Reina snuggles further in Frankenstein's warmth when she felt him sigh out of tiredness.
"Frankenstein... what is on that busy mind of yours?" She murmurs against his skin.
"Nothing." He hugs her tighter and kisses her forehead then to her nose then to her pouting lips.
"Tell me." She ordered.
"Nothing of importance, I swear." Reina had no choice but to drop the subject, she trusts Frankenstein and she knows that he will never break that trust.
"Rest, Reina. You have classes tomorrow." Reina groans in annoyance and buries her face into his chest. He chuckles at her antics and let himself be melted by her warmth.
~~~
Reina sucks at the lollipop that Shinwu gave to her that morning. She looks anywhere in the room but Raizel then releases an exasperated sigh...
"Where is everyone?" She angrily asked looking around. Raizel shrugs to answer her question. Reina gulps and looks at Raizel.
"Look Raizel, I mean everything I said that night." Raizel nodded at her and looks straight at her eyes.
"Then I will have no choice but to use my power in order to protect everyone." Reina sighs in defeat.
"If necessary." Raizel nodded then smiles at her which she gladly returns.
Frankenstein enters the room to see that the two are both eating chocolates quietly. Both of them turn to him, Reina tilts her head and frowns at him while Raizel looks at something behind him.
"We won't leave. We will stay here." Tao said behind him, making him turn to look at the five who just entered the living room.
"What?"
"This is our decision." Reina and Raizel look at each other. If that is their decision then they will do anything to protect them and the lives that they had built here.
"We don't care if we lose our lives to our enemies. We have experienced so much till now... we don't need anything else. We might get in the way... but let us protect the life that we have here." Takeo said with determination. Frankenstein cannot just kick them out of the house, if they want to stay then they can stay.
"You told us to believe in our decision. This is what we have decided on." Tao added.
"Frankenstein told us that the more the two of you use power... your life shortens. Why would you do all that? The both of you aren't well yourselves yet... Why are you risking your lives trying to save us?" M-21 frowns, thinking of everything that happened.
"If we can save you by risking our lives... " Raizel's eyes are still staring at Reina who nods in understanding.
"Then our lives are worth risking... don't you think?" Reina finishes his statement, startling the five of them.
Everyone then turns to look at Tao who bows at a perfect angle.
"I take a vow at this very moment. We, RK-5 will serve you, Sir Raizel!" He exclaimed while still bowing, surprising everyone.
"What's wrong with him?" Takeo frowns while looking at his friend.
"What? RK-5? It's not RK-4?" M-21 is confused, just in Lukedonia, Tao said that it's RK-4... when did it become RK-5?
"I didn't agree, but wasn't it RK-4?" Regis asked, still in denial of his membership in the said group.
"What's he saying?"
"Here is No.5." Tao said while gesturing to Seira who is completely clueless about what is happening.
"What? Seira is No.5?"
"Seira, what happened? Is this true?" Regis asked the young Clan Leader who in return looks at him equally confused.
"Tao! You made Seira a member on your own?!" Tao just laughs them off.
"Do I have to wear that mask?" Seira asked, accepting Tao's decision.
"Sure, I will give you one that fits you soon." Seira nods at Tao while Takeo, M-21, and Regis look at her in incredulity.
"OKAY! ATTENTION!" Reina shakes her head to Tao's antics. He really is something.
"I will tell you right here! Our members are 0 to 5!" He said while smiling.
"Wait. I get that Seira is No.5 but who's No.0?" Takeo asked.
"What kind of question is that? Of course, it's our boss!" Tao answered while he gestures Frankenstein who is confused.
"You didn't know?" Tao chuckles, finding their confusion amusing.
"No, we didn't know."
"He's crazy."
"Did he hurt his head?"
"Are there only black masks?" Everyone turns to look at Seira...
"S... Seira... "
"Wait...How about me?" Reina asked looking at Tao while pouting. Tao looks at the Princess and then at Frankenstein who narrows his eyes at him making Tao gulps unconsciously.
"Well Miss Reina, you are a Princess and we cannot demote you so I guess you're our Princess? And the RK now stands for Raizel and Reina's Knights... Our boss is your knight and shining armor, how about that?"
"But I don't need protecting..." Reina slouches and pouts in her seat.
"Enough of this, let's have dinner." Frankenstein said cutting through the conversation making Tao sigh in relief.
~~~
Tranquil days passed and contrary to what they expected, it seems that the Union is not making any big move to investigate what happened to the 12th Elder. Frankenstein also closed an agreement with the KSA about the organization's secret human enhancements and their quiet lives.
"KSA reported our coordinated story to the Union... that the battle with the Elder was with the nobles that were in the area. As per our agreement with them, they left out the part about us, but the rest is the truth, so the Union wouldn't be suspicious." Tao reported what Sangeen and Yonsu told him.
"Is this so-called KSA trustworthy? Considering the circumstances, any information regarding this place must not reach the Union. They even have the traitor that we've been pursuing." Regis asked, obviously concerned about what may happen.
"You don't have to worry about that. We visited the KSA sometime ago and talked it over... "
"Is that so?" Regis nods in satisfaction.
"How is Lukedonia taking this incident?" Reina asked Seira.
"I am still waiting... to hear from them, Miss Reina."
Reina nodded, she understands the difficulty of the situation. To think that one of the traitors is in the Union... Lukedonia must be careful on their next step even if this matter includes nobles since the Union is still considered as a human organization.
"Let's go, hurry up!" The door of Frankenstein's office opened with a loud bang as the kids rush in.
"Oh! Sir, Mister, Bros, Hello!" Shinwu and Ikhan greeted all of them.
"Hello." Tao smiles at the two.
"My... all of them are here."
"Hello, what brings all of you here?" Frankenstein asked.
"Sir, were you in a meeting?" Shinwu asked sheepishly.
"We didn't interrupt anything right?" Sui asked shyly.
"Nah, are you all coming back with us today?" Tao smiles making them sigh in relief.
"Nope. We're gonna go to a PC Room."
"PC Room?" Raizel lowers his cup in its saucer and stands up to follow the leaving kids. Seira and Regis then stand up to follow Raizel. Once they are all outside the office, Reina sighs in her cup then lower it too. She stands up then pulls Frankenstein's thin ribbon tie to kiss his lips.
"Reina..."
Reina sighs dramatically then stands straight and stiff...
"As the Princess of RK, it is my duty to protect Raizel even in computer games... With this duty... I shall take my leave." Reina dramatically exits the office making the men laugh at her antics.
"Miss Reina really is something... "
After settling down to their seats, they played games after games and were surprised as to how great Reina's gaming skills are. Reina had read Frankenstein's notes for Raizel and used her heightened senses to play.
"This is impossible!"
"Are you sure that this is your first time playing?!"
"It is!" Reina laughs at their bewildered expressions. Raizel looks at all of them proudly, out of all the rounds that they played he never died because of Reina's protection.
"Let's play again! This time let's change teams!" Shinwu said fisting the air.
"What? No! I want to be with Raizel..." Reina insists, the kids look at each other then...
"Ah! Yes, we forgot that you guys are a couple!"
"We had no choice Ikhan! We must defeat Reina and Raizel!"
"Yes! Let's go for another round!" Ikhan said fixing his glasses as he looks at his pc screen with pure determination. Reina shakes her head and looks at Raizel who nods at her.
~~~
After discovering Reina's gaming skills, the kids thought of something different to do since Reina managed to beat them in every pc game. They decided to cook food and eat at Frankenstein's house...
"Hey, Mister and Bros, hello!"
"You're all going home?" Tao asked seeing that they are already holding their bags.
"Yes. We'll go grocery shopping on the way. We all want to eat different things." Ikhan said enthusiastically.
"Today, Yuna and I will be cooking with Seira." Sui gestures to Yuna who nods in agreement.
"Really? You girls can cook, too?" Tao seems surprised.
"We know how to cook a bit. But we never had a chance because Seira is such a good cook. Do you want anything specific? We can buy the ingredients." Sui smiles at them...
"I would like something spicy!"
"Well, I want something spicy, too." Takeo said agreeing to Tao.
Sui pulls out her phone and lists what they want.
"Got it. Spicy food for Tao and Takeo."
"Umm... Mister, do you want anything?" Yuna asked M-21 shyly.
"Not really." M-21 said quietly making Yuna's smile fell.
"I don't mind anything you make." He continued, Yuna blushes and nods.
"Ok. We'll wait for you at home. See you soon."
"Tao, we'll be waiting with food so don't go anywhere!"
"Don't go picking up women!"
Tao chuckles and nods his head.
"Yes, of course!" He said waving them off. When Reina walks past them...
"You heard the kids... we'll be waiting... go home immediately, okay?" Reina smiles at them which they gladly return.
'Home...'
"How long do you think we can live this life?" Tao looks at the kids who are laughing loudly while chatting, with little care to what may happen in the future...
"Why? Are you anxious?" Takeo asked him, but he too can feel it...
"Yeah..." Tao answered.
"Me, too. But isn't the nervousness right now is actually happiness? Back then I didn't even feel nervous." M-21 smiles...
"Because back then we just had to move according to orders. But feeling nervous now means... that there must be something we want to protect, right?" Takeo said as he looks at the beautiful calm sky above them.
"Yeah, that's true."
The three of them fell silent as they savor the tranquility of their surroundings and the happiness that is blooming in their battered hearts.
Little did they know... something is already brewing...
Author's Note:
This day marks the first month of this book! AND it already has over 500 reads! Thank you all so much!
ANOTHER THING! IT IS OFFICIAL CRUNCHYROLL IS RELEASING THE ANIME ADAPTATION OF NOBLESSE IN OCTOBER THIS YEAR!
I LOVE THIS DAY!
Anywayyyy how is it???