DELTON SECRET

"I HAVE TO GO back," Cyrus says while he's fixing his hair in front of a mirror. I'm shirtless in bed, but Cyrus takes the liberty to clean me up, which I won't lie, was still pretty awkward.

"Why?" I ask as I hug a pillow.

"Because I still have to please those people." He says before walking back to the bed. When he arrives in front of me, I start staring at him from head to toe. It might take a long time before I can see the real Cyrus Delton again, so I might as well cherish it.

"Are you done staring?" He suddenly blurts out, making me blush like an idiot.

Cyrus chuckles and sits on the edge of the bed. He waits for me to compose myself first. And when I looked back at him, Cyrus smiles at me. It startled me because I still wasn't used to him doing it, which is strange.

"I was going to tell you something earlier wasn't I?" He reminds me.

I honestly almost forgot about it if he didn't mention it again. Cyrus takes a deep breath and touches my neck, "Kill Luis Fletcher and finish your favor with Tobias." He reveals, catching me off guard because I wasn't expecting him to suddenly say that.

I was about to protest, but Cyrus quickly adds, "But before you do, there's something else that I want you to know."

"What is it?" I ask.

Cyrus looks at me seriously and says, "I wasn't the one who asked Tobias to do it. He didn't make a deal with me."

"W-What?"

The revelation was so shocking that I couldn't say anything else. Cyrus pulls his hand off me and sighs before turning away.

"The reason why I wanted to kill Luis is because I knew that someone was going to kill him. He knows something that others don't, and that's enough to kill him." Cyrus starts explaining to me.

"That doesn't really answer the fact that you wouldn't be the person who made a deal with Tobias. Heck, it made me doubt you even more now." I honestly tell him since it doesn't entirely make sense to me yet.

"It's true that I wanted to kill him, but I wasn't going to allow him to be killed by just anyone. He protected me with all his life, so I wanted to at least protect his dignity as a gentleman. I didn't want him to die thinking that he was killed by someone unworthy." Cyrus tries to explain. And finally, the missing pieces were finding each other, slowly showing me the bigger picture.

"So are you telling me-" Cyrus doesn't even allow me to finish as he says, "The greatest gift that I could give him in exchange for everything that he's done for me is killing him with my own hands."

"Are you fucking crazy?" I ask him, but Cyrus ignores my sentiment and suddenly takes out Tobias's knife from the waistband of his pants. I didn't even notice that I don't have it anymore. I must have dropped it.

"But the situation has changed. Now you have to kill him instead." He says as he forcefully makes me hold the knife.

"Cyrus I-"

"You're going to kill him, but not with that crappy weapon," Cyrus says next, still ignoring me. It's like he's purposely trying to stop me from saying anything. He walks towards a drawer and pulls something out. To my surprise, it was a gold-ivory gun. The sight of it suddenly made me gulp.

"Is that yours?" I ask, shocked that it's been there ever since I started sleeping in this room.

Cyrus nods his head and hands it over to me before sitting on the edge of the bed again. As I expected, the gun was heavy. But holding it made me feel something else. Like its previous owners were very powerful people that their auras transferred to this nonliving item.

"I wanted to do it myself, but I think you would be a better choice. If Luis gets killed by someone who's not a Delton then I think he'd rest in peace." Cyrus tells me before holding my hand tight.

"Make sure he receives an honorable death...Vincent Carter." He says in a way that isn't commanding. Instead, he sounds like he's almost pleading at me. It's obvious that there's no escaping this now. If I want to stay alive, I have to accomplish Tobias's favor, and Cyrus definitely knows that too.

I take a deep breath and nod my head as an answer instead.

"Your requests are getting crazier and crazier master Cyrus." I jokingly say to lighten the mood.

Cyrus squeezes my hand before letting go.

"Luis is on the first floor, room 01. It's just beside the maid's quarters. You can't miss it." Cyrus suddenly tells me.

My eyes widen from the shock upon hearing it.

"W-Wait...you want me to do it...now?" I ask in disbelief.

"It's better to be done with it now. I still have to kill my mother. I think my siblings would like it better if their deaths aren't on the same day. " He casually says as he walks towards the door so he could leave. I let go of the knife and gun and quickly stood up from the bed, almost stumbling back because of how sudden my actions were.

"Wait. You're not even going to say goodbye to him? You're not even going to say anything to him? Cyrus, this is the man who took care of you since you were little. Are you just going to leave it like that?" I seriously ask Cyrus.

Cyrus was already holding onto the doorknob. Without looking back at me, he says instead, "Thank you for everything."

"What?"

Cyrus pauses for a while. Then he looks over his shoulder, giving me another clear view of his pained expression.

"Tell him that." He finishes before finally leaving the room. I was left speechless. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to absorb everything.

"How long are you going to put up that strong façade Cyrus? It's so obvious how you're inches away from breaking." I say out loud before opening my eyes back to stare at the door.

The room is silent for a second. Luis is a good man, I can tell, but I have no attachment to him whatsoever, so the thought of killing him isn't a big deal. It's another death, just like president Boris. But the only difference is that the people around him cared about him, especially Cyrus. And that's what makes it harder for me.

But there's nothing that I can do now. I'm just another player in this insane game. And if I want to win it, I definitely have to play along first.

...

Room 01.

The hall is silent, probably because everyone is already fast asleep since it's expected that the butlers and maids should be asleep before the bell rings.

It would be stupid of me to knock so I just barged inside. The room is dark, and surprisingly enough, it's old and small too. Inside is a single bed, an old cabinet, a desk, and a chair. Sitting on that chair is none other than Luis Fletcher, the most powerful man amongst the people who aren't Delton's that are inside the mansion.

"Looks like the Grim Reaper is here," Luis says without turning around to look at me.

I don't beat around the bush anymore, as I say, "Never hesitate. That's what you told me."

Luis is sitting in front of his desk that is in front of a small window. I watch him as he adjusts himself in his seat.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't know it would be this soon. Looks like master Tobias wanted this to be over as soon as possible too." Luis tells me in a calm voice.

"How did you know?" I ask him.

Without looking back at me, Luis answers, "How wouldn't I? I made a deal with him."

I almost drop the gun that I'm holding after hearing what Luis had to say.

"What? Why would you-" Luis cuts me off and quickly says, "They were going to kill me sooner or later. I had to do this now before that happens."

Without waiting for me to say anything, Luis finally stands from the chair. But before looking back at me, he takes a deep breath and stares out of the window, "The sun is rising. It's the perfect time to die."

"Why is this so easy for you?" I ask him, making Luis chuckle.

"I am old. I have served the Delton family for almost my entire life. And like everyone else, this mansion has bound me. All I wanted was to be free from it. But the longer I stayed here, the more I realized that the only way to be free from this family..."

"Is death?" I finish for him.

Luis takes another deep breath and corrects me, "No. It's to live."

I don't know why, but his answer made my heart skip a beat. Those simple words felt so heavy that death looked like a child's play.

"Everyone is alive, but not everyone can truly live. Delton's lie, act, manipulate, seduce. But have they lived their lives like how they wanted to? Never. No Delton has ever done it...except for those who have been stripped away from their titles."

That's right. I've heard from someone that as soon as the head of the family is chosen, the rest of the siblings leave the mansion.

"Then why don't you just leave the mansion yourself?" I ask Luis, and this time, Luis laughs, like what I asked was such a big joke to him.

"They wouldn't allow me to. Because the only people who are allowed to set you free are the same people who are bounding you." Luis answers me.

"So this is your only way out?" I ask. And finally, Luis turns around to face me.

"My death is not just my way out. It's also your way to get in." He says. Then I remembered what master Catalina and Chance said earlier. If Luis dies, I'm next in line at becoming the most powerful man here right after the siblings. I'll become the head of the household.

"You're technically promoting me?" I ask with my right eyebrow raised.

Luis grins and shakes his head, "You can put it that way. But I also had to make sure."

"Make sure that what?" I ask.

Luis takes a step closer to me and reveals, "That this secret is passed down to someone like you."

Secret? I thought he was never going to reveal this to me.

"Why did you change your mind?" I ask him. But instead of answering me, Luis points at the gun that I'm holding. I lift my hand and inspect the gun, thinking that there might be something there that I missed. I would have looked like a fool if Luis didn't explain himself, "You have his gun, so it means you have his permission."

Without saying anything, I put down my hand and look back at Luis confusingly.

"I wasn't going to tell you if Cyrus disapproved of it, but since you're here, holding that gun, then it means that Cyrus trusts you enough to know this secret," Luis says to me.

My heart starts beating fast for no apparent reason. Luis walks closer until he's a meter away from me. I thought he was going to continue to what he was going to say, but then he starts staring at my neck. Seconds later he burst out laughing. I was confused for a second until I remembered that Cyrus actually bit me there.

"It must have hurt." He says, and I immediately covered it with my free hand.

"Of course it did. He fucking bit me." I tell him.

Luis smiles and shakes his head, "I didn't mean that."

I stare at him for a couple of seconds before finally understanding what he was trying to say. The serious atmosphere was instantly disrupted when I felt my face burning because of embarrassment.

"I apologize for his behalf. Cyrus is a virgin...in that aspect." Luis suddenly reveals to me, making my eyes widen from shock. So that idiot hasn't fucked anyone before. And I thought it was natural that it would hurt since it was my first time. Apparently it was his literal first time. It didn't matter if I was a man at all.

"Don't tell me that's the secret you're trying to hide from the entire family?" I ask with a serious expression, making Luis laugh out loud to the point where he started to tear up.

As I was watching him laugh, I couldn't help but smile. If I'm going to kill this man, I should at least make him happy before I do so. That's the greatest gift that I could give him.

"Thank you for everything," I tell him, making Luis stop laughing. He wipes the tears on his eyes and asks me, "What for?"

I gently touch Luis's shoulder and answer, "Not from me, but from Cyrus. He wanted to tell you that."

His smiling face instantly vanishes as he stares back at me with disbelief. And for a second I almost saw all of Luis's happy memories with Cyrus flash before him when I stared back at his eyes. Soon after his eyes started to tear up. But before the tears could fall, he wipes it away and laughs it off.

"I don't think that boy ever thanked me before," Luis tells me. He then takes a deep breath and nods his head, like he was ready.

"Looks like it's about time," Luis says as he takes a step back from me. He points at his forehead and continues, "Just one shot. That's my only request."

I nod my head and finally lift my hand to point the gun at his forehead.

"I think now is the time for you to pass the secret Luis." I remind him, and Luis nods his head as an understanding.

"Of course."

Luis composes himself and now looks back at me seriously, "The moment I reveal to you the secret, pull the trigger. Do you understand me?"

"Understood." I truthfully answer him.

Luis closes his eyes and relaxes. When he looks back at me, he shows me a warm smile. A smile that shows that he was contented with his life and he was finally ready to go.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye. I leave Cyrus and the rest of the siblings to you. Thank you, Vincent Carter. It was an honor to work with you." He says with a bow.

I smile back at him and reveal, "Elliot Huxley. That's my real name." For some reason, saying my real name out loud felt weird. But the smile on Luis's face was worth it. He at least had the right to know who I really was. And he might be the only person who'll be able to know that.

"Elliot Huxley. That does fit you better than Vincent Carter." He tells me.

After the light-hearted conversation, Luis looks back at me with a serious expression again. Both of us are silent at this time.

I wait. And after a few more seconds of waiting, Luis finally unveils to me the Delton secret. The secret that could change the entire system forever.

"Cyrus...isn't Adam's son," Luis reveals.

And before I can even react or at least process what he said...

I pull the trigger.