The annals of the Jinton Family were not particularly confidential. Their long shared history with both the Yraemonde and Haemour Families was actually well-documented. The rivalry between the Jintons and Yraemondes had always been acknowledged throughout especially in our homelands, but since Deneve was a country considered one of the most welcoming lands for immigrants, a lot of people from these families migrated here.

Nevertheless, if I were to be any other immigrant hearing about the destruction of the Yraemonde family, I would chuckle at the masked man, knowing that their destruction has long been sought after for the sake of Grudea, the homeland of my family.

But, he did not just refer to the Yraemonde Family… He knew something confidential. The downfall that befell my Mother due to the actions of my Father…

Fragments of memories of me sitting on the edge of my bed alongside my Mother dangled in my mind, causing me to repeatedly mutter “It can’t be…” to myself before Michel spoke to me again.

“I understand how you feel, Helvega. I am no stranger to it, which is why I want to help you.”

I remained silent in response, still locked in place, prompting him to continue, as Emon could only look at my defeated figure in silence.

“I know you must be having a lot of questions lingering in your mind… But, I must ask of you to be patient. Emon was never an adversary. The both of us are just trying to be of help.”

Zaccheus, behind Michel, frowned deeply as he asked him with a deep voice.

“What do you want, Michel?”

He took several moments before answering, lowering his head as he slowly turned back to Zaccheus.

“What do I want… a simple, yet complicated question. Tell me, Zaccheus, if freedom was all you had in your life, would you feel oppressed by a higher power? Perhaps, someone, or something responsible for that freedom you enjoy so much?”

Staring deeply into Michel’s eyes, Zaccheus remained quiet.

“If you trust what I say,” Michel continued. “You will feel a flame flickering within your soul. You wanted this change, you wanted things to have gone differently than they went. And let me tell you, Zaccheus… Helvega…

…That time is now.”

“What?” Zaccheus asked. “What will you do?”

Michel crossed his hands behind his back and took a few steps Eastwards. He then turned back to the both of us, who were now equally in his line of vision. He stretched his right arm towards Zaccheus as if offering an item, as he responded,

“This will be the establishment of our assemblage. The four of us are going to be acknowledged as the founding members of The Syndicate. Not a single word of this should be spread to anyone outside of this proximity…”

He then turned his head towards me, peering deep into my soul from behind his mask as he ended,

“…Not even the ones closest to us.”

I grimaced, standing back up.

“What… you think I will keep shut from my own Mother? You think I won’t tell her that Emon is still alive?!”

Emon’s composed demeanour remained unwavering. He closed his eyes, prompting Michel to respond.

“You must have forgotten what your true aspirations are. If you seek more answers, then abide by what I say. And trust me, I will find out whether or not you have told her anything.”

A sense of dread instantly washed over me as soon as I heard his malicious words. I stumbled over my words, attempting to retaliate with a quivering body. Yet, before I could properly sound my words, Emon intervened.

“Helvega, trust him. We are not here to hurt any of you. Keep things as quiet as you possibly can. We will send letters to your homes for the first meeting. This situation already seems paradoxical enough, so let’s not make it worse than it already is.”

“…Emon…” I muttered, a shadow falling over my eyes as I hung my head. “…promise me that you will visit her.”

He closed his eyes in a deep sigh, and responded with a calming tone,

“…I promise.”

Both he and Michel then began departing from the scene, leaving Zaccheus behind, who could only stare at them both in awe. I stood frozen in place, my head still bowed, as I could sense their figures stepping past me. I was fighting every single urge to summon my Scythe once again and decapitate Emon as he was walking past me, but… I could not.

“Our first meeting will be held in two weeks. Make sure to be cautious of your mailboxes during this period,” Michel said. As Emon already descended the staircase, Michel gave us both one final look over his shoulder.

“We hope to see you both soon.”

As soon as he too departed, Zaccheus stepped towards me, sensing I already crossed the line of breaking down in tears. I raised my head to meet his eyes, and asked,

“What… do we do, Zaccheus?”

He gently placed his left hand on my left shoulder, attempting to placate my inner turmoil as best as he could.

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“Something tells me they are being truthful, Helvega.”

My crestfallen face seemed even more distressed as I heard his words. He then placed his other hand on my right shoulder and tilted his head in comfort.

“Listen to me, Helvega. We will find out the truth together, okay? For now, let us do what they say. I understand how you feel, I really do. If I were you, I would have most likely lost control and ended up telling her; But I know that you’re much more collected than I am. I can trust you.”

“…How… is Emon… I just… don’t understand, Zaccheus…”

“This was certainly unexpected, yes,” he nodded with closed eyes. “But, we should at least be relieved to know that he is still around.”

“He looks different,” I muttered. “Like… an entirely different person.”

He stood silent in response, as I continued.

“His face, his body… his entire demeanour. Even though it was almost two decades ago, I still sensed a prevalent difference as opposed to all these years ago. He looked at me as if I was someone unimportant to him, little to no empathy in his eyes, even after I confronted him about my Mother.”

“…You’re right,” Zaccheus agreed. “He did look significantly different than before, putting aside his ageing process. It just doesn’t feel real encountering him after all this time…”

“Do you trust them, Zaccheus?”

“…”

“You seemed agitated when you aimed your Divination Tool at him,” I continued. “But, I could tell that you were hoping to find validation for some sort of change in that man’s words.”

“Correct, I was…” he sighed, releasing his hands from me as he lowered his head. “To be frank, I always wanted Emon to be the ruler of Luria. During his time spent in the Cellar, I was always a little sceptical about Phineas due to his ties with Terra Firma…”

“Yes, we spoke about this for quite some time,” I responded. “There have been a lot of shady things happening there. Is that why you never trusted him? Because he always seemed like a shady person?”

“…Not entirely. Again, he made it well clear to me that he had plans and goals for Deneve. Almost twenty years later, it wouldn’t be bold to assume that he will bring our people to even greater heights than we are today, putting the things he already achieved in this amount of time into consideration; such as tackling the inflation rate, dispersing the Rapid Decay Phenomenon, cultivating the prevalent presence of both Terra Firma and Luria…”

“…I still hear some doubt in your voice.”

My words caused him to gulp, followed by him nervously clearing his mouth.

“…Well, yes. Even though he seems like an amazing person, I feel like, at one point, he will be willing to throw it all away for his own sake.”

“Throw away as in… what?”

“As in losing himself. Losing his humanity for the would have been too encumbered in the ideology that brought him this life.”

“…Are you saying that his ideology will be the cause of his downfall?”

“Not quite,” he retorted. “More like that, his ideology will become so great that he fails to see himself in it, resulting in him taking everything for his own since that will be everything he knows.”

My face turned thoughtful, prompting Zaccheus to ask me if I was feeling better.

“I’m just… trying to figure out how I could best avoid the temptation of telling her about everything…”

“I would advise taking some distance from her, just in case you feel tempted. But, I am assuming that you came here because Aurora told you so, right?”

“Yes, I did. It was about my encounter with Phineas at the temple. It appeared that he took the role of Head Master for this year’s Inquisition. We were hoping you could help us come up with a good way to approach this situation since we felt that the two young boys could potentially be in danger.”

“Ah, right. I am already aware of that. Did Aurora propose anything?”

“…She is planning on sending them two a letter in three days to indicate their safety.”

“I see,” he murmured, contemplatively placing his fingers beneath his chin. “Deliberately waiting three days to prevent acting too quickly and causing havoc. I assume the other students would be receiving their letters from their parents during this week, too, which also further complements the timing of the letter. It’s a good start, but I doubt that Caelum and Vaelen will be in danger at all.”

“Why do you think so?”

Zaccheus responded as he propped his attire back to normal.

“Because both Emon and Michel are aware of their existences. If Aurora won’t be able to do anything, Emon surely will.”

Emon taking care of Caelum and Vaelen…

Something about hearing his name alongside the brothers just… seemed superficial, besides the obviously understanding feeling of it rubbing me in the wrong way. I silently shook my head, which caused Zaccheus to ask me,

“You seem a little doubtful.”

“Well, can you blame me?” I sighed, averting my eyes. “They never had the chance to see their father, and, out of nowhere, he just so happens to be around—considering the amount of time he had to simply consider visiting them at least once.”

“Two weeks,” he responded. “We’ll have two weeks until the meeting happens.”

He then closed his eyes and sighed.

“Helvega, can you do something for me?”

“What is it?”

“Distance yourself from Aurora until the meeting happens. Our long-awaited search for clearance seems to be within our reach. We really can not risk messing even the slightest thing up. I know you may be wondering how Michel could even possibly find out about you telling your Mother about this, but, something about that man just convinces me that he would.”

“…”

He did have a point.

Something about that man seemed otherworldly, as if he could read ever single thought in our minds. As easy and accessible as it would be for me to just shut both me and my Mother in a closed, isolated room, with no possibility of our voices reaching the outside, hell, even if I were to whisper in her ear, whilst in that closed room… not to mention making sure my Mother wouldn’t move an inch with this newfound information…

…I felt that, somehow, in some way, he would find out about it.

Additionally, it was two weeks until the meeting would happen. I gulped down the remaining apprehensiveness I had and accepted that just waiting the days out would be my safest and best approach.

“…What do I tell her?”

“Let’s head to her place and discuss the plan regarding Phineas first. You can use your occupation with the Library as an excuse, that will surely work out.”

“…Alright.”

He gave me a firm pat on the shoulder, as he led the way to the staircase, leading back outside the building.