In a square-shaped garden located in the midst of a large castle, a woman with short, black hair clothed in a pure white dress was tending to the plants as a guest in stylish, black trousers and a loose shirt with thin, crimson markings on it entered.

The guest looked around, his golden earrings with diamonds hanging off of them swaying in the process. Some strands of his auburn hair also came loose, so he slicked it back, leaving only a few strands alone, inexplicably. As he looked around with his light, sliver eyes, he wasn't surprised to notice the floors overlooking the garden were filled with soldiers.

He walked over to the middle of the garden, where there was a small tree that cast a shadow on a pristine white bench. Then he turned and sat down, the woman in the white dress behind him.

"You came alone?" the woman asked.

The man spread his arms onto the backrest of the bench before leaning his head as far back as he could and watching the woman's upside-down figure with a smile on his face. "It seems so, doesn't it?"

"I have heard you were a cautious man. I'm also inclined to believe so, as you were able to overtake a dear friend of mine," the woman said, stopping her work to look at the smiling man in the eyes. "So tell me, are you the man I was supposed to meet? Are you the real Ruler of Mircrest, as they say? You look far too young. I also imagined you to be taller."

The man returned his head to its original position and then looked at the ground in front, where clear water flowed in between plants. "Don't worry, I'm real. As real as can get," the man said, standing up and bent over before ripping off the head of one of the plants. He then turned to the lady in white and bowed slightly, gesturing the dark violet plant at her. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Venenum," he said with his head lowered before shifting his gaze toward the lady with only the movement of his eyes as a charming grin appeared on his face. "You may call me Gadreel."

Mrs. Venenun walked forward with her shoulders back and took the plant out of his hands with a tight, rapidness in her movement. "These are poisonous," she said as she looked at the plant before throwing it away.

Gadreel stood up straight and flicked his wrist. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me," he said and began walking around the garden with long, slow steps.

"You think yourself invincible? I was told that you're not especially strong," Mrs. Venenum said from behind.

"I'm fairly strong, but I wouldn't call myself invincible," Gadreel answered without looking back. "I know my limits."

"Is not being able to arrive in time one of your limits? You're almost an hour late."

Gadreel stopped shortly and turned to respond to the bitter lady's question. "Not really, no. I came late on purpose. You ministers are all so self-absorbed and arrogant that I like giving you a reminder of your true worth once in a while."

"You think you'll get away with such behavior forever?" Mrs. Venenum asked with a judgmental look in her shady eyes.

"You think you're in a position to do anything to me?" Gadreel asked and waited for a response, but the bitter lady just stood there, looking... well, bitter. Poisonous, one might say. "That actually ties into the main topic of our little meeting," Gadreel said, raising a finger and then pointing it at Mrs. Venenum. "You're out of line."

"How so?" Mrs. Venenum asked, feigning obliviousness.

Gadreel turned and began to walk around the garden with those long, slow steps of his. "Oh, you know. You've known for a while now. I'm not your dear friend. I'm a man who consumes all I want, and I do it by all means. And what I want for the time being is to grab every nook and cranny of Mircrest. That means I'm going to place a Numen branch in Venalia as well."

"You are going to do no such thing as long as I live," Mrs. Venenum said firmly.

The tree was between the two of them at the moment, but Gadreel could visualize what her eyes must have looked like the moment she uttered those words.

He just didn't care. "If that is so, then I will take your life," he said, taking a peek from behind the tree at Mrs. Venenum, who was staring right at him. "I don't think it'll have to come to that, however."

"Issuing threats while standing in the midst of hundreds of soldiers. You must really believe in the air of invincibility you carry. However, I've seen your type crumble many times before," Mrs. Venenum said, not a hint of fear in her eyes.

Gadreel put his hands behind his back and smiled, squinting his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "There is no 'my type'. I am alone. The sooner you realize that, the better."

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"Really? Then tell me," Mrs. Venenum said, raising her hand, ready to snap her fingers. "What do you suppose stops me from doing thi—" Mrs. Venenum suddenly stopped as a thin blade extended from the two fingers of an uninvited guest lightly touched her throat.

"I do," a feminine voice came from behind the pure white mask, the individual worse with a black cloak.

Gadreel looked around with amusement as the soldiers on the upper floors panicked and orders were yelled out.

Mrs. Venenum slowly shifted her gaze to the side, keeping the rest of her body completely still. "Purple hair? You're—"

"Yes, I'm your dear friend's former guard," the masked woman said, tilting her head to the side. "I switched my employer. Do you have something against that?"

"I don't, but it was to my understanding that you were killed," Mrs. Venenum said, looking at Gadreel. "Killed by him."

The masked woman chuckled slightly.

"That's enough, Sherridan. You can retract your blade," Gadreel said as he maintained eye contact with Mrs. Venenum.

Sherridan stepped back, letting her blade disappear. Mrs. Venenum understood Gadreel's intent and raised a hand, motioning the soldiers to return to their positions.

"I apologize for my curiosity," Mrs. Venenum said with a bow of her head. "I won't doubt you again."

"Good, good. But I didn't come here to get respect. I came here to tell you to stop resisting my expansion," Gadreel said, his smile fading quickly as his tone got lower.

"You say that as if I'm going against natural law," Mrs. Venenum spit out with a frown. "But Venalia has the lowest crime rates out of all the cities in Numen of which the rest are under the control of your underlings."

"That may be true, but the crime is not organized. It is composed of sudden happenings rather than calculated events," Gadreel explained. "And you're an underling of mine, as well. You'll come to find that out eventually."

Mrs. Venenum scoffed. "Calculated events? You think organized crime is somehow more moral than non-organized crime. Oh, but you don't care about morality, do you? You build orphanages one day and burn whole towns down the next."

There was something in Mrs. Venenum's eyes. She looked at Gadreel like one might look at a wild animal. It was slightly unpleasant, but not worth bringing up.

"You're quite right. I'm not concerned with morality. What makes organized crime superior, though, is the order found in chaos. It is predictably unpredictable... much like me, some may say."

"Crime is unpredictably unpredictable, then? I see no sense in what you say."

"A very rare few do. I've come to find out in this short life of mine," Gadreel said and turned his gaze to the beautiful little plants all around. "You see, crime is the purest expression of human nature, and it is a fool's errand to try to prevent it without truly understanding. The real solution is to grasp it and make use of it. To control something of a fundamentally rebellious nature is a great feat, but it is one that leads to ultimate balance."

"You really are a rare breed of man," Mrs. Venenum said with something of a small laugh. "I suppose it's best to end our meeting here. I will consider your proposal, and from then on, we will see what happens."

Gadreel looked back at Mrs. Venenum and shut his lips, smiling a gentle little smile with a small tilt of his head. "I agree. Let us end this here. It was interesting speaking with you."

Mrs. Venenum raised her brows. "Interesting?"

"That is how I describe pleasant things. Be honored," Gadreel said and turned to leave.

Sherridan walked by his side, synchronizing her steps with his, as she often liked to do. As they were just a few steps from the entrance, Gadreel turned around.

He then spoke with an unprecedentedly low tone that left no space for doubt about the seriousness of his speech, "I think it'd be best to inform you before I go, I'm only giving you time to think as a gesture. Do not delude yourself too much into thinking you actually have a pair of rational, functioning choices. If you resist me, you are dooming yourself. I will wipe your bloodline off the face of the planet."

Mrs. Venenum didn't seem intimidated. She was a good actor. "You should also know that the order within your organized crime is just an illusion. One day, it will escape your control and reduce Mircrest to nothing but ash."

"You're exaggerating." Gadreel turned and disappeared into the dimly lit entrance, leaving only some choice words behind, "Though that would be an interesting sight."