♝

"WE ONLY HAVE TWO months left before the year ends and we'll finally be seniors," Khian says before looking at Marcus who was sitting beside him in the sofa.

     The members of BND - Hans, Arjun, Marcus, Khian, Red, Hansol, and Leo - just finished their training and were now cooling off at their base. The other day they had a battle with the prince, PHD, but as they expected, they embarrassingly lost. This angered Hans a lot so since then they've been training.

     "I'll have to reevaluate our battle grounds. We need to think of a design so complex that PHD would definitely lose," Hans exclaims before chugging a bottle of water.

     "You got to relax Hans. We still have next year. We'll defeat them eventually," Arjun- Hans's right-hand man - says before sitting beside Marcus and Khian.

     "Besides, other than training and improving our battle grounds, shouldn't we recruit new underlings instead? We'll be graduating next year and most of our Roses are going to graduate too. We need a new batch of underlings who will continue our brotherhood. Think about Leo," Arjun then says before pointing at their member Leo who was the only 2nd year in their group.

    "That's right. You can't just leave me alone here," Leo adds.

     Hans takes a deep breath and takes a seat on a different chair. "I wanted to let Richard Young join our brotherhood but he became an Elite member. I can't pull him out now. Anyways, we have at least four Roses who will be third year students next year. Let's try and train them and see if we can make them a member of BND before we graduate."

     "How about we recruit younger Roses this time? You know, the freshmen students this year were promising," Red then comments while his eyes were glued on his phone.

     "A freshmen?" Hans asks, contemplating on the suggestion. "If we recruit one now then there's still time to train them. But I haven't really seen anyone who has the potential."

     "How about that Freshmen who dumped his food on that Jack last time at the Great Hall? The one with the ugly red hair? He's promising. Heard he's only a serf but he got guts, don't you agree?" Khian says, making Marcus look back at him with a bitter look.

     "That guy? We're not a bunch of thugs Khian. He fits Cigarettes image more, not ours," Marcus immediately disagrees, and Khian just shrugs his shoulder and doesn't say anything else.

     "Well I'm just excited to finally become a senior. I don't know why but I feel like things are going to be different," Red then says before putting his phone down to look at his brotherhood.

     "Different? Different how? Like we're going to win Mr. Brains & Brawn?" Hansol sarcastically says, making the rest of the dukes laugh.

     While everyone was enjoying their time together, someone suddenly went inside the greenhouse, automatically making them stop what they were doing to look back at the guest with shock.

     "P-Pavel?" Hans asks, and in an instant, everyone stood up to bow to the Humble King, Pavel Schäfer.

     Pavel nods his head to acknowledge their greeting before making a gesture so they could stand back up. When they were now standing properly, Hans approaches Pavel and asks him, "May I ask why a king is gracing our base?"

     Pavel looks at the members of BND one by one before walking around the greenhouse. "The flowers here are really nice, do you take care of them yourselves?" He asks instead, making the dukes look at each other with confusion.

     "My King, why are—"

     "We only have two months left before this school year ends. If I may ask, have you done anything that helped our house in any way?" Pavel asks, and that question alone made the dukes tense up.

     When no one gave an answer, Pavel finally looks back at them and gives them a sweet smile. "Oh don't be so pressured about it my dukes, it was just a harmless question. I was just genuinely curious," he reassures them.

     "Why are you here?" Hans asks but with a more commanding tone this time.

     Pavel doesn't answer and walks towards Marcus instead. Despite Marcus being taller than him, Marcus couldn't help but gulp in terror as Pavel stared at him dead in the eye.

     "Viktor would like to see you. Follow me," Pavel simply says before walking towards the door.

     Everyone was surprised by the request, but before Marcus could even move, Hans stops him and says, "Why is he requesting for Marcus? As their leader, I have every right to know why the king wants to—"

     "Are you defying my orders?" Pavel asks back, his expression different from earlier.

     Despite being a strong leader himself, Hans couldn't help but take a step back, almost like he was scared of him.

     "We apologize," Arjun immediately says on Hans' behalf. "Marcus, do as you were told," he then adds, and Marcus nods his head as he and Pavel finally take their leave.

     Marcus doesn't say anything as he follows behind the king. Viktor is known to be their leader, and sometimes - especially the white uniforms - they disregard the other members of Busters and see Viktor as the only king, but that's not the case. All the brotherhoods, and even the Elites, know that Busters as a whole are the true kings. Viktor might be their leader, but that does not diminish the fact that all of them are as terrifying as Viktor.

     "Are you aware that J.S High will fall as soon as we graduate?" Pavel suddenly asks out of nowhere, surprising Marcus. But even though he wasn't able to think of an answer in an instant, Marcus won't deny that he has thought of that before.

     "Considering that almost all of the brotherhoods in the House of Kings will graduate next year then yes, then it might," Marcus answers.

     Pavel nods his head and looks over his shoulder to look back at Marcus. "It is not might...it will. But do you know why it will fall?"

     Marcus looks at Pavel but he couldn't really think of an answer, so Pavel looks away from him and says, "It will fall because we're not the only one's who will graduate."

     Marcus thought about Pavel's statement for a couple of seconds, but then his eyes widened from shock when he realized it now too. "President Ian...he's graduating with us," Marcus says, making Pavel nod his head.

     "That's right, Ian and even Richard will be graduating too, and who will be left? Gavriil and the Griffiths twins. Gavriil is a great vice but he won't be any different if he becomes the Elites president, especially since he knows what we've been through. We need someone who isn't part of our past so he can make decisions that will greatly affect this school's future. If we can't find anyone like that then..." Pavel stops and decides not to finish the sentence anymore, but Marcus could already guess what it might have been.

     "Why are you suddenly telling me this?" Marcus asks.

     Pavel stops walking, making Marcus stop walking as well. He then looks in front of them and realized that they already arrived at the Stadium.

     "Viktor is waiting for you inside," Pavel says instead.

     Marcus doesn't say anything as he enters the Royals' base. He was expecting to find everyone there, but to his surprise, Viktor was sitting alone on his throne.

     Marcus walk toward the stage and stops just a few meters. Without even looking at Viktor, he goes down on one knee and says, "My king..."

     The entire stadium was dead silent until Viktor finally adjusted from his seat and commands, "Stand."

     Marcus doesn't say anything and immediately follows Viktor's order. When Marcus and Viktor were finally looking at each other, Viktor leans on his throne and says, "It's been a while since we've talked in private, Thompson. When was it again? Was it at Luna's funeral?"

     The mere mention of Luna made Marcus clench his fist, but he doesn't react to it as he says instead, "May I know why I was summoned here?"

    Viktor chuckles and stares directly at Marcus's eyes. "It's been two years since we changed the rankings in this house yet nothing has changed. J.S High isn't a house but a collection of heirs who just wants to step on each other to feel superior. Don't you think it's pitiful?"

     "It is, and I would lie if I said I don't regret not being able to do anything. We left the mess yet we cannot clean it. As a duke, I am ashamed," Marcus answers.

     "As you should," Viktor then says as he adjusts from his seat again. "This wasn't what Grey wanted. This wasn't his vision for this great school. If he was here, do you think things would have been different?"

     As soon as Viktor mentioned Grey's name, Marcus immediately looked back at Viktor with anger. "Don't you fucking mention his name with that foul mouth of yours," he says, and the aggression didn't even offend Viktor. In fact, he looked almost apologetic for saying the name so carelessly.

     "Of course," Viktor says as he stood from his seat, walking towards the edge of the stage so he could move closer to Marcus.

     "I don't want to waste your time any longer Thompson. I called you here today because I have a request for you," Viktor finally reveal, catching Marcus off guard. After all, he never expected Viktor to ask something from him.

     "A request?"

    "Yes..."

     Viktor suddenly jumps off the stage. He then walk closer to Marcus until his face was only a few inches away from him. "There's still a year left before we can make things right. With how things are now, there's only one person who can do what we weren't able to do."

     Marcus furrows his brows as he continues to stare at Viktor's cold grey eyes. Viktor didn't say anything, but even with the silent treatment, Marcus knew in an instant who the king was talking about.

     "No..."

     "That's right, your brother, Maximilian Leigh sinclaire," Viktor says, and Marcus immediately takes a step back while shaking his head in disbelief.

     "No...not Max. You are not going to make me enroll him here," Marcus seriously says.

     Viktor sighs and touches the nape of his neck, as if he looked irritated by how Marcus reacted. "My dear Thompson, you know damn well that no one in this goddamn school has the right name, attitude, and drive to make a difference here other than him."

     "I said no!" Marcus shouted this time. "I have protected my brother from the dangers of this school for as long as I could. You of all people should know what happened to him."

     "And that's why he needs to be here," Viktor instantly fires back. "I don't give a single shit about how long you've babied him. I don't care what you did or what the fucking Sinclaire's did to him, but you should know that the boy has every right to be here."

     "And why would I throw him in this fucking den? Huh? Give me one reason Viktor," Marcus angrily insists.

     Viktor calms down and takes a deep breath before looking back at Marcus with a serious expression. "You're aware, aren't you?" He asks.

     The question made Marcus furrow his brow in confusion so Viktor continues, "The people who killed my family..." The stadium falls even quieter as Viktor says, "Is the same people who killed Grey."

     Marcus's body froze in an instant after hearing what Viktor just said. But when everything finally sank in, Marcus suddenly grabs Viktor by the collar, almost lifting him up from the ground. "How dare you! We know damn well who killed Grey. How dare you mock him like this."

     "Y-You know I'm not l-lying...Marcus," Viktor struggles to say before pushing Marcus away from him. "We've known each other the longest and you know that what I'm saying is true."

     Marcus clenches his fist, trying his best not to throw a punch at Viktor. "I don't care what is true and what is not, but what does my brother have to do with all this?"

     Viktor fixes his uniform before saying, "Grey and I had a strong hunch. We believed that the people who ruined our lives are the same people who tried to kill Leigh and Luna."

     Marcus's eyes widened from shock to the point where he couldn't even say anything. He has never heard of such a thing before. A person to target not only one but three members of Crème de la crème? If such a person exists then...

      "I...I don't understand. What...what does J.S High have to do with all this? Why do I need to enroll my brother here?" Marcus asks, more confused than he was before.

     Viktor doesn't say anything and suddenly pulls something out from his pocket. It was an amulet, or more specifically, his clan's amulet, the Stepanov's only heirloom. "We believe that whoever was after us...is here, in this very school," Viktor finally reveals, almost making Marcus lose balance.

     "T-this can't be—"

     "I have no time left. Grey and I tried our best but we could not find a single clue on who he is. It could be Paradox, it could be someone in the Elites, I don't know! I have searched this entire house, searching and searching. I have used my power as the king yet I don't have a single clue!" Viktor shouts in frustration.

     Marcus looks back at Viktor, and for the first time, he saw a tired king. Viktor, whose entire clan was killed right in front of him, was drained till the very last drop.

     "I've tried penetrating the Elites, which is why I gave Gavriil enough points to make him a vice but there's still nothing. I thought Gav would be able to do it but I made a mistake. He isn't strong enough," Viktor says before clenching the amulet on his fist.

     "Grey always told me that Leigh was like his brother. They had similar ambitions and dreams. They had the same vision. Grey was the closest one to ever make a change in J.S High, and he was the only one who was so close to finding the person who killed our family. It was at that moment when I realize that there's no one else who can replace him but your brother," Viktor tells Marcus, leaving Marcus speechless.

     "He's the only one who can change J.S High and find the man who ruined everything," Viktor strongly declares.

     "But Max...he's not what you think he is," Marcus says as his face slowly turns into sadness and guilt. "Not anymore.."

     "It is easy to forget..." Viktor simply says as he turns around to walk back to his throne. "But he will eventually remember."

     "How?"

     Without looking back at Marcus, he answers, "When a man is asked to cross a raging river, he will make a bridge. If he's asked to run until his feet bleeds, he wouldn't stop, he'll crawl. You don't know what a man can do when he's desperate, and when he reaches that level of desperation, he will be able to conquer everything. I guarantee you."

- END -