Boredom Takes Over

Gwen was once again staring at the empty scenery outside. Her boredom finally once again set in while waiting for creatures to pop up in her peripheral. No. 12 already controlled her aura, letting the creatures outside no longer feel threatened.

"No. 12, where's the nearest animal? I want to see them."

"Lady Gwendolyn, it's just an animal, I don't see the intrigue. I'd understand if it's monsters but to want to see an animal is…"

"Go on." Gwen had a slight glint in her eyes, testing No. 12's response.

"Eh? Never mind little old me."

"Go on, No. 12. What were you about to say?" Gwen clearly took a recording device out of her pocket out of nowhere. "Don't mind me, I just wanted to record the outside critters. Just finish your train of thought."

'You're clearly making it difficult for me! Miss Gwendolyn, I know you're mad but you're playing with my life here!'

No. 12's internal monologue clearly showed that she knew what Gwen was trying to accomplish here.

"Hmm? So, are you… disobeying my orders?" Gwen was pushing as much as she could here. She really needed that Death Artifact back since most of her reliance in exploring the ruins was based on it.

The shiny glint on the recording device showed that it was currently active. No. 12 wanted nothing else but to break it apart and to throw away any evidence of what was left but she couldn't.

"N-No… I just had something in my throat."

"So, your 'well-being' is more important than my family's orders? Such a shame I always thought of you as a close friend, I wonder what would happen if my Father learns of this? Worse, I wonder what would happen if Sister Rachel heard about this little incident?"

At the mention of Rachel, Felix fully understood that even if Nio had some kind of hidden orders for her, Rachel wouldn't care and uphold her family's pride above all else, "Hahahaha, No. 12, she got you there. Better give it up."

"Not Miss Rachel, Lady Gwendolyn, you can't be serious! You know…" No. 12 looked around her, scared that someone might be listening. She leaned in even closer to prevent anyone else from spying on her.

No. 12's desperate tone could be heard even though she was whispering her words, "You know how much pride she has in the Aria name. I'll definitely die without a corpse! Even worse, I'll die with a corpse that she'll make an example out of!"

"Uh-huh, so you were saying?" Gwen feigned ignorance on what No. 12 was trying to imply.

"I-I… No, I'll die with conviction! I won't hand over your Death Artifact."

"Tch." Gwen held the recording device and let go of her grasp of it, letting it fall to the ground creating a small thud. Seeing that even her sister's name didn't force No. 12 to give it up, it must mean that her father had his hand in this. The only question was what?

'Father had always been a proactive man, creating trouble behind the scenes to ensure that his children develop and grow to the best of their abilities. The only times when he acted odd was when he saved Pia a few times in the story, even giving her information and supplies to carry on her journey. Pia's definitely not Father's illegitimate child. With this in mind, what's left? Why doesn't he want me to explore the ruins? Now that I think about it, Father should be creating some trouble for me to grow but… I haven't experienced anything like that. Quite odd.'

No. 12 genuinely gave a sigh of relief as she let her body loose, falling on the wide open carriage seating in comfort, "Thank you for finding it in your heart to forgive my actions, Lady Gwendolyn."

"Huh? Oh, I'm definitely snitching you out to Sister Rachel. Let's see how you're going to get out of this one alive." Gwen grumbled as she continued staring out at the window, trying to find something that'll appease her boredom.

"Lady Gwendolyn, think of all the times I've stayed by your side! I've done so much for you to show my loyalty but on this one, I just can't!"

Gwen crossed her arms, "Well I guess that's just how loyal you're going to be to me. Humph!"

"Hahahaha!" Felix kept on laughing enjoying the show in front of him. Even though No. 12 seemed to be in distress, and she really is, he knew that Gwen wouldn't take it that far. Although Gwen wasn't a saint, doing terrible deeds such as human experimentation, she never took it too far. In this cruel world, she was a sweet and lovable treat, even though she was a little too ferocious at times.

"Felix, don't think you're free from this too. Get me my Death Artifact back or I'll tell Sister Rachel that you didn't help me." Gwen raised her hand and placed the back of her hand on her forehead, acting dramatically, "The heir to a well-known noble family refused to help a child of the Aria family… I wonder what Sister Rachel would think."

Felix's laughter abruptly stopped, "Gwen? Wait, wait, wait. You can't do this! I'm still your… fiancé?" In the end, Felix had a wide smile, trying to ease Gwen's decision making but it didn't hide the fact that he too was also genuinely scared.

Rachel was a figure that they were definitely scared of. It wasn't unfounded, in fact, it was widely accepted. She was initially a child that was completely enthralled by her Father's achievements and wanted to achieve the same. After she received responsibility upon responsibility, she earned quite the reputation, from both being prideful to the point that she killed those who even slightly mocked her and skilled to the point that despite being a Tier 2 Archmage, she could rival old monsters who have lived for countless years.

No. 12 snickered, "Heh, you're in trouble too Sir Felix."

"Miss No. 12, if you don't want me to reveal how old you really are to Gwen then I suggest you give it back. Imagine her reaction once she hears you're-" Felix brought out one of his greatest trump cards against No. 12 but he was immediately silenced.

"Sir Felix, if you value your life then you shouldn't really be speaking about such matters right?" No. 12 leaned in close to Felix with her grip tightly covering his mouth.

Gwen juggled the recording device with her foot, dexterously knocking it back up to her hand, "No. 12, I guess this is considered enough evidence. I mean, technically, Felix is part of the Aria family so you're the only one in trouble."

No. 12's ferocious expression eased down as she let go of Felix's mouth. She had never felt this defeated in life before. Not even climbing through the ranks within The Bastion was this exhausting.

Felix weakly said as he touched the parts where No. 12 gripped him, feeling sore, "Thanks, Gwen."

Gwen's eyes lit up as she said next, "Yeah, yeah, so about that. How old did you say she was again?"

Felix moved around his jaw to try and relax the muscles on his face when he saw No. 12's piercing gaze staring right at him. "I… uh… forgot. Haha, that's weird. Oh, look, we're here."

Gwen immediately looked outside, only to be disappointed that there was still nothing to be seen as far as the eye could see. She looked back at Felix who was nowhere to be seen. She also noticed that No. 12 disappeared alongside him, she grumbled and realized she's been had. Making matters even worse for her, the recording device that she used was nowhere to be seen.

"I swear the you both will feel my wrath someday!" Gwen flailed her arms in anger as No. 12 and Felix were looking at her from a very safe distance.