Sonata has arrived in the Welkin city as she was panting heavily with Claire and Gabriel, they were about to return until they saw Oswald running past them after hopping off from Vincent's motorbike. "Huh? What is Master Oswald--"

"Sonata, catch him!"

They noticed how serious and determined he was, seeing that he was chasing someone. It was a hooded man with black cape who was running off from the crowd of many people, also the person that Oswald was trying to catch. Sonata immediately ran towards him which made Claire confused, but Gabriel prompted her and she nodded before following Sonata and Oswald. Vincent began to steer his motorbike, catching up on them and assisting them into capturing the man. "What are we doing?!"

"Just do what I say!"

Oswald yelled, before he made a parkour and stunts through jumping over the obstacles and the board while Sonata followed with her two best friends. "Get back here!" she yelled, before she leaps and jumps towards the man--catching on him and biting the man's head that made him yelled. He fell to the ground, hissing in pain by her bite as Sonata releasing him, while Claire and Gabriel restraining his limbs as Oswald's spectacles glimmered in bright light. "Alright, let's see who's the man behind this hood," he stated, removing the hood from his head--which reveals to be...

They comically froze at the sight of the Prime Minister himself, Aldo.

"PRIME MINISTER!?"

Lloyd shrieked by the noise as he popped out from the alleyway and fell down carelessly to the ground, making them turning their heads to the source and their Postmaster-General is HERE too?! Sonata was confused so does her friends who was clueless of what's going on, just what the hell happened and only Oswald himself 'knew' what happened throughout this mess. "I suppose all of you deserve an explanation... huh?"

Few hours later...

Lloyd was sitting on the chair behind his office desk, while Oswald was facing him with a scowl on his eyes. "Oswald... you're creeping me out with that gaze, y'know...' he said with a sheepish smile, making the HR Director slammed his hands on the desk menacingly--even Solvine refuse to look at him in the eye when he saw him like that--so does Alastair in the office. Lloyd gulped when he noticed how intimidating he was, he was loss at words after being confronted by Oswald regarding this mess--save for Aldo who was being watched by the AED that Alastair ordered. "I'm not leaving until I'm done with this whole Spiritus Husk mess, Lloyd Warren... do you think I will let you off so easily? I always wanted that vision to be untrue... turns out I've been sleepless BECAUSE OF YOU..."

Oswald spoke in a rather deep voice, his darkened face looming over Lloyd which made him screamed. "WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?! YOU'RE CREEPING ME OUT OSWALD!" he screeched comically, Senja tried to calm his superior down and Mathilda brought some tea for them to keep him distracted (though no avail) from the case. "Tell me, Lloyd... please tell me you're not doing it..." he said, still not letting his eyes off of him. Suona was shivering in fear to see Oswald like that so she hid behind her father's coat, Xinglan wanting to sneak out but Amaris told him not to.

Seriously, this is getting out of hand.

Lloyd gulped, he realized that his eyes were saying 'you better not doing it' and that alone shocked him--as if he know something. “You should’ve talked sooner, you know?” Alastair remarked with a raised eyebrow, before Solvine sighed before he started to speak to him. “Lloyd, please tell me you’re not going to let us die.”

This made Lloyd paused, confused of what he meant before he sighed--smiling wistfully as he stand up from his seat. “So, you figured out the truth of my plans all along, huh?” he said with a smile, it was a tired smile but he most likely keeping his cool. “I knew it... it seems like I have to be frank with you all of you. You’re really smart, Alastair, you’ve always been... well, I guess I should say, you’re all very clever.”

Oswald stepped back and folded his arms, he prayed that this could change something that preventing his vision to come true--he also made Kaisen and Shina to search for the artifact they needed--while not falling on the wrong hands yet. “I should’ve not kept this for a long time, it’s my fault for the whole miscommunication that I didn’t tell all of you Mail-Hunters about this. It’s my mistake for not explaining everything to you all, especially to you, Alastair, Solvine, and... Oswald,” Lloyd spoke softly.

“It’s because I have something else on my mind—a promise that I had made; to be a better person and brought peace to everyone in this country of Canaria... but I didn’t expect Sonata’s nightmare made me feel like something’s wrong with me... and I must apologize for that, Solvine... since she’s your daughter after all.”

Solvine is listening carefully to him despite mentioning his daughter Sonata, before Lloyd began his explanation to both of them. “The government officials even the Prime Minister's rule never changed, I thought it would be the best not to get involved too much but... it appears like Aldo really suspecting me a lot and they also talking bad things behind my back—like they were laughing at me and saying that I’m incompetent, even though I’ve been carrying all burdens as a Postmaster-General of National Postal Service."

“This country of theirs, it’s full of traitors... I feel like they might going to dismiss my post as soon as they realize that there is an uprising coming in the future. They may even force me to retire someday, but now it’s not just those people that are trying to ruin my reputation. There are others as well. It's not just Reverse Organization, they also trying to target my family after we rose into status as a noble and part of the dukedom. As expected, I almost plotting myself to get myself dismissed... by betraying all of you."

“It’s not Oswald's fault that she had the nightmare, we might not know what happened next if things went wrong. But we’ll probably get arrested if we try to save them and warn the public.”

He paused for a second, making Oswald's eyebrows furrowed a bit. “You know, I’m not even sure why I decided to become a Mail-Hunter in the first place, or how I’m still alive after my first encounter with them... even the Husk creatures—but then I was remember now... when I was small, I really believe I could fill the world with light through my strength, and I was certain that I was going to bring peace to everyone in this country of ours... no matter what it takes.”

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“But I realized I couldn’t do anything without the help of my friends and family; now that my grandparents were dead because of the government—even though they’re nobles... I became the backbone of the family to take care of my two younger siblings and now my mother who is the matriarch of my dukedom. Even though they’re not my children, I took care of them as if they were my own kids, and I hope they know that I love them dearly... I did my best to be the father figure for them."

Lloyd’s voice grew softer and quieter as he continued to speak, his gaze was gloomy as he looked at the wall in front of him—but deep down he just wanted to find a way to make things right. “After I turned seventeen, I used my strength and potential to become a Mail-Hunter, and I did things that I should have done.”

“And then when I became a Postmaster-General, I found myself surrounded by people who always thought of themselves first—so I decided to use my power and influence to make things right, even if I had to pay a high price for it. That’s why I hired you, Oswald, Alastair, Solvine. Because I knew that, you had the potential to become a great Mail-Hunter one day, and you were capable to take over me and--”

“Don’t say that last sentence!”

Alastair interjected, shaking his head vigorously. His face was filled with fury as he glared at his friend. “You won’t betray us... right? I know deep down you would never do such a thing, Lloyd... I know you wouldn’t!” he said, as his voice trembled but he know how angry he was. “You’re not the kind of man who does that! So don’t ever say those things in front of us like this, you bastard!” Solvine remained silent, he let them speak until they reached the conclusion--while Oswald was relieved that this could've stopped... if he was very quick to stop him.

Lloyd was surprised when Alastair said that, he wasn’t wrong though—it made him laughed softly with a genuine smile before he replied to him. “Why would I betray you all? Do you know how much I cherishes all of you?” he asked, making them surprised that even Oswald surprised that he actually cares--he turned to Sonata as if he noticed something new--even though he didn't.

“Do you know how happy you all made me feel? All of you became my brothers and sisters, and I’m blessed that I’ve found people like you all. Ever since I began to think about this nightmare, it made me rethink my plan and think of other ways to stop this war between the government and the Reverse Organization. I’ve already stopped my plan to execute you all, because I’ve thought of something else. It was so wrong and out of my character... I’m sorry for making all of you and everyone suffer, because of my incompetence.”

Alastair sighed, lowering his head in defeat as he stared at the table, while Solvine was frowning deeply--he nodded before he folded his arms. “I understand, but... who came up with this? Wait, don't tell me..." he said, Solvine glanced at Oswald who seemed to be the one who started with this case.

Lloyd smiled wistfully, before he shrugged. “I shouldn’t have done that, but it’s my dark thoughts--I’ve been stressed the whole day long you know, every single second that I’m awake, I felt like someone is watching me, trying to kill me... and even though I’ve done so much for this country of ours... I felt like I didn’t do enough for this country. So, I was getting overwhelmed by these thoughts and--” he paused when Alastair hugged him, making him surprised as his face went red. “H-Hey, Alastair! What are you doing?!”

“Shut up and listen to me for a moment, Lloyd!”

“I’m not letting go of you, ever since I heard your confession earlier, I’ve been thinking about what to do with you--"

Solvine smacked Alastair’s head from behind, immediately releasing Lloyd from the embrace. “Sorry about that, so... what’s your solution to this? Should you do something, since all of the Mail-Hunters didn’t know about your plan so you’re safe,” Oswald informed, he knew some of them unaware so they need to find a way to stop the awakening of the Spiritus Husk due to the lacking supply of Melodic Scores. “And we’re doing this together, right? We’ll help each other out to solve this mess.”

Lloyd nodded, before he continued. “There’s nothing else I can do anymore, because the government betrayed me, even Aldo had did something terrible to me... and the only way to bring peace to everyone is to 'bring down' the government and stop the awakening of the Spiritus Husk... God, I feel like my head is going to burst by this time. I don’t know what to do anymore... I know I did the right thing, but I am afraid of what will happen afterward... I don’t want to lose any of you, I want to keep you all alive, even if it means I need to die to protect you all,” he whispered, before Solvine grabbed his shoulder and spoke to him.

“Then let’s do this together, we’ll help you and find the best possible method to stop this war. You’re our friend, Lloyd... and we’re all here for you. Don’t worry, I know we can do this--we’re not doing this without you… and we’ll find out the solution from this mess.”

Lloyd was stunned as he stared at them, feeling relieved hearing what they said—he look down at the chess board on the table—before he look back at them. For some reason, his stress and burden were lifted by their words; the tension was gone, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. “Thank you all for being here, I really appreciate it... you’re my friends, so you deserve to hear me out.”

He said with a gentle smile, before he sighed. “I think I need to apologize to Sonata for all of misunderstandings, that sixteen years old poor girl need to know how much I truly loved and cared for her.”

His eyes grew cold as he stared at the chessboard, before he sighed. Oswald approached Sonata that made her shrieked, before he stated. "You really know how to 'change' someone without force, Sonata... I wonder if I can have that ability someday," he said, she gulped before Claire rolled her eyes and Gabriel only lit up his cigarette on his fingers.

“I’ll make sure to tell her the truth, and I’ll protect her from harm, even if it cost me my life. I’m going to tell the others about this... I’ll tell them everything. From now on, no one needs to doubt me anymore, and I hope they’ll trust me more than before. I think it’s time to put this issue to rest and solve this problem once and for all.”

Lloyd stated, before he shrieked when he felt something hit his face in front of him—it was his apprentice Vincent who tossed him a paper bag with sandwich inside the bag. “Ouch!” he yelped, before Vincent spoke to him with cool but cold tone. “If you ever over-smoke again... I will burn this cigarettes of yours to ashes."

Lloyd stared at his apprentice with a horrified expression, before he quickly stuffed the entire sandwich into his mouth. “O-Okay, here’s the plan--” Lloyd started, approaching the chess board on his office desk where he always used for his strategy and the brainstorming to come up with new ideas. Aldo listens as he refuse to acknowledge Lloyd's presence, he really didn't want to look at him until Senja's grin almost scared him. "Mind if you can volunteer with us?"

Aldo gulped, before he grumbled. "Seriously, I don't understand why do you exist..." he said, making Mathilda sighed. "We'll let you go for this time, but please don't spill anything about this, okay?" she warned, the Prime Minister stand up and look away from her. "If you say so, fine then."

When he left, Lloyd pondered for a bit. He was planning something for Aldo but decided not to do it against him, last time he already got intimidated and he wanted to avenge him. Oh crap, he's having a headache and he was getting insane by this idea that popped out from his head. "Crap baskets..." he whispered, walking around in circle while biting the nail of his thumb while he's in the office with Oswald who was observing him. "What's wrong?"

"Uhh... this might sounds risky and you won't like it."

"What is it?"

As the HR Director listens to his superior-friend's explanation of his idea, it made him narrowed his eyes. "What the--are you serious about this?"