Harris stopped walking at Brissia's answer.
"I told you to tell me later," Harris muttered with his head bowed deeply. "We need to focus on the mission, Brissie. How can I focus after you… said that?"
It also made Brissia stop.
"I have to say that to keep us from falling too far into the pit," she said dryly.
"And do you think it's fair to say that when we've already reached the abyss?" Harris turned to face Brissia.
Brissia fell silent when she saw Harris's hurt expression. Regret sank into her chest. She should have known that anything she did as an agent would be done with Harris as long as they were employed by the same institution.
"Hey, you two! Oh, thank goodness your five minutes went smoothly."
Both of them looked away as Debora approached them with a look of relief. Behind her, there were their colleagues.
"Miss Savior and I had our conversation. Sorry for keeping you waiting," said Debora, embracing Brissia and Harris with a small grin.
"Get down to business. Where do we go from here?" asked Harris, pushed away Debora's hand.
Debora was taken aback by Harris's attitude, but then her expression returned to normal. "Drey suggested we have lunch together before going undercover. Are you joining us?"
Brissia glanced at Harris who looked reluctant. However, in the end....
"Okay," Harris said nonchalantly.
Debora's little enthusiastic shriek was followed by the low cheers of the rest of their colleagues. At the same time, Brissia found Benjamin walking toward the editorial office.
"Ben!"
The man in the top hat stopped walking. His turquoise eyes were fixed on the shoulder-length haired girl who was stepping toward her, away from her colleagues. Next, Harris's cold gaze landed on him.
"Morning, Brissia," Benjamin said, smiling politely as he took off his hat.
"I'm flattered you called me by that nickname, but didn't I keep them waiting?"
"No, I won't be long, Ben. What're you gonna do in the editorial office?"
Benjamin snorted in his charismatic smile. "What happened there to make you look so worried, Brissia?"
Brissia's lips pressed together tightly. She was convinced that everyone she encountered would be aware of where Gierra and Nicholas were. However, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy when it came to Benjamin.
"Nothing. Just… don't hesitate to call Debora if the bandits show up again, will you?"
Benjamin let out a chuckle. "But what if the one I want to face them is you, Brissia?"
Benjamin's warm gaze met Brissia's confused gaze.
"The world should witness your valor."
The silence between them didn't last long as Harris walked in between them.
"Enough with the courtesy talk," said Harris, turning Brissia around and dragging her toward his colleagues.
Benjamin simply smiled as he put his hat back on, walking to the editorial office without removing his smile.
Until his steps reached the wooden floor of a room with reddish-brown walls and his gaze met the gazes of two youths in modern clothes, a flash of image struck his mind.
"Ah… Gierra, Nicholas, long time no see you both," Benjamin said, smiling slightly at Gierra and Nicholas who got up from their sitting positions.
***
Brissia sipped her drink at the long table, ignoring Debora who spoke to their colleagues in enthusiastic tone. The shoulder-length haired girl occasionally glanced at the hazel-eyed man, who was eating his food while listening to the words of his male colleague beside him.
"...So, don't ever bring up my name again in—"
"Yeah, okay, gotcha," Brissia cut Debora's words in a tired tone, which caught the attention of all her colleagues. But of those who had been paying attention to Brissia, only Harris had stared at her longer than the others.
She got up from her seat and walked in another direction. While all of his colleagues were engrossed in conversation, for some reason Harris felt compelled to follow Brissia. Until he found the answer as soon as he arrived behind the tavern.
"Cough!"
Brissia lowered her head, covering her mouth with the palm of her right hand. The color of the deep abyss shone through the crow symbol on the nape of her neck.
Grip!
Harris, who suddenly turned Brissia's body in front of her, made Brissia's eyes widen. While she was staring at Harris, the man's gaze was drawn to the thick red liquid on her palm.
"Get away from me!"
He stepped back with a surprised look as she pushed him away, turning her back to him. He didn't blink as he noticed the girl's shaky breathing and trembling shoulders.
After wiping the red stain with the hem of her dark blue uniform, Brissia turned slowly to Harris. Her breath hitched at the expression of the man in front of her. Even without words, Brissia could sense his feelings through her gaze.
"What am I supposed to do, Brissie?"
Brissia bit her lower lip at his low voice that was replete with pity and despair. Turning her head away, she replied, "Try to act as if you weren't there."
Harris's gaze landed on the floor for a moment before he nodded listlessly.
As Harris turned and left her, Brissia's body slumped against the wall. Her gaze was blank as she recalled how she pushed the man away. Every time she looked into his hazel eyes after that incident in the hall, her heart throbbed with guilt.
"What can I do when the familiar sun sets into the frigid deep ocean?" she muttered to herself.
As the red tinge left the western horizon, six SURVIVE agents were on their way toward a magnificent hall. Brissia, wearing a dark blue A-line chiffon dress with a low V-neckline, walked into the main hall with Harris in a navy tuxedo beside her.
"Brissa! Dance with Harris!"
A giant crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling spotted the elegantly dressed people dancing on the marble floor. Harris looked at Brissia who was merely standing in front of him, making the two of them the only couple not dancing in the room.
"Don't worry too much."
A voice that used to make her laugh and tease him back was eventually left her in deep silence. When she took Harris's hand and started dancing with him, she began to ponder. How could the warmth she felt from the man's hand made her heart ache? Why did she want that warmth and feel discouraged at the same time?
"Ladies and gentlemen…"
Brissia, Harris, and every other guest in the room shifted their focus on a man who was standing at the low stage wearing a silver tuxedo.
"We're glad to have you at the eleventh Archtier Peace Celebration in this hall. Hopefully, this celebration will bring eternal peace to Archtier, our home," he said.
Hearty applause filled the room. Silver and gold glittering paper fell from above slowly, causing the guests to cheer enthusiastically.
"Brissie, just a moment..."
As Harris stroked Brissia's hair, she turned her head. The scent that wafted from his body reminded her of the cool breeze in a wide meadow in a valley, brown leaves flying in the air, and the blue sky on a chilly day.
Harris's hand, which was holding the silver glitter paper, froze beside Brissia's left ear. Staring at the beauty that stood before him would not make him forget the wound his heart had received. However, his fixed gaze on her seemed to express his willingness to have his heart broken in order to keep that beauty shining.
"If I can't make you enjoy this party..."
Brissia blinked in surprise as Harris took his hand away from her.
"...Maybe your friends can," he said, moving slightly to the side to give Brissia room to look behind him.
Brissia's eyes widened. Among the party crowd, Gierra in a calf-length yellow dress stood beside Nicholas who was wearing a dark red suit. Benjamin stood in front of them, listening to a man who spoke with a cordial smile on his face.
"No. I don't want to force my smile in front of them."
"Who says you have to force it, Brissie?" Harris said, laughing softly.
Brissia smiled a little at that. As warmth flowed through her veins, she stepped toward her friends.
"My goodness, Brissia! You're so gorgeous! Where's your boyfriend?"
Gierra's excited speech made Benjamin and Nicholas turn to Brissia, who stopped in front of them without a smile.
"Partner," Brissia corrected, making Nicholas smile worriedly and drag Gierra away from Brissia.
"Sure, 'partner'," Nicholas said with a grimace. "What are you here for, Bris?"
"I should have asked that," Brissia replied, glancing at Benjamin. However, before she could speak to him, she saw Benjamin receiving an antique carved box from a man in a silver tuxedo.
Her suspicion turned to wariness as she remembered the specific instructions SURVIVE gave her and her colleagues. Ignoring Gierra and Nicholas calling her name, Brissia walked over to Benjamin and nudged him hard on the shoulder.
Clack!
The fallen box caught the attention of the entire party. A golden dagger inside fell onto the marble floor of the ballroom, split in half, and revealed white powder splattered on the floor.
Everyone gasped, except for Brissia and the agents. Benjamin stared at it in disbelief for a moment before looking coldly at the man in the silver tuxedo before him, who was looking around nervously.
"Were you trying to inflict your evil on me?"
The silver tuxedo man laughed sarcastically as he checked how the party guests were looking at him. "How could I, Mr. Stuart?! I'm only leaving this thing to you because your family is known to be adept at guarding rare collectibles."
Brissia walked over to the silver tuxedoed man when she saw his hand about to take something out of his coat pocket.
"Watch out!"
Quickly, Brissia held the man's hand who was about to throw a small bag at Benjamin. The guests who ran to the eight exits were guarded by Harris and his colleagues while several other people in black suits rushed to close all the doors.
"Ouch!"
"Brissia!"
The loose bond of the pouch made the black powder inside spill out a bit and sprinkled on Brissia's wrist, which she didn't expect would weaken her strength.
"Tsk, you were the one who asked for it!" the man in the silver tuxedo grumbled while pushing Brissia, about to run away.
"Brissia, use it," Benjamin said, quickly passing a rectangular object to her—her cellphone.
With a small nod, Brissia took it.
"Hey, you left something!"
The man in the silver tuxedo looked back as Brissia called out loudly at him. But then, a blinding light made his let out a yelp and close his eyes in an instant. When he opened his eyes, suddenly he was an inch away from Brissia.
Thud!
Brissia knocked out the man. Harris held him down to his knees on the floor and Debora came with a colleague, handcuffing the man's wrists.
As the man in the silver tuxedo was led out of the hall, the eight doors opened again.
"I didn't find anyone suspicious other than him," Harris said, approaching two of his colleagues as the guests made their way to the exit.
"Neither did I. Seems like he's a mere bait," said his colleague as he walked him out of the hall.
Harris's brows furrowed. But then, his attention was diverted to Brissia, who limped over to Gierra and Nicholas.
"Bris! What happens?!" he asked.
While handing the cellphone in her hand to Gierra, Brissia rubbed her nape. A scorching heat radiated from her wrist all over her body. Her memory of the black powder touching her skin flashed as her vision grew blurry.
Harris caught her body as she staggered with her eyes closed. He then said something to Debora before asking Benjamin to lend a place for Brissia to rest for a while.
The party that night ended with all the guests leaving before twelve o'clock. The news about a group of blue crows stopping the distribution of the forbidden powder spread to everyone through the newspapers, including the black-haired woman who was sitting behind the teak table in the high-roofed room.
"Ah, these lovely crows make me miss Archtier and its memories," said the woman with a knowing smile.