Cassie and Sunny were situated at opposite ends of the table, looking at their respective pieces of cake.
On the side of the table, Kai and Aiko sat next to each other, staring at the two.
"So... what do you think happened?" Aiko asked Kai as she put a small slice of cake in her mouth.
"I'm... not sure. I mean, you saw them at the ball; they were... pretty touchy." Kai replied.
Aiko nodded at Kai's response. "But... wasn't Nephis like... some kind of lover to Sunny? They had the chemistry, and you could see it in their eyes, not going to lie, but..."
Aiko pushed another slice into her mouth. "I think she loved him."
Kai sighed as he took a small cloth and wiped Aiko's lips, which were dirty with cake. "Don't speak with your mouth full."
Aiko gulped down the slice and continued. "Thank you. Where was I?"
Before they could continue, Effie rolled back towards the kitchen. "Alright! The small pupil of Sunny is now sleeping in my bed."
Cassie and Sunny's eyes widened as if they had just been brought back to reality.
"Huh?" Cassie looked in the direction Effie's voice came from, then Sunny spoke.
"Oh... uhm... already? Good." Sunny nodded.
"I see," Cassie said. "She... indeed needs some rest after eating so much cake." She nodded slightly and looked down.
"..."
"..."
Aiko and Kai were silent, their eyes shifting from Cassie to Sunny. The way both of them just stared down at their plates without saying anything made the situation more awkward.
"This is awkward as hell," Effie commented as she rolled her wheelchair to the other side of the table.speaking the other two toughts
Sunny bit his lip and sighed. "So... about Chain Island... what's your plan?"
Cassie's eyes widened at Sunny's abrupt topic. She felt like her chest was stabbed. He didn't mention a name, but she knew he was asking about her plan.
"Chain Island?" Kai and Effie questioned, filling Cassie's chest with more anxiety.
Cassie remained quiet... No, she had to! She didn't want to involve her friends in her plan; it was far too risky.
Sunny looked up from his plate at Cassie, who looked like a small squirrel fidgeting with her fingers under the table, letting her hand plop down as if she had been scolded. It was... arousing—
Sunny gulped and forced himself to look away, feeling his soul core tainted by that irritating feeling again.
"Forget about that. Kai!"
Kai jolted at Sunny's somewhat alarmed call. "Y-yes?"
"The Valor... did you learn something?"
Kai's eyes widened. He remembered why Cassie was at Sunny's house and why he and Aiko had come over, why they had brought a cake, and why he felt like he was forgetting something important. But he didn't know where to start.
Luckily, Aiko was by his side.
"They're still searching," she said.
Sunny and Effie, as well as Cassie—though she made a lesser gesture to show it—gave Aiko their attention.
"Oh yeah! Now that I remember, Cassie is staying with us because she's being followed by Valor."
Sunny narrowed his eyes and looked at Cassie.
Cassie bit her lip and nodded.
"Yes. I got some guys giving me Intel here and there, Apparentlu Valor its whispering like birds, spreading stories.they are trying to pressure me into making connections with them."
She inahled for a hit and then stoepd speaking but...
"Its Bullshit," Cassie muttered without realizing it, surprising Aiko, Kai, and Effie.
Sunny, on the other hand, let out a small smile. After all, she had provoked a reaction that attracted the others' attention—now she couldn't keep quiet.
"So... why do they want you?" Sunny struck while the iron was hot and asked.
Cassie's body stiffened as she frowned. She looked in Sunny's eyes... she didn't need to guess where they were. She felt his gaze—the careful, caring stare.
"Are you worried about getting into trouble for letting me stay here?" she asked.
"I won't deny it."
"I'll leave if you want."
"I won't let you."
Effie grinned as she started eating another slice she had just cut while they spoke.
'This is getting interesting'
Aiko and Kai, meanwhile, were looking at each other, then at the three.
Ahem.
Kai made a sudden cough. "Sunny... I think it's not okay to ask so directly—I know Cassie's living off your money and under your roof right now, but... maybe it's something personal. It's not that big a deal, right? I mean, we've all gone through a lot, and after we escaped Dreamland and woke up, our story was well spread, so—"
"They want me to threaten Nephis. Most likely, they want to give me special care and bring me to their side, so when Nephis comes back, they can get to her through me," Cassie interrupted Kai.
Kai froze, the mood turning more somber than ever.
Sunny frowned. The reasoning was simple; it was a good excuse without any flaws. It made sense why they'd want Cassie and why they were looking for her. But what he didn't understand was something else.
"Why were you at that ball?" Sunny asked.
The only reason she'd be there was to make connections with Count Vounchem and get an audience with Saint Comac, who controlled the north of Chain Island.
Cassie narrowed her eyes and let out a small sigh. She slowly shook her head. "Is it not obvious? I was trying to learn from him about the clans' movements. He may be a rusty old side pawn, but he has connections."
Effie continued eating another slice, gulping as she wondered aloud, "But you told us you had a vision about the attack. Isn't that why you went there?"
"I had the vision afterward. Do you remember when I was on the balcony with Sunny? That's when I had it," Cassie replied.
Sunny froze. He had just been checkmated in two moves. She not only provided the best excuse for not revealing why she'd gone to the ball, but she also made sure he couldn't claim it was a lie. The topic they spoke about on the balcony... it was a secret Kai, Aiko, and Effie should never learn.
Sunny lowered his head a bit. "I... see."
He swept his hand over his face.
"Oh... that makes sense!" Aiko added, tightening the fake chain that held the lie.
"You acted very serious when you asked us to search for the Count."
"You should have asked us for help," Kai said, his tone full of worry.
Cassie made a soft smile toward their direction. "I should... I'm sorry for hiding it from you two."
Sunny watched the charade Cassie put on. "That... that does make sense," he muttered as he looked at Cassie between his fingers. She was literally making Aiko and Kai dance around her little finger, making them tell their own beliefs—lies that structured her fake truth.
He wanted to choke her. Right now, he wanted to slam her down and choke her... even bite her... how was she planning to make the Count talk? Besides the fact that she had his secret in her hand, she had nothing else. Sunny remembered the pained expression she made at the ball.
The small tear that fell down and shattered... No, no, no! He wanted to slap himself. He wanted to laugh. Of course, the only way she could do it was to seduce the Count, and Sunny himself gave her the best weapon—that fucking dress. Red dress... red, red... why did red come to his mind again and again? Why did he sometimes see red stains on his dark soul core?
Sunny bit his lip, imagining Cassie under a rusty old man in bed. It made his heart ache... her moaning, her pain, her blissed-out, tear-streaked face...
"It could have been dangerous," Sunny said as he dropped his arm with a swift thud.
Startling Kai and Aiko, who were in the middle of small talk with Cassie.
Cassie looked unfazed at Sunny, almost as if a small smirk was threatening to form on her lips.
She didn't know why, but she wanted to see him more like this... angry, worried... she felt the hatred from him. Her mind kept warning her again and again. She felt his gaze on her, like a predator ready to pounce and devour her. Cassie knew what he was thinking; she wasn't an innocent fool like Kai and Aiko. Sunny was worried about her plan to make the Count talk. She knew Sunny knew her plan. She had started this game with him the moment she gave up his freedom for Nephis, but only recently had Sunny become aware of it... and maybe only recently had she realized it too.
She gave a soft smile as she looked at him. She saw his dark soul tainted with red. She looked at her work of art, slowly molding it to change the future she had seen countless times in her nightmares. What neither she nor Sunny realized was that the small red string of fate they both refused to acknowledge was drugging them. Both convinced themselves it was either loneliness or revenge.
They did not, and would never, want to think it was love.
Except for Effie, who looked at the two with a smile.