Mathema. On top of the shocking revelation that everyone around me was probably named after someone important in the mathematical world, the capital's ridiculously on-the-nose name didn't even faze me anymore as we entered its increasingly unruly streets. The fact that Imperial guards didn't even check our stuff due to the amount of work they still had to do only meant that they were ridiculously understaffed at the moment. It was a small miracle that I wouldn't take for granted, of course, but for a capital city to be in this much unrest, I kind of get the feeling that it was only a matter of time before the whole city would inevitably explode into a full-blown civil war.And wasn't that just the perfect opportunity to reconsolidate power."Where's the Princess?!""Where's the Emperor?!"The three of us weaved through the populated stre
*clang... clang...*The sun was shining from the windows as Livia and I silently sat on the couch waiting for the rest of our compatriots to join us. My legs were doing their usual thing when they're bored, which was to constantly move and jiggle up and down with energy as my eyes kept glancing at the setting sun out through the window. I promise I wasn't bored. Really...Even if Livia and I were sitting in this damn room for a few hours now.*crash... thud....*Truly, such a thing was but the machinations of current events. Not that I was blaming the protests still echoing outside despite the setting sun already ushering in the coming of night, but if Lace was supposed to be the one to break that fight up, surely she would've already showed up by now. I mean, maybe she had a few hiccups in whatever recon mission she wa
Dinner has always been a quiet affair for me. Having been raised in a semi-oppressive household in my first life, the solitude of eating alone was more of a reprieve as opposed to the lonely image that it would evoke to anyone that would notice. It wasn't like my parents wanted to eat at the same time anyway; what with our constantly conflicting schedules and habits. I ate alone at a time far too early for normal people to eat. Meanwhile, my parents would always eat over an hour or two after me; the actual normal times that society deemed it to be breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was weird as a kid, but I just got used to it.Not to mention, it was healthy for the metabolism to eat at earlier times as opposed to eating late at night.This all changed in this world, however. With a loving set of parents and constant companions, eating had somehow become a lively affair at times
I almost heard a drop of sweat splash from right under my chin at how still the atmosphere had become. Arya stared at me with unrestrained amusement; her grin showing her barely contained giggles as she covered her mouth. Meanwhile, Livia just kept eating at her usual pace; probably not even caring so long as it came out of my mouth.But the worst part was the starkly different expressions adorning each of the twins' faces.Lace looked absolutely livid, as if offended that I even dared to broach the subject in the first place. The spoon in her hand had completely bent into a right angle as she just stared at me; her shock still etched on her face as her eyes bore straight into mine. Love had a much more mellow expression, albeit that only meant that my words had affected her enough for her face to have an actual expression in the first place. From what little her brows furled,
Even the best-laid plans have the capacity to fail... Or so I poorly recall if that was how that proverb went. Still, it was the most basic rule of combat and any other activity that might require careful coordination to properly work. Theoretical plans will always never be the exact same in application as opposed to the drawing board; the same reason why battlefield tactics existed as opposed to grand strategy. Quick thinking was more important in the heat of battle, while logical analysis was more for the bigger picture in terms of massive wars between nations. Then again, we weren't really so much fighting as opposed to just being casual rebels right now, but I'd like to think that we were being decent enough that it'd actually work when things really start falling right into place. Which was to say, was simply wishful thinking if I really took everything into account. <
I swear I could hear everyone's nervous heartbeats as we all collectively stared at our own bowls. Was it out of embarrassment? Shyness? Possibly even shame? Who knows? What's clear was that we were all acting like idiots simply because we had no fucking clue as to how to follow up Love's painfully broad plan. And while I'm sure that we all had our own ideas, the first one that stepped up to the plate made it apparent that we were once again biting off more than we can chew at the moment.We were too fixated on the bigger picture that we completely forgot how to start small."Shall I take the stand then, Sweetie?~"To the relief of everyone on the table, Arya stood up with a lackadaisical flare; her bowl of fried rice still in her hands as she circled around the table and positioned herself in front of the board. The mischievous smile on her face l
I watched as Livia wielded the piece of charcoal with a practiced proficiency. Scribbling on a part of the board that had little to no notes written on it, my sister seemed to have drawn something that wouldn't look too far out of place from an actual rune. Not that it was a known rune, I think, but from the way she punctuated it at the end, I'd think that it was more of a schematic than anything else."There," Livia beamed at me as she placed her piece of charcoal down. "This will be a part of the solution."Raising an eyebrow, I trained my gaze on the seemingly finished schematic as I wracked my brain to even piece together what the damn thing even was. I knew that it wasn't a rune, not with the way that it seemed to overlap constantly over itself. The way it was presented made me think that it was like... a set of gears?"I haven't managed to ma
"Well, that was to be expected~"Lace didn't really know what she expected when she'd learned that her Leader had come to their place. While Love had warned her that such a thing was bound to happen sooner rather than later, she at least expected some semblance of a difference in terms of improvement regarding Olivia's mental state. And while the younger Den was no longer a raving lunatic that would attack her and her twin at the mere sight of them, she could still feel the unbridled animosity the brunette had for anybody that wasn't her precious sister."She didn't try to kill us, at least," Lace nervously chuckled.Looking at the remaining occupants still at the table, Lace sighed at the monumental task left for her due to Leader's absence. Already, Arya was shooting passing glares to her twin; the latter shooting her own glares back without a ca