“Care for a treat?”

This was a bizarre scene. Stephen, with his occasionally gelled black hair inside of a cook’s fishnet, offered a bag of freshly made egg waffles to the unlikely duo of Caius and Cecilia. Not only that, but his eyes were narrow slits that scrutinized the pair excessively, as if he was about to murder them—the complete opposite of the words that came out of his mouth.

Though, he was giving it to them for free. The food stand he was working in was winding down its operations as the festival drew to a close, so it was more prudent to lower the price or even give out the leftover pastry, as they wouldn’t sell the next day, after the end of a festival.

While his eyes seemed to lase the two mercilessly, he was softer and more focused on Cecilia, expecting an answer from her.

“Yeah, uh, thanks.”

She accepted the gift warily with one hand, also expectant of questions from Stephen. Why one hand? The other hand held onto Caius’ hand. It was a classic instance of a public display of affection. As words flowed out, his mouth steadily twisted into a snarl.

“How are you finding the festival? Fun?”

“Fun enough, thanks. What about you?”

“Almost finished with my shift. Made some good money today and it’s back to regular part-time work tomorrow.”

“Good to hear, though I didn’t know you’re strapped for cash when you’re still with the family and Gilbert’s right hand man.”

The air around them was menacing, and if you looked very closely there were dark clouds coalescing around them, and Caius was caught in the midst of it.

“What a coincidence, I’m also kinda strapped for cash, too. Any chance you can introduce me to a part-time job?”

Caius’ attempt at small talk did not help. In fact, it ignited the powder keg immediately.

“How ‘bout I shove this spatula up your asshole, huh, convict?”

“I was released with all charges dropped. As much as I wanted to be a convict, I’m no longer such.”

“No, no, no. That’s not the point, okay? Stop provoking him, please! And Stephen, it’s fine to let him blabber on. You already know he’s a rude brat.”

Cecilia pleaded, and successfully this time, in part because both sides were exhausted after a long day.

“You really don’t hold back, huh?”

“Alice was right when she said the Elites were not tameable.”

Caius was the only one to complain about her remarks, though to be fair it was specifically scathing towards him.

“Caius, Stephen is my cousin. He’s from my uncle’s family on mom’s side.”

Then, somehow, everything clicked for Caius. Stephen was the one doing the rounds in the atrium at every lunch period they were holding a live concert, but not once did he break up the party. Cecilia seemed to be the reason for not jumping on them.

“That’s right, and get your filthy hands off of Cecilia this instant!”

Stephen’s growl returned as Cecilia took his side for a split second, and she immediately regretted it.

“Stephen!”

“But I don’t wanna~”

“Not helping, Caius!”

Exasperated, she watched in terror as Stephen dropped his kitchen tools and stomped his way out from the back of the stand, wondering why life had chosen these two volatile men to be in her life.

One defused confrontation later, Caius was sent waiting at a good number of stands away, out of earshot of Cecilia and Stephen. She wasn’t sure why, perhaps out of respect, but she always allowed Stephen to occupy a bit of her time.

“What’s the deal with you and the convict just now?”

“Convict? Is that any way to treat another human being?”

“If you have a problem with it, I could give you the same freedom speech you give me every time.”

Cecilia clicked her tongue, cursing him in her head for being absolutely inhospitable, but he was right as usual. Still, she miffed.

“What about me and Caius?”

“You know what it is! Why are you holding hands with him?!”

“That’s none of your business.”

It was his turn to be unreasonably upset.

“Hell yes it’s my business! A family of mine is cozying up to the seditious elements of the school! Do you know how much that’ll cost me?”

“And of course, this is all about you. I thought it might be out of concern for me, but I should’ve expected less.”

“If I did, you’d just tell me that I’m not your mother, so I just skipped to the chase.”

Cecilia reeled, thoroughly disgusted by his barbarity. On the other hand, it did merely sound like an older sibling that had a difficult relationship with her, the younger one.

Still, she was equally as surprised when she realized she unconsciously expected more kindness from Stephen, even after all this time. It probably came from his continued persistence for her attention, even if most of it were just errands from the family—and Stephen never once deceived her of his intentions.

“True, but you still could be nicer.”

“If being nice worked in this world, you and Aunt Nellie wouldn’t be living miserable lives.”

As nasty as that sounded, she was well aware of how Stephen treated his and Gilbert’s enemies, and despite their rough conversations, Stephen was actually in his most timid state. She knew she was lucky for him to entertain her complaints at all.

“Be nice to me, I mean. You’re welcome to be ungrateful to everyone else.”

“So you agree that I should continue to be ungrateful to the convict? I’m glad that you finally understand.”

Cecilia sighed again, and Stephen waited patiently for her to answer the original question. Somehow, he always had a grain of an older brother in him, and she didn’t know how that was even possible given his brutish behaviour all the time. Maybe it really was because of their blood relation.

“...”

“Are you throwing your hat into the ring? I’d suggest backing out right now, if you want to live out a simple, normal life as you intended. You wanted as much, since Donovan had been trying to date you over the last couple of years.”

Cecilia bristled at the mention of Donovan’s very public attempts at gunning for her hand. She didn’t have anything against Donovan personally, it was just that—

“—he’s not my type, okay? Get rid of all that facial hair and I might give some thought to it—”

Stephen interjected with a rare fit of laughs. Instantly, Cecilia realized she spoke her mind again and went tomato-red at his chortles. Now that she had said it, there was no taking it back.

“Aaaugh! It’s true, okay? Besides his slimey personality, there are plenty of other things about him that turned me off.”

“That’s why you’re so attached to the convict. He is literally the opposite of Donovan. How shallow can you get?”

“You’re still g’on about that? And shallow? Y’know how much offence girls take to that? With that attitude, you should be worried about your own future, not mine.”

“I do know, actually. But it’s still the most hilarious thing I’ve heard in a long time. Are you serious about Caius, though?”

Caius? Not ‘convict’?

“…I’d be lying if I said no, but it’s not a yes either. In either case, he’s a close friend and a good person, and so are the chumps in Class F. They just had a huge spat, and we’re still figuring out what to do with the fallout.”

“It was quite a public display back there.”

“Were you there?”

“No, but some of my lackeys saw the scene. I mean, it was right there in the square. It’s out in the open.”

To that, she didn’t have a comeback. It was true. Stephen’s expression returned to his usual harsh one, and his words the same.

“You’re gonna make enemies out of a lot of people, including myself, at school. Luckily, no one will bother to go after you outside of school, but that is not much better. Miss Alice is able to make that leap because she has her own clout, enough to be a nominee for the nomenklatura, but do you have what it takes to turn against the establishment? And me?”

“That, I have no doubt about.”

“Without thought for the consequences? I thought you wanted to live your life in peace, like Aunt Nellie.”

“I do. As a part of that, I have to support my friends when they’re in a pinch.”

“You don’t have to be this involved. Shouldn’t a light, healthy friendship be enough to support them?”

“What? Are you jealous that I was holding hands with another guy?”

Stephen’s face hardened as she half-joked. It fell poorly on him, she realized, and wondered why.

“Jealous or not, it’s a matter of you getting swept up in Class F’s revolutionary activities. You will have to face its consequences, and I might be compelled to play the villain.”

“Oh? Like you’re not already the villain?”

“If you’re that confident about yourself, then maybe my concerns are misplaced.”

Though a little surprised and annoyed that Stephen softened so quickly and didn’t fight back, her tone remained as ungrateful as his.

“They were always misplaced, if you didn’t realize. I told you so many times, but you don’t have to look out for me or Mom. G’night.”

“Figures. Have a good evening, Cecilia.”

As Stephen shrugged and was about to turn away, Cecilia remembered and caught him again.

“By the way, do you really need to work part-time? Aren’t you a big mobster? A mid-boss at least?”

“I’m the second-last boss, not the mid-boss. And yes, it’s necessary to work a part-time job. Shouldn’t you be working too?”

“Mom said to make use of school, so I only have a few part-time jobs on the weekends.”

“Cool. That sounds like Aunt Nellie, to be honest.”

Before he turned again, he gave a quick once-over at Cecilia’s figure and left a cryptic—at least to her—parting reply.

“You look really pretty in your yukata. I’m glad you stopped by here today.”

Cecilia could only remain rooted in place, completely stunned at the two compliments that spilled out gently from Stephen’s foul mouth. Not in the seventeen years she had known him that she thought he would attempt to flatter her at all, so it utterly shattered her own beliefs and convictions about him and their relationship.

Stephen noticed the shock on her face immediately, though it was not at all subtle, and chuckled again.

“Didn’t you ask me to be nicer to you just now?”

And with a smirk he returned and disappeared into the back of the shop. What in the world is going on, she thought.

Though the pair continued to march through the streets on their last leg of the trip to Cecilia’s bus stop, they no longer held hands. To be fair, it was only on the spur of the moment and it supposedly didn’t carry any real meaning. Cecilia couldn’t help but think about it over and over again, albeit quietly in the back of her mind.

“He was really menacing back there, but is he normally like that? Outside of school I mean, since he seems on edge all the time at school.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, he’s a real piece of work wherever he goes. It’s a pain in the ass to deal with, to be honest.”

While she stumbled as she was still perplexed over the abnormal conversation with Stephen, Caius didn’t take too much note of her heightened anxiousness. After all, Stephen’s whole reputation was that he was a difficult human being to interact with.

“From what you told me, your families were separated even before you were born. And yet he never leaves you alone?”

“He comes at the behest of my uncle, Vincent. Apparently, my uncle’s really attached to my mom, so he’s always asking her to come home.”

“Ah, that does sound like a pain in the ass to deal with.”

“Yeah. Other than that, Stephen’s not really much more. Just a messenger boy for an annoying relative.”

“Ouch. That’ll bruise his ego quite a bit.”

“I think he’s used to it now. I say that to his face at every opportunity I get. And if I know anything about you, you would definitely do the same.”

“Of course I would. That big dick energy of his needs to be cut down to size.”

“…what?”

Slightly exasperated at his choice of words, they turned the corner at a leisurely pace to the sheltered bus stop at the side of the main road. The area was well-lit as an abundance of vehicles and pedestrians chugged along, though this volume was nothing compared to the daytime. The night city was moving on with its business unabated.

However, their comfortable stroll was put to a halt as they spotted a few familiar girls sitting on a waist-high cement ledge that separated the paved sidewalk from the green park it posed as a barrier for. The soil behind them was filled almost right up to the top, with a myriad of trees and shrubbery beyond. The branches stretched enough outwards to be due for a trimming by the city’s park services.

The seated girls were in a sour mood, and the one with the malignant eye was especially dumbstruck. Their amazing profiles drew the attention of the men waiting around at the bus stop, though they were intimidated by a frightening bodyguard next to the girls—and incidentally was also absolutely gorgeous in her yukata.

Noticing the duo, Mayumi quickly stood up from between Scarlett and Ariel, and scurried past Evie to greet the two with reddened eyes and a diluted smile.

“Hey, you guys are still here.”

“Well, of course. The fireworks were still going on. How’re you faring?”

“You’ve heard what happened, right?”

“Of sorts. So, how does it feel to be utterly rejected?”

At Caius’ bluster, Cecilia got a little anxious again, but surprisingly Mayumi was quite composed.

“Utterly un-fabulous, I’d say. Our plans have yielded zero returns.”

“That’s unfortunate, but I told you at the start, didn’t I? There was a good chance it’ll all blow up in your face.”

“Man, why’re you so unpleasant right when you don’t need to be?”

Caius laughed at Mayumi’s pout.

“Dunno, but you seem to be doing all right here. Was it still too rude to ask?”

“Hell yeah, it was. I’m a pure-hearted maiden, despite my appearances. Being heartbroken still hurts.”

Mayumi’s relative calm was from her slow motions and deliberation. If she fired on all cylinders like she normally did, her hands would be shaking and her words would be stammering. She took a deep breath, bit her lip and bowed in front of Caius.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this. Kato’s right. There was no acceptable reason to involve you, but I did it precisely because I wanted to atone for my mistakes. I realize now that whatever happened in the past is the past. I—”

Caius heaved a long sigh before he shook Mayumi out of her bow, prompting her to look up at him in bewilderment. His expression was neither charming, nor was it vindictive. Instead, he was clearly spent, even lost interest in this whole thing, and his movements were as slow as Mayumi’s.

“Yeah, he’s right on that front. I didn’t need to be involved, but it’s not for him to decide whether I do or don’t. I take your kindness at face value and I appreciate your efforts, and I won’t have it any other way. This is the kind of person you are, and if he can no longer treasure that, that’s his problem.”

“Wow, that kinda hurt.”

Of course. To again hear that Kato no longer loved her, and to hear it from the boy she betrayed and rejected, felt like smearing an open wound, exposed pink flesh and all, on the sandy pavement ground. Caius was unrepentant.

“But he was wrong on one thing. He could only think that because he didn’t trust you to really love him, and I know for a fact that that’s wrong as hell. I would know.”

Implying, of course, Mayumi had never loved Caius the way she did for Kato. Unable to take any more of Caius’ spiteful antics, Cecilia took a step forward and took in Mayumi’s trembling hands.

“There, there. You can ignore the insensitive idiot. If he’s gonna do that, it’s obvious why you haven’t chosen him, right?”

Light returned to Mayumi’s mismatched eyes as Caius shrugged at Cecilia’s jib, smirking all the while too.

“Yeah, what a bastard Caius is. What the hell.”

Quietly, Mayumi reached out and hugged her tightly. Mayumi was definitely worn out and had cried her heart out already—and somehow Cecilia noticed that, so she reciprocated the hug gently.

“Heartbroken girls need something sweet to soothe the heartache, y’know?”

She pulled out the last paper bag of egg waffles that Stephen left with her and Mayumi teared up at the sight of it. It was a classic Yue pastry and dessert, after all. She reached in for a gigantic piece and stuffed it in her mouth, bulging cheeks and smiling brightly for the first time in a long time.

“Shankyuu, Sheshilia.”

Cecilia smiled back, and inexplicably the tension among all of them dissipated. She then shot Caius a glance, who shrugged ruefully; he was still terrible at having any positivity in his demeanour, exuding only edge even in this situation. Cecilia was a little exasperated at that and almost lodged a complaint at the obvious Tommy impersonator, but Evie interjected right on time.

“Did you sock him?”

“...how did you even come up with a question like that?”

Caius was incredulous, as was usual with Evie.

“So you did, right?”

“Uh, yes…”

Evie nodded satisfactorily. During the exchange Ariel joined with Mayumi, literally hugging her and also eating the egg waffles—they were the exact same height and had very contrasting hair colours, which gave off a “twins” sort of feel with the two of them glued together. Seeing Mayumi and Cecilia’s sheer surprise, Ariel helped to explain Evie’s incomplete expressions of her thoughts.

“Evie asked because something like this happened before. Last time, it was Eon who tried to beat up Kato, and Kato returned a few of the punches. Caius is lucky to escape unscathed this time around.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Eon came out with injuries in that confrontation. What a joke that was. Kato clearly had to hold back, or he could’ve straight up crushed him.”

“Well, yes. All he did was deflect Eon’s punches, and Eon got a bunch of bruises from that.”

“Wait, what? Why did Eon have to fight Kato?”

It was Mayumi’s turn to ask incredulously, to which Ariel gave Caius a questioning stare, clearly blaming him for Mayumi’s confusion.

“Did nobody tell you about it?”

“No, this is the first time I’m hearing this.”

Ariel narrowed her eyes as Caius avoided her glare and fake-whistled as if it had nothing to do with him. Of course it did, and Ariel had to be the one to clean up after his mess. Then again, if Mayumi was staying with them for the year, eventually she would learn of it one way or another. Caius let another passive-aggressive comment drip from his mouth.

“Thanks, Evie. Nice timing.”

“Ha?”

Grieving at the true cause of the cat getting out of its bag, Caius’ shifty eyes were not lost on Mayumi, and she was hooked.

“Ariel, what actually happened?”

She really didn’t want to explain right away, but she had no choice. It was probably unfair to Mayumi, too, to keep her in the dark. Strangely, Cecilia watched on with jubilant curiosity, her rarely sparkling eyes egging Ariel on. She sighed, still hugging her old friend close to her.

“You already know that there’s gonna be a mind-wipe lined up for us after we graduate, right? In order for Kato, Evie and Teto to become Hearts. We also didn’t know about it until very recently.”

“How recent is ‘very recent’?”

“A couple of years ago, right before senior high. Because of it, there was a huge meltdown of Kato’s own doing. I think he couldn’t accept it as reality, and it all shattered in spectacular fashion.”

Mayumi was a mix of intrigued and confused, while the onlookers who were in the know had their heads down or turned away. Scarlett was especially sad, whose innocent heart was made of pure gold. It was undoubtedly an unpleasant memory.

“At the time, Kato and Bia were together in all but name. Eon was Bia’s matchmaker, and I was Kato’s—sort of. Unfortunately, at around the time when their not-so-secret relationship progressed to the point where they became fully aware of how close they’ve gotten, we learned that all of us will be subject to the mind-wipe.”

“Wait, hold up. Kato and Bia were together? This is news to me! What do you mean by that?!”

Jumping at the revelation and holding, rather comically, the white-haired cat-like Jupiter sister under her armpits at arm’s length, Mayumi interrupted in a panic.

“Bia was together with him in the same way that you wanted, Mayumi. The difference was, Kato was and is probably still in love with Bia.”

She slowly let go of Ariel even before she finished her sentence, already dumbfounded by her future sight. Drooping and moping again, Mayumi bemoaned.

“Ha…hah…so that was it, huh. That’s how it is. I didn’t know. Things have really changed in the time that I’ve been gone…”

It was Ariel’s turn to hold Mayumi together again.

“It all ended in a dramatic failure, Mayumi, so even without Bia, it wouldn’t have changed today’s outcome; especially because of the way that it played out.”

“Oh, right. How did it end?”

Like a yo-yo she was pulled back to reality, though with a few more reservations in her mind.

“Kato screwed it all up. He used the mind-wipe as an excuse to reject her, and in Evie’s words, Eon socked him for that. That’s all.”

“That’s all?! What happened after that?”

“Well, they didn’t get together for real, that’s for sure. Kato’s too busy struggling internally against his new reality to care about my sister’s feelings.”

“That’s right. A snide jab a day keeps Kato away, and in check.”

Caius interjected to agree with Ariel’s not-so-great assessment of Kato, which then fell on Mayumi’s deaf ears anyway.

“Hah, really? Well, I can’t blame him. His whole world will be erased and he’ll start everything at zero again. It’s not a responsibility that a middle-schooler can reasonably take on.”

“You’re still being nice to Kato? Being head over heels over him must do that to a person.”

“No, Ariel. I’m saying I dodged a rather fatal bullet on this one.”

They both grinned at Kato’s expense, prompting the others to laugh at the situation too.

“But hold up. I thought it was Mira who, y’know, should be the chosen one instead of Bia. I thought as much when Mira asked me to come back to Korolev district.”

Suddenly, all those around her except Cecilia turned serious. The first part made sense, but the second part most definitely did not. Evie was the first to speak, and did so almost angrily.

“…what do you mean, Mira asked you to come back?”

“Huh? Didn’t you guys already know? I thought if Mira was the one who came to me, that you guys would be the first to know.”

“How did Mira get you to agree to come back? She must’ve offered you something to convince you.”

Caius said stiffly, and Mayumi was a little spooked by the wariness in the Elites around her. Even her eye saw nothing but a haze, which meant that everyone held very mixed feelings about the issue that seemed to be problematic to everyone but her.

“Uh…she came by several times trying to get me to leave Regia Miriam and return to Korolev, and…well, she said she won’t interfere with, y’know, whatever I want to do with the Elites…and Kato.”

Mayumi said sheepishly, her face burning up.

“Just that? I didn’t know Mira had to give you permission in order to flirt with Kato.”

“I mean, she was his chosen one, even back in those days! Y’all know this! ‘Coz to me, for the longest time, Kato was only a loyal sidekick…”

“So you were already aware that she was his chosen one, yet you decided to return at a disadvantage anyway.”

Caius continued to rib Mayumi for no good reason, and she grimaced as she shoved an unfriendly hand into his shoulder.

“What do you mean? It’s an advantage, right? Though with Bia in the picture, I guess it was all moot.”

“More importantly, do you remember around what time she asked you to return?”

Ariel asked soberly, pulling Mayumi back to the main topic.

“Uh, I think it was around four weeks ago, just a few days after school started. At first, I kept on declining her request, but after a week, she kinda got desperate.”

It was right after they decided to head to the Bozz. Ariel had a bad feeling about Mira and her intentions.

“Desperate? How?”

“Well, initially she didn’t offer me anything, and I’m not gonna move just on a whim, but eventually she agreed to three things; that bit with Kato is the first one. The second one is clearing my delinquency record.”

“You had a delinquency record?”

“Heh. Let’s just say my eye caused more trouble than it’s worth.”

“It’s about cheating on exams.”

Ariel shrugged at exposing Mayumi’s misdeeds, who in turn shook the platinum-haired girl in her arms with distress.

“The third was to rehabilitate my mom’s status. In exchange for all of this, I was asked to return to Korolev, join the student council and obey her at school.”

“So you knew we were student council executives already.”

“Had to pretend I didn’t know, but in any case, she herself never showed up, not even once, so she never got me to do anything for her.”

“I beg to differ. You’re already doing everything she wants you to. Signing up for the drama department, leading the anti-neutrality protests, and even with Kato. I’ll bet she wanted you to do all of that.”

Mayumi frowned.

“Ignoring how that’s possible for a sec, if that’s the case, then what’s her objective?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

Ariel shrugged, to which all the bystanders closed in around her in protest.

“Wait a minute! Then what was all that about!?”

“You’ve gotta explain yourself now!”

“What’s the master plan in your head, Ariel?”

“...!”

Scarlett was the only one who was more anxious than upset, and for good reason. She knew better than to say anything, and let Ariel easily lie through her teeth.

“No one brings the illustrious Mayumi back to Korolev for no reason. Just look at the mess she’s already made at school. My gut tells me it’s definitely intentional, but that’s all I can intuit. I’m as clueless about Mira’s plans as you guys are.”

The storm died as quickly as it came.

“What I’m saying is, be on the lookout for clues, even if Mira isn’t physically here. The direction we’re taking the revolutionaries, we probably need to be on guard with it in regards to Mira’s intentions.”

Ariel simultaneously warned the group and enlisted them to her intelligence network. This mission, though, was to surveil her own boss and elder sister. Abruptly, she tossed the conversation back to Mayumi.

“Mayumi, you still have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Oh, right.”

She cleared her throat at Ariel's return throw.

“Uh, I got a lot out of Mira for me to come back. It’s not like I don’t want to see you guys, but I have my own business to handle at Regia Miriam. I really did have to let everything go to come back here.”

“Your mother didn’t like it?”

Caius asked first, surprisingly. They knew Mayumi only had a single mother taking care of her, and from their limited experience, her mother wasn’t very friendly or motherly either.

“Mom was a mobster, remember? But she lost her nomenklatura status in an acrimonious fashion, so naturally she had given up on serving Eternia and hanging on to the social ladder. Disenchanted, to say the least. Whatever she did or was done to her, I’ve come back here to bring it to justice.”

“Wait, what?”

Mayumi gave another sheepish smile.

“Remember when Kato saved my life? That was the trigger that lost Mom her job, and why I had to move out and away so quickly.”

The group did another double take, with Cecilia almost spitting out the egg waffles in her mouth. Mayumi continued.

“My birth father is a prominent man from the Liguro family. They were both nomenklatura, but my mother was only able to scale the hierarchy with the help of my father’s more legitimate nomenklatura status. My mother was supposed to be his wife, but a third wheel got in the way.

“Of course, my mother’s a stubborn, prideful workaholic that didn’t tolerate injustices like that, so while she didn’t lose her nomenklatura status, her vehement opposition to it cost her reputation. From the moment I was born, we lived away from the Liguro family for as long as I could remember, but as we’re technically family, I still know who they are, and my mother continued to work for Eternia alongside them.

“You can tell what the atmosphere was like. They constantly played politics against each other within the organization, and their whole relationship was fraught with instability and fear. Over the years, and being a single mother throughout, it wore her down into a…pitiful state.

“The problem was that the top brass of Eternia really didn’t like how this was going down. My parents and the third wheel were essentially making light of the entire nomenklatura by being engaged in this kind of petty and scandalous behaviour. Mom was already walking on eggshells because of that, but like politicians, they’re politicians because they know how to play the game, and Mom played it well enough. But when Kato asked Lady Eterna to save me, it cost Mom her nomenklatura status.”

“Why’s that a thing?”

“Because I have the power of clairvoyance. It seemed like neither Mom nor Dad ever told their bosses that their kid had this power. There’s no rule against not telling, but it really stretched their trust in her. It became the straw that broke the camel’s back, when the verdict was that Mom’s to blame for withholding that information. It was hard to argue against it because we lived separately from my father ever since I was born. With enough tardy strikes, let’s say, Mom was stripped of her position and status, hence I was taken away from Korolev.”

“How does that make sense? Just because you had clairvoyance, your mum gets fired from her job?”

“You have to remember that Eternia is as much an alchemical occult society as it is a mafia. While in the modern day there’s not much occult and only alchemy left, it still didn’t sit well with the brass when Mom kept it a secret from them for that long, that I had such a powerful clairvoyance. Maybe Mom was afraid I was going to be subject to cruel scientific experiments, and I respect her for that, but she chose the thug life in the first place, and working in the mafia comes with some territory. So, from the Eternian point of view, it looked like Mom was distrustful of them, so of course they’d retaliate with the same. They essentially exiled her.”

The people around her were silent, unsure of how to even digest Mayumi’s story. For the Elites, it was also the true explanation for her original departure, and the sudden and ruthless nature of it.

“...so, Mira promised to restore your mother’s position in Eternia…as a nomenklatura?”

“Not nomenklatura—just her reputation so she can rejoin the organization.”

“On what basis does Mira have to convince you that she can do it?”

Caius asked cautiously, unable to fathom how that was even possible for Mirabelle to offer. Sure, she was quite influential within the circles of children of their year, but for the real mafia? Really, only the most important children were involved at this age, and for a child to be in a position of power, only Mona and Gilbert could pass both criteria, and they only held those because of exceptional circumstances unrelated to school. As far as the Elites and her own sisters knew, Mirabelle and her family didn’t have the necessary pedigree to be on their level just yet.

“It’s already done. That was the collateral I thought was impossible for her to achieve, but she did it. My mother, of course, refused to return to Eternia. It didn’t change her or her depression one bit, but it was justice in my eyes. No matter how much my life was saved by Lady Eterna, that was a done deal made by Kato; he had already paid for it. If Eternia denounced my mother for an infraction she didn’t deserve, then I’d have no reason to return to Korolev.”

“What…”

“Mira has enough power to do that?”

Confused faces included the present Jupiter sisters, even if they had some knowledge of Mirabelle’s situation. Still, it was clear that they had no idea Mirabelle was capable of this.

“This just adds more mystery to the situation than solves it. We knew Mira had her own thing going on, but this is going really far; too far, isn’t it?”

Caius asked Ariel, though he almost spat those words out. There was no love lost between Mirabelle and the other men of the Elites.

“Hm.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Mayumi asked Caius at Ariel’s hesitation.

“Mira is student council president for a reason. Undoubtedly, she has some connections to the Eternian establishment within the school, and as a Jupiter family member, that’s not all that out of the ordinary.”

Ariel nodded. The Jupiter family was an old Auxirian noble family that owned land in this border region between Auxiria and Ava—since the founding of Livia as a Yue colonial settlement. To maintain their de jure noble privileges and to gain benefits locally, they acted as middlemen between Eternia and the Auxirian aristocracy for generations. The family’s responsibilities were true even to this day, though only a select few would become heavily involved in the family business, and Ariel’s immediate family weren’t the only Jupiters around to handle it.

“Remember around the time you left us, Mira started to disappear from school from time to time? It’s because she agreed to take on some of the family business when she grows up, meaning she’ll work with the mob—not directly in the mob, but in its immediate peripheries.”

They all nodded at Caius, as the Elites (except Cecilia) were aware of the Jupiter family’s unique role.

“I’ll also become a similar existence, after all.”

Ariel said steadily, to the surprise of Mayumi and Cecilia. Ariel’s genius was well-known, and being born into such a family meant that her future was predetermined.

“But Mira’s future role will be very difficult, so she’s been receiving extra tutoring outside of school. I can only imagine what kind of things they teach her in the mafia.”

As the landed gentry and not the palace nobility, the Jupiters’ interests naturally swung toward Livia rather than the imperial capital, which meant they were much closer to the mob than their noble peers. As such, it was inevitable that ambitious children like Mirabelle would need to be taught the ropes by learning directly from the mob.

“She still haven’t told us what she’s gonna be doing. Is she gonna be a tax collector? Is that it?”

Evie asked. That was one of such positions for someone with a unique and sophisticated pedigree like Mirabelle’s, working for the mob but not directly. These were jobs for those who were in limbo, between being a member of the mob and being an outsider.

“Not sure. I, for one, will be an archaeologist.”

“Is that even a broker job?”

“I could be a golf club owner too, but either way I’m setting up a storefront of some kind. Might as well do something I’m interested in.”

The Jupiters’ extended family was large, and while Ariel wouldn’t be the one succeeding the household, she was selected to de facto be heading the business. For some time it was a choice between Ariel and Mirabelle, but once Mirabelle decided to do something else for the family business, Ariel was the clear favourite.

And it was obvious that none of the Jupiters would ever officially join Eternia. By virtue of their family’s place in society, it was most definitely not allowed. Caius heaved another breath before his disgust bled out in his words again.

“Mira’s scheming something from behind the scenes, and she’s involved us in her games. Do you know what that means? She’s using us as pawns in some under-the-table battle against her enemies within the establishment. I usually don’t care about your family’s connections to Eternia, but this has gone too far. Mira knew full well what would happen to us by bringing Mayumi back here, and she had desperately tried to get her to come back, meaning she knowingly threw us under the bus.”

“I don’t disagree with that.”

Ariel mused, unable to refute Caius.

“Sorry but not sorry, Mayumi, but you’re a walking landmine that has already triggered. It was obvious even to us what would happen if you came back, and the two of you even negotiated an agreement on that basis. There was no world where you would come back and let the issue between you and Kato lie peacefully.”

“Uh, mhn…”

Mayumi admitted awkwardly. It was true, after all, though it still hurt to have it spelled out so clearly in words.

“This is proof that Mira tossed us aside in order to reach whatever political goals she has planned for Korolev. She’s been involved with the Eternian establishment at Korolev for years now, and according to Ariel and Mayumi, she should be quite high up in their hierarchy, right? Also, if Ariel’s supposition that merely Mayumi’s presence in school will cause extensive political upheaval and distress, which is already proving to be true, then I have no choice but to believe that that’s the case.”

No one said a word. Caius was right; it was just that no one wanted to say it out loud. Ariel and Scarlett were especially baffled, because even as sisters and fellow student council executives, they were blindsided by Mirabelle’s political manoeuvres—manoeuvres of an executive who wasn’t even physically present at school. To top it all off, it was Mirabelle’s apparent willingness to risk breaking apart her friends for some vague political gain that drove the uncanny silence that gathered around Caius’ apprehension.

They would likely play into Mirabelle’s hands, but it was too late to stop it now. They could only watch the revolution at school unravel, with Mayumi at the helm and the Elites by her side.

“That being said, we’re still very much in the dark. There’re a lot of things we still don’t know, and probably for us, we won’t know before it’s too late. We’ll have to take it up with Kato tomorrow.”

At Mayumi’s eyes that turned anxious, Caius corrected himself.

“I’ll have to take it up with him tomorrow. He’s gonna be neck-deep in any problem with Mira in it, so he’ll be solving this problem for us. Does Bia know anything about this?”

“No, I don’t think so. We’ve been holding student council together without Mira, but it’s weird how we, too, were kept in the dark about this. Scarlett, did you hear anything related to this about Mira?”

“No, I haven’t either. I only know as much as you do.”

The mystery stirred in the air around them, but they had no further leads to Mirabelle’s secret plans. Mayumi, too, fell silent.

“If Mayumi doesn’t have anything else either, why don’t we leave it at that for tonight? I’ll brief Kato later, and we’ll regroup tomorrow.”

Mayumi shook her head, so Evie canned the conversation as she pointed upwards at the clear night sky. It resumed shining brightly in bits and pieces of gunpowder, reminding the sad group of their original purpose here, from which they had veered far, far away from. It was the last set of fireworks to close out this year’s Equinox. The light and fire was extinguished as with the Elites and their circumstance, and thus the frosty season began in earnest.