57 An Easy Job (1/2)
”Do I really have to wear this… attire for clowns? It's tight, stuff, and hard to move in,” said Reed as he wrangled with his suit in displeasure. He felt like he was suffocating in a spiritual sense; something inside of him — something precious — had died today.
”For the fifth time, yes, Reed. You have to wear it, there are rules that have to be followed and this is one of them. Formal attire for a formal event. If you mess up your suit, I'll end you,” said Violett.
”And if she doesn't finish the job, I will. So you better not try anything funny, Reed. I'm always watching,” said Lu'um as she coldly gazed at Reed like an unruly insect.
The ride to the ball in Violett's personal hovercraft was an unpleasant one, to say the least. Confined on both sides by a well-dressed beauty, Reed had nowhere to run, or hide…
Lu'um and Violett's eyes gleamed mysteriously as they stared at each other, communicating in code. It was an alliance between ladies that transcended eons of history and culture; both space and time.
Never let your prey escape.
Chase him down until he breaks.
Sisters who hunt together, die together.
Establish your territory and maintain it. Assert dominance.
They both knew what was to come and had decided to join forces in order to defend their prize. Hyenas would show up to this feast and their golden lamb was what they've all come for, of course.
Needless to say, Reed did not approve of what had happened prior to their departure. Endless measurements. Hairstyling. Wardrobe selection. Henpecking by his two wardens. It only ended after they were satisfied.
He'd been subjected to the harsh cruelties of noblehood, or so he thought. It went without saying that he considered the entire experience revolting and a violation of his rights in some form.
Treating me a goddamned dress-up doll for the better part of the day. Who do these broads think they are, my masters? I'm Lord Evergreen, dammit!
”They might as well be, boy. Be a good boy and listen to the wise words of your betters. You might even learn something from them,” whispered Lacrima in a condescending tone.
I should have left you at home, locked in an old closet. I'll remember this. Just you wait, you no-good rag.
Unbeknownst to the two wardens beside him, a stowaway had been brought along in secret. Reed's suit jacket had an unnatural aura around it that only he could detect due to his connection with it.
The defective cloak had evolved. An astonishing feat.
[What? LACRIMA is evolving!]
[Congratulations! Your LACRIMA evolved into a SUIT JACKET!]
If he knew what the wrong course of action was, it became infinitely easier to extrapolate what the correct course was. Of course, hearing this would likely infuriate Lacrima to hell and back, so Reed never disclosed that bit information, even as a stray thought.
He considered that… an unnecessary detail, after all.
Reed secretly thanked the hooded man from the bottom of his heart for the gracious technique he'd given him, The Aria of Dreamer. It was a convenient, elegant technique that he would have never thought possible to create.
It allowed for one to hide their conscious, waking thoughts under the blanket of obscurity that was the labyrinth of a person's subconscious. It was akin to encrypting a message with an unknowable cipher that not even the user knew of.
In death, let there be dreams. Hidden, obscured dreams that only the dreamer can envision. The Lady of Fate's song will guide you.
This is the safeguard of your soul… and mine.
The guy was a bit cryptic at times, but Reed had grown accustomed to it. It was a skill that he'd been unintentionally working on anyways, thanks to a pair of certain girls.
”We're here. Look, that's the place,” said Violett pointing at the distant mansion afar. It looked more like a palace of old, like the architecture that belonged in Citlai.
Except it seemed like more a replica than the real thing, to be honest. It looked like someone had made an academic guess of what a genuine Mulian palace might've appeared in the ancient past.