An Empress and Knight's Reunion

Amidst the sprawling silence, Eli and Allen engaged in a mini staring contest.

"You make it sound like Hal is some kind of a demon king," Eli murmured, much to his surprise.

She honestly believes that Hal is a nice person, in and out. He acts stuck-up at times, but can also be sweet. He's considerate and thoughtful, though he's often a tease. Although he'd make her blood freeze at times, it's just one side of a coin. In fact, he got more than two sides that he's more of a multiple-sided polygon than a coin. Thus, his account and portrayal of Hal are almost invalid as it didn't do him justice.

"I know that Hal might not see me as a friend. At most, I'm just his errand girl. Even so, I couldn't really call him as my master or whatever. That's just creepy, even though he might actually like it..." she confessed, expression as tranquil as still water.

"...The thing is, no matter how he sees me, I think of him as a friend. He might just be taking advantage of me, but other than that, he didn't really do anything bad. After all, nobody else had praised me for my hard work instead of how smart I am. Nobody else gave me cookies when I was feeling down. No one else had defended me like he did, and no one but him had noticed me that way before. To sum it up, I owed him a lot and all I could really do in return was to be his friend. As a friend, I had to give something to him somehow."

Allen was speechless.

He felt like reproaching her for being this dense and stubborn, but after mulling her words a bit longer, he realized that wasn't really needed. Eli was simply being her own person, considering both sides, putting aside the inerasable past, and coming up with her own decision. She respected Hal's choice no matter what it was, but also thought of hers without scaling who'd benefit more from the kind of relationship they wanted to build. She wasn't dense nor naïve for thinking that.

If anything, she's probably the purest one out there.

"For an outstanding student, you're surprisingly stupid," Allen mused out loud with a ghost of a smile.

Eli wondered where she had last heard that insult and what she had done to deserve that.

"A-Anyway, I'll do my best to support you, guys! I'm not really good at cleaning, so I'll just work hard in other tasks!" she chimed in, pretending to not hear his last statement.

"Right, I doubt that. Until now, you're just an extra baggage we had to carry. Also, cleaning? What exactly was Hal making you do?" he questioned teasingly.

Much to his surprise, Eli abruptly stood from her chair with a peeved look, eyebrows furrowed. Her face then obscurely contorted into more refined features, resembling the unforgettable, stunning frame of a certain villainess. The atmosphere suddenly tensed up, temperature rapidly dropping, as a foreboding glint glazed her hooded eyes.

"I've had enough of your pathetic humour. Angelica may be retarded at times, but she's not someone to belittle by the likes of you," Venus, who just took over Eli's body, suddenly bolted out.

Bewildered, Allen just gawked at her for a moment. Upon registering the Empress's unanticipated appearance and belligerent greeting, he squinted his eyes in revulsion, scowling at her with a hostile expression. Venus didn't falter and returned his unwelcoming acknowledgement. At that point, they were glaring daggers at each other like ravening beasts, conspicuously zealous for a bloodshed.

The evil ruler who transgressed and the defiant knight who rebelled finally met again after a lifetime.

"What on earth...? Hey, Venus! What do you think you're doing?!" Eli exclaimed out of nowhere, her perplexed expression reflecting on the glass door of a cabinet beside Venus.

"Didn't I tell you not to do that so suddenly?!" she chided angrily, much to Venus's annoyance.

"Oh please, I wasn't planning to do anything," she huffed indignantly, crossing her arms and evading her gaze.

"I know that. But, can you please ask for my permission first? We're kind of having a serious discussion now," Eli replied, too deflated and drained to look for a fight.

Venus scrutinized her dwindling figure on the glass for a while before sighing to herself. Despite the tension in the room, she weakly complied and retreated, cutting their reunion short and ending it anti-climactically. Allen, on the other hand, looked stupefied and utterly bemused of Eli's audacious way of dealing with that proud Empress and Venus's tamed response. It's definitely a scene he wasn't prepared to see.

Eli got her body back, completely relieved that she avoided a bloodbath.

Pushing her miff with Venus aside, she instantly recalled Allen's furious expression. He wasn't lying when he said all those bloodcurdling threats yesterday. For a moment, she thought she was seeing the truest color of the Crimson Blood Warrior.

"It's the first time I saw you angry, Sir President," she voiced out absentmindedly, much to his surprise.

"What? Did I scare you?" he retorted with an enigmatic smile.

"Well, yes, but what I mean is that... I never saw you so vivacious before. You always look calm and smiling, perhaps to the point it looks like you're concealing your emotions."

"And what's your grounded reasoning for thinking so?"

"I'm the same...I think?"

His eyes widened at that, mouth slightly agape. Scrutinizing her listless frame, she seemed to be veiling no lies when she said that. Eyeing closely, she even looked a bit enlightened.

Allen didn't expect this at all. He should be doing things other than getting seen through by the person he vowed to take revenge on. If this continued, he feared that he might actually lose grip of this persisting rage.

Then again, he wondered what he'd finally feel like if that's the case.