3 Preparation
Silence was the only response Audrey received, although it was only Briar who was shocked into silence. The others were merely waiting for Audrey to continue.
“Since when was there talk about the possible cooperation between the Capulet’s and Aldrich’s?” Briar sounded out dumbfoundedly after finding her voice.
“During the time you were cooped up in your research room, Briar.” Evangeline smiled tenderly and her eyes curved together with her smile.
“Shush angel, I can catch up on old news. My research on the other hand can’t wait.”
Evangeline shot down Briar’s paper-thin defence, “even mother, who isn’t involved or in contact with anyone in the syndicate, was aware of the possibility of cooperation with the Aldrich’s.”
Briar wilted into her chair and pouted, as she weakly tried to defend herself from her older sister’s admonishment of her unhealthy lifestyle.
While Juliet didn’t say anything and simply waited for Audrey’s instructions, she was making rearrangements to her schedule in her mind, in preparation for the upcoming cooperation.
Felix acted like it wasn’t her business. She was someone from an ordinary background. She married into the Capulet family and thus had no say or influence in the upper management of the syndicate. She didn’t have any interest in getting involved with the affairs of the syndicate either, she only cared about the safety of her family.
“The offer must be excellent to accept a deal to cooperate with our sworn enemy?” Noah leaned back into his seat and folded his arms over his chest, with the same unchanged gentle smile on his face. With his simple action, the atmosphere in the room turned more serious, and all eyes turned to Audrey.
Audrey felt no pressure from her father’s questioning. Instead, she saw the anticipation in his eyes. In response to it, a smirk slowly bloomed on Audrey’s face and a mocking laugh escaped her lips.
“Romeo Aldrich has promised to hand over the ownership to the Garden of Eden at the end of our cooperation.”
A loud thump was interrupted by Briar’s loud and piercing screech, “HUH?! THE GARDEN OF EDEN?!”
Briar stood up so abruptly that her chair got knocked over. Shocked still with both hands slapped on the table, Briar’s face completed the comical sight. Her eyes rounded into perfect circles and her mouth hung wide open.
Juliet ignored the ringing in her ears and reached over to help Briar close her mouth.
Noah ignored Briar’s outburst and calmly continued his questioning, “why?”
His one word carried multiple implications. It was Noah’s unique way of testing her, to see how much she had grown without his guidance and shelter. She had been given the freedom to run the syndicate without his interference.
Despite Noah’s serious attitude and his eyes never leaving Audrey, his hands were busy massaging Felix’s ear. However, no one paid any attention to his public display of affection. They had long grown used to their father’s tendency to show his love for their mother regardless of the time, place, and occasion.
Audrey steadily explained, “there’s a high risk that they’ve laid a trap for us in the operation. After all, if we die or can’t keep our end of the deal, then there’s no need for them to follow through with their word.
The Aldrich’s will definitely use this chance to, at the very least, weaken our forces. Even if they succeeded in taking over the power overseas, they would be too busy stabilising their position there and that’ll be our chance.
We can stall for time during our cooperation to assimilate the smaller clans in our territory and consolidate our power here. We’ll attack them while their forces and attention is scattered.
If we don’t act and miss this timing, they will definitely attack us brazenly, to wipe us out and snatch back the Garden of Eden. With their newfound power, even if we avoid getting eliminated, it’s likely we’ll get crippled with no chance of recovery. ”
“And you still accepted the deal?”
With a slight tilt of Audrey’s head and a sharp glint in her eyes, she resembled a queen that small tricks like this were beneath her notice.
“Although we have smaller manpower, we have stronger firepower. Not to mention our more advanced technology that we never brought out, and our financial power is slowly extending out of their reach. I don’t see why we’ll lose.”
Noah’s eyes narrowed as he asked once more, “so confident?”
Audrey’s only response to his provocation was a tiny smile gracing the corner of her lips.
Noah could only sigh at Audrey’s overflowing confidence and her guts to walk into a trap, but in no way was he against her decision.
Though it may come across as blind arrogance to most, Audrey is the daughter he had personally groomed to take over his position. He was the one who best understood Audrey’s capabilities. Because of this knowledge, he could only admit that Audrey does possess the abilities and qualities to be this arrogant. He only lamented that she had learnt her overbearing ways from him.
Seeing that her father had no objections, Audrey turned to Juliet and dished out instructions.
“You’ll be in charge of this operation. However, on the surface, Humphrey will act as your stand-in leader. While attention is directed onto Humphrey, your task is to gather and assimilate the smaller scattered forces into our force. Unless an emergency arises, keep your involvement in this operation to a minimum. To aid you in responding quickly to an emergency, I allow you to bring your exclusive weapons. However, use them only when you need to.”
Audrey then turned to Briar only to notice she still had her head in the clouds. Audrey knocked on Briar’s head to get her attention.
“Ah! What? What did I miss?” Though it wasn’t painful, Briar rubbed her head out of reflex, further messing up the bird’s-nest on her head.
“Was this important enough to excuse me for the crime of dragging you out of your hole?” Audrey teased with cunningness prevalent in her eyes.
The sight of Audrey staring at her like a predator toying with its prey highly alarmed Briar. A shiver ran down her spine and the fine hairs on her body stood on its ends. It was only bad news for Briar whenever Audrey stared at her like this.
Briar braced her arms in front of her body and squeaked. “Sure, it is, but I could’ve learnt about it later anyway. It wouldn’t have made much of a difference.”
Her shifty eyes roamed everywhere, stubbornly refusing to meet Audrey’s.
Audrey sighed loudly, causing Briar to jump in her chair.
“Stop attacking me mentally like that! I’m telling you, I’m not putting aside my current project for any reason!”
Before Briar could take off after shouting her piece, Audrey's voice pulled her to a stop.
“Not even for our Juju?”
A constipated expression painted on Briar’s face, it was deathly unpleasant to be forced to eat back her own words right after declaring so.
Briar’s head slowly creaked like a robot and finally met Audrey’s eyes, before crying out. “A king truly has a lower standing than a queen… How frustrating. Spit it out, what do you need from me?”
Audrey’s relaxed expression immediately turned solemn, emphasising the weight behind her following words.
“That whip that’s still in its live testing phase, I need it complete within 3 months.
The research for those contacts you pushed aside 6 months ago needs to be resumed immediately. Run it at the same time as the whip project and complete it in 5 months. I only require you to produce 1 pair of samples safe enough to use on the field. If you’re able to, you can directly customize it for Juliet’s use.
For all the materials and cost required for both projects, as long as it’s reasonable, run it directly to me and I’ll personally approve them immediately.”
Briar was overwhelmed just from imagining all the work of running the 2 projects simultaneously on such a tight schedule.
However, her success and failure could be the fine line between life and death for her beloved younger sister. In that case, failure is no longer an option. She can only succeed. It didn’t matter if she landed in the hospital again from exhaustion, it was no stranger to Briar.
As the resolve in Briar’s eyes congealed together with her determination, she threw out orders to her sisters like a commander on the battlefield.
“Juju, I’ll have your whip ready in 1 month and the contacts in 4. That way you’ll have more time to personally experience and practice using them.
Queen, keep your phone available at all times. 24/7.
Angel, no more needles. Please.”
After throwing down her orders, she flew back to her lab with her white robes flying behind her.
Juliet’s eyelids lowered slightly as she looked down, mentally rearranging her schedule and tasks again as she asked Audrey. “Do we let Humphrey know about my secret task?”
“Yes, he’ll serve as a diversion for you. The Aldrich should’ve already guessed that we’ll be aware and ready for whatever they have in store for us. It’ll be beneficial for you by giving them 1 more person to keep a close lookout for.”
“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave first to make early preparations.”
Juliet stood up after receiving Audrey’s nod, then made her way to find Briar in her lab.
Audrey still felt worried about Juliet’s safety even though she was well aware of Juliet’s combat ability. Juliet’s position as the leader of the Capulet Syndicate’s Team 1 was a testament to that.
Audrey’s eyes made contact with Evangeline’s. She hesitated about outrightly requesting her younger sister to prepare for the worst.
Though Evangeline had little participation in the meeting, she was able to deduce, by herself, that their current situation is only the calm before the storm. She’ll have to prepare for an influx of patients in the upcoming future. However, this is not something Audrey would need to check with her. So, Audrey’s hesitation must be regarding the safety of their youngest sister. Just like that, Evangeline understood the meaning of Audrey’s gaze. Audrey must be afraid that it would be an ominous sign should she voice out her concern.
Evangeline gave her signature soothing smile and indicated she had her area covered with a slight nod.
Audrey’s worries eased a little with Evangeline’s assurance.
