11 11. Secrets

" I'mma head out for coffee. Latte?" asked Camellia, the grin on her face was insuppressible as she linked arms with the quiet girl next to her.

" Yeah, you guys are lucky- Lune's a coffee expert!" said Noah.

Emmanuel's ears perked up. He himself was a coffee lover, and among his friends who preferred tea over coffee he often felt left out especially while discussing about their refined beverage of choice. He also liked tea, but not much over coffee, like how his friends liked coffee but not much over tea.

He plucked out his luxurious coffee making kit out of nowhere, his deep aquamarine blue pupils gleaming elatedly. He knew Noah's taste were refined and high-standard like the rest of them, so he did not doubt Noah's words at all.

"May I have the pleasure of drinking the coffee you personally brewed, Miss Luna?"

Luna glanced helplessly at Noah, who was grinning silently. Camellia's eyes shone, and with an excited voice she proclaimed, " I've tasted it once and it tastes like heaven! But she was so stingy, only letting me taste it once! No fair! Luna, you should know, once someone tastes the forbidden fruit they'll never want to let it go. Ever. Got it?" Luna nodded innocently.

Luna glanced at the coffee making kit. She then made her way towards the katana swords now hanging casually on the wall, a perfect ornament symbolising power, courage and mysterious luxury. Her finger, ever so slender and graceful, graced the fine, cold metal and the familiar feeling made her right hand unsconciously move towards her waist, only for it to halt before placed back indifferently towards the sides.

She turned her head back only to find 5 pairs of eyes scrutinizing her movements, their eyes gleaming. " We all love swordsmanship, and has been taking lessons. You... seem to kinda like it?" Adam's voice filled with hope as his topaz eyes glimmering, the light dancing in them. Luna stared at the 5 of tuem indifferently before casually nodding her head. She turned to the board, casually held up the marker and writing, " Nice metal."

She proceeded to the coffee making kit and started grinding the coffee beans into fine powder. The aromatic smell was slowly swirling around the room as Luna proceeded to brew her coffee and when the drink was finally ready, Emmanuel's aquamarine blues shone delightedly, as if he just found a treasure.

And undoubtedly so.

Her steps was so smooth it felt like watching a steady, flowing stream of dances whose images just seem to be stuck in his head. She was a professional- no doubt- but what made him most surprised were that her skills had even exceeded that of his grandfather, who was dubbed the title of the best coffee master back when he was young. The Vance family had followed his steps and grew to love coffee but Noah's comprehension of coffee making and enjoying exceeded them, adding an extra point leading to him becoming the old patriarch's most favored grandson.

His grandfather had predicted that Noah would exceed him at his young age, but he had reminded Noah not to get too cocky- someone is bound to be more skilled than he is. He always said, " No matter how high the tree grows it will never exceed the sky." Such a simple phrase, no matter how silly, had been his motto since young. It was engraved in his bone, and he was thankful to his grandfather for that.

And now he had seen someone- a genius far more skilled than he is. A weird yet warm sense of joy arose in his heart, and surprisingly....

A sense of familiarity?

He shook his feelongs off, tasted the freshly brewed Black Americano and his eyes narrowed and closed in pure, absolute delight.

"Amazing. Lia, you're right. This is such a forbidden drink I couldn't help but wanting to employ Luna as my personal coffee maker. What do you think?" he winked at her.

Noah frowned unsconciously as he moved to Luna's side. He took a cup and tasted the fine coffee, and the warm liquid that flowed into his mouth was certainly one of the best that has ever been. It was absolutely delicious, and he couldn't help but wanting more.

But the coffee was already finished, courtesy of his 4 other friends. Luna stood watching them by the sides as she glanced at her phone. The screen turned dark as the air turned cold.

A murderous intention rose in the air as a bad premonition arose in the young heirs' hearts.

Zing!

They immediately ducked for cover, their body agilely running to a safe blindspot as their head was kept low. Soon after, a group of 10 grown-ups dressed in all black smashed the window open as they forced their way in, the firearms in their hands ready and at position, their mental state highly aware and alert. They knew they couldn't look down on the 4 Young Masters, seeing how many of their comrades had died in their hands. Their eyes lit up with the fire of greed and revenge.

The katana swords were held securely by the boys as they charged forward towards the intruders. A highly dangerous, blood-boiling and heart-stopping battle ensued, making Camellia a bit terrified. She had seen this many times, but this time...

The intruders seemed very highly skilled.

At a moment of carelessness, Camellia was held hostage by one of the men as the firearm pointed at her pale, smooth forehead.

Luna had hid quite far away from them and when she saw that happened, the eyes beneath the glasses swirled with a line of dangerous, cold black- turning the air around her biting cold and murderous.

" Surrender or you will see this little chick's head disconnected from her body." he said, his other hand holding a Damascus knife pressed against Camellia's throat. A trickle of blood ran against the white porcelain, making the man's eyes glow lustfully.

" Such a pity to waste her like that. Guess... I'll enjoy her first." his lewd words were enough to set the 4 Young Masters up. Just as they were about to launch an attack they knew would work although had just communicated it through eye contact, all 10 bodies slumped to the ground as Camellia, who was still dumbfounded was quickly brought to safety.

Luna walked over to the already dead bodies and pulled out a thin silver needle with a purple-colored stain at the tip from each body from their neck.

The 4 Young Masters gaped at this scene.

Silence ensued.

" Aaaghhhh.... it isn't our secret anymore...." Camellia's complains brought them back to reality. "Lia... you knew?" asked Noah, dumbfounded.

Camellia glanced at Luna.

The girl put up a finger against the mask. With her eyes, she inquired,

'Secret?'

They only knew to nod their head. Their brain had went blank at this moment-

Such a quiet girl... with deeply hidden lethality...

Just who is she?

Rafael, having recovered from the shock went forward and rolled up the sleeve of one of the men.

A single tattoo of a peony with a sword slash tearing it apart was seen, the peony the color of blood and the slash black with a hint of electric blue.

Rafael's and Luna's eyes glinted murderously. Surprised, both of them turned to look at each other.

Luna saw the deep vengeance, anger, and... regret (?) in his eyes, the turbulent emotions stirring up his usually calm-with-not-a-single-ripple black eyes. She noticed the blue ring was trembling, and faint swirls of golden-red hue was escaping the binding blue ring in tiny bits.

Rafael could feel the hatred emanating from her body the second she laid her eyes (...or rather, her glasses) on the symbol. How did she know...

"Trenchant Peonies...." Adam said, and a collective gasp was heard from the other 4. Luna and Rafael kept staring towards the other.

Rafael's curiosity was stirred. His fire of interest that had diminished all this years has finally emitted a bit of spark- a spark the same shade of the golden-red hue that had yet to disappear from his obsidian lakes of pupils.

Luna's eyes behind the glasses was swirling- a mesmerizingly beautiful and mysterious sight was formed, mixing up with the murderous aura that seemed to have seeped into her eyes.

So... they knew this name.

Trenchant... Peonies.

Interesting.