Chapter 79：Prelude to the End

While Sicilia was quietly thinking to herself within her now silent office, that did not mean that Michelle was not having thoughts of her own.

In fact, it was the complete opposite.

As Sicilia silently amused herself with her own thoughts, Michelle was similarly silently amusing herself with her own thoughts.

It was all rather amusing, watching Sicilia try her hardest to hide her emotions.

Truth be told, she really wasn't doing a bad job.

To any ordinary person, Sicilia would appear to be simply enjoying her wine while relaxing in her chair and simply shrugging off the awkwardness of the silent atmosphere.

But Michelle wasn't any ordinary person.

She was a reincarnator who faced death, a transmigrator who crossed worlds, and a genius prodigy armed with the combined knowledge of two different worlds.

Not forgetting to mention Michelle's astute eye for detail.

It didn't take long for her to decipher Sicilia's feelings and more importantly, Sicilia's thoughts.

She was annoyed... perhaps she even felt flustered.

Annoyed that she can't cracked the code that is Michelle.

Flustered that she for the second time in her life, she met someone who she could not read.

Of course, Michelle had to be the second.

If she was the first then she would be really disappointed in Maxwell. Although, it was possible that Maxwell intentionally made it easy for Sicilia to read him, the way he acts and literally drags himself around tells Michelle that this possibility was very unlikely, maybe even impossible.

Nevertheless, Michelle set aside these thoughts for now.

Getting sidetracked was one of the few things that Michelle hated about herself.

She can contemplate these thoughts later or even ask Maxwell himself sometime in the near future.

For now, Michelle would enjoy this 'moment' with Sicilia.

However, it would seem that fate had other plans.

"Would you look at the time."

Sicilia held out a pocket clock that she kept inside her blazer in front of her as she broke the silence.

"Unfortunately, time dictates that my presence is required elsewhere. I'm sorry Michelle but I would have to apologise for leaving you alone here for the time being. I hope you don't mind."

As Sicilia spoke, she stood up and started making her way towards the door of her office while her 'operative' Aldrin remained motionless at the spot he stayed at after he poured the two women wine.

On the other hand, Michelle shrugged casually in a similar manner and demeanour to Maxwell as she responded.

"I don't see any problems, just don't leave me hanging for too long alright?"

When Michelle shrugged liked Maxwell does, she was able to catch a twitch at the corners of Sicilia's mouth.

[Damn. That never gets old.] Michelle couldn't help mentally smiling to herself whenever she throws Maxwell's associates and even family members off by highlighting the similarities that she shared with him.

Although it was only a fleeting moment that only lasted for less than a second, Michelle would always 'savour' moments like these whenever they did show up.

Nevertheless, Sicilia still kept her warm and welcoming attitude when she replied to Michelle.

"But of course. I hope you enjoy the hospitalities that my subordinates have to offer. Farewell for now."

Before she opened the office's door and exited, slamming the door in just the slightest manner to show off a bit of her frustration.

While Sicilia left prematurely, Michelle was left unmoved and composed.

And that was because she already got everything that she needed.

As short as it may seem to be, Michelle actually had enough time and good glimpses at Sicilia to figure out the truth, or at least a decent hypothesis.

More likely than not she has figured out that there must exist some sort of 'link' between Maxwell and Michelle, it was just that she didn't know what it actually was.

By now she was probably devising how she could force Michelle to reveal the truth about her and Maxwell.

Of course, Michelle wasn't about to let that important piece of information slip, especially not to the likes of Sicilia.

But that doesn't mean that she won't let Sicilia try.

After all, to Michelle, this is just another fun game.

...

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Roses cursed as she rode her horse amidst the chaos of the city.

Even though she tried her best to focus on her objective, it was impossible for her to ignore the explosions that rocked her ears and the screams of pain and horror that nagged at her insides.

"Damn it all!"

Rose cursed the Paniards and all of their damned supporters for forcing her to side with the Confederates.

Rose cursed the Drussians and the Breetish for bringing the bloodshed to the people of her own city.

Rose cursed herself for being responsible of everything that had just transpired.

Although Rose knew that a majority of her subjects should remain unharmed by the end of this ordeal, the subjects themselves didn't know that.

In the wake of a sudden attack at the docks, some people started fleeing in fear.

And fear was contagious.

As soon as news spread of the invasion of the docks, people started panicking.

These were the 'monstrous' confederates that were invading.

To these people who are oblivious to the truth, the confederates were probably seen as other worldly demons.

The streets were all packed.

People were either rushing to reach the safety of their homes or to abandon the city altogether.

Those who were simply unlucky were lost under the sea of people

Doomed to bear the brunt of the stampede before they met their eventual demise.

Twice... no thrice Rose has nearly run one of her own citizens over.

However, in the end she was finally able to reach her mansion.

The guards didn't even bother to question her as they immediately opened the doors to allow Rose 'safe refuge' into the Finaflor mansion. Oblivious to the fact that the one responsible for this entire incident was none other than Rose herself.

Once Rose left the horse behind at the front of the mansion, she immediately made her way up the staircase of the mansion before letting herself inside.

Due to Lily's 'playful tendencies' the servants and vassals of the Finaflor mansion has grown accustomed to leaving the front doors unlocked and instead doubling down all of the security on the gates.

Rose couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at the slight incompetence of the Finaflor servants who left the front doors unlocked during a time of crisis.

An feeling of annoyance that Rose couldn't help unleashing on the servant that appeared before her.

"Lily! Where is she!"

Rose's sudden outburst caused the servant to stagger backwards a few feet before he managed to make a response.

"She's in her bedroom! We asked her if she wanted to evacuate but we didn't get an answer! And Orchid is nowhere to be found!"

"What? Orchid is missing?! Explain!"

Rose subconsciously grabbed the servant by the collar as she questioned him about Orchid. She just could not believe that Orchid was missing. While she and Rose did have a less than desirable relationship, Rose still knew that Orchid would never leave Lily in harm's way.

It just didn't make any sense.

Soon, the servant answered Rose's question.

"She left the mansion after the news of the incident at the docks reached the mansion with a small contingent of knights... We haven't heard from her since..."

[Could it be? Is Orchid already dead?] While these thoughts ran through Rose's head, she quickly shook them off before she gave the servant an order.

"Well we'll deal with that later! Prepare the carriage! I'll check up on Lily myself."

"As you wish my Lady."

Rose didn't even give the servant a second glance as she rushed through the mansion, ignoring the servants and vassals along the way as she ran towards Lily's bedroom.

When she actually did reach Lily's room, Rose pushed both of the doors open before accidentally stumbling in.

And yet she received no response.

Nothing was moving.

Nothing at all.

Not even the girl who curled up into a ball onto her bed, her face buried into her knees.

"Lily!"

Lily instantly jerked her head upwards in response to Rose's sudden shout, elements of dread and fear were clearly evident in her eyes.

"Rose... is that you?"

"Y-yes. I'm here."

For a split second, an glint of happiness appeared in Lily's eyes before it was quickly overwhelmed by fear.

"I'm... I'm scared."

Rose felt her heart shatter when she heard Lily's words. Soon, Rose slowly made her way towards Lily before placing the latter in her embrace.

"Don't be afraid... I'm here... I've got you... It's alright..."

Rose gently caressed the back of Lily's head as she continued to comfort her.

"It's alright... As long as I'm around everything will be alrig-"

However, suddenly, Rose had an inexplicable bad premonition, causing her to cut herself off.

Her instincts took over her body as she gave Lily an order.

"Wait... Stay here..."

Rose ignored the confused expression on Lily's face as she stood up and left the bedroom, making a mental promise as she did so.

If there was any danger waiting for her outside, Rose promised that she will come out on top.

Even though she has left her pistol at Sicilia's warehouse in a hurry, Rose still had someone that she needed to protect.

And nothing will stop her from fulfilling her mental promise.

When she re-entered the hallways of the mansion, she saw a familiar figure.

A figure with a pair of violet eyes and long silky silver hair.

"Hello again Rose. How has the past few minutes been for you? A bit hectic I believe?"

Sicilia revealed herself in a unconcerned manner to Rose, as if she was about to have a casual conversation with an old friend.

"You..."

Rose felt her fingers dig into the palms of her hand as she was once again face to face with the same person that just endangered Lily's life. She didn't even take the time to stop and think about how Sicilia even got into the mansion in the first place.

"I should kill you right this instant."

However, Sicilia remained unmoved as she replied to Rose.

"No you shouldn't."

Sicilia sighed as she explained herself.

"You must understand and remember that officially and legally speaking, you and your entire family are still enemies of the Confederacy. But technically speaking, you are one of our closest allies. I... apologise for any physical or mental harm that I may have caused you in the past ten minutes."

Rose felt her gripping hands loosen slightly when she heard what Sicilia had to say.

"Wait... you... never meant to bring Lily any harm?"

Sicilia answered Rose back in a manner as if she was stating the obvious.

"Of course not, why would we do such a thing that quite literally goes against our own interests? We never put Lily or you in harms way, it's just 'officially written' that we did. It's a bit complicated but I'm sure that we can spare the time to sit down and discuss and even laugh about all of this when it is all over."

Sicilia broke into a short chuckle halfway through speaking while Rose remained motionless, a sea of mixed emotions swirled inside her very being.

"Oh and one last thing..."

Sicilia lowered the volume of her voice while at the same time, moving closer towards Rose as she spoke.

"Your other sister is waiting for you at the cliffside. Somewhere on the south-western side. You know what you have to do. But more importantly..."

Sicilia paused for a moment to take a small pistol musket out of her coat before offering it to Rose.

"You know what you want to do."