CHAPTER 10: PREPARATION

THIRD PERSON

"as you know, my plan is to replace the president of student council seat, but to do that, I need someone who can go up against him, which comes me from one conclusion.. and that is keir samael xenon, which was devian's half-brother."

edwin Moran didn't surprise anymore because that what he was thinking as well, of all students he thought, the perfect person who can only be par against damion is only him, aside from keir being a 'dean's pet', his connection to the higher-ups, which was one of the important figures of academy, can also be useful to them, he couldn't imagine crystalle running as a president this year's election either, since knowing her for quite a period of time, she's not the type of a person who prefer to be in the spotlight. it can't be Chauncey either, after all, he knows that, chauncey was damion's most loyal right-hand man who works for him behind the scene, so there's no way he would betray him.

so there's only one person he could think of, and that is keir samael xenon.

but one thing that makes him surprise is the fact that devian was keir's half-older brother, edwin just notice just now that they have a same surname, the reason why he didn't notice earlier was probably because of devian's calm demeanor that is completely opposite to keir.

"don't misunderstood, even though we're half-brother, I don't like getting involved with him, I'm only doing this because it was part of your plan. tch." devian replied to crystalle while sighing, that's when edwin found something about him, he and his half-brother doesn't get along well.

'now I have one card to play..'

"nevertheless, the only question here is, will keir going to accept your offer? you may not know but.. he's the most stubborn person I've ever met, he keeps doing what was he's thinking and doesn't like to listen to the other's advices that much, unless if it's the dean's order, and judging by how your fiancee treated his half-brother, it's pretty obvious that they were not that close.. am I wrong?"

he stop talking when he heard devian chuckled so edwin moran just frowned, soon after, devian take another antique chairs and sat on it with his legs are crossed.

"even if we're not that close, I know how my stupid little brother's mind works out, he may not look like it but he's a crafty person, although he's too stupid enough in my eyes that I almost want him to be dead so that he won't bother me again, keir knows that having a strength only without connection won't give him a chance to win against damion, he knows how politics works well.

after all, ever since when he still a child, I already made him sure that he will see the true nature of the family he was born in as an act of my revenge for him, I prepared the stage and it's up to keir weather if he'll perform the show or not, that doesn't matter to me anymore. each one of my siblings are too boring anyway, I don't like boring stuff, it makes me want to remove them in this world."

The moment Devian's words were spoken, there was a deafening silence throughout the room. In the meantime, Crystalle is sipping tea and using her peripheral vision to look at Devian. There isn't a trace of regret or sadness in his eyes, making it appear as though he doesn't care at all about his siblings, but that didn't fool Crystalle. There is no way he could not comprehend Devian's emotions and mood swings given that he has known him for almost six years. However, she decides to entirely disregard it because Crystalle is aware that Devian, like Keir, doesn't enjoy receiving counsel.

'heh, they are really brothers.'

so crystalle just simply smile and said, "you heard him, confronting keir is just easy.. besides, this will benefits for him as well, I don't see any reason to decline our offer to him, so rest assured, like what I've said, we will going to win, as long as you will follow my orders, I will give you the best news that you want and have your father acknowledge you." crystalle smirk once more, so edwin just winced at her.

".. how arrogant."

"oh yes I am, my dear chief! but trust me, every words that coming out from my mouth is always a certainty, I mean.."

".. those who dare to fight me always ends up meeting their own demise and mostly.. their deaths."

edwin moran sneered at him, before he drink his tea lastly, then after that, he stands up from his eats as he took his blazer that was hanging at the chair's railings.

"then I have a high expectation to you, however.. if your plan fails, I'm going to leak everything we have talk about here, you see.. arrogance can make people meet it's downfall, and you are one of them."

"hoh.. and how will you do that?"

"hmm.. 'Elyze moriarty, the transferee from class zero, made an overwhelming defeats for challenging the president of the student council, damion del luna, meanwhile, edwin moran, the editor-in-chief of lonely panther journalism club, stated that 'she went to my office to threaten my club that if I don't cooperate with her, she will kill me.' isn't that enough to fool the media?"

When she heard Edwin's response to her, Crystalle's countenance just grew glum; but, instead of losing her temper, she simply sat down and smirked as she calmly retorted.

"then I look forward to it, however.. if I win and manage to kick out damion at president seats, will you take the risk and willing to lower yourself just for me?"

"what..?"

"Should we wager something? If I lose to Damion, feel free to influence the news about me. You can get the students to think differently about me, whether they think of me as trash, a bastard, or a flirtatious bitch woman. Do whatever you want, including lowering my dignity in front of the media or asking the school's dean to expel me from class zero and place me in the lowest class."

devian's eyes widened as he glance to crystalle and was about to speak when, she cut him off.

"however, if I were to win, you must give up something as a substitute.. and that is.. your position as the supreme 8 of P.N academy to devian and half of your points."

Edwin abruptly turned his back to Crystalle, who was peacefully sipping tea. The atmosphere became thick due to Crystalle's gloomy presence, leaving Devian speechless.

Edwin was taken aback by her when he heard Crystalle mention the Supreme 8; he hadn't anticipated bringing up that subject in front of him, and what's even more unexpected is that she's entirely correct!

He went by the alias "hermes," and he was the supreme 8 at P.N. Academy. He had been painstakingly concealing it, but the girl in front of him merely uttered it casually as though anticipating his response!

in the end, he have no choice but to let out a heavy sigh, as his smile just twitched, "that's completely a one-sided deal.."

"one-sided deal? that's not true at all.. my dignity and your position are at stake here, isn't that fair?"

edwin's smile just twitch out of annoyance and says, "you cunning bitch.. you have anticipated this to happen.."

Soon after, Crystalle's expression becomes icy as he looks at Edwin Moran, who is standing in front of him.

"If you give up now, prepare to be demoted to the eighth seat. If you refuse the condition, then.. as someone who knows my secret, you wouldn't mind if I eliminated you here, right? "You're the one who wanted this to happen, you threatened me first, so this is your pay back for crossing the line."

Edwin began to feel uneasy in front of Crystalle because he could sense a threat lurking beneath each of her words as they continued to flow out of her mouth. 'But she's the one who is threatening me right now.' he reasoned.

a few minutes of silence, edwin let out another sigh, as he started to walk out in the pavilion without replying on her, but then, he stop once more while his hands was put on his pocket.

"I've accept your deal."

".. that's good to hear."

....

Devian gave crystalle a serious look as soon as Edwin Moran left the yard, attempting to understand why she would make a bargain where their status and dignity were at risk. Even though Devian believes Crystalle to be a psychopath, he still finds it difficult to comprehend why she would offer Edwin such a deal.

"What are you thinking, my lady? a deal like that is kinda.."

crystalle cut him off and said, "do you really think I wouldn't win? that's too harsh of you."

"no, it's just that, I'm quite perplexed, you're the only person I know betting your dignity for some nonsense reason." he sighed while shaking his head, crystalle just giggle to him.

" Even if he were to triumph and successfully discredit me in front of the media, edwin's honor would still be in jeopardy because once Damion wins, it will be edwin's defeat, and his father won't acknowledge him. In the worst case scenario, he might even be kicked out of their family. If he is kicked out, all of his money, along with the connection he established, will be taken from him. But even if I were to succeed, he would only lose half of his points and his ranking in the supreme 8, which he could still regain with effort—Edwin is well aware of that, Devian. making it a win-win situation in my eyes. In addition, if none of those strategies succeed, I have one last resort, and that is to assassinate him before he divulges anything that could damage my reputation. do you understand?"

in the end, devian couldn't help but to sigh again in amusement, "I'm so stupid enough to think that he might slip within your grasp, and now I just remember just now that the girl Infront of me is the master of strategy and deceit."

crystalle just stand up to her seat and give devian a smile, but soon on, it changes to cold and serious one, "nevertheless.. set aside edwin, you notice it too right?"

this time, devian's face turns into solemn expression and nods. "yes, the girl behind him, I now understand why edwin didn't manage to win to damion even once.. what are we gonna do about this?"

crystalle just turn her back to devian as a small grin curl on her rosy lips, "Don't bother, someone will going to eliminate her soon.. she do have quite a points, you know. so I revealed some of her information to rohan and rheyne as a payment for helping us getting an info's about edwin moran."

.. I'm sure, they already waiting in shadow, finding a right timing to kill her, moreover, there are some things we have to do, what do you think keir doing right now?"

" sigh. he probably in art room, but I'm afraid that I can't go with you, but don't worry, keir is not a type of person who'll attack someone without any specific reason, unless if it's me."

crystalle glance secretly to devian using her peripheral vision, but in the end, she just ignore him again and didn't reply anymore.

However, as soon as Edwin Moran left the garden, his secretary, Marian Jones, made the decision to use the restroom first. However, just as she was about to enter, she noticed a small alley nearby. She cautiously stepped inside, took a look around, and then pulled out her phone, where she saw a familiar name on his screen, Damion del Luna.

that's right! this girl is actually working with damion to del luna ever since then! she's the reason why edwin moran hadn't a chance to win to damion because his secretary was actually a spy!

just as she was about to call damion, he almost felt chill down to her spine when a cold and icy tone spoke from her back, "heh, a spy huh?"

Upon turning around, she saw a man with purple hair leaning against the wall and playing with his daggers by throwing them above. As soon as she realized who it could be, she just gasped and began to feel anxious. She was about to call Damion when, in an instant, her cellphone had fallen to the ground with a knife piercing it. Shortly after, she turned around once more, but this time, another man emerged from the shadows holding a knife.

this was rheyne and rohan morgan!

that's when she realizes something.. she's completely cornered by the twins right now!

but who could be the one who will target her? that's what she thought.

"I-if it's Edwin moran you wanted to kill, I-I can help you!" she said with anxious smile, the twins, rheyne and rohan just glance to each other, but soon on, rheyne burst into laugh while rohan just grin.

"Haa.. this girl is truly a traitor all in all! did edwin really trust you so much? talking about a stupid one!"

"becareful what you said brother, he might listening right now.. although he's really a fool."

Another round of giggles from Rheyne prompts Marian to join in, but soon the jovial mood is replaced by a somber one as the twins give Marian a stern look.

"However.. We're not here for him, rather.. we've been given an order to.. eliminate you."

They sprinted at Marian as rheyne uttered those words, ready to assault him, but Rheyne whistled as she managed to leap above his attack to avoid it. She took out her gun and gave them a menacing look, but before she could pull the trigger, she realized that Rohan wasn't by his twin's side. She tried to find her but it was too late, so she turned around as all of her childhood memories and her time at the Lonely Panther Journalism Club began to flash through her mind.

then marian heard rohan mouthed with a mocking smile on his face, "thanks for the points, we will take care of it."

Rohan then used the dagger to slit Marian's throat, causing a significant amount of new blood to stream from her neck. Rheyne then gently stabbed his heart with the knife he was carrying as Marian's cold body dropped to the ground.

Their surroundings are covered in blood, which has soiled their uniforms. Rohan is merely staring icily at the corpse while Rheyne's lips twitch in response to the sticky blood on his palm. Rohan then began to gather everything that could be seen around the dead body of Marian and set it aside.

"hey! are you really serious?! how are you able to collect and touch the corpse without getting disgusted?!"

"well.. it's not that it will went up, right?"

"ugghh.. you are really creepy, rohan."

A make-up kit, a handkerchief, a cellphone, a charger, a ballpen, the secretary badge of the Lonely Panther Journalism Club, blood-stained papers, and a wrist watch where all of Marian's points were placed were among the items that rheyne collected after collecting Marian's belongings. As he wiped his forehead with his wrist, he felt a gunshot behind him and raised his hands.

"I won't take all the points, rohan so chill—!" He gasped as soon as he turned around and was ready to face Rohan when he spotted a different person—Edwin Moran—pointing his two revolver towards Rohan and Rheyne, he had a blonde hair, green eyes, and a sneer on his lips.

".. I've been struggling to come up with a plan to cause that girl's suicide in a way that would make the media not suspect me of being the killer, but now that those problems have been resolved, it seems like I still have a guardian angel on my side."

"ah.. don't worry, You can do whatever you want to her corpse; I don't care. I'm only here to retrieve the secretary badge I gave her two years ago."

the corner of rheyne's lips just twitched anxiously, "then can you put down your gun already?"

this time, edwin moran just giggled, "yet.. another thing I had a question I wanted to ask, Why are the renowned P.N. Academy twins cooperating with a mere newcomer when they consistently maintain their neutrality and dislike engaging in competition, let alone political wars?"

No one dared to speak, and the air became silent. However, a few minutes later, it was rohan who broke the silence, saying, "Elyze Moriarty hired us to kill Marian Jones and she told us to take all her points as our payment, of course, since we were harvesting some points, we accepted her deal, after this, she wouldn't bother us again."

They just breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Edwin Moran put his two guns back on his flank and laid them down. Meanwhile, Edwin merely took the blood-stained badge and turned away from him, waving his hands in goodbye before placing his left hand in his pocket.

"ah and by the way.. I'm not a stupid nor a fool than you think, I've always known that marian jones is a spy working for damion, but I pretend to be ignorant and doesn't know anything.. you should watch your mouth before speaking.. just because you two have a higher rank than me, doesn't mean that I have no chance against you two. I didn't manage to get in class-zero just because I couldn't keep my pace with them, it's only because my mortal enemy was there. just by fabricating the news, I can easily ruined your reputation if I wanted to." edwin said lastly before left them dumbfounded.

meanwhile, rohan just glance at the sky and sigh, "does he even know what he's saying..? I can leak all his secrets as much as I wanted to, if not only to crystalle's orders. tch."

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