- Choose -
The fight between Khun and Hatz was inevitable. One pulled out his sword and the other pulled out his knife. None of them listened to Shibisu's words to calm down.
Charlotte and Shibisu always knew that Khun and Hatz were just like cat and dog who will glare at each other whenever they met each other. They needed someone strong to stop the two of them from fighting each other.
And whoever that person was, that person couldn't be someone from White Chocolate. Apparently Altaira played dirty and flirted with Celeste a bit and now, Noah was chasing him, followed by Celeste. The three of them left out of the window since the door was out of service.
Only when the three of them had left did Estrella noticed that Hatz and Khun were having a fight.
"You just realized about it now?!" Shibisu asked in disbelief.
Charlotte smiled a little when she heard that.
"I was too busy watching the two of them playing cards" said Estrella. "Altaira said that if I vote for him, he will give me some food."
"But he played dirty, didn't he?" Charlotte asked.
Estrella nodded her head, "A sister knows her brother the best."
Charlotte smiled even wider.
"Of course!" she confidently answered.
"Can we not talk about this now?!" Shibisu asked the two of them. "The two of you could stop them right? You could stop them, Charlotte!"
Charlotte and Estrella looked at each other before Estrella asked back, "Why should we?"
"Yeah."
"Because they're going to kill each other!"
Estrella tilted her head a bit and smiled at Shibisu, "Truth to be told, usually I cheer and support those who are fighting..."
"What?!"
"And besides, it's not like they're going to kill each other" Charlotte added again. "You know right, considering their temperaments, it would be surprising already that they could talk normally without arguing or mocking each other. Fighting is something that will definitely happen so--"
"Just enjoy the show" Estrella finished her words and shrugged off.
"......."
The three of them could tell that none of the two males wanted to give up or let each other win. There was no mercy on their movements.
"Eh!" Estrella wrapped her arm around Charlotte and pulled her close. Their heights were the same. "What about we make things interesting and have a bet?"
"What bet?"
"Let's see who will win, of course!" Estrella said. "If you lose, you'll have to let me play with your fan!"
"How long?"
"Just for awhile!"
"Not food?"
"Nope!"
"Is my fan that interesting?"
"Yeah!"
"Then if I win, you should take me out for a dinner!" Charlotte said to Estrella, pointed her fan to her.
"Okay, no problem! I will take you out!"
"You could still think of betting of the winner at this time?!"
Ignoring Shibisu, Charlotte asked Estrella, "Who are you going to bet then?"
"Khun!" Estrella answered. "The master of dirty tricks!"
"If you bet on Khun, doesn't that mean I don't have any other choice but to bet at Hatz?" Charlotte asked back, still smiling though.
At the end, even though she knew who the winner will be, she still bet at the swordsman.
Khun swiftly changed the position of his knife, fighting with Hatz using his fists in which Hatz could compete with him. He even could kick Khun backward to make him stay away from the door he was guarding.
Estrella whistled.
"Impressive" Khun praised Hatz with a little blood on his lips. "You can have a fist fight with me, a member of the Ten Families. But it's still not enough to stop me from leaving here."
"...I know."
Hatz swung his sword, tried to get half part of Khun which failed as he could only hurt Khun's arm and Khun managed to move pass through him and even scratched his cheek with his knife.
Estelle cheered happily when she knew that she won.
"You lose" Khun said to Hatz. "You can't cut me down, Hatz. Well, the same goes to me. But I'm the one running away anyway."
He looked at Charlotte and just by looking at his eyes, Charlotte knew that Khun wanted her to go with him. She listened to him and walked to him.
"Hey!" Estrella called. "The fan! You owe me!"
"Oh, I nearly forget about it!" Charlotte said as she threw the fan to Estrella who caught it one hand. "Don't break it or ruin it!"
"Okay!"
Khun looked at Charlotte and then looked back at Shibisu and Hatz.
"Isu, Hatz. I won't tell you guys to not steal Kaiser's name."
"Khun...."
"But if you are going to use either Charlotte or Bam for that, you are going to have to put your lives on the line and fight. I don't want to see the two of them...getting used by anyone anymore."
Charlotte didn't expect that he would mention her name on his line considering what he had just said some time earlier. She followed Khun who opened the door and walked away from behind before closing it.
After she closed the door, she asked Khun about it.
"You actually said that you don't bear to see me being used by anyone else?" Charlotte asked him with a wide smile. She was ready to tease him for it. "Whoa, I don't expect you to be so nice to me."
"It means nothing important" Khun answered. "I just said what I want to say."
"So you admit it right? I'm surprised that you would say those words after you said that you want to punch me."
"Believe it or not, a part of me still want to punch you for hiding important things."
"You might want to wipe the blood from your mouth first" said Charlotte, feeling uncomfortable with the blood on Khun's lips.
"Where?"
"On your mouth, where else?"
Seeing Khun didn't manage to get rid of most of the blood, Charlotte felt that she had no other choice but to tiptoed a little and then used her sleeve to wipe the blood from his lips.
Khun was taken back.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
Charlotte smiled when it was clean and then stopped tiptoeing.
"You can't seem to be able to clean the blood by yourself" Charlotte answered. "I'm just helping someone who doesn't bear to see me being used by someone else."
"......." He slapped her hand away.
Right now, he started to wonder whether he had said the right thing or not.
"But won't your clothes be dirty if you do that?" He asked.
"Don't worry about it. Even if I'm bleeding, no one could properly see it because I'm wearing black" Charlotte earnestly answered. "No one will notice it."
'No wonder she always wears black most of the time. That explains it.'
"Come on, I want to look for my brother!" said Charlotte as she began to walk again. "I have to tell him that you have a fight with Hatz!"
"Is that necessary?"
"Of course!" she nodded her head innocently. "I can't hide anything from brother! And besides, I bet that brother will be interested to hear this!"
'If you really can't hide anything from Bam, then what about your identity?'
In the middle of their way, Charlotte and Khun found Xia Xia sitting all alone on the sofa doing nothing. When Xia Xia saw Khun whose arm was bleeding, Xia Xia was surprised that she stood up.
"Uh....Khun?! You're bleeding!"
"Ah, I fought a bit with a friend" Khun bluntly answered.
"Huh?! Did you fight with your friends like that?!"
"There is a saying that the more you fight with your friends, the closer you are--"
Before Charlotte could finish her words, Khun smacked her head and changed the topic directly, "Where is Bam?"
"....the princess took him into her room a little while ago" Xia Xia answered.
Khun was taken back when he heard that, "WHAT?!"
Hearing that Endorsi was taking Bam to her room, he couldn't help but to wonder whether he was trying to steal Bam's name or not. The three of them immediately left to look for Endorsi right on her room.
Khun kicked the door in irritation.
"HEY!! YOU!!" He shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"KHUN!!" Xia Xia called his name. How could he possibly kicked the door of the princess' room?
Endorsi didn't expect to see the two of them there.
"Why are you interrupting me?"
"Charlotte....."
Seeing Endorsi's and Bam's position, Charlotte was taken back. Her cheeks turned slightly red at their intimating position. Sometimes she had always wondered how Bam could be this innocent that he didn't feel anything when he was in this kind of position with such a beautiful young lady.
"I've already finished talking to those guys" said Khun to Endorsi. "I understand your situation but we need Kaiser's name too. We're not going to give you Kaiser, Endorsi. So, let Bam go now."
'Those words are just some common and ordinary words, but why does it sound so cold when you are the one who says it?' Charlotte glanced at Khun, still smiling.
Endorsi stood up and looked at Khun.
"....do you mean that?" She asked.
"I sure do" he answered without hesitation. "We have no intention of letting you have Kaiser."
Endorsi was speechless.
"But my life depends on this" she said again.
"I know. But we still can't let you have the name. Princess Yuri sent us here to make us give up on going to the Floor of Death at all costs. We must get Kaiser's name in order to convince her."
"HEY!" Endorsi shouted. "ARE YOU INSANE?! MY LIFE IS ON THE LINE HERE AND YOU ARE GOING AFTER RACHEL?!"
"Jeez, the princess is angry!" said Xia Xia who hid behind the door. "Watch out!!"
"Endorsi."
Bam's voice calling her name made her stop and turned around to look at him. "I....have to go to the Floor of Death. But that's not just to go after Rachel. This is a journey for myself too. If I could go to the Floor of Death and find out about thorns and non-regulars, I might be able to find out about myself that I'm not even aware of.
Of course, that doesn't mean that I want to lose you, Endorsi. So we'll try to find a way by tomorrow. A way for you to live and a way for us to get Kaiser's name...."
Endorsi was a little bit surprised when Bam said that he wasn't going on this journey just to chase Rachel, but to know more about himself. But after she heard Bam's words that he'll try to find a way to solve both of the problems, she didn't look impressed at all.
"You also feel the same way?" Endorsi turned around and looked at the last person who she hoped would be on her side. "You said that you will follow whatever decision Bam makes, does that mean you will go against me as well?"
"......I....." Charlotte was unsure about what she should say. She paused for a moment before she answered, "I believe that there is a way for us to solve both of these problems."
Endorsi looked unimpressed at her words as well.
She let out a sigh, "Man.....I can almost feel the stupidity in the air with all these guys around. I would have a better luck asking a statue for a relationship advice than talking to you guys.
You don't even realize what's going on. That's not the answer that I want. I don't need that kind of ambiguity.
DECIDE BY TOMORROW AT 5! WHETHER YOU'LL HELP ME OR FOLLOW RACHEL!! IF YOU DECIDE TO FOLLOW RACHEL, I'LL STEAL YOUR NAME BY FORCE IF I HAVE TO! SO BRACE YOURSELF!!"
The four of them left Endorsi's room to give Endorsi some time alone.
Khun let out a sigh.
"Whew- things have gotten all mixed up. I know I got carried away in the heat of the moment too..."
"Is your arm okay, Khun?" Bam asked.
"Ah, I'm fine. It's just a little cut" he answered. "Things have gotten a little bit complicated. What should we do, Bam?"
"First, we have to steal Kaiser's name....then we'll have to find a way for Endorsi to live too... although we can't do much...if Endorsi doesn't like the idea..."
"You're right. I can't really think of anything....but I should at least consider it" Khun responded. "Actually, it would be hard for us if we even made Endorsi an enemy."
After all, their decision will determine whether Endorsi will lose her life or not.