Gwen stood silently before a body lying inside a coffin. People around her paid respect to it in turns. There were quite a few famous faces. Well, it was natural. Her eldest brother had arranged this funeral after all. Even now, he was surrounded by various figures, talking. It looked tiring, but just as Gwen's job was to research science, Harold's job was to talk and make connections.
Her lips almost curled into a smile, but she was quick to smother it. She looked at the body again, absentmindedly staring at its face.
'I wonder what lucky soul was chosen to be the ninth child of the Cross family?' she wondered idly. 'It's not so easy to receive the attention of our father…'
Her mind was always preoccupied with the research lately, so she was finally taking a well-deserved break thanks to this funeral.
'But I didn't think they'd use the 'Dead sibling' trick for me,' she thought.
Her company must've relayed her hidden message to Harold and the latter must've made the decision.
There were other ways that she could've been forced out, but this method was the least suspicious. After all, who would fake someone's death just so Gwen can enjoy freedom for a little bit? And even if that was true, how would they be able to organize all this?
Many knew of how paranoid Reginald Cross acted, but no one 'really' knew how far the old man was willing to think. Although everyone among the Cross siblings did something different, they were all masters of espionage, cryptology, psychology, and martial arts.
Feeling nostalgic all of a sudden, Gwen soon walked away and got herself a glass of wine. She found an empty room and drank silently inside it.
Elan came into the room. The rumored fourth brother of the Cross family never appeared to the public. Perhaps some people might've wondered who the scarred Asian was, but they wouldn't really give it much thought. After all, most of the people here only realized that there was a Ninth sibling in the Cross Family. It wouldn't be so off if Elan was an acquaintance of the deceased sibling.
"Hello, sister dearest," he greeted as usual. "It's been ages since we've met."
"Only a couple years," Gwen smiled. "These days, that seems to pass in the blink of an eye."
"Don't be so old. You're only 29 this year. With little Roy's death, you'll be the second youngest among us."
"You're still the same cold-hearted bastard…" Gwen sighed at the distasteful comment. "At least have respect for the dead."
"Spare me your feeble sentiments. You and I are not so different."
"At least I know how to forget things."
Gwen and Elan were obviously making up bullshit. They never really had a sibling like Roy, let alone have such a complicated relation him. But they had to do something to make the whole thing feel natural. She wasn't so naïve to think that the One Country wouldn't be keeping an eye on her after she left.
They couldn't outright refuse her leave, as it concerned the death of her sibling, but they couldn't just let her go silently. Especially since they knew Elan wanted information on the #008 – 3. Gwen was sure there was someone eating leftover lunch while listening to their conversation.
Thus, she decided not to mention anything in the first place. Elan, too, realized what she was trying to do, and was playing along.
After some time, Elan subtly asked about the #008 – 3. Naturally, Gwen explained her circumstances. She then hinted that she was being observed and that she'll be kept locked up for a long time.
Elan left soon after. Gwen also walked out of the room. She looked at where Harold was. He was still busy.
'Hmm,' she thought and went back inside the room.
A few minutes later, Harold entered the room. Gwen blinked at him as he leaned down, grabbing her by the chin. He gave her a small peck on the lips as Gwen grasped his hand and loosened her body into his embrace.
At some point, their reunions had become dull like this. If it was five years ago, she was sure he'd be atop him greedily kissing her all over. But it wasn't like they weren't happy seeing each other again.
"It's been a while," he said gently.
"Yeah… A year."
"Soon, we can be together for much longer."
"When does your term end?"
"Eight months later. But I'll be running for presidency again."
"So, another four years. That's not soon."
Gwen and Harold had promised to not meddle with each other's careers and dreams, but Gwen still couldn't not complain. She was still a woman, after all. Wasn't she entitled to act like a clingy bitch now and then?
"It'll fly by before you know it," he said.
"I'm still ten years younger than you. Time doesn't go as fast for me."
"It'll be okay. It's not like we'll never meet before then."
"Sadly, I'll be confined to a certain place for an indefinite amount of time, so we might not be meeting regardless."
"If you'll be confined, then there's no difference even if I'm still president or not."
Gwen wanted to sigh at his dismissive behavior, but she kept it in. She could take her own revenge. She already was.
"What are you up to these days?" Harold asked.
"I'm working for the One Country. And don't bother asking on what."
"I won't. I don't want the One Leader on my ass."
"Boring. Boring. You have to ask me what I can reveal, at least. Weren't you taught by our esteemed father to dig out as much information as possible?"
If Harold wasn't paying attention before, he was definitely on high alert now.
"Alright," Harold nodded. "What can you tell me?" He did well to hide the surprise in his tone.
"As for the things I can say…"
She put her fingers to her lips.
"Let me think. I actually have to think about this carefully."
She caressed Harold's index finger.
"Well, it's definitely gonna be something revolutionary. A couple years later, I'll be one of the people written in history books. Perhaps I'll be even more famous than you?"
She held his head in place and kissed him deeply. She found her passion burning up in her heart once again with this kiss. Apparently, her passion wasn't gone with age, it just took some time to get started.
Her love was true, but the kiss also meant something else.
This was Gwen's revenge against Harold.
'You want to ignore me? I'll see how you feel when I use you as a messenger boy for Elan.'
She blinked one last time to him.
During this whole conversation, she did not hide her eyes from Harold. Although the frequency was slow, she properly managed to convey the words to him through morse.
Although the tracking device attached to her wrist was difficult to fool, it wasn't anything perfect. There were a few ways to relay information without it noticing it. Such a feat was especially easy for Gwen, or anyone else from the Cross family. Especially since they frequently employed codes known only to them.
Given enough time, Gwen could convey entire essays to the others without getting caught.
Of course, she had no need for such a thing. Elan only needed to know one sentence.
'Tell Four Enter Experiment Do Spirit Bond.'
***