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"Fontus Gauthier...the one they said was President Janus's bastard son," Vesper answers. But before Elijah could even react to hearing the name, Vesper suddenly pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and threw it just inches away from Elijah's cheek.

     The leader's eyes widened in shock. For a second, he thought Vesper was throwing the sharp knife toward his face, but when he looked back, he saw that someone was actually eavesdropping behind him.

     "Oops, I missed," Vesper says with a grin as a white uniform drops to the floor, holding his bleeding arm.

     The culprit tried to escape, so the leader quickly ran to him, angrily grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up from the floor, ready to interrogate him. But as soon as he stared right into Elijah's face, the white uniform suddenly dropped something on the ground.

     Vesper and Elijah looked down to see what it was, and to their surprise, it was actually a smoke bomb.

     "Shit..."

     Elijah immediately lets go of the white uniform as the bomb explodes just moments after. Smoke instantly engulfed the entire hallway, making it impossible to see. The smoke detector then sets off, and water showers down on them in an instant. Elijah and Vesper covered their mouths while trying to keep their eyes open. But when the smoke cleared, the white uniform was already gone.

     The two were coughing as they tried to stand on the wet floor. A couple of seconds later, the sprinklers eventually stopped as well.

     "W-What the fuck just happened?" Elijah asked in shock, wiping his face while Vesper squeezed the water out from his uniform.

     Vesper was just as stunned as the brotherhood leader, but as he walked towards the dagger he threw at the white uniform earlier to retrieve it, he suddenly spotted something shining on the puddle. Vesper bent over to pick the strange item up. When he saw what it was, his eyes instantly widened in shock.

     It was a metal dart that contained a greenish liquid that Vesper could only assume was poison.

     "Someone was trying to poison you?" Vesper asks out loud, immediately making Elijah snatch the dart from his hand. He stares at it for a while, but when he sees a familiar logo imprinted on it, an angry expression instantly appears on his face.

     "This logo... it's Red Tigers."

     "Red Tigers? You mean your brotherhood?" Vesper asks back.

     "No, Red Tigers was originally from my father. This dart was manufactured at his underground company. The one that sells illegal weapons," Elijah explains, making Vesper start laughing.

     "So someone tried to kill you using your father's own creation? How ironic. And actually almost poetic," Vesper states, but Elijah wasn't buying it. Something wasn't adding up. By how the supposed white uniform was hiding, it was obvious that he wasn't the one being targeted.

     "No. I think it was targeting...you."

     "Memphis! Cinna!" Someone suddenly shouted before Vesper could even react.

     The two turned around and saw the Saints' president, Justice Thorndyke, and the secretary, Perseus Odair, running towards them with three other guards following behind them.

     "Are you two okay? What happened here?" Justice asks while staring at the two students who are now soaking wet.

     Vesper glances at Elijah, who immediately hides the poisoned dart before the two council officers can even see it. While the guards started inspecting the area, Vespers started laughing, confusing them.

     "You know, it's actually a funny story. Memphis was showing me this smoke bomb that he had created, but while I was checking it, I accidentally dropped it to the floor, and boom! Smoke everywhere," Vesper lies.

     Elijah couldn't tell if the president bought the lie, but all he could do was hope that he did. He doesn't exactly know what happened, but getting the Saints involved isn't the best idea, especially if they tell the Ministry about it. Elijah and the other brotherhoods have always found something strange about the Ministry. For the time being, keeping quiet about this incident is the best course of action.

     "Are you for real right now?" Justice asks before reaching out and flicking Vesper's forehead. "You're seriously causing so much trouble. Head to my office for further investigation..."

     "Yes, sir."

     "And you," Justice then says as he turns to the Lord of Wrath. "We'll talk about the fact that you're just carrying a bomb around after I give Cinna his punishment. Is this understood?"

     Elijah doesn't say anything but nods his head in answer. Justice sighed and massaged his temple before looking around the wet floor in frustration. He got ready to complain about the paperwork he'd be doing after this incident, but when he looked down, he spotted Vesper's dagger on the floor. He could actually tell that Vesper was lying about the dropping-the-bomb excuse, but he remained silent about it. Like Elijah, he'll have to investigate this privately.

     "Alright, for the time being, tell everyone to return to their dorms for further inspection," Justice says to the Saints' secretary, who nodded his head before heading out to do what he was told.

     "Now Vesper Cinna, follow me. You have a lot of explaining to do, so you better think of a good excuse," Justice says as he starts walking away.

     Vesper glances at Elijah again before following the Saints' president. While the school guards continued to look around the scene of the accident, Elijah took a deep breath and quickly made his escape.

    While walking away, his calm expression instantly turned into anger.

     "I can't believe I let someone get away like that. Now I have to fucking talk to my father to ask him about that poisoned dart," Elijah complains before brushing his wet hair back with his fingers. "Things are starting to get complicated. And I bet a certain white uniform is connected to all this...just like it always has."

...

"Important announcement to all the students. Your afternoon classes are canceled, so please head back to your dormitory. Once again, afternoon classes have been canceled, and all of you are expected to head back to your dormitory," a voice announces throughout the speakers on campus, making Max stop walking.

     "Canceled? What the heck happened?" Max asks in confusion as he heads out of the brotherhood dormitory after his conversation with Uchdryd Rease.

     "Max! There you are!"

     Max turned around and saw Keigo, Xander, and Stefan running towards him, obviously a little distressed.

     "Thank god you're okay! I thought you got hurt!" Keigo says, immediately grabbing Max to give him a tight hug.

    "Hurt? Why? What's going on? Why are the classes canceled?" Max asks.

     "There was this explosion earlier, and then I heard the second floor is soaking wet after the smoke detector was set off. They haven't really explained what happened, but they told us to head back to our dorms," Xander explains, making Max's eyes widen his eyes in shock while Keigo continues to hug him. Max probably didn't hear it because he was at such a low level.

     "An explosion?"

     Max couldn't help but remember the time when there was also an explosion at the Greenhouse. If Red hadn't been able to protect him that time, Max would have been greatly injured. Max didn't want to assume, but he couldn't help but worry if this was connected to him or not.

     "Then we shouldn't be staying out here. Let's head back to the dorm first. At least now we can start cleaning early," Max says instead so as not to worry his friends.

     The three nodded their heads and went back to Hell Sanctum. Despite the unexpected incident, the serfs used the canceled classes as a way to clean their dorms. It was also a great opportunity for Max to keep his head from the clouds. An explosion shouldn't even be one of his concerns because of how long his objective list is.

     So amidst the investigation, the serfs worked on their cleaning operation. Xander was also working on the traps that were assigned to him, and a couple of serfs stood guard outside while Max and the others cleaned the hallway. The maintenance even arrived and was able to fix their pipes. Slowly but surely, the Hell Sanctum was looking more like a dorm than an abandoned building.

     When nighttime fell, everyone ate dinner at their dorm's cafeteria, which was the only area they hadn't cleaned yet. Everyone was in a good mood, and after a long time, the zombie-like students were all lively. The cafeteria was loud, and the white uniforms were even playing around. The laughter echoing in their room made Max smile too.

     "Tally time!" Stefan shouts as he stands in front of everyone.

     Ever since they started with their plan to help the Serf Division from the cruel punishments of the Tax Collectors, Stefan suggested that they tally the points they've acquired so that they can keep track.

     "Our goal is 50,000 merit points. And currently, we have..." Stefan pauses and computes the numbers while the others patiently wait for the results.

     Through Max's suggestions, the serfs have been doing small and odd jobs around the campus, like picking the trash at the Dining Hall, cleaning the toilets in the main building, and even helping out at the morning ceremonies at the cathedral. Some were even getting bullied because of it, but Max reassured them that this would be all worth it.

     He told them that they would be the ones laughing in the end. And the others trusted him.

     "I can't believe it," Stefan suddenly says, making everyone look at him with worry. But as Stefan finished his computation, a smile appeared on his face as he finally announced, "We have successfully acquired... 28,000 merit points!"

     As soon as they heard the numbers, everyone instantly stood from their seats, cheering loudly while Max and his roommates stared at them with a small smile. 

     Max takes a sip of his tea, pretending like he's not proud of their achievement. But while he was trying not to steal any of the attention from the serfs, the white uniforms suddenly grabbed him and lifted him up into the air.

     "K-Keigo! Help!" Max shouted while Keigo raised his glass, happily letting the students throw Max like he won the Olympics.

     The white uniforms continued cheering for the young heir, so Max just let them be as he started laughing with them. Even though this isn't his house, and even though he'll be leaving after a month, Max couldn't help but be genuinely happy for them. He truly hopes to be able to help them before he leaves. And he truly hopes the House of Bishops can become a house where everyone will have an equal chance.

     After the quick celebration, the serfs went back to work. Xander was also finished with his traps as promised, which he demonstrated for everyone to see.

     The traps will be placed around their dorm's premises. When someone approaches the Hell Sanctum, even when they're still 3 meters away, the mechanisms would alert the serfs inside and spray red paint in the intruders' direction. Max couldn't help but be impressed by the fact that Xander was able to do all this on a tight schedule.

     "I've already plotted where we'll put these," Xander says to Max while the two of them, alongside Keigo, carry boxes that contain the traps.

     "You're really a genius Xander. You should use your talent more," Keigo encourages, to which Max nods his head in agreement.

     "Oh, come on, you're a genius too. I wouldn't have been able to finish these traps if you hadn't helped me with the programming part. You're really good with the computer too, Keigo," Xander compliments back, making Keigo blush since he's still pretty much weak with receiving praise.

     "Good is an understatement," Max then adds.

     The three of them smile at each other as they walk outside the dorm. They got ready to plan out where they'd put the traps, but as soon as they got outside, they were surprised to see unconscious white uniforms lying on the ground. To be more specific, unconscious gaffers.

     "What happened?!" Xander asks in shock.

     Max furrowed his brows in confusion and got closer to the gaffers. They were holding rocks, probably to throw them at their windows again.

     "They're all knocked out," Max says as he gently puts the box down.

     "Did you already talk to Vesper Cinna? Is this his doing?" Keigo then asks, gently kicking one of the gaffers before immediately hiding behind Max because it ended up moving.

     "No, I haven't talked to him yet," Max answers, confusing his two roommates.

     "Then who did this?" Xander and Keigo asked in unison.

     "I did," someone suddenly answered, immediately making the three of them turn around to see who the culprit was.

     To their surprise, the leader of the brotherhood Red Tigers, Elijah Memphis Valor, walks towards them with a serious expression, his knuckles bleeding, hinting that he knocked out the six gaffers outside the serfs' dorm by himself.

     "Looks like you're having pest problems," Elijah says as he stops in front of Max, while Keigo and Xander immediately hold their chest to give respect to the lord.

     "We're actually working on it," Max answers, making Elijah glance at the boxes they were carrying before looking back at Max.

     "I need to speak with you. Follow me," Elijah then says. Without waiting for Max's response, he starts walking away, expecting the serf to follow him. Max looked back at his friends, who could only shrug their shoulders, unsure of what this was about as well, so Max just took a deep breath and chased after the lord.

     Elijah doesn't say anything as he walks toward the cathedral. Max was worried that they'd get in trouble for going inside the main building at this hour, but Elijah seemed not to care as he climbed over the gate so he could open the gate for Max.

     "Where on earth are you taking me?" Max confusingly asks.

     "Somewhere we can privately talk," Elijah answers as he unlocks the gate with the pin that he carries with him. When the gate opened, Max didn't move and just crossed his arm in a stubborn manner.

     "Where are you taking me? How certain are you that you won't just ambush me out of nowhere?" Max questioned.

     "If you think I'm gonna ambush you, then you're an idiot for following me up till here," Elijah fired back, making Max pause for a second.

     Why did he just follow Elijah without any question?

     From what Max remembers, he hasn't personally spoken to Elijah yet. All he knows about him is that he's the son of chairman Salvatore Valor, whom Max spoke to in regard to the bullet that Siren bought for the brotherhood reranking. Chairman Valor was also close friends with his and Gavriil's mother, so Max's connection with Elijah Memphis is pretty close-knit. There's also the fact that Elijah is rumored to have attended the Stepanov party with Max and a bunch of other heirs.

     "W-Well, I don't know. You looked trustworthy enough," Max truthfully answered.

     "Of course you'd think that," Elijah answered as he turned around and started walking away from Max, forcing Max to follow behind him. "We already met each other before," Elijah then revealed, surprising Max.

     "Met each other? Do you mean at the Stepanov Party? Your father mentioned that you and your mother might have attended that, too," Max explained, making Elijah roll his eyes in annoyance at the mere mention of his father. Looks like they really don't have a good relationship with each other.

     "We actually met for the second time at that party, but our first meeting was way before that. We we kids back then. Most of the members of Crème de la Crème were invited to attend a ceremony. We met each other there. That's also where we met Vesper Cinna," Elijah revealed next, surprising Max even more.

     "Vesper Cinna is a member of Crème de la Crème?!" Max loudly asked in complete shock, but Elijah immediately pulled him behind the bushes and covered his mouth before hiding from the nuns who passed by them.

     When the coast was clear, Elijah pulled his hand away from Max and softly answered, "He was, but...it's a fucking long story. Just follow me."

     Max was still confused about what was happening, but he didn't say anything for the time being as he followed behind the brotherhood leader. The two of them went up the stairs to the very top floor of the cathedral. After sneaking past some priests, they walked towards the window at the far end of the hallway. Max still didn't know where they were heading, but when Elijah went out of the window, his mouth practically dropped in fright.

     "What the—"

     "Come on," Elijah prompts.

     Max looked around, checking if someone was behind them. When he was certain that no one saw or pursued them, he finally stepped out of the window as well and followed Elijah to the roof that led them to the bell tower.

     "Now we can talk," Elijah says in relief as he moves to the side, sitting on the edge like they wouldn't die if they slipped and fell.

     "What the hell are you even going to tell me that we have to hide on the roof? Is it that confidential," Max asks as he sits beside Elijah, securing himself in place so he doesn't accidentally slide off.

    Max looks at Elijah, who is looking from afar. When Elijah didn't say anything, Max turned to check what he was staring at. And as soon as Max saw the view, something inside him instantly calmed down. The scenery was almost similar to the view on their king's horizon.

     "This is beautiful. I never noticed the view before," Max honestly says as he stares at the moon and the stars that are right above the city lights.

     Elijah continued to keep his mouth shut for a couple more seconds, but after a while, he finally turned to Max and said, "So you really lost your memories. I thought it was only a rumor, but it's real."

     "I'm actually working on it," Max jokingly says before taking a deep breath. "But Elijah Memphis Valor...when you said we already met each other before, I felt bad. Not entirely because I don't remember the encounter, but because I once again realized how much of my past is completely blank."

     "I don't think there's something about our past that is worth remembering anyway."

     "I beg to disagree," Max answers, remembering his childhood friends Cindy, Gavriil, Grey, and Viktor. If he really did have any regret, it's the regret of not being able to remember them.

     "Were we close?" Max innocently asks.

     "Us? No, we were just familiar with each other but never close. Not as close as you were with Viktor and the others, of course," Elijah truthfully answers. "I was somehow close with Vesper, but we're more like frenemies now. He was an idiot yet a genius for revoking his title as Crème de la Crème, but after he got removed, my mother forced me not to speak with him again. It's pathetic."

     "I knew that Vesper was an interesting character, but to revoke both your Duke title in J.S High and your title in Crème de la Crème...that's definitely something," Max says, making Elijah nod his head in agreement.

     Max couldn't help but look at the scenery in front of them again with an almost sad look on his face. Crème de la Crème is a group of heirs whose influences are ranked from 1 to 12. No one knows its origin or how it began, but if any of your family members get ranked, you best believe that your family will be blessed with influence, power, and wealth.

     Throughout the years, the list has changed multiple times. Heirs come and go, but the general public almost treats the heirs as idols, which is why some are even more famous than actual singers and actors.

     Most families flaunt their titles, but the current members have surprisingly been secretive about it, with reasons yet to be revealed. Most of the new members of Crème de la Crème have not publicly opened up about their ranks, which is why the people have made a game of guessing which is which. Some are even confident that the number 1 is Cindy Lin.

     The secrecy was so serious that even the other members of Crème de la Crème didn't know everyone on the list. But currently, these are the heirs that have been revealed:

Rank 1: Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire

                 Viktor Alekovich Stepanov [FORMER] (Leader of 'king' brotherhood, Busters)

                 Klaus Vitus Von Hatzfeld [FORMER] (Former member of brotherhood, Paradox)

Rank 2: Cindy Lin (Leader of 'queen' sisterhood, Vixens)

Rank 3: Gavriil Ivanovich Alexeev (Elites' Vice President)

Rank 4: Jontell Rosario

Rank 5: Maria Rosalia Ortega (Member of 'queen' sisterhood, Vixens)

                 Matthew Grey Cullen [FORMER]

Rank 6: [UNKNOWN]

Rank 7: Hans de Vries (Leader of 'duke' brotherhood, BND)

Rank 8: [UNKNOWN]

                 Serenity Karlsson [FORMER] (Former leader of Vixens)

Rank 9: Scarlet Romano (Leader of 'duchess' sisterhood, La Séptima)

Rank 10: [UNKNOWN]

Rank 11: Takemitsu Hiro

Rank 12: [UNKNOWN]

                 Vesper Hugo Cinna [FORMER] (Former leader of  'duke' brotherhood, Demons)

     "Anyway, I'm sure you didn't bring me to the roof just so we could have a casual conversation with a stunning view. Why did you want to talk to me, Elijah Memphis? Is this related to the explosion that happened earlier?" Max finally asks, and Elijah nods his head to confirm it.

     "Is it related to me?" Max then asks, and this time, Elijah shakes his head to disagree with it.

     "Not just you," he says. "It's related to all of us. The members of Crème de la Crème."

- END -