Dark blood sept into the carpet, oozing from the corpses, bagged up and left to rot within... All except Cyrus'. Eliza's eyes were locked onto Cyrus' face. Her body was pressed against the wall, unable to cower any further. His eyes were completely blank, nothing but faded determination on his face...

  All that blood left Eliza in total silence.

  Cyrus was... dead. Eliza was reminded of Riharia, seeing her burnt body on the cameras... Eliza's diaphragm moved in rapid succession; Eliza slowly lost control over her own breathing.

  Eliza could hear and see back then were the glimpses of death through a monitor. But here it was first hand. The smell of iron stung her nose.

  And a corpse lay in front of her.

  It wasn't just any corpse, it wasn't an enemy or a criminal that Eliza could easily shrug off for thoughts. It was Cyrus, she might not have known him for long but… She was responsible.

  'Eliza...' Synthia propped up beside Eliza, tugging at her ear with her holographic hand. 'Our communications are jammed. Miss Elizabeth, please tell me you have a course of action, right?'

  'I don't know.'

  The emotions and cogs in her head slunk back to one conclusion: she just got Cyrus killed. Noah... where's Noah?! This was a trap... it had to be a trap! Did Obadiah plan to ensnare her with the promise of negotiations?

  Dammit… Eliza had just straight into a trap… Delia nor the Marquis were here to help her.

  Kazuki... He’s on his way, right?! Cyrus called for reinforcements! He has to be coming. She hesitated in the thought. After what happened between them, will he? Eliza pressed her legs up to her chest, burrowing her head into them. She stopped herself from crying, with all her might and determination she must not cry.

  Not in front of Obadiah. Not in front of Lady Antiar. She must hold strong… She was stupid… Foolish… She lost her ace the moment Noah left this room…

  The room was refilled with guards that replaced the dead ones. She heard footsteps get closer, boots. Eliza shimmied back, away from the noise. Looking up at the source of it, it was Lady Antiar. She knelt down, blocking the view of Cyrus’ body.

  Synthia remained on Eliza’s shoulder, trying to ward away Lady Antiar - failing as she was just a projection. Eliza’s hands shoved forward, trying to push Lady Antiar back… Upon instant impact, her hands stopped.

  So this was what both she and Kaz meant… She wasn’t fit for this, this was the type of person Kazuki would be up against! No… No. Kazuki might actually lose against her… Tears started to form along Eliza’s eyes…

  Mum… Dad… Victoria… No one was coming… Lady Antiar gave her a reassuring smile, but it did nothing but rile up the flames of anxiety boiling in Eliza’s stomach. "Eliza... I am not your enemy," Lady Antiar said. “Please, grab my hand. You’ll feel more comfortable seated.”

  "You... you allowed them to—"

  "—I had to," Lady Antiar interjected, lowering her voice so only Eliza could hear. "I have no choice in this matter. I must abide by the rules… I have no say in it.”

  Eliza shook her head. "You don't have to! We all have a choice… I…”

  Lady Antiar placed a finger to her lips, slowly grabbing onto Eliza's hand. "I must. My honour demands that I adhere to the rules and contracts put in place."

  "But... what's so honourable about any of this?!" Eliza asked as Lady Antiar gently pulled her up to her feet. “You’re meant to protect me… the Marquis, Kazuki… Delia… The twins are dead… Lady Antiar, please!”

  Lady Antiar led her towards the desk, where Obadiah sat. He was frustrated, still impatiently tapping his finger against the desk. Lady Antiar slowly pushed Eliza into the seat, wiping some blood off Eliza’s face.

  “Do not worry,” Lady Antiar said. “I will… I’ll ensure your safety. I will protect you.”

  There was nothing honourable about this. This was madness! An Imperial Knight helping in a kidnapping?! It was... insane. Eliza made her thoughts known. "This is insane!"

  "It... is sadly how the galaxy runs," said Lady Antiar. "I cannot break my Contracts, Eliza, I must adhere to this one as well as my Knighthood.”

  "No... you don't have to follow their rules!" Eliza shouted. She tried to stand up, only for Lady Antiar to push her gently back down. She patted Eliza on the back, staring at her rose-red eyes with an amber-orange stare of reluctance. The gems and necklaces adorning her hair and face glistened with the power of pure explosions. "You don't have to. Kazuki had a choice, and he chose for himself... You do too."

  Lady Antiar shook her head. She gritted her teeth, and slowly pulled away. "And lower myself to that Contract-Breaker?! You should have never stepped foot in here, you fool…”

  Eliza thought through her words. This galaxy is too cruel for people like her to thrive in it... That's why the Marquis, the Senator and the Contract-Breaker do what they do. Outcomes are decided before any of the doors are opened… That’s simply how the gears are turned, and work is done.

  It never sat right with her, and even now when Eliza thought she’d play their game… She had no idea about anything…

  She was lost. Her usually determined grit lost its grip upon the gentry politics that grins back at her. Eliza still had so much to learn…

  Eliza knew it was worthless, but she made a vow. She peered at Cyrus’ dead corpse. She made a Contract with a dead man… To never let her mind falter to this reality, to never forget how cruel this galaxy is.

  She looked back at Cyrus. He was just lying there... dead. Her actions caused his death, she thought... She killed him. The words kept repeating till it was all her head could hold at its seams.

  "I... I'm such an idiot," Eliza muttered to herself She pressed her hands into her head, spectacles slowly slipping down from her nose bridge Eyes wide open. She stared down at her red dress, blotches of blood hidden amongst the sea of red.

  What now?! Kazuki… He’s not coming, isn’t he? Of course, he wouldn’t, Eliza had thrown him to the curb. Eliza just hoped that before she died… Kazuki would have told her the truth beneath his chainmail of lies.

  She guessed she’d have to wait a while before asking him that… Eliza self-derivatively joked to herself about meeting Kazuki… somewhere… if there’s somewhere after this place.

  "Lady Antiar. Do you think they got our message?" Obadiah asked, his voice still ever frustrated. "They must have read it by now."

  "You're an even greater idiot than I imagined, Obadiah. A Triarch should know his place." Lady Antiar turned back to Obadiah, standing in between Eliza and Obadiah. "Kazuki will never agree to your terms. Neither will the Marquis. Sir Icarus as well… You seem to forget that he is my superior. There is nothing you can do to stop them.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Obadiah shook his head. "That's where you are wrong... You will stop him. You've proven yourself to be a match for him in your little duel. Using the full potential of your Hazard Shard, you'll win against him."

  "No..." Lady Antiar shook her head. "Even if I wanted to fight him, why should I? There are no terms for my honour to stop the Contract-Breaker from extracting Miss Elizabeth from this location.”

  "It just so happens that her rescue is synonymous with my death... or worse!" Obadiah sneered. Lady Antiar walked to the side of the room, revealing Obadiah's frantic and worried face. "I will not become just a footnote in someone else's history! Deal with Kazuki, or else you will break this Contract.”

  Eliza found herself in the middle of a political skirmish. Everything that she thought she knew was turned upside down. Who was on her side? Who was her enemy?! Was Lady Antiar going to fight Kazuki? Eliza couldn't tell... The Imperial Knight looked back at her, and Eliza shook her head frantically.

  Obadiah snapped his fingers at Eliza. "Listen to me closely... You are my ace. They will never lay a hand on me if I have you in this room. I don't care if I have to mind-snare you like all the troublesome ones, try to resist and you will meet a fate worse than death, understand?!”

  Muffled sounds were heard far away. It sounded like fireworks, muffled by the soundproofed walls. Eliza turned towards it, as did Lady Antiar. Lady Antiar said, “Careful now, do not try and tempt me to behead you. You won’t be the first slaver I’ve sent to Madamé Justice.”

  The Knight turned towards the businessman. He met her gaze with desperation and despair, confined within thinly veiled formality. "It does not matter now, does it? You hear them coming, you are here… Your side has been chosen for you.”

  Lady Antiar scoffed at him. "Luck of allies has kept me from executing you before, but do not tempt me to do what I must to protect Eliza.”

  A few of the guards in the room gave worried glances to Obadiah… Was Lady Antiar going to save Eliza?!

  "Yes... you killed my last plaything. He was a good toy, really! A good pawn that ran the slave market below the Senate's nose. In fact, I bet a few of the senators looked down their noses as you announced the end of their operations."

  For a moment, Lady Antiar opened her mouth to speak. Words did not leave. She closed her mouth, turning back to Eliza. She knelt in front of Eliza, seated in the chair. The flicking of fireworks in the distance sounded too familiar to gunfire…

  People were coming… Weren’t they? Eliza asked that question with one gaze, at which Lady Antiar nodded. "You will be safe.”

  Obadiah slammed his fist against the desk. "Yes. She will be safe, Lady Antiar, now you will go and face Kazuki. He will be amongst those you face. If you must kill your fellows Knights... then make it quick," he said. He flicked his wrist. "Go."

  "No." Lady Antiar's reply was swift.

  "Denying me of my right as Board Triarch, are we?" asked Obadiah. Lady Antiar glared at Obadiah, turning away her head from Eliza...

  Eliza’s only hope is Lady Antiar. The Knight turned back to Eliza, staring her in the face. Eliza shook her head, as Lady Antiar sighed.

  Slowly, she walked past her, rubbing Eliza's arm. "Stay safe," she said coldly.

  Wait... NO! Eliza had to object. But what good would it do? Eliza turned, seeing Lady Antiar stop at the door leading out of the office. Kazuki won’t be coming… Who else could protect her?! Eliza’s eyes begged, yet Lady Antiar refused the call.

  For a moment, she turned back, staring at all those in the room... That moment turned into a second, seconds, then a dozen of them. Her eyes seemingly scanned across the guards and Obadiah, through their armoured suits and statures…

  "What are you doing?! Fight!" Obadiah snapped. “This is your one chance to kill that Contract-Breaker.”

  Lady Antiar slowly nodded. If she agreed, then Lady Antiar would be a Contract-Breaker, if she refused: she’d be a Contract-Breaker. Either way, Lady Antiar loses. Eliza could see the glee in Obadiah’s eyes.

  “The Contract-Breaker will be your doom.”

  “But not you.” Obadiah chuckled to himself. “Now, be a good Contract-licking grunt and kill him, or perhaps you are a Contract-Breaker? I wonder what the other Triarchs will think of you… after you fail…”

  The threat was crystal clear, yet Eliza didn’t understand the context - but she could imply that Lady Antiar was most definitely in a bind here. Stuck between a Contract and a Contract-Breaker, Lady Antiar would have to choose…

  Either way, there are consequences.

  “You’ve hated that Contract-Breaker, Lady Antiar,” Obadiah started. “He broke the rules and he lives to tell the tale, you can deal with me another day… But him? This is your one and only chance.”

  Lady Antiar held her face together, but sourness and bitter frustration were seeping through, Eliza could see what she believed to be… confusion. What… was Lady Antiar going to do? Eliza could see a measure of hatred within the amber fire…

  The Imperial Knight had made her choice.

  Eliza had to do something! “You did it!” Eliza raised her voice, yet still whimpering. “You did it, Obadiah… You killed all those people!”

  She had to try and provoke Lady Antiar into action… She…

  Obadiah scoffed. “You haven’t been paying attention, have you, young girl? Kazuki will sink you. His fuse has been lit and he will kill all of us, or none of us.”

  "You're guilty!" Eliza shrieked, turning to Antiar and standing up. "And you're just walking away from this murderer!? Lady Antiar... Antiar, please! Just listen to me!"

  Obadiah's voice boomed, "I am innocent!"

  Both Eliza and Antiar slowly turned to the red-handed man. He glared at them with a pathetic welp of a pair of eyes, nothing was certain, Eliza thought, but she would ensure Obadiah paid...

  "You're not innocent," The Imperial Knight commented, placing a hand on the Champion Sword's pommel. "You were never innocent, don't you ever fathom playing that card against me."

  "But I am!" Obadiah shouted, interjected. "Listen to me, I am just a pawn... A pawn, Do you think I came into any of this wanting any of this?! No, no, someone's behind all of this, you have to listen to me!"

  Lady Antiar sighed. "We'll find out sooner or later," she coldly replied, drawing her blade. The guards in the room immediately placed their hands on their holsters, but the Knight only merely raised her blade, pointing it at Obadiah.

  "You have no idea what's going on, do you, Lady Antiar?" Obadiah mocked the Knight who was supposed to protect him. "You're just as naive as the rest of them, naive and foolish! Think for once, once in your life Lady Antiar, who do you think is behind any of this?!"

  It was clear as a diamond: Obadiah. Eliza's eyes spoke the truth, and the Champion's eyes reflected that truth. Still, Lady Antiar sheathed her blade, the blood-fuelled honour in her amber eyes overpowering the sense of pity and justice she must have had for Eliza in these exact moments.

  "No," Eliza muttered to herself. "Please... Don't leave me here. Take me with you."

  A flicker of the Knight's ear showed that she caught those words, barely above a whisper as the Knight stared into Eliza's eyes. "I'm sorry. I can't. I just can't. There are rules, everywhere, some even you may not be privy to."

  Rules... That's what this was all about. Eliza's face scrunched up in frustration. "Your pride? Is that all you have to say to me, all you can use to answer me?" Eliza bit off each word with venom, mimicking the way Kazuki would speak.

  It felt strange, and out of place for her... Still, she acted like what Kazuki would have done: make a stand no matter what and challenge everything that came across him. Even if she disowned him and barred him from helping her... Eliza could only think of how things could be different if she had just listened...

  But Kazuki... that stupid idiot just had to make everything so complicated! Eliza dared not forgive Kazuki, ruining everything in his path in his own set of jaded ideals... But Eliza felt a sense of self-loathing within herself... Hatred towards that naive girl who walked herself and Noah into this mess...

  A conflicted gaze rested upon Lady Antiar's eyes, and the Knight almost seemed to recoil at the venomous mimicry.

  Still, the Knight held out.

  Lady Antiar’s gaze was still dead-set beyond Eliza’s view. She turned to Eliza, giving a pensive glare. “I’ll ensure your safety…” she said.

  Turning away, Eliza could hear Lady Antiar mutter: “Let Justice be Done.”

  Then, Lady Antiar slid the door open, its hinges and seals unlocking to allow her to leave. She stepped forward. One of the guards winded the door shut. Lady Antiar’s head twirled back to Eliza.

  Amber eyes were the last thing Eliza saw.

  And then, Eliza sat alone. She closed her eyes, imagining the peaceful fields and forests back home… It was a distant memory…

  But Eliza could feel the warmth of the countryside, the warmth of her mother’s arms… And the warmth and endless beauty of the countryside beside Victoria’s treehouse.