Lumière wandered about the nighttime middle borough. He didn’t mind the danger of the Nameless, and Selaphiel had supplied him with a White Roses uniform when he had been entrusted with the task of investigating the Phantom Syndicate, so the patrolling Peacekeepers didn’t bother him either.

He would mask his intentions internally with the fact that he needed to seek out answers from Orion Callister, but deep down, he knew there was no harm in the silence. Sometimes, he just needed to spend some time alone, free of all his lies.

His lies were becoming overwhelming for him. He wondered if he had been too brazen and egotistical, taking on too much at once. It wasn’t that he had personally placed too much on himself, but that so many calamities had begun to gather around him as if he were a magnet for tragedy.

It was just as Artis Faulkner had once said.

In recent days, he had begun to forget her more and more. There was once precedence to think about her, but he had been dealing with so much that his association with her had begun to slip into the back of his mind. At first, he had assumed that the strangeness of her words had just been the type of peculiarities that every person had about them, but with what he had learned from all of his dalliances into the world of magic and mysticism, he began to wonder if there was more to the noblewoman than he had first assumed.

Could it be that she was one of the ‘Rememberers’ that Aris Sevant had once spoke of? But had she ever shown any malice towards Lumière? No, he thought that might not have been the case. In the way that Aris spoke, these ‘Rememberers’ played the role of friends and family sometimes. They definitely would wait out the opportune moment to strike.

But what was their goal? To prevent calamity, the destruction of the world by the primordial Sins? Didn’t that make their goal inherently noble? Of course, he had already come to the conclusion that he was the bad guy. But he didn’t think that the people he ‘considered’ enemies would turn out to be good guys. So what was the differing factor between his enemies? Was it their intentions?

Could the Rememberers be considered a good faction, but Orion Callister an evil person? Both enemies, but only one with morally good intentions? But if that was the case, was he really a bad person? After all, his intention wasn’t to destroy the world, it was to change it for the better.

‘So which hand should I use for casting magic now?’ Lumière smiled, humoured. ‘Should my left cast for evil, or my right for good? Which person am I, which person do I want to be?’

Without thinking, Lumière wandered through the door of a Crown of Thorns cathedral. There were three cathedrals in the middle borough in total, one acting as the main base of operations for Heaven’s Roses in Leiden. Besides this, there was the monastery in the lower borough, and a cathedral and church in the high borough.

They held services at all times of the day so that believers of the Goddess could sate their worries and pray for success and good fortunes.

Lumière sat down in the pews, the echoes of the preacher at the front of the chapel’s chamber reverberating throughout the room, entering the listening ears of the pious believers scattered about. They busied themselves with their prayers as they listened, their hands crossed and their heads bowed in reverence.

As he watched these events unfold, he leaned back in the pew, resting his head on his hand as he let out a sigh.

He adjusted his glasses, a gleam of light blinding him slightly. This caused him to glance upwards, noticing the ornate chandeliers hanging high above them.

In the chapel, such things were paid by the donations of wealthy believers of the Goddess. Of course, this wasn’t an occurrence that happened in the lower borough’s monastery. The unerring belief of the dwindlers and the people of Etten-Leur was all they could afford. That was why the gaudiest decoration they could afford was the stained-glass window in the main hall.

Of course, it wasn’t like such splendor was indicative of their beliefs. It was just nice for believers to be at ease in such a fanciful environment.

Suddenly, the preacher at the head of the chapel went silent. The reverent listeners who had been bowing their heads slowly raised them in unison. Their heads twisted violently, staring at Lumière with maddening grins.

This would have been unsettling in most circumstances. However, atop the chandelier high above, Lumière caught a bouncing glint bobbing up and down, running from one side of the chapel to the other.

The repeating rabbit ran around high above.

Of course, this wasn’t a surprise. As a ‘magnet’, he didn’t really need to seek out trouble. Wherever he went, it was sure to find him. That was the cruelty of fate, but also something that could be actively relied on. Lumière removed his half-top hat, placing it beside him before ruffling his messy hair and sighing.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Aren’t you scared that you might alert Heaven’s Roses to interference with the believers of the Goddess, White? You know that priest you’re controlling right now is a valuable member of the church. If he comes to harm, they won’t stop until they find you. And even then, your noble status might not protect you.”

Beside him, the form of a man with fiery-orange hair appeared, grinning madly, as if he had been there all along. Of course, he had, but Lumière had just pretended not to notice him for a time. He felt he had to protect the peace of loneliness he had cultivated just moments prior, sad to see it go.

“That’s fine. I’m not scared of being discovered. Risks are the fun of the game.” Orion Callister sat beside Lumière, staring at the preacher in the distance. All of the worshipers in the Cathedral had fallen under his control. They weren’t threatening themselves with blades or broken glass as they had before, rather staring maddeningly at Lumière, creating a sense of unease.

Ignoring this, Lumière stared ahead casually and asked his first question.

“Why do inconsistencies follow you? I see the same rabbit every time I meet you. You’re no Deity, so why do they appear?”

“Inconsistencies don’t just apply to Deities attempting to descend into the mortal world, but also to Demons.” A raspy, airy voice spoke out from behind Lumière.

“And who might you be?” Without turning his head, Lumière smiled slightly.

“My name is Euler. I’m a Demon, of course. I’m contracted with Orion Callister.”

“Why aren’t you hesitant to reveal such information? Wouldn’t it be better for you to conceal such things in order to use them to your advantage?”

Orion leaned his head on his hand beside Lumière, grinning. “We’re sure you already know, or at least suspected such a thing. But there are things you don’t know that we do.”

“And what is that?”

“The master of blades, Dreselle Artois is dead.”

Lumière’s expression remained unmoved.

“If you’re trying to disrupt my mental state again, it won’t work.”

“It’s true.” Euler chuckled. “I killed him.”

“And?” Lumière replied coldly. “Do you want to disrupt my mental state, or do you just want to die? Why are you bothering me with this information?”

“Did you not come here to have fun?” Orion smirked. “Of course, we were prepared for your arrival. You always seem to stray to where we are.”

“I have something to ask you.” Lumière chided in response. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Information isn’t something to be given out for free. You know this much.”

“I want to know if the Argyle family had a hand in the murder of their son, Casimir Argyle.”

Orion’s eyes glimmered slightly, sitting up straight.

“I see. Although I don’t know why you would want to know of such matters, I have an answer for you. The price for it might not be something you’re willing to accept, however.”

“And what is that?”

“I want that object you have in your pocket. The one that embodies the powers of the Alchemist Domain.”

‘White knows about the Three of Hearts card? No, maybe the existence of the House of Cards isn’t inherently kept to themselves. Someone with connections to a Demon, as well as the Noble class might be privy to information like this.’

Lumière had developed the habit of carrying items with magical elements in his coat which had been specially modified for such things. He couldn’t just leave them in the church, thinking that they may be discovered by Ainsworth or easily uncovered by the Archangel, Selaphiel. Of course, there was the matter of his private room in the House of Cards, but he just the same didn’t trust the Joker. It could be the case that the Joker might take the items out of the private room, or they may be taken by the members of the Mythos Garden.

‘But how did he know I have it? Is it something that the Demon behind me noticed and tacitly informed him of? But why does he want it? Will this instantly give him access to powers equivalent to a Third-Arisen, a Novice of the Alchemist Domain?’

There were two main points of contention that made this deal seem dangerous or otherwise unbalanced. The first was that if it was the case that attainment of such a card would give Orion Callister access to the powers of an Alchemist, it would become that much harder to kill him in the future. The second was that it was a useful element in trading within the House of Cards. There may come a time when it would be useful to trade this card to a lower-ranked Arisen of the Alchemist Domain.

There was a third concern. Having a card meant that Orion Callister would be able to gain access to the House of Cards. While this wasn’t inherently a terrible thing, it meant he could potentially discover the peculiarities of Lumière and the members of the Mythos Garden, discovering his collaboration, and maybe even his plans to take down the Phantom Syndicate. If his enemy knew just how many problems he was facing, it could be the case that he could manipulate those problems and make his life even more unbearable.

Of course, Lumière didn’t care of such things in the moment. After all, it was a certainty that he would get this card back once he killed Orion Callister. Murdering the orange-haired fool would certainly eliminate all the previous possibilities. And the Nobleman receiving more power didn’t necessarily scare him. If he wanted to do so, he probably would have went down this avenue already. Even if receiving the card gave him power, it wasn’t like Lumière couldn’t withstand it. After all, he was a servant of a powerful evil Deity.

Lumière reached into a hidden pocket in his coat, procuring the Three of Hearts card. It depicted a man tearing open the flesh of his chest, revealing three emerald hearts in the open cavity. He casually handed it over to Orion Callister, who took it graciously. Out of the corner of his eye, he observed the Nobleman curiously. However, there was no visible changes, not in his demeanor or appearance. He remained as he had been before, untouched by the Cursed Domain.

‘Maybe it’s the case that one has to start with the lowest card? Perhaps it won’t affect White as I first thought…’

“So, what is the answer to my question?”

Orion Callister smiled slyly before replying casually, “no, the Argyles had no hand in the death of Casimir Argyle.”