"What do you mean by those men from earlier?" Jonathan muttered almost inaudible like he dreaded what awaited his words.


    Marcus glared at him this time as he snapped his head at him. "They claimed to be the one of this maniac group that brought misfortune."


    ''A misfortune carriers? Sounds familiar...''


    Inside Nathalie''s mind got revved up from the words he uttered without any pauses; his body signaled no lies, in which she ought to take it with a grain of salt.


    [May you tell me?]


    Her words almost turned Marcus''s receding hairline of his oily locks even worse.


    This time, his mouth gaped, almost baring his sharp teeth from her advances. Right now, he would almost pounce at her and smash with his clenched fist now streaking with stark veins.


    If not with them around her, then she might''ve fallen short almost immediately.


    His stance screamed like an endangered beast had nothing left but one''s body to protect the only home he got.


    ''This is really serious now they stepped on more of the landmines.''


    Naturally, Nathalie needed to put up an act, at least in front of him.


    She took her time sipping the tea brewed for her.


    [Tell me, please. If there is something we could help.] Her eyes glistened as she arched her neck only to meet the swirling fear reflected off his stare.


    From there, Marcus mentioned they go for the cult name, ''Order of Pandora'' and it became a ring of a bell in her mind. She then looked at Jonathan with astonishment and vice versa.


    Almost got herself choked on the tea she indulged for a little while.


    The mere word of ''Pandora'' would often link to only one person like no other.


    She knew she was the author after all.


    Her heart sank as well as her churning gut from what registered in her mind, and there was no way she could deny it even further.


    The significant other of Keith, as she wrote, has come.


    ''She''s finally appearing in such several chapters early?! But why in this state?''


    Yet, she recalled that the changes had yet to be made in the manuscript, leaving her to ponder deep in her thoughts, '' So far only about a few chapters got overwritten… Could it be that such an event happened that wasn''t part of the storyline written in the manuscript?''


    So many things going on, as well as the assumptions she made— a similar case of Marcus that was already leaning towards antagonizing the Empire, and she, didn''t want to imagine what punishment awaited him perchance Athan would''ve caught him.


    For it was the other main concern she had; so far, Athan and Nathalie had more or less seen the same future, but only a matter of time; he also got to notice the hidden strings pulling what would''ve been beyond his senses.


    Her chest thumped loudly and fast, and ever since she got here, her palms broke out in a sweat for the first time. With the tea forming ripples with his trembling hand, she needed to place it down.


    After which, Jonathan noticed that she started to bite her fingernails, and he gawked at her like it wasn''t a good sign.


    [Do you have any idea who their leader was?]


    "... No, they never introduced as much as they proclaimed." He shrugged while shaking his head. "It was hard to believe; I don''t want them, yet they did something I thought was a mere joke…"


    One time, as Marcus said, a group of men came aggressively, and not one but he liked their presence. Even after a successful retaliation from him, they came for another round with sweet revenge— one of them held an intricate box with a dangling chain on one end like a flail.


    Out of patience, Nathalie cut him off as she wrote as fast as she could, [Did it glow like a twinkling star?]


    With it, his face turned pale real quick as his jaw dropped on the front bar.


    His reaction was enough and infected them with the same reaction.


    She had so much dread dripping down her spine, giving her the tingling sensation she never wanted.


    ''The Malevolent Casket—! She already has it?!''


    Nathalie''s knees wobbled in subtlety; she would collapse at any moment and on the floor if not with the stool chair she had.


    Right now, it was an inauspicious sign, and Jonathan went all quiet as he clenched his fists and jaws.


    ''Why are there so many jiving in and to the point of ruining my plans?! Just how much do I have to take?!''


    Her thoughts had her cover his mouth as she shut her eyes after creating a sheet of ice on the tea''s surface.


    Everything must fall back into order, to her advantage— for so long she vowed she must have the last laugh, and this has to be right.


    The moment was not the time to drown in a mental breakdown; she beckoned to Jonathan, [Your Grace, this is such a sticky situation but we can remedy this as it''s not too late!]


    "Do you have any idea?"


    [... A bit, crude, but we can try…] A hard lump was found in her throat as she gulped hard several times; after which, she faced Marcus. [We need your help—]


    But then, it got shattered immediately with the charm she had to put up with him.


    "What''s done is done…" However, Marcus remained stubborn as he turned around with a dismissive wave of a hand. "With the gold, you have given, it''s more than enough to be a compensation."


    "What nonsense!" Keith now slammed both of his palms on the slab of the front bar; he could no longer stand by as he thought he could get past through such gold he received. "You must be one of the thugs who would''ve lived with an ounce of gold—"


    "What do you even know?!" he roared back at him, grabbing by the collar of his cloak. "You damned kitten; of all people, you should''ve known what I''ve been through."


    Indeed, out of them all, Keith was someone who would resonate with him the most. But with their raging emotions aside, it was hard to go through with the discussion.


    Nathalie understood at least the gist of it. In the meantime, she thought better of how to salvage the situation, no matter how grave it got.