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Raquel is seated in the manor’s living room, it could be mistaken for a grand hall in a museum. Velvet couches line across from a fireplace, picture frames are hung almost perfectly. Roman was too bothered by how the frames were never symmetrical, and went crazy for hours on end to fix it. In the end, he gave up and left the frames how it was. He would never admit it, but he hates this part of the house, which is why Raquel is such a constant visitor.
“How much are we paying the kid again?” Speak of the devil.
Raquel fixed her position more comfortably to look up to Roman.
“They’re requesting at least 500 thousand dollars, I told them they were insane, and they threatened me.”
”Really? Not even you requested that much when you worked with me. Or Chloe.” Roman sat on one of the velvet armchairs, it was closer to the fireplace. He held a glass of wine stolen from the kitchen.
“‘It’s only fair’ they said.”
“Hm. Guess they feel guilty, makes sense.” The air in the room was uncomfortable, the only thing breaking the silence was the crackle of the fire place.
”They have connections to the house of Heath, Roman.”
“So I’ve heard, idiot has the Heath crest on their hoodie.”
Raquel clicked her tongue, apprehensive of what she was about to say next. “I have an idea.”
”Hm? What is it?”
”We earn their trust.”
”After they’ve done the job, we tell them if they work for us more, they get paid more. It’s not like they have anything to lose. Just tell em’ ‘Don’t you want to support your family?’ And we got them hooked.”
Roman is intrigued, rarely is Raquel ever cruel.
”And what next?”
”Then, when they prove they’re of use to us, we convince them to give us the revival choker. The house of Heath is the last family to hold the treasure, they’re bound to have it.”
it’s quiet. Only for a moment, even the crackle in the fire is surprised by Raquel’s inhumane behavior. Raquel will never admit it to herself, but she enjoys being callous, having power over another’s life, it’s the fatal flaw in her perfected self image.
”How come you’re so brutal now? Not so long ago, you complained to me about how young Loretta Dalma was to die. Saying that she needed more time to live, and all of that.” Roman protested.
”Hm.”
Raquel looks at the crooked picture frames hung on the walls. She stares at the photo of a young Mina Ito. Oh how she would reprimand Raquel if she was here.
“Human life is very fragile, what’s one death to billions of lives?”
”Finally, something we can agree on.”