Although he had lived with women most of his life, Arcturus couldn’t fully grasp them. It wasn’t because he looked down on them, but it was because he couldn’t be on their wavelengths at times. He respected their unpredictability, however. He liked the sense of independence it gave them. Though, if there was one woman he did not want to respect or understand, it would be the one prostrating herself in front of him right now.
“Lady Asteria, please get up.” Sophia requested frantically. “It’s unsightly for a woman of your status to be kneeling down like this.”
Asteria lifted her head up; her eyes were swollen from the tears. “No, allow me to keep groveling until you all forgive me for my extremely rude behavior! It’s unbefitting for a leader of an organization like me to throw a temper tantrum like a petulant child!”
“We all forgive you, so stand up!” Murphy remarked as he turned to Arcturus. “Right?”
“Y-yes. I’m fine with it.”
“Well, I’m not.” Constance muttered.
Asteria slowly stood up but staggered. “Fuck, my foot’s asleep.” She gently put it down as she stood up straight and bowed in apology. “Once again, I’d like to apologize for my behavior.”
“You’re…not going to go ballistic on us again, right?” Arcturus muttered.
She shook her head. “The reason I had acted out of line was because of Nova. The sight of him got me a bit too excited. It has been twenty years since we last saw each other. To be honest, the past two decades had been rough for me, so clinging onto the promise that he’d grant my wish when we meet again was what got me going. What I wish for is to have the power to kill my sister. As I waited for our possible reunion, I gathered all the possible allies I could and created DUO.”
“If you had created this secret organization, isn’t that enough? You could just come up with a plan and then infiltrate?”
“That’s easier said than done. Bellatrix and I are sisters, after all. We were both raised and trained by the same person. We know what each other is thinking exactly and why Bellatrix basically barricaded herself–it’s to protect herself from me. She knows that one day, Nova and I will reunite and that’s when I’ll have the upper hand–the power to take her down once and for all.”
“That’s true. Not to mention, the people working with her are also obstacles.”
“Yes. Even if they’re not much of a fighter, they all have their own ways to fight.”
She glanced over at Nova. Her expression became sullen. “Why is he asleep? When will he wake up?”
“He had exhausted himself when we escaped from an exploding airship.”
“That sounds crazy…”
There’s…no need to explain about Souhait, right?
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Hilbert suddenly yelped. “Oh yeah, there was a news report about a dragon that had briefly showed up before disappearing. Given that it breathed out lavender fire and Nova has lavender eyes, he must be the dragon!”
Arcturus was baffled. How did he figure it out so quickly?
Nova being a dragon wasn’t a secret he was supposed to keep, but Arcturus did feel an inclination of not wanting to tell people about the dragon because of potential disbelief. People didn’t believe in the lavender dragons, after all. All they knew about wishes was that Nova, the charlatan, could grant them. Was he supposed to tell them that Nova’s source of power came from the dragon?
Asteria scoffed. “That’s stupid. The lavender dragon is just a fairy tale. They don’t exist.”
When she had said those words, a sense of annoyance came to him as he thought about Nova, Souhait and everything he had witnessed in Castle Lavender. To deny meant disrespecting everything that had transpired. He didn’t want that. What Arcturus wanted was to see people have wishes again; that was also their goal. He needed to make people believe, even if it took years to do so. As long as he was helping Nova and Souhait, he didn’t care what method or words he’d use. He promised himself to never look back, after all.
“No, you’re wrong. The dragon does exist. That dragon in the so-called news broadcast was Nova. I know because I was riding on that dragon for a brief moment.”
“How is that possible?” Asteria was rather intrigued.
“Because Nova’s power to grant wishes is due to him harboring the lavender dragon, the one believed to be a fairy tale, inside of him.”
Hilbert and Asteria became silent as they both looked at each other. Asteria bursted into laughter. “You’re really pulling my leg, aren’t you?” She then looked at Constance. “Hey, Shiftie, is this fool lying again?”
“Arcturus’s words are all true.” Constance answered begrudgingly.
“If you want proof, I can show you…once Nova wakes up.” Arcturus glanced over at Nova.
“When will he wake up?”
“He told me that he’d be asleep for three days. Two days have already passed, so tomorrow.”
Asteria’s blue eyes glistened. They reminded him of a cloudless blue sky. She cleared her throat as she extended a hand out towards Arcturus.
“I know my first impression has been terrible, but if you’re still willing to stay here, let’s cooperate. I need more manpower to take down my sister and I am not letting this opportunity slide.”
Arcturus knew that she needed them as much as they needed her. Cooperation would be their safest option to prevent Nova from being captured by soldiers and for them to find a way to reach the mayor. As he reached his hand out to agree on their cooperation, Constance interrupted.
“I refuse.”
“This isn’t about you.”
“No, it is. Arcturus is cooperating with me to take down Bellatrix which means cooperating with him is also cooperating with me. However, you have been extremely disrespectful to me and my existence as a Shiftie. That is why I refuse to let you cooperate with him until you find a way to respect me not as a Shiftie but as my own self. Not to mention, you also disrespect Arcturus and call him a fool and a boy when he is twenty years old and no longer a boy. You also were disrespectful to Murphy and Sophia. As long as you keep that haughty attitude, cooperation will be hard.”
Asteria turned to look at Arcturus. “What do you think about this matter?”
“What Constance says is true. We are cooperating. I would also advise that you start respecting her as a person and not as some object. She is alive and a person.”
Asteria became deep in thought as she started scratching the back of her head and then extended a hand out towards Constance. “I need all the help I can get. It will be hard to change my prejudices overnight, but I’ll try to work to better myself as a person and to see you not as a man-made object. I’ll also work hard to not disrespect everyone else as well, but I will not guarantee it’ll happen overnight. So, Constance, will you let me work with you and Arcturus?”
Without any hesitation, Constance took her hand. Arcturus saw Sophia and Murphy smiling at the sight, which caused him to smile in return.