As Their Paths Crossed II

All Seraphine can do at that moment is look utterly bewildered.

She can't believe that Clement is lying – for some reason she really can't figure out. He has told her about this new home, but other than that, she doesn't know why he's doing all of these.

"It seems you might even steal the title from me, but I don't see that happening soon. You're still so young. I'll defend my position of Master Thief until the day I die. Just because you're my little brother and the same blood runs through our veins doesn't mean that you'll be better…" Clifford remarked with a challenging tone and a knowing look.

"So, don't get your hopes up too high. Although I have to admit, kidnapping a noble's daughter is quite gutsy of you."

---

"Hang on a little longer, Sera. We'll be at your new home soon."

With Clifford walking ahead, Clement trails after him alongside Seraphine. She kept silent up until the very moment they took her to a tunnel right past the underground pub. Though baffled by everything, she did not utter a single word. She's tired – so, so tired.

That's until Clement mentioned this new home he told Seraphine about, finally piquing her complete attention.

"You lied. Why did you lie, Clement?" she asked weakly without looking at him.

"You weren't adopted by the Count, so I decided to take matters in my own hand…" he answered with a tone that's only loud enough for her to hear, making her eyes widen in surprise.

"I'm already running out of time in the orphanage. Once I'm gone, I won't be able to guarantee that you'd get a good life. I won't even be able to guarantee my own survival. There are bad guys out there who might adopt you just to make use of you. I don't want that."

"H-Huh? J-Just what are you saying now? You keep making no sense-"

"I didn't bother explaining this to you earlier since I knew that my methods won't come out good to you no matter what."

"W-What methods exactly?"

"My brother and I will sell you to an auction."

At that, Seraphine pales almost instantly, consternation consuming her.

Indeed, it's one of the worst kinds of methods that she failed to expect. Now, she's convinced that this younger version of Clement already has a similar thinking with his older one.

Both are not afraid to use the dark side of the world to their advantage – much like how it makes use of them.

"We'll get to the event place through this underground tunnel. We have tunnels that lead everywhere, and everyone in this cave knows how to go anywhere from here if they wanted to," Clifford chimed in from before them as he continued to navigate their way.

"Don't worry, Sera. It may be an auction, but there's a reason why I specifically chose today to conduct this plan. There's a certain aristocrat who'll be visiting today. I'm sure that he's gonna pick you once he saw you," Clement told her discreetly, making her flare up.

"Stop this already, Clement…" Sera hissed through a shaky puff of breath, gaze turning incandescent.

"Who told you to do this? I'm not happy about it. Why do you even care who's gonna adopt me? Stop telling me what should be good for me every single time-"

"I did this on my own accord. Nobody told me, and I don't mind if you're not happy about it… I mean, I already got myself this deep into the darkness. I'm past the point of no return. Might as well use it to my own personal purposes."

His solemn and half-lidded gaze hardens, highlighted by the illumination of the lantern he's holding. She can see his determination in it. He truly does have this intimidating, feral air around him that he most probably got from being aware of the dark side at such a young age.

'Somehow, his determination reminds me of the time he lied to the Headmistress when I covered myself up in mud…' Seraphine pondered upon remembering that particular memory.

'So, that's why he really wanted me to get adopted by the Count, huh? Even then, I don't get why he wanted to take that matter to such an extreme extent.'

As they walk further in, more tunnels keep branching out of the walls.

The soft glow of their lanterns fades a little in that dim setting as they get deeper. For quite some time, the passage as well as their journey have been eerily quiet.

That is all until Clifford halted on his tracks out of nowhere, extending his lantern forward to shed light on a certain figure that's been waiting ahead of that path all along.

"By the way, children, we'll have someone to accompany us from this point on…" he told them complacently, pertaining to a captive whose hands were cuffed and chained on the ground.

"I chained him up here when I went to meet you two. He's my lucky catch, you see. So, don't think that you're anywhere ahead of me, Clement."

At that very moment, Seraphine feels her heart drop as soon as she realizes that the captive is a little boy around her age.