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"I'LL BE HAVING A meeting with the Association today so I want you to check the documents for me. The rest of you, make sure you finish your reports as well." The Elites president, Ian Rothman, tells Gavriil who was busy signing documents on his desk.
"Will you be back before Dustin gives his report? You still need to evaluate it before we can hand this over to president Janus," Gavriil asks back.
Ian takes his laptop from his desk and places it back inside his bag. He then looks at his watch so he could make an estimate. "I'll probably be back by 4:00 PM so ask Dustin to wait till then," Ian answers, clearing his desk and walking towards the door. The rest of the elites bid him farewell, but as soon as Ian opens the door, he was welcomed by a white uniform who looked like he had something very important to say.
"Max?" Ian announces, surprised to see the heir standing in front of their office. "What are you doing here?" He then asks, making the other members of the council take a peek at the entrance to catch a glimpse of Max too.
Max was panting heavily, hinting that he ran his way here. When Ian was about to offer him to go inside, Max looks past Ian's shoulder and looks at Gavriil instead. "Can I talk to you, privately?"
Gavriil and Ian were surprised, but based on Max's body language, they knew that whatever the reason was for Max's sudden visit, it was because it was urgent. Ian doesn't even ask him about it as he turns back to look at his vice president. "You're excused." He tells him.
Gavriil nods his head and quickly stood up from his desk. He walks past Ian before grabbing Max's arm and dragging him away. Max couldn't even react when Gavriil brought him to an empty room, which was the Elites' meeting room.
"What happened?" Gavriil finally asks Max, locking the door behind him. "Whatever it is you're about to say, you can confidently say it here. This room is soundproof."
When Gavriil finally lets go of his arm, Max takes a deep breath and pulls something out of his pocket. Gavriil didn't know what it was about, but when he saw the invitation, he unconsciously took a step back, almost like the invitation was some sort of curse. "T-that's an invitation for the banquet. The princes actually gave you one?" Gavriil asks in shock.
Max was hoping that Gavriil would know about this since he's an underling of Busters, but it seems like Gavriil didn't know about it either.
"Dangerous Five was at our classroom earlier and they gave me this. The invitation told me to sol—"
"Stop!" Gavriil quickly says, instantly making Max shut his mouth. "You're not allowed to tell me, or anyone, the content of that invitation. You don't want to experience the Prince's Law. For both of our safety, I suggest you keep the contents of that invitation to yourself," Gavriil explains to him.
Max was surprised because he has never seen Gavriil so flustered. Gavriil has always been so cool and collected, but somehow, this frightened him.
When Max read the invitation earlier, he did think it was overwhelming, but he didn't think that it was much of a big deal. He thought that it was just going to be some kind of task that he has to fulfill, but based on everyone's reaction to this invite, he was starting to realize how serious this was.
Are the princes that frightening? Max hasn't seen them do anything yet so has he taken their silence for granted? Was this invitation not a chance for him to conquer them but to trap him instead?
"Have you told anyone about the contents of that invite?" Gavriil finally asks.
"N-no...but that's the problem. The princes gave me someone who—" Max stopped midsentence when he remembered the content of the letter, specifically the postscript.
PS: We have sent someone who will assist you. We made sure that he is within your reach, which is why we even had to ask a certain Elite for a favor.
"You're the Elite that was mentioned in that letter. How did I not realize it?" Max asks himself, making Gavriil look back at him with furrowed brows.
"Leigh, what are you talking about?" Gavriil confusingly asks.
"The princes gave me an underling who was going to help me with the tasks. He said he was part of the princes' underlings called the Dynasties," Max explains, confusing Gavriil even more because it's his first time to even hear such a thing.
"Dynasties? I didn't know the princes had an underling. Who on earth did they recruit for such a position?"
Max looks back at the vice president and approaches him. "On the first day of our second term, you said something to me. You told me someone asked you to purposely make mistakes in your exam, that's why you went down from top 1 to top 4. The reason behind this was because...was because Kawanishi Keigo needed to be transferred to Class A, am I correct?"
Gavriil was surprised. He was about to explain himself, but he takes a deep breath and massaged his temple instead. "Yes, you're correct," he answers. There was no point in trying to think of a way out of this now. Max was too clever anyway.
"So Kim Hee-joon has planned this from the very beginning," Max says with a sigh before taking a seat. "He was already planning to give me that invite. How did I not notice?"
"Look, Viktor told me to make mistakes on the exam, but I had no idea that it was connected to the banquet. I thought he just needed Kawanishi to get a higher rank," Gavriil explains.
"Wait, so you know Kawanishi Keigo?" Max then asks, and Gavriil takes another deep breath and decided to take a seat beside Max. "I once asked you this question. 'Shall I give you a truthful answer, or shall I give you an answer that will not worry you.' I didn't want to worry you, but I think it's time that I did," Gavriil says before grabbing Max's hand to hold onto it.
"Kawanishi Keigo is the son of the chairman of Kawanishi Technologies. Their family went bankrupt so his father did something that got him arrested," Gavriil explains.
"So what Ari said before was actually true, but why was his father arrested?"
"He was able to steal money from a big company," Gavriil then reveals, surprising Max. "But that's not all of it. People were confused as to how he was able to do it. It was impossible that a mere businessman was able to steal 200 million dollars. They knew that someone had to be the mastermind and that someone...was his son, Kawanishi Keigo."
"W-What? Are you telling me that he—"
"I told you didn't I, that Kawanishi is a smart boy. Well, he isn't just smart. He's a genius, and he was such a genius that he became a very capable hacker," Gavriil continues to explain, leaving Max speechless. "Keigo didn't leave a single digital footprint to the point where no one suspected that he was connected to what happened, but then his father ratted him out. Keigo was almost sent to prison for what he did, but someone decided to bail him."
"Don't tell me..."
"Viktor. It was Viktor who bailed him out. He said he needed someone with his skills, so I thought he was going to use him for his own benefit. I didn't know that he was going to give him to Joon," Gavriil truthfully says, hoping Max wouldn't think that he set him up.
"I believe you," Max says, squeezing Gavriil's hand to assure him that he wasn't blaming him in any way.
"Thank you for telling me all this. I guess there's really nothing I can do now. All I have to do is just finish the tasks that were asked of me, and if they want me to use Keigo then so be it," Max says, letting go of Gavriil and standing from his seat so he could head out.
Before Max could grab the doorknob, Gavriil tells him, "Leigh, whatever happens, you have to finish the task correctly. You can't guess, you can't wing it, and you can't make a mistake. Joon is particularly strict when it comes to his banquets. If you don't do it right then you..." Gavriil pauses and suddenly looked worried.
"Gav, what happens if I don't finish this?" Max asks him.
Gavriil takes a deep breath and looks back at his lover before finally telling him, "Like the last one before you, you'll face the judgment of the Prince's Law...you'll get expelled."
...
The bell rings and everyone automatically stood up from their seats so they could head to the Great Hall to take their lunch. Max, who has been preoccupied since earlier, doesn't even move an inch, so Ari slams his notebook on Max's table, startling him.
"W-what gives Ari?"
"Sorry, but you've been out of it since you got back. Have you read the invitation? Was it that bad?" Ari asks with a worried expression on his face, making Max give out a small smile.
"No, I'm sorry. It's just that...you know, never mind. Maybe I'm just hungry," Max says, finally standing from his seat. He and Ari were about to approach Felix and Ervin so they could all head out together, but then Max sees Keigo waiting outside the door. He looks directly at Max and smiles at him before tapping his watch, telling him that time was running and he can't waste any second of it.
"Shit," Max curses underneath his breath before grabbing Ari's arm to tell him, "I need to go somewhere. You and the others can go ahead."
"Wait, what?" Ari asks in surprise, but before he could hear an answer, Max was already gone.
"Where's Max going?" Ervin asks, approaching Ari who only shrugged his shoulder as an answer because he didn't know either.
Felix approaches them as well, but his eyes were glued to the door. He didn't know what was going on, but he was certain that the student waiting outside their room earlier was Keigo. Felix couldn't connect the dots just yet, but he knew that it was something related to him, and anything related to Keigo doesn't feel right.
"Let's just go. Max probably has something important to do," Felix then tells Ervin and Ari, and the three of them finally went to the Great Hall to grab their lunch while Max was walking towards a different route with a man who was supposed to help him with his preparations for the banquet.
"Are you sure your friends wouldn't mind if I steal you away from them?" Keigo playfully asks, making Max roll his eyes in annoyance.
"It's not like I have a choice," Max whispers.
"Well, the princes gave us a private room where we can discuss the tasks given to you. Don't worry, I already know what the tasks are so you don't have to explain anything to me," Keigo explains as he and Max were walking down a hallway that leads to the Hall of Janus.
"I can't believe you're an underling of PHD. No offense but you don't quite fit their image," Max says instead, making Keigo chuckle.
"I couldn't believe it either. I thought I was going to be a member of the Clan like vice president Alexeev, but I was transferred to the princes instead. I looked like I was some sort of present to him," Keigo explains, laughing just at the thought of it. "Anyway, this is my first task. If you fail then I fail with you, so we have to make sure we don't fuck it up."
"Why, are you going to get expelled too?" Max asks him.
"I'm not sure if you're right about that, but maybe. After all, PHD has the power to do just that."
"Which is something that's hard for me to believe. I don't know what went onto my uncle's head when he gave them such power," Max then says.
"I don't know the whole story but it seems like something bad happened to the prince, Kim Hee-joon, when he was in J.S high. Heard it was so bad that it made him ice cold. President Janus felt so guilty that he told him he'll do anything to make up for it as J.S high's president, so Joon asked him to give him the power to control white uniforms, and that's how the Prince's Law was born," Keigo casually explains, making Max doubt if it was true or not.
He knew better not to trust anyone, especially someone like Keigo, but his explanation made sense somehow. What happened with Paradox and the previous queen is already proof that his uncle Janus fucked up big time in the past. He let a lot of his students down, which is why it would make sense if something happened to Hee-joon too.
"Well, here we are," Keigo says, stopping in front of a metal door that had the label Janitor's Closet. He then pulls out a key from his pocket and opens it. He gestured his hand for Max to enter first, but Max just stared at him, practically telling him that there was no way he'd enter before him.
"Try anything stupid and you're dead," Max threatens, so Keigo chuckled and went in first so he could turn on the lights.
"Oh I know not to mess with someone who's protected by four brotherhoods," Keigo defends.
When the two of them finally went inside, Max was welcomed by a small room, even smaller than their club room in Omega Society. The room only had a desk with a computer, two chairs, and a whiteboard. It looked like a room owned by a hacker, which was perfect since Keigo was literally one.
"And like I said before, I saw you in Mr. Brains & Brawn so I know you can defend yourself just fine. It may not look like it, but I'm not much of a fighter," Keigo then continues before walking towards the computer so he could turn it on.
"Oh please, that's bullshit, just like that confession of yours," Max says before taking a seat.
Keigo looks back at Max after hearing what he said, so without any warning, he leans close to Max and corners him in his seat, "Oh that confession was real. It has nothing to do with this banquet whatsoever so I suggest you don't put your guard down around me just yet."
Max was surprised and was left speechless. Keigo then leans closer, but before Max could even punch him, the underling stops and started laughing. "Sorry, I was just messing with you, but your reaction was priceless," Keigo says before pulling away from Max. "Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid. I know you have a partner too, but I don't know who they are yet so I won't take my chances. For now, I'll be a good boy."
"So he doesn't know that it's Gavriil?" Max thought to himself as Keigo sat in front of the computer.
"Anyway, we should talk about what's more important first, and that's the tasks you need to finish before the banquet," Keigo tells him, now with a serious expression.
Since Max was already here, there was no point being doubtful now so he takes the invitation from his pocket and places it on the desk. He then walks to the board and takes a marker to write some notes down.
(1) a man in white who carries the weight of his brother's past (who??). Though they are not the same, he cannot seem to run away from his eldest's fiery BROWN EYES.
- search for someone whose brother was or is in J.S high.
- probably in a lower year.
(2) a boy who was "falsely accused" by those with a HIGHER POWER (??). His mouth is sealed, yet his truth is loud for those who are willing to hear it.
(3) a prideful liar who bought his way to the TOP (Do they mean the Elites?). His intentions do not deserve his position.
"To be honest when I read this I already had my suspicion on who they might be, but I don't have enough evidence to prove otherwise," Max explains, staring at the board and hoping he'd be able to think of something.
"It's best if we focus on the first one for now," Keigo says, reading what Max wrote on the board. "If it's someone with a brother, then I can easily filter that out." He then tells Max before looking back at the computer screen.
"You can?" Max asks in disbelief, and Keigo opens a program and starts typing something down. Max stands behind him and silently watches him do his work. After a while, the screen changes, showing a list of names.
"Here we are," Keigo says, moving away from the computer screen so Max could get a better view of it. "I hacked the school records, but we have to do this fast before anyone notices. Here are all the students who have older brothers in J.S High. Only students who are still enrolled here are on this list. Luckily for us, there aren't a lot of them."
"How on earth..." Max asks, not believing what he was seeing. "Looks like PHD was right to make you be my assistant," he then says.
Keigo was surprised, but he couldn't help but hide a smile, glad he was able to impress Max somehow. "A-anyway, do you know anyone here? Maybe the princes chose students who you know or who you're close to."
"Wait, let me check," Max says as he starts going through the names one by one. "When I first read the task, I thought it would be the Griffiths twins, but I don't think it's them anymore."
"And why is that?"
"First of all, they're twins. I know someone has to be older between them, but the letter feels like it's implying to someone who's really older. And another thing is that they don't have brown eyes, they have black," Max explains, and Keigo couldn't help but smile and nod his head, glad Max is taking this seriously.
"Why do you think PHD is making me do this when they could easily do this themselves with all the resources and information they have?" Max then says while still scanning the list of names.
Keigo takes a deep breath and places his elbow on the desk while his chin rested on his palm. "I'm not sure, but didn't that invitation say something about a criterion? It said you fit all the traits in their criteria except one. They're probably testing how you'll be able to handle this task without the help of your friends or protectors."
Max was surprised by what Keigo said because he never thought of it before. "Maybe you're ri—" Max suddenly stops talking when he saw a familiar name on the list.
Keigo furrows his brows and looks at the screen to see what Max saw too.
"This guy...Thomas Anderson Woods. I know him, he's rank 6. He's the club leader of Alpha Society, and he's BND's underling. I didn't know he had an older brother," Max says.
"That's one impressive white uniform," Keigo says as he clicks the name, and Thomas's picture and personal information appear on the screen. The two of them started to read it, but then Max notices something strange, which made him tilt his head because of complete confusion. "That's weird, his brother's surname is different. But I guess that's normal since Marcus and I are like that."
"Marcus? Marcus Thompson? Are you telling me he's your brother?" Keigo suddenly asks in shock, making Max awkwardly laugh. He totally forgot that Keigo is one of the people who doesn't know about that fact.
"T-that's not important. What's important is this guy right here," Max says, pointing at the name of Thomas's older brother so Keigo could click on it.
Keigo ignores what Max said earlier about Marcus for now and clicks the name, Daniel Anderson Wilson. Daniel's information and portrait picture pop on the screen, surprising Max and Keigo.
"Whoa, this Daniel guy was a brotherhood member," Keigo says, scrolling down to see more. "He was one of the first batches of students who enrolled in J.S High when it opened back in 2017. He's a literal legend."
"What brotherhood was he on?" Max then asks.
"Wait, let me check."
Keigo continues to scroll down the page, passing through all of Daniel's overwhelming achievements. "If I was the brother of this guy, I'd be jealous too," Keigo comments before finally reaching the end.
They weren't expecting much, but as soon as they saw the logo of the brotherhood that Daniel was in, both Max and Keigo immediately became quiet. The room falls silent as if seeing the logo was a curse. Neither of them personally met this brotherhood, but for some reason, they couldn't help but gulp in terror. The feeling of fear resonated so strongly that it sent chills down their spine.
"Daniel Anderson Wilson...was a member of Paradox?!"
- END -