bit longer. Lea wondered if she could ever get used to such a rich life.
The grounds around the presidential palace were huge. There were multiple buildings on the grounds, and it felt to Lea more like an empty city full with neatly arranged gardens. It was beautiful, but lacked vibrancy.
They had to drive in a car for quite a while before they saw the main building, the actual presidential palace. It was located in the middle of the grounds and stood high and mighty. It was white with touches of gold, and had a lot of windows that reflected the sun which made it a bit hard to look at.
When a servant opened the door Dwyl left the car first. There was a golden carpet placed on the ground that led to the entrance of the palace. William stepped on it with grace.
Lea almost didn't want to step on the spotless carpet. It looked brand new.
[It is not a crime to step on this, right?]
[Dwyl: Don't be ridiculous. It's a carpet, they are meant to be stepped on. Of course it isn't a crime.]
[Just making sure.]
Only after being assured by Dwyl did she dare step out of the car. By the entrance stood tens of servants neatly by the side of the carpet. They all wore uniforms and had serious expressions on their faces. It felt more like they were attending a funeral than welcoming home their young master.
A man in his late twenties, with dark brown hair and a sharp jaw that exuded masculinity, stepped forward. "Welcome back, young master William." He had a deep voice that seemed devoid of emotion.
[Is he our protagonist?]
[Dwyl: Yes, Mason Miller, or with his fake identity Mason Mason.]
Lea rolled her eyes. [How original.]
"Good to be back, Mason," William said. "The journey was quite exhausting. I'd like to take a bath immediately. You also need to arrange a room for miss King. One of the good ones. She is my esteemed guest."
Mason glanced at Kailey. His eyebrow rose almost imperceptibly. This was the first time the president's son had ever called someone an esteemed guest, and it wasn't even another leader's daughter. The girl before him was just a normal civilian judging by her clothes, not even an incredibly beautiful one. Why would William Wright, an arrogant, narrow-minded, spoiled rich brat who never had to keep to any rule or law, bring such an average girl home? It certainly couldn't be because he was attracted to her. Maybe she was a talented singer, dancer or something else, but if that was the case William wouldn't call her an esteemed guest. He would just force her to come work for him. Something fishy was going on. Mason was determined to find out what.
"Right away, sir," Mason nodded. "But I'm afraid your bath will have to wait. The president requests your presence."
"I feared as such." William rubbed his temple. The thought about the lecture he was going to receive gave him a headache. Dwyl liked being in this body, since there was only one person in the entire world that he needed to listen to. But there was still that one annoying person; this body's father, the president. But Dwyl could handle it, besides it wouldn't be fun if he could really do anything he wanted without a challenge. A bit of drama always livened things up.
"Is he in his usual office?"
"Yes." Mason confirmed.
"Good. I want you to personally take miss King to her room while I have a talk with father."
"Of course." This was the perfect opportunity for Mason to find out more about this mysterious girl. Maybe she would even be able to provide him valuable information for his underground organization The Criminals. It would be even better if he could recruit her, with the way young master Wright treated her she could really be an asset.
William started walking off, but Lea stopped him. "You're leaving me alone?" It wasn't that she was scared or something, but she has been getting weird vibes from Mason. His aura reminded her of Sun, although she couldn't pinpoint what exactly made it similar. They looked nothing alike at all. But when she thought of Sun her mood went a bit sour. She had been locked up, just like a little dark room fantasy, but without all the fun that went with it because Sun's touch almost literally put her skin on fire. That disappointment had brought a shadow on her heart. Better be with someone who can put thoughts to action!
Dwyl who peeked inside Lea's mind was a bit surprised by her intuition. Maybe his host wasn't as stupid as he had thought. "It will only take a moment and Mason will take good care of you. If something goes wrong for some inexplicable reason you know how to contact me."
After saying that Dwyl left towards the president's office, but to put Lea more at ease he also gave her a telepathic message. [You'll be fine. I trust Mason with my entire heart.]
This sentence caught Lea's attention. Dwyl trusts Mason with his entire heart? Suspicious. Is it because he is the main character in a world created by Writer or because maybe William has a crush on Mason? Dwyl did say that he and William were one, she just hadn't taken that statement serious before. But now that she thought about the possibility of William and Mason becoming a couple, her fujoshi-mind couldn't let it go. That would be such a good story! An undercover criminal having a secret love affair with one of the elite he is planning to take down… So romantic and exciting! They looked good together to. She definitely had to make that happen!
Dwyl was her system, and it said she could do whatever she liked, so he really couldn't refuse such a simple request, right? Especially if her assumption was correct and William – the character Dwyl was playing – had a crush on Mason.
She glanced at Mason. He was the one she was worried about the most. According to the world background he hated the elites, but that shouldn't be a problem if he could see the good in William. And if Dwyl worked with her, that would be a piece of pie. Yes, this plan should work.
Mason was just finishing giving instructions to the other servants, before turning to Kailey. Their eyes met and an inexplicable thrill went through his body. "Miss King, follow me."
Lea was also shaken by their eyes meeting. Mason's tone of voice was very monotone and lacked emotion, but his eyes were completely different. They seemed to contain thousands of feelings, waiting to be discovered; anger, sadness, frustration and curiosity. It was the first time Lea saw such outspoken eyes.
The presidential palace was like a maze. There were hundreds of stairs and hallways. Lea had no idea what direction they came from or where they were going. If the revolution by any chance came earlier she would have a hard time escaping.
"Mason, can I ask you a question?" They had been walking through the palace in silence. His eyes had stunned her so much that she was in a daze for a long time and had only just woken up from it.
"You don't have to ask that, miss King. You are free to ask me whatever you like," he answered.
"What do you think about William?" Lea knew he wouldn't answer completely truthfully since talking and thinking bad about the president's family was illegal, but maybe Mason would slip up, since he was a genetic exception.
The question put Mason on guard. Was this woman maybe hired by William to test his personnel on irregularities? He immediately dismissed this possibility, if that was so he wouldn't give her a preferential treatment. It was easier to spy on people when you don't draw the attention, because people are often more open to persons of the same rank.
"I think he is a splendid young man, and will rule our country with wisdom and grace in the future." Mason despised himself for saying that, but he had no other choice. He had to keep this position as head butler no matter what. If he got discovered the Criminals mission would suffer a huge blow.
Despite Mason keeping a neutral face, his eyes revealed his disgust. Lea wondered how he could have kept up this undercover identity for so long. Are people blind? His eyes show all his thoughts! Was this the so called protagonist halo, that she has read so much about?
"There is no doubt about that," Lea didn't believe what she said herself. After spending an entire day with William she knew how arrogant, spoiled and selfish William was. Not even thinking about Dwyl who just did everything it wanted. The country wouldn't go to ruin, but she was sure the life of the people wouldn't be better off. Just the thought about Dwyl ruling the country, made her want to laugh. She could already imagine the disasters that would cause.
Lea was thinking all these things, without taking into consideration that she herself was thinking badly about someone from the president's family and that unlike Mason Kailey's body and mind weren't free. Without noticing it, instead of turning a corner, Lea stepped straight into a wall and fell on her behind. This was her punishment for not following the law.
"Ouch! My nose! Is it broken?" Lea screamed. Her nose hurt like hell and when she touched it her hand became bloody.
Mason was stunned by this accident. There was no way miss King hadn't seen the wall. She walked towards it as if she needed to punish herself for a crime.
Unfortunately he didn't have the time to think about the implications, because Mason had more urgent things to think of like keeping his life! It didn't matter that he wasn't responsible, if William Wright heard about how miss King was injured while he was supposed to take care of her, he would be doomed. Forget about being fired and losing this great undercover position, William would probably order his execution. Mason himself had needed to dispose of bodies of servants that had made far less grave mistakes.
The only chance he had of surviving this, was getting miss King on his side. Running away was a cowards option. He'd rather die than abandon his cause. Mason immediately went into action and called for a doctor with his earpiece and went to check up on Kailey's situation.
He kneeled in front of her. "Let me see how serious it is."
Kailey removed her hands from her face and let Mason take a look at it.
"It doesn't look to bad. Just a lot of blood." Mason took a clean hanky from his pocket and started wiping of the blood. "Hold your head down until the doctor arrives. She will make sure you're okay."
Lea did as Mason told. "Thank you. I'm sorry for being so clumsy."
"No need to thank me. Instead I should apologize for not paying better attention. I could've prevented the collision."
"It is not your fault," Lea mumbled, having trouble breathing and speaking with her nose clogged up. "Besides you couldn't have prevented it even if you tried. It was my own stupidity that caused this."
"Then…" Mason wasn't sure about what he was going to ask, but he had no other choice. "I know I am in no position to do this, but I would like to ask for a favor."
"A favor?" Lea liked where this was going. If she gave him a favor, Mason owed her something. That would mean her plan of matching William and Mason would be way easier!
"Yes. This event can have serious consequences for my position here, so I would like to ask for your help."
"How?"
"Asking for my services and speaking a good word about me would be enough, I think."
"Sure, but you owe me, alright?"
"Of course."
Not long after the deal was made the doctor came and treated Kailey's nose.