"…So let me get this straight," Prince Rajak stared at Princess Ranea with eyes widened with hostility.
His voice was reduced to a whisper.
"The four of you manifestations of human filth have cooked together a plan to hamper that bastard Raijun by killing Rui Quarrier, who you claim is responsible for his accelerating momentum in his campaign?"
"Pretty much," Princess Ranea replied with sharp eyes.
They were in a dimly lit room deep underground.
Behind each of them were four Martial Master bodyguards on absolute alert if their peers on the other side tried pulling something off.
"…And you dare to come to me for help?"
His eyes were bloodshot with rage.
"…Pretty much," Princess Ranea echoed.
"It was clever of them to elect you as a representative of your little alliance," Prince Rajak's mouth curled with hatred. "Since you are among the only two of us seven who had nothing to do with the death of my family."
"…" She simply stared at him wordlessly.
It was true.
Rajak would not only never speak friendlily with the other three but would actively order his bodyguards to hamper their bodyguards while he killed them with his own two hands as a Martial Apprentice.
"What makes you think that Rui Quarrier is responsible for Prince Raijun's growth?"
She tossed a document containing all the information that they pooled together that had allowed them to conclude that it was, in fact, Rui Quarrier who was responsible for his incredible progress with campaigning in the Martial Union.
The Underworld Prince's eyes narrowed as he read through all the information that they had while Princess Ranea patiently waited.
They had no choice but to go through him if they wanted sincere cooperation with the Schambiei Mafia.
"Hm," Prince Rajak closed the document, passing it to a butler.
He steepled his fingers.
His eyes bored into hers.
"What's in it for me?"
"Don't give me that bullshit," She snorted. "You gain just as much as we do. You may hate Randal, Raemina, and Rafia, but the fact of the matter is that you hate the idea of Raijun becoming Emperor more than you hate the idea of cooperating with us for a common agenda."
She narrowed her eyes. "He was there. Albeit young, the other three have confirmed that Prince Raijun aided in the massacre of your family."
Rajak's eyes burned with unadulterated fury. "You filthy…"
"The man who murdered your family is reaching the throne," Princess Ranea told him with a cold voice. "What are you going to do about it?"
"THEY MURDERED MY FAMILY TOO!" He bellowed at her.
"Yes, but they're not reaching the throne. Who do you think you should be paying attention to?" Princess Ranea's icy voice washed over the smoldering rage within Rajak.
"You of the Royal Family…" Prince Rajak's expression curled with disgust and hatred. "Every last one of you."
"Not all of us are bad, you know?" Princess Ranea had the audacity to smirk. "I suppose I should thank Raul for being enough of a saint to compensate for the rest of us." Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
"Don't you dare," His quivering tone warned her. "Don't you dare invoke him."
"Whatever," She snorted. "I don't really care about your vendetta. You in or out?"
She stared at him with a calm and composed expression.
"Rui Quarrier…" Prince Rajak's voice seemed to return to normalcy. "…is a good man. He doesn't deserve to die."
She didn't utter a word in response.
His words may have sounded troubling to her agenda.
But her eyes told her something else entirely.
"But I know better than anyone…" He continued. "How easily good men who don't deserve to die…die every day."
He stared at Rui's profile picture in the documents before him. "If his death is the price to be paid for keeping that disgusting Martial Supremacist off the throne, then so be it."
"Good," She waved her had as her personal assistant placed a thick document before her. "This contains all the information you'll need, including recipients, amount, drop-off of the principal amount, and interest, as well as a secure means of communication for coordination."
He simply stared at her wordlessly as his assistant accepted the document.
"Pleasure doing business with you," She got up, eying him to the very end. "Pay my regards to Don Schambiei."
"Wait."
Prince Rajak's voice echoed across the underground chamber.
Princess Ranea paused, turning back to him as she met his gaze silently.
"I may agree to help kill him, but that's it," His golden eyes simmered with rage.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"The Orphanage," His eyes intensified.
He radiated a deathly Apprentice-level aura. "You better not inflict so much as a scratch on anybody in that orphanage."
"We have every intention of staying away," She calmly remarked. "The circumstances are such that it is detrimental to our agendas to do anything to them."
His gaze intensified.
A sharp silence echoed through the room for several seconds.
"Hmph, get out," He growled.
She didn't even bother gracing him with a retort. She left the underground complex, protectively surrounded by her Master-level security detail.
Prince Rajak, on the other hand, was unmoved.
Physically, at least.
His expression was curled with disgust, hatred, and frustration.
He didn't want to have to collude with those who had slaughtered his family. The very thought of it brought deep disgust to him.
Yet, seeing his hated half-brother, who slaughtered his orphanage, ascend the throne was even more blood-curdling to him.
In the past many years, he had come to gain immense power as the Prince of the Underworld. He had the single largest and most powerful faction among the seven before Raijun's recent bursts in campaigning successes.
Yet despite all that power under his command, he still was not strong enough to kill those who had earned his eternal hatred. Not only that, he was so weak that he was forced to cooperate with them to stop another one who had killed his family.
BANG!
He shattered the table before him to smithereens, gritting his teeth.
"Only when I ascend the throne will I possess the power I need," his eyes glowed with determination.