21 GENTLEMAN PUNISHMENT

HER WORDS ECHO INSIDE my head for a few seconds before I'm finally able to process everything that she just said. I wasn't able to understand what the punishment was about, but finally, a picture was painted in front of me.

Gentleman Punishment.

Luis already told me about it before that gentlemen don't do their own killings, and now I know why. The only time they'll kill with their own hands is when they are being punished. But the fact that this is a punishment made me realize that Cyrus has been punished all his life because he does his own killings, and that's thanks to Adam. So to make it a real punishment, they want him to kill someone he knows? Is that it?

"As the rules apply, siblings cannot be part of the lineup, so these four will be your targets," Talia says as she gestures at the photos aligned in front of Cyrus.

Cyrus doesn't say anything, and I know it's because he's staring at the photos diligently. The photos are turned upside down, and they're randomly shuffled so we don't exactly know who's who anymore.

I check on Cyrus and look at the cigar that he was holding. I don't know what it's for, but he isn't using it. The cigar's only getting smaller and smaller as time goes by.

"Remember Cyrus Delton, once the cigar meets its end, and you still have not chosen your kill, the Watchers will choose for you. And believe, you will not like what they will choose." Talia then says, answering my question about what the cigar was for.

These people are seriously fucking crazy. They want Cyrus to choose immediately? He's not even given the chance to compose himself?

My heart's beating fast too because I'm amongst those pictures. If ever Cyrus picks me, he'll have to kill me, and I don't know what I'll have to do if that ever happens.

"Before I choose," Cyrus suddenly says, making both Talia and I look back at Cyrus.

"Why did you add your own picture in the lineup?" He asks his mother, and honestly, it was a question that I was also curious about, but at the back of my mind, I somehow have an answer to it.

"Why do you I think I did?" She asks back, making Cyrus chuckle.

"You don't answer a question with another question mother. This isn't a Socratic discussion." He says, and this time, it's Talia's turn to chuckle. It's obvious that Cyrus isn't going to get an answer from her, so Cyrus looks down at the pictures again instead of wasting his time.

The cigar's slowly getting smaller. He has to choose now.

"Please don't fucking choose me. Please don't fucking choose me." I repeatedly chant in my head as I watch Cyrus who was staring at the photos in silence. I can almost hear my heart because of how loud it's beating. I take a deep breath to calm myself down and look at the photos. I obviously don't know where my picture is, but I decided to guess where it might have been placed. But as I'm looking at the photos one by one, I suddenly notice a small fold on the corner of one of the photos. I don't know if it's accidentally folded when Talia shuffled it, but something doesn't seem right.

My eyes widen from surprise as I look back at Talia who's staring at that same photo too.

Don't tell me...

She purposely did that so Cyrus could choose it. But has Cyrus noticed it? Or has he-

"Mother," Cyrus calls out, almost making my heart stop beating for a second.

Cyrus doesn't say anything for a while as he slowly looks up at his mother before finally saying, "I am not your fucking escape plan," he says as he suddenly pushed the end of the cigar on a photo, burning it.

I don't even realize that I'm already holding my breath. Cyrus didn't choose the photo with the folded corner, but he chose the photo beside it instead. The three of us don't say anything for a while, but then, the bell rings again, and Cyrus places the cigar on the ashtray.

Who the hell was he able to pick?

"Well done Cyrus Delton. You have officially chosen your kill. Now, shall we reveal the lucky ones?" Talia asks with a smile, making me gulp because she glanced at me first before looking back at Cyrus.

I've seen a ton of shit in my entire life, but I have not been as nervous as I am now. This punishment is definitely harder than the other punishments. Because even if this punishment doesn't exactly physically hurt you, it mentally does instead, and I think that's harder than anything.

"The first one is..."

Talia flips the first photo on the left, and for some reason, even though the picture didn't show my face, I sighed in relief when I saw that it was the picture of a little girl. I don't know her, but imagine what Cyrus would have to go through if he has to kill a child, and not just a child, but also his younger cousin.

I'd rather he kill me if that was the case.

"This little girl is really loved by the heavens huh?" Talia teases.

Without waiting for Cyrus's reaction, she flips the photo on the far left next. And I kid you not, my legs almost drop when I saw Luis's photo.

"N-No..." I unconsciously say, and Cyrus immediately glances at me with a worried expression.

I don't want to pressure him, but seriously, my life is on the line right now. It's either I get killed or Talia gets killed.

Did Cyrus make the right decision to not choose the photo with the folded corner? Because based on what he said about him not being his mother's escape plan, the photo with the folded corner is definitely a picture of Talia. So if Cyrus realizes that too, then it only means he isn't afraid to kill...me.

"Well look at that. Luis is saved once again." Talia says, and now we're down to two photos. One has the folded corner, and the other one has the hole because of the cigar.

"Reminder, if you decide not to terminate your kill, the Watcher will kill everyone in the lineup," Talia reveals, surprising me even more. Of course, they'd do something like that. It will make Cyrus kill the person he picked because he's not risking to get everyone else killed, so it's better to choose one than all.

"Let us finish this now to not waste any more time," Talia says as she was about to grab the photo with a folded corner.

I close my eyes. I'm ready to see who the person in the picture is.

"Wait!" Cyrus suddenly shouts, making me open my eyes again.

I look back at Cyrus, and Cyrus is already standing from his seat. Before Talia could say anything to him, Cyrus looks back at me and says, "I-I'm sorry...I didn't know. I didn't expect it. I'm really sorry." He tells me. And at that moment, I already knew what the outcome was before I could even see the picture.

I almost laugh. Who did I think I was? Cyrus will still choose his family. I'm just his bodyguard. I'm easier for him to kill.

"Looks like you still haven't learned anything from me Cyrus Delton." Talia suddenly says, and when we looked back at her, she flipped the card with the folded corner.

"Gentlemen...are the best liars, remember?" She asks him. And to our surprise, the photo with the folded corner was actually a picture of me.

It was all a bluff. She knew Cyrus wasn't going to choose it.

This woman...

"You have 48 hours to fulfill your punishment Cyrus Delton. Failure to do so will make the Watchers eliminate the entire lineup that is on this table." Talia says as she finally flips the last photo. The last photo is her, but her face is gone because of the hole that was burnt by the cigar.

"And of course, since this is a gentleman's punishment, there is a reward," Talia reveals, surprising me even more. I have never heard of getting a reward after fulfilling a punishment. What's the main purpose of the punishment then?

"Killing with no evidence will give you a one-time immunity if ever you are to receive a punishment again. Doesn't that sound wonderful?" Talia tells him.

Cyrus is still surprised after the sudden turn of events, but he nods his head in understanding anyway. The two of them don't say anything anymore as the door opened, revealing the man who escorted us earlier. Cyrus takes a deep breath and looks back at his mother. Talia stares at her son as Cyrus bows in front of her. Then, he says, "I will see you again...mother."

Without saying anything else, Cyrus leaves the room without waiting for me. I look back at Talia and bow my head as well. I'm supposed to follow behind Cyrus, but Talia suddenly stops me.

"Carter, right?" She asks, and I turn around to face her again.

"This might be our last conversation, but is there something that you want to ask me?" She suddenly asks.

I don't understand why she asked me that, so I confusingly look back at her instead of saying anything.

Talia chuckles and starts putting the pictures back at the old box. It's obvious that she's still waiting for me to give her a question. Should I even ask her a question after knowing that her own son will be killing her soon?

"I don't think it's right for me to interrogate you mistress Talia." I politely tell her, making her laugh, "You really are a man under Cyrus. You're following his gentleman ways now too."

"No. I was just-" Talia cuts me off and looks at me seriously. She doesn't remove her eyes from me as she shuts the box loudly.

We're silent for a second, but finally, I realize something.

"Adam...was picked. He was once part of a lineup," I say, and it wasn't exactly a question, but Talia smiles when she heard me say it. She was actually waiting for me to realize it myself.

She also let me watch, so it means she wanted me to know.

But why?

"W-Why? Why are you..." I can't even finish my sentence because of how overwhelmed I am at the moment. This is a huge clue because it means a Delton really killed Adam. This can help me solve the case and finally find Adam Delton's murderer.

"The real question Vincent Carter is who...who picked, Adam?" Talia asks me, and my heart starts beating fast again.

This is it. All I have to do now is trace everything back. The punishments are rotational, so I only have to find the person who did the gentleman punishment during the time when Adam was killed.

"You wanted me to ask you a question, then I do have a question for you," I say as I look at Talia. It's obvious that Talia won't directly tell me who really killed Adam, but the question that I will give her will be very useful for me in the future.

"Adam Delton...was he a wild card too?" I finally ask her, and Talia looked surprised.

Seconds later, she smiles. And without saying anything, she nods her head to confirm it.

So Talia wanted Adam to die too.

I could cuff her up now and bring her to court for plotting the murder of her own husband. But was there a point? She was going to get killed anyway. And she didn't really kill Adam herself. What's really important is the person who really did it.

"Thank you...mistress Talia," I say instead, bowing in front of her again.

Talia doesn't say anything so I just walk out of the room. But as I walk out, I hear her say, "Please watch over Cyrus."

I don't answer her because I'm not sure if I'm even able to fulfill that. But even though I'm sure about it, and even though she isn't going to hear it, I whisper the answer under my breath, "I'll try my best."

...

Cyrus and I arrive back at the Delton Mansion. I don't say anything the entire ride, but it's obvious that Cyrus desperately wanted to say something to me but he didn't.

Cyrus parks the car at the back of the mansion, which surprised me because we usually park right in front of the main entrance of the mansion so everyone could greet him. It looks like he doesn't want to be seen just yet.

"Vincent I-" Before Cyrus could even finish his sentence, I went out of the car on my own.

I shouldn't be acting like this, but the fact that we both thought that the folded photo was Talia made me realize that Cyrus wasn't afraid of picking me or not. Honestly, I really don't have the right to even act like I'm hurt because I'm just his bodyguard and she was his mother. I shouldn't have thought that Cyrus would risk killing his mother just so I wouldn't get picked.

"Vincent..." Cyrus calls out as he heads out of the car too.

"Vincent, fucking listen to me." He says, finally grabbing my arm to stop me. I immediately push him away and look at him seriously, "How may I help you...master Cyrus?" I ask him.

Cyrus doesn't say anything and suddenly pushes me so hard that my body was slammed towards a wall. Before I could even react, he corners me with both of his arms and says, "I don't want to do this but you leave me with no choice."

"W-What?" I ask confusingly, and Cyrus suddenly grabs me by the cheeks and kisses me.

"N-No...let go..." I say, trying to push him away from me, but Cyrus wouldn't even budge.

"Let go!" I struggle to say under my breath, but Cyrus still wouldn't stop. He continues to kiss me until tears started streaming down from my eyes. I didn't even realize how much I wanted to cry like this.

When Cyrus saw that I was crying, he finally stopped.

"I'm sorry." He tells me.

"I-I was scared...I was fucking scared you bastard." I tell him back, and Cyrus gulps and suddenly rests his head on my shoulder.

"I didn't want to pick you. Out of all of them, you were the last one that I didn't want to pick." He says, and his words were so real that I started doubting it because Cyrus was a gentleman, and gentlemen are the best liars. I was afraid that he was lying to me. I was afraid that he's been lying to me all this time.

"I swear to god I didn't want to choose you." He says again when he realized that I wasn't saying anything.

"Then who were you hoping to choose?" I ask him. And to my surprise, Cyrus looks up at me and answers with no hesitation, "My butler."

"What did you just say?" I ask him with shock.

"I always wanted to choose Luis." Cyrus clarifies, and that surprised me more than anything that I have heard and seen today.

"M-Master Cyrus?" someone suddenly calls out, surprising us.

Cyrus immediately lets go of me as we face the person who spoke. It's a female guard. Or more specifically, it's Catalina's guard.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the company with Catalina?" Cyrus asks, and the guard shakes her head and answers, "Madam Catalina is waiting at the living room with Master Chance and Master Tobias."

Cyrus doesn't say anything, but the shock is visible in his eyes. Without saying a word, Cyrus immediately heads inside the mansion, making me quickly follow behind him. When we arrive inside, the other Delton siblings were already waiting like what the female guard said.

"Cyrus!" Chance says, standing from his seat the moment he saw Cyrus.

"What happened?" Chance asks next, and Cyrus takes a deep breath and looks at Catalina straight in the eyes instead.

"What is it? Who did you choose?" She asks nervously.

Cyrus gulps and still doesn't say anything. He continues to stare back at Catalina in silence. Soon after, Catalina finally gets the picture. A tear immediately falls from her eye, and without saying a word, she walks away. It's only at that moment did I remember something. That Catalina...is their mother's favorite.

"So it's mother." Chance says, sighing while sitting back down on the sofa with Tobias.

Tobias is just quiet, but he has his head low like he's staring at the carpet.

"How many hours was given to you?" Chance continues to ask.

"Forty-eight." Cyrus answers.

"Will you do it?" Chance asks next.

Cyrus sighs heavily and looks back at me before answering, "I have to...or else all of them will die. And there is no way in hell I'm gonna let that happen."