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"I JUST RECEIVED A MESSAGE from the security team. The media waiting outside have finally left. You should rest now and head back to the mansion, Grandmother. You're going to be busy starting tomorrow. We'll have a chance to talk about the company and the family some other time," Max says while holding Estelle's hand tightly.

     The party was finally over, and everyone was able to enjoy themselves. Of course, excluding the Sinclaire Family. But despite everything that happened, the anniversary party was a huge success.

     Max was able to have a couple of drinks with his friends before they left. They congratulated him for the achievements he made in the House of Bishops. They also mentioned the video of Max with his hands bleeding and warned him that if something similar happens again, they'll raid St. George Academy and burn it to the ground. Max thought they were only exaggerating, but he later realized soon after that they were being completely serious.

     As the party continued, President Janus and Janet went home early before any of them could even approach the twins. Vesper also mysteriously left without any trace, but he sent a message to Max, thanking him for the invitation and telling him that he'll see him tomorrow.

     Marcus eventually arrived and joined their table, and the rest of them just enjoyed the party like normal teenagers would if you simply ignore the photographers who kept taking pictures of them throughout the night.

     After all that commotion, the drinking, and the dancing, the Lemieux's 332nd anniversary finally came to an end. Everyone went home, glad to have been part of such an unforgettable moment, while Max and the rest of his family went straight to their private presidential suite, waiting for the media to leave before they could step out of the hotel.

     "How about you, dear? Won't you be coming home with us?" Estelle then asks Max.

     "I can't. I'll be coming back to school first thing in the morning. So I might see you after a couple of weeks," Max answers, making the sweet woman squeeze onto her grandson's hand.

     "You really look like your grandfather. I'm glad," she then says, and Max smiles and gives her a warm embrace.

     "Congratulations, grandma. And please, take care of the company while I'm away," he answers as Estelle pats his back in reply.

     As soon as they broke free from the hug, Estelle looked at Denzel and Marcus, who were actually standing behind them. Denzel approached and hugged her as well, and then she whispered something to his ear, making Denzel nod his head. Afterward, Estelle glances at Marcus and says, "Handsome boy. He also looks and acts like his grandfather. You should be proud, Denzel. You raised your boys right."

     "Thank you, Mother," Denzel says before bowing his head.

     Max looks at his butler, Étienne, and nods his head towards him this time. Étienne nods his head back before approaching Estelle and holding onto her hand. "Madam Estelle, let me escort you to the Lemieux mansion."

     "Alright, let's go." Estelle looks at her family for one last time before heading out with Étienne. As soon as she was gone, Marcus sighed heavily before sitting on the sofa. His legs had been shaking since the moment they entered the room where Estelle was.

     "She didn't say anything terrible about me, did she? I should have worked on my French," Marcus says, making Max chuckle before sitting beside him on the sofa.

     "She's actually starting to like you, so you should be fine," Max answers.

     "You two should get some rest now. Marcus, you can join me in the car so we can head back together. And Maximillian—" Before Denzel can finish his sentence, Max cuts him off and says, "I'm staying here for a while. There's someone who's been waiting for me all night. I don't want to anger him even more."

     "Is that so?"

     Max waited for Denzel to interrogate him, but to his surprise, he didn't ask anything about it. Looks like retiring changes people just like that.

     "Then we should go. Marcus," Denzel calls out, and Marcus sighs before standing from the sofa and reaching out to pat Max's head like he always did when they were kids.

    "I'll see you when I see you," Marcus says with a smile before heading out first.

     Denzel grabs his coat from the table and glances at Max. He stops and opens his mouth to say something, but he closes it back and walks towards the door instead. Before heading out, Max quickly tells him, "Drive home safely."

     Denzel's eyes widened in shock, but then he smiled and nodded his head. "Take care as well. I'll see you when you get back," he says as he finally walks out of the room.

     As soon as he was gone, Max stood from the sofa and walked towards a drawer, pulling it open and revealing boxes of cigarette packs that his father used to hide here whenever they stayed in this hotel. Max reaches out to grab one, but he stops and closes it instead before removing his coat and brushing his hair back with his fingers.

     With a serious expression on his face, Max steps out of the room where a guard is standing outside.

     "Sir Sinclaire," he greets.

     "I'll just be out for a while. No need to follow me," Max says, and the guard nods his head as Max starts walking down the corridor. He then pulls out a key card from his pocket—a key card for room 429. Max went straight to that room, and without even knocking, he opened the door and headed inside.

     As soon as he got there, the smell of cigarettes welcomed him. Max walked further, and there he saw Kim Hee-joon sitting on the bed, smoking a cigarette and drinking wine.

     "You made me wait for hours. Just because your family got the company back doesn't mean you can treat people like this," Joon answers as the smoke escapes his mouth.

     "My sincere apologies, but I told you you could join the others downstairs. Donato already left before the party even started. You didn't have to worry about anything," Max answers.

     "Look at you being considerate," Joon says with a smirk. He got ready to put the cigarette stick in his mouth again, but Max quickly grabbed it and pressed it down on the ashtray.

     "Can you stop? I don't want to smell like cigarette smoke."

     "Oh. You're gonna meet up with someone after this?"

     "That's none of your business."

     Joon chuckles, and then he reaches out and takes another sip of his wine again. Max couldn't believe what he was seeing. This wasn't the Joon that he was familiar with. Joon was usually cold and emotionless. I guess it was a wrong idea to let him see Don like that. Something might have triggered him.

     "I'm sorry for inviting you here. I've heard that Paradox—" Max stopped himself, unsure of what to say further. He doesn't really know anything about Joon, and Vesper only gives him a vague idea about him and his relationship with Paradox. Saying something carelessly might end up angering the prince, and Max doesn't want to start a bad relationship with him, especially now that he's finally talking to him like this.

     When Joon saw that Max was struggling to even speak his mind, he chuckled and stood from his seat. Afterward, he walks towards the sliding door, opening it so he can stand outside the balcony.

     Max follows behind him, keeping a considerate space between them. "You can return to St. George and rest if you like. I already have a driver ready for you," Max says while staring at Joon's back.

     "Why would I leave? The great Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire prepared a private room for me in one of their most expensive hotels. I should stay for a couple more hours as a sign of gratitude," Joon sarcastically replies.

     "You're drunk."

     "Don't act righteous now."

     "Viktor would be mad," Max fires back, and Joon finally turns to look at him.

     "You don't know my relationship with Viktor."

     "That sobered you up now, didn't it?" Max teases next, but when he sees the look on Joon's face, he stops and takes a deep breath.

     "I don't know your relationship with him," Max finally answers as he takes a step closer to him. "But I want to help you return to him. You're the very reason why I'm in the House of Bishops. I know that someone there is working for Payton Wolfe. Someone there helped plot our house's demise and might know who's been fucking with us. I can help you prove that you lost in an unfair fight. We can return to J.S High together."

     "That's a bold claim coming from someone who got beaten by a nun," Joon answers before glancing at Max's hands, which were now healed from the bruises he got from their previous punishment. "But as much as I appreciate it, I can't leave St. George Academy yet. There's something that I want to do first," Joon surprisingly answers.

     "Then let me help you," Max says without any hesitation. "You want to help St. George Academy, right? That's why you demonstrated the Prince Law. You want to help implement the White Uniform Protection Code."

     Joon was surprised to hear what Max had to say. He doesn't know who's been informing him of all this, but at least now he doesn't have to explain every little detail to him.

     "What's your plan then?" Joon then asks with a serious expression that Max is more familiar with. "I'm a hundred percent sure you're not some kind of dog. You're not going to follow me around. That's not your style. I know you have your own plans, so what is it?"

     Max stares back at Joon, and without hesitation, he tells him everything he plans to do. Besides looking for Payton's accomplice, he mentioned that he planned to help the Serfs Division. He's also planning to find out more about the previous Saints' president, who proposed the Division Program at St. George Academy, as well as the actual background of the Archbishop.

     Joon asked him what his reason was for digging into St. George Academy's past. If his primary purpose is to help PHD reclaim their title, then what was the point of all this? With that question in mind, Max simply answered, "Why wouldn't I? If I could, then there's no reason for me to ignore what's happening there."

     Joon found Max's hero complex humorous, but he didn't laugh. He believes Max is genuine about helping them, and despite finding such a trait annoying, Joon couldn't help but respect it at the same time.

    "So what are you planning to do first? Let me remind you, you only have a month."

     "I actually already started with my plan," Max explains. "It might look like I was just helping because of the goodness of my heart, but the thing with the Serfs Division had a deeper purpose as well as the zero donation I gave earlier. All that leads to one thing...and that's the Ministry."

     "The Ministry?"

     "I'm planning to get on their bad side. I openly challenged their system because of that. If I can get their attention, I'll be able to get closer to them. The Ministry is obviously secretive for a reason. I want to be able to infiltrate them because I believe there's a possibility they're connected to Payton Wolfe and Magnus McKay," Max explains further.

     "So you knew about McKay too?"

     "I learned about Magnus's connection with Payton thanks to my butler, Étienne. Étienne is very reliable, so when I asked him to look for Payton's whereabouts, he found out they had been meeting privately. I also discovered that the day Magnus and Payton started meeting...was when you sent me an invitation to the banquet. It seems like you've prepared for everything," Max says, giving Joon credit. After all, throughout this whole goose chase, Joon always seems to be one step ahead.

     Joon doesn't say anything about it and just stares at the young heir.

     Max couldn't really tell what he was thinking, and that unfamiliarity made Max excited to know more about Kim Hee-joon. Why is his family background so complicated? Why is he so secretive? Why does he love Viktor so much? What happened to him and Paradox in the past? What was his connection with Vice President Leviathan Dubois? All these unanswered questions made Max realize that he's finally given a chance to unlock all these closed doors.

     "Any violent comments?" Max finally asks.

     Joon continues to stare at him, but afterward, he moves even closer to Max until Max can smell the cigarette and wine on him.

     "President Lucas Ivory..." Joon starts. "Sold St. George Academy to the Ministry," he then reveals, leaving Max completely speechless.

     "What did you just say?"

     "It was around three years ago. We tried looking for the buyer, and we found out that it was sold to the people in the Ministry. So you were right about being suspicious of the Archbishop. Unfortunately, none of us could find his background, but his signature is on the school's ownership documents. All the money the school gets also goes to him, " Joon explains further, making Max take a step back because of shock.

     Everything made sense now. The reason why the gaffers are so protected is because they offer the highest donations, and these donations go directly to the Ministry. They literally made St. George Academy a business venture.

     "Does my uncle know about this?"

     "Probably...probably not. But the fact that President Janus isn't doing anything about this means that whoever that Archbishop is, or whoever is backing him up, is a very dangerous person," Joon states, and Max finally walks towards the balustrade to calm his nerves.

     This wasn't about the students anymore. It was never about the students. The unknown greenhouse bomber...Payton Wolfe...the Archbishop...all of them are connected one way or another.

     "This is getting really complicated," Max says before taking a deep breath and touching his necklace. "But I guess at the end of the day, we have the same goal. And that's to expose that Archbishop."

     Max pauses for a second and starts thinking about something. His friends knew what kind of expression that meant, but Joon wasn't aware of it yet. This was Max's thinking face. And whatever he's planning now is definitely going to be something even Joon wouldn't be able to predict.

    "Can you tell me a little bit about the Prince Law?" Max asks after a while, catching Joon off guard.

     "You want to know about the Prince Law?" Joon asks back, and Max smiles and nods his head like an eager kid. Max honestly thought Joon would casually give him an answer, but as he expected, Joon frowned at him.

     "Alright, I should have expected that. But can you at least tell me how powerful this law is? Like, can someone just...let's say...the Ministry...refuse whatever you're going to declare?" Max asks instead.

     Joon thinks about it for a while, unsure of how much he's willing to tell Max. But after thinking about it, Joon takes a deep breath and finally answers, "When this was given to us, President Janus made it an official rule, which meant that all the members of the Association agreed to its power. That includes President Lucas Ivory. If he refuses my law, it's like breaching an important contract."

     "If it's that powerful, then why won't you just declare the full implementation of the White Uniform Protection Code?"

     "I could, but that won't guarantee the white uniforms would follow it. The brotherhoods might, but the white uniforms would definitely rebel against it. I'd punish those who won't honor the code, but then what would be the purpose? That's why when implementing a rule for an entire house, a large percentage of the students have to agree to it so they'd willingly follow it. Besides, my law won't apply anymore once I leave the house. It would be useless," Joon explains, which made a lot of sense.

     "Well, I agree that the white uniforms, especially the gaffers, won't easily follow you. But you're right about the brotherhoods, which I think is just perfect for us. I have a proposition. We can—"

    "We? Us? Do you think just because we're having this conversation means we're buddies now? You have an obligation to bring me back to J.S High. We're not here as a team," Joon dared say.

     Fortunately, Max wasn't bothered by his cold words. In fact, he expected it. So when Max holds onto his necklace for one last time, his expression changes to something more serious as he tells him, "Kim Hee-joon...you don't know how long I've waited for the perfect moment where I can finally speak to you like this. I understand that your only goal is to return to J.S High and use me as you see fit, which is why I'm willing to do the same. You're right, we're not a team, and there is no us, just you and me. That's why I want to use you, Hee-joon...your power...I want it."

     The moment Max said those words to him, something inside Joon suddenly sparked, almost like a giant fire appeared before him that started to slowly melt the wall of ice he had created. Has Max always looked that serious? Has he always been so dominating?

     Joon has been a prince inside and outside of school. Other than the fact that he's also an heir, people tend to bend their knees for him. People used to do whatever he wanted them to do. They followed him around, so as a kid, he got bored of his toys easily and threw them away without hesitation. For Joon, people were just toys he could use and throw away.

     Well, people except Viktor.

     Viktor treated him differently, which is why he's so attracted to him. Viktor used him and protected him at the same time, and Joon thought he'd never meet anyone who'd dare look at him like that. But why? Why does Max have the same eyes Viktor had when he first met him? Why is he making him shiver in fear like that?

     "I've conquered four leaders, four of whom have different personalities and backgrounds. So, if you think you have the upper hand on this, then you're wrong. I have my own methods. I'll make you surrender your brooch to me whether you like it or not," Max then says with such confidence that it makes the hair on Joon's skin stand.

     "Now...will you listen to my proposition, you impatient Ice Prince?"

- END -